Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title Saturday, beating younger sister Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Barnegat, NJ schools were put into “lockdown” because someone saw a “ninja” (turned out to be a camp counselor in a karate uniform going to a costume party). Lesson learned by students: security alerts are bogus, grownups are idiots.

Public schools in Barnegat were locked down briefly after someone reported seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school.

Turns out the ninja was actually a camp counselor dressed in black karate garb and carrying a plastic sword.

Link (via Schneier)

BBC News

Betancourt hails 'perfect' rescue
BBC News - 43 minutes ago
French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt has hailed as a "miracle" her release from more than six years of captivity in the Colombian jungle.
Video: Raw Video: Hostages Freed in Colombia AssociatedPress

REFILE-FACTBOX-Key facts about Colombia's FARC guerillas Reuters
The Associated Press - Los Angeles Times - Spiegel Online - Deutsche Welle
all 2,039 news articles

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Judge Rejects Bush’s View on Wiretaps  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority …

Christopher Hitchens, who previously called the technique “extreme interrogation,” submits to waterboarding, admits it’s torture.

Radar: An Extremely Brief History Of Blog Feuds.

In Lester R. Brown’s new book Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2008, full-text)) - an update to Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (2006, full-text) - he calls for a war-time mobilization (ch.13) to save global civilization (already showing Early Signs of Decline (ch.6)) from Deteriorating Oil and Food Security (ch.2), Rising Temperatures and Rising Seas (ch.3), Emerging Water Shortages (ch.4), and Natural Systems Under Stress (ch.5)

Here’s your second “Final Four” matchup: #3 Wal-Mart VS #15 Countrywide Home Loans.

Time to get serious, folks. In this round we’ll take a look at the 5 most popular Consumerist stories for each company*:

Countrywide

Countrywide Invents Evidence In Foreclosure Hearing 38,583 views

Countrywide CEO Accidentally Emails Homeowner, Calls His Plea For Help “Disgusting” 19,631 views

Congress To Subprime CEOs: How Come You Got Paid Millions To Wreck The Economy? Hm? 9,306 views

Countrywide Home Loans Has Over 15,000 Repossessed Properties For Sale 8,895 views

Countrywide Is About To Foreclose On Ed McMahon 7,542 views

Wal-Mart:

Walmart “Junior” Panties Suggest That Your Genitals Are Better Than Credit Cards134,786 views

Walmart Nazi Tshirt Watch: Week 62 111,664 views

Detained And Harassed At Walmart For Not Showing A Receipt101,075 views

Walmart Tries To Steal Shopper’s Baby 91,364 views

Woman Receives Severe Chemical Burns From Flip Flops, Walmart Tells Her To Complain To Manufacturer80,547 views

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america.

Which Company Is Worse?

( polls)

Last week, the Bradley Project on America’s National Identity released a report, entitled E Pluribus Unum, warning of “mounting confusion about the meaning of American national identity and a loss of commitment to its promotion.”

The Bradley report, which draws on public opinion data and conversations with dozens of academics, scholars and journalists (full disclosure: I attended one such meeting), argues that Americans’ sense of national identity is weakening, and that the American leadership class ought to do something about it. Citing declining civic and historical literacy, an education system that emphasizes ethnic identities over a shared Americanism, and a rising emphasis on “global citizenship” rather than national loyalty among the nation’s political and business elites, the report offers a list of recommendations ranging from the broad (”a renewed focus on the teaching of American history” in America’s schools, say, or a new “initiative to ensure immigrants learn English, understand democratic institutions, and participate fully in the American way of life”) to the highly specific (the return of ROTC to elite universities; the creation of an annual Presidential medal to reward “commitment to American ideals and institutions”).

Some of this is gimmicky, and some of it is overbroad — but there’s grist in the report for the McCain camp, if they care to use it. It’s clear from McCain’s ads and speeches that he intends to go heavy on patriotic themes in his campaign. It’s just as clear how liberals will respond — by accusing McCain of playing right-wing identity politics, using the “patriotism card” as a last-ditch defense against the public’s dramatic disillusionment with the GOP brand. And they’ll have a point — unless McCain’s appeals to patriotic sentiment can be tied (as they ought to be) to substance as well as symbolism.

Adopting some of the Bradley Report's recommendations wouldn't be a bad place to start. In the wake of 9/11, John O’Sullivan reported last year, a group of conservative think-tankers wrote a series of memos to the Bush Administration, arguing that the attacks provided an opportunity to mount a new initiative to promote “patriotic assimilation,” whether for adult immigrants applying to be citizens, or public-school students learning civics and American history. The Bush Administration didn’t listen. The McCain campaign should. A “One America” initiative of this sort would harness McCain’s biography and record to champion the “melting-pot” vision of America against the multicultural vision that dominates the Democratic Party — and it would provide what John Fonte has termed a “civic conservative” common ground for Republicans divided over immigration rates.

What it couldn’t do, unfortunately, is include a frontal assault on programs that promote ethnic balkanization, from bilingual education to race-based affirmative action — since McCain’s record on those issues runs in precisely the opposite direction. For the GOP, this is an opportunity lost: In a campaign in which Barack Obama has already mused about the limits of racial preferences, the Republican standard-bearer ought to be bold enough to suggest that we abandon them.

Authorities are interviewing nine Cuban immigrants after a boat dropped them off at the beach Tuesday night.