Julia Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Australia. It would be as if Hillary were named as the acting president of the United States, should Obama step down and be able to name his successor. But that would require a real sea change. Oh, that's right. There IS a sort of a sea change going on in the Gulf of Mexico... Still, Julia Gillard is unique by many standards. Called “an unmarried female atheist redheaded migrant Prime Minister,” she promises a budget surplus for Australia by 2013. A carbon emissions tax and a share in the mineral wealth of the country for all it's citizens sounds to me like her plan. more inside

Sorry, America, None Of These Things Are Sports* With the World Cup, Wimbledon, The Tour de France and some pretty good Major League Baseball pennant races all going on right now, why should anyone care about the World Hot Dog Eating Championship?* * Warning: Gawker links more inside