Non-Jackson News You May Have Missed

(CBS)  The normal news cycle was seized - and then saturated - by the death of Michael Jackson. So while hundreds of millions watched a week and a half of tributes - events that might normally grab headlines - became footnotes as CBS News national correspondent Jeff Glor reports.

In Moscow, U.S. and Russian leaders came together for their first summit in seven years They agreed to a plan to cut nuclear stockpiles by one third, and let the U.S. fly military supplies over Russian territory.

China is grappling with historic unrest right now. Riots between ethnic Muslims and China's Han majority in the country's Western region have killed more than 150, 800 plus have been hurt. Chinese leaders are cracking down by sending 20,000 troops.

Back in Washington, The House of Representatives passed a bill dealing with climate change in their first ever-which aims to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. But the 1,400 page bill's been criticized as too bloated with loopholes.

A high stakes debate is quietly grinding out over
Health Care. President Obama wants a bill by August 7th. The Senate is fighting over how to pay for it and what the government's role should be. The Health Care industry is spending a record $1.4 million dollars a day on lobbying firms to influence the outcome.

"You could argue that the health care debate benefited from the Jackson blackout. Because health care needs to be dealt with quietly without a lot of screaming from the sidelines, we've had plenty of that," said CBS News Political Analyst John Dickerson.

And one you have to see to believe: four years after retiring 37 year old Lance Armstrong is suddenly in second place at the Tour de France. The cancer survivor is seeking his 8th victory and trails by mere fractions of a second.

"People don't realize is just how incredible the comeback has been," said Loren Mooney of "Bicycling Magazine"

And a reminder that sometimes even the extraordinary has to compete for our attention.


Complete coverage of Jackson's death

[speakinup22]

"A high stakes debate is quietly grinding out over Health Care. President Obama wants a bill by August 7th. The Senate is fighting over how to pay for it and what the government's role should be.

And what happened to Pay as you Go ?

Obama intends to have his way no matter the cost, and how many times he lies.

Call your congressman and tell him/her that they are going down the toilet with Obama.

Check out the latest poll results on the Wall Street Journal :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123690358175013837.html

[wmsshields]

And another you may have missed if CBS is your source of news:

Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has directed more than $3 million in earmarks to a company in his district to build an underwater swimmer detection sonar system for the Navy to protect its docks and ships.

But Roll Call newspaper reports the company had never built a sonar system before and had no experience in sonar engineering. Instead, KDH Defense Systems sews bulletproof vests. Documents indicate the company originally wanted to partner with other local defense contractors close to Murtha and it worked with a lobbying firm that employed both Murtha's brother and a former aide. KDH ended up hiring a British company to do the engineering.

Remember Obama during the primaries promissing to go line by line and eliminate wasteful earmarks?

[speakinup22]

Murtha - another fine example of Democrats in action.

[wmsshields]

Other news CBS missed: Obama's Justice Department dismisses charges agains Black Panthers already convicted of voter intimidation in Philly; Congressional air travel triples since Dems took over congress; Feds drop criminal charges against former DC mayor Berry; Obama administration is purging federal inspectors general who reveal corruption in various departments involving friends of the President.
I don't know why I think you missed these stories.