From the NEW YORK TIMES Books: …The “war on drugs” is America’s longest war. It has cost taxpayers $1 trillion in the last 40 years, Fine notes, and it has turned our nation into “the most highly incarcerated society in history.” In 2011, a global commission on drug policy…

CAPITOLWIRE: The lead state attorney defending the state’s controversial Voter ID law said Thursday he heard gasps in the courtroom during his closing arguments when he said voting “is not a fundamental right” under the Equal Protection Clause.

From the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW / AP: Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will serve as the independent athletics integrity monitor at Penn State University for the NCAA. The NCAA announced Mitchell’s five-year appointment on Wednesday. He begins immediately.

From the HUFFINGTON POST: …Here are a few excerpts from a column [Gore Vidal] wrote 42 years ago in the New York Times – just one year prior to President Nixon’s launch of the war on drugs. “It is possible to stop most drug addiction in the United States within a very short time. Simply make all drugs available and sell them at cost.

UCF already self-imposed penalties related to the recruiting practices that involved the use of an agent with a criminal background helping to push players to Orlando. The self-imposed violations included three years of probation, vacating all basketball victories for three seasons — between 2008 and 2011 — and giving up one basketball scholarship.

From the DAILY FINANCE: A private survey shows U.S. businesses kept hiring at a modest pace in July, suggesting the job market could be improving after three sluggish months. Payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that businesses added 163,000 jobs last month. That’s slightly below a revised total of 172,000 jobs it reported for June.

From NEWSMAX: Mitt Romney returns from an erratic, six-day overseas tour with no discernible boost to his foreign policy credentials, and facing fresh questions about his campaign operation as it enters a critical period.

From the FINANCIAL TIMES: …News of the six-month funding deal came in statements from John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, and Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader. The budget deal does not resolve the bigger issue of the so-called “fiscal cliff” looming at the end of the year, when Congress will face a series of difficult and costly budget decisions.

The editor is not a lawyer. However, he has had over half a century of dealing with legal matters and he knows the importance of going back to the original source when doing research. Therefore we have downloaded and read NCAA Constitution, Operating Bylaws, Administrative Bylaws

From NEWSMAX: U.S. District Judge James Teilborg in Phoenix said the measure “does not impose a substantial obstacle in previability abortions,” according to his ruling upholding the law. A challenge to the law was brought by three doctors who said it’s preempted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

From the HUFFINGTON POST: Starting in September, Mayor Bloomberg’s push to encourage breastfeeding will incorporate a new program urging hospitals to keep baby formula under lockdown. The New York Post reports new mothers will not be denied formula, but if requested, they’ll receive a mandated talk from staffers and nurses on why they should opt out.

“My concern with the Freeh report… a lot of the conclusions in the Freeh report aren’t matched by the evidence that they presented,” Santorum said… “I understand the NCAA and what they did in reaction to that report,” he added, “[but the NCAA] actually usually [does] their own internal investigation, their own fact checking. They sort of accepted someone else’s work product.”

In response to the rush to judgment by the NCAA and outlandish ineptitude and neglect by Penn States Board of Trustees , PS4RS is being formed without ties to either the University of the Penn State Alumni Association.