Mulling USDA guidelines to see if leftover Brunswick Stew in the fridge might kill me. But here are some unspoiled news treats for you:

* Dueling polls in Texas show Ted Cruz moving up on or ahead of David Dewhurst for the July 31 GOP Senate runoff. A Cruz win would be another big pelt for the Right.

* Politico reports Romney campaign’s response to Globe report that he was CEO and sole owner of Bain Capital until 2002: “It’s just a technicality.” Uh, OK.

* Long AP story says T-Paw’s dullness could make him ideal Romney running-mate.

* Fox tries out new Randian slogan via historian Arthur Herman: America gripped in “civil war” between “makers and takers.”

* NBC and Microsoft to “divorce;” MSNBC.com site will be renamed NBCNews.com, but MSNBC cable channel will retain current name. Confused? I am.

And in non-political news:

* Report suggests Tom Cruise was recruited into Church of Scientology by first wife Mimi Rogers.

Back in just a while.

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.