CNN.com’s Most Popular Stories Today

So, in the news we have a new right-wing Supreme Court justice, Bush’s State of the Union speech tonight, war in Iraq and Coretta Scott King dying... And our periodic glance at CNN.com’s most-popular news stories, which ranks the most-read items on the CNN site, shows that this is what we’re reading as of 12:45 PM (EST) today:

1. Seven dead in California postal shooting. A female ex-postal worker opened fire at a mail processing plant, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said early Tuesday.

2. Bassett, Vance have twins. It's a boy, and a girl, for acting duo Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance.

3. Wal-mart exec's five-finger discount. A former top-ranking executive at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pleaded guilty to fraud and tax charges Tuesday, admitting that he stole money, gift cards and merchandise from the world's largest retailer.

4. Dominatrix acquitted in client's death. A dominatrix was acquitted of manslaughter Monday in the death of a man who prosecutors say suffered a heart attack while strapped to a replica of a medieval rack.

5. Group: 'New car smell' includes toxins. A Michigan environmental group is charging that at least part of the so-called "new car smell" is toxic, and that the interior of an automobile has dangerous levels of various chemicals.

Yeah, we’re a real bright people. Believe me, only someone going postal could have edged out the Bassett birth and dominatrix stories for the top spot.