Bush Turns Philosopher

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What's on the president's mind? The Post says he's seeking answers to deep questions like: "What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? … How will history judge what we've done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?"

In interviews with some of those who have attended these unpublicized sessions, the Post says Mr. Bush "seems alone, isolated by events beyond his control." Friends and advisers, too, worry that Mr. Bush, burdened by the unrelenting war in Iraq, "remains largely locked inside the fortress of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the seventh year of a presidency turned sour."

Yet he remains resolute, rarely expressing doubt about his decisions, and displaying "an inexorable upbeat energy that defies the political storms."

"You don't get any feeling of somebody crouching down in the bunker," said Irwin M. Stelzer, one of the scholars who met with the president. "This is either extraordinary self-confidence or out of touch with reality. I can't tell you which."

Obama Routs Clinton In Money Battle

Barack Obama's trouncing of Hillary Clinton in second-quarter campaign fund-raising was touted on most of the front pages Monday, with the Los Angeles Times pointing out that his $32.5 million total was "more than all other Democratic candidates combined raised for the same period four years ago."

Obama's take over the past three months was about $5 million more than Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, and was all the more impressive, notes the Washington Post, because it came "even after she began turning for fundraising help to her husband, Bill Clinton, the most prolific money-raiser in Democratic history."

The New York Times adds that if Clinton's estimate that she raised around $27 million holds true, Obama "will have outpaced Mrs. Clinton for a second consecutive quarter in money that can be spent in primaries."

In other campaign news… Republican Fred Thompson still isn't an official candidate, but he and his family are starting to face the sort of press scrutiny reserved for major presidential contenders.

The NYT, in a page-one story, looks at the lobbying activities of Thompson's two sons, Fred Jr. and Daniel, who began working as lobbyists only after their father was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994.

The Times says that while the elder Thompson, who also worked as a lobbyist before and after his years as a senator, is portraying himself as a folksy outsider taking on the Washington establishment, he and his sons have "made lobbying a family affair."

Less Stress=Less Fat?

Could eliminating stress be the key to losing weight?

According to the Washington Post, a promising new study suggests there's a link between stress and obesity. The study found that when laboratory mice were placed in stressful situations and fed the equivalent of a junk-food diet, a hormone was released that promoted fat growth.

The real breakthrough was the discovery that scientists could then use this information to shrink fat deposits in specific areas of the body.

While much research still needs to be done, and tests on humans are still at least two years away, the Post says the findings could "lead to new ways to melt flab and manipulate fat for cosmetic purposes."

The research also reveals new clues about why obesity has been increasing so quickly, particularly in stressed-out, Big Mac-loving Western countries.

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