Mark Memmott

We're a day late, but some stories just beg to be passed along:

"Utah Duck Hunter Shot In Buttocks By His Dog." (The Salt Lake Tribune)

It seems two guys and a dog were out hunting on Sunday. One man was in their boat with the canine. A loaded shotgun was lying across the bow pointed toward the other guy, who was in the water. Fido got excited, stepped on the gun and ... a little while later doctors were plucking 27 pieces of birdshot out of a butt.

An Afghan woman who was sentenced to prison after being raped by a relative — because in the eyes of authorities she had committed adultery — has been pardoned by President Hamid Karzai.

But her freedom comes with a price, according to news reports: She must become the second wife of the man who attacked her. Karzai's office says the woman and her attacker both have agreed to the marriage.

Our new boss started work today and if you're interested in what NPR CEO and President Gary Knell is thinking as he settles into the job:

-- He's due on Talk of the Nation just after 2 p.m. ET, and will be answering questions from callers. When we get closer to the time he's scheduled to be on, we'll embed an audio player in this post so that we can stream the conversation. To find a station that broadcasts or streams the show, click here.

The National Weather Service has clocked winds above 90 mph around Centerville, Utah, today — "monster winds" that are blowing with hurricane-force and have overturned semi-trailer rigs, toppled trees and knocked out power, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The newspaper adds that:

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Signs Signal Pause In Stock Market Rally.

-- Jobless Claims Pop Above 400,000.

-- Obama, Presidents Clinton And Bush To Mark 'World AIDS Day'.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 last week, to 402,000, the Employment and Training Administration just reported.

They've basically been hovering around that 400,000 mark all year — another sign that while the economy appears to be growing slowly, it isn't advancing fast enough to boost job growth.

The ONE Campaign will be live-streaming at 10 a.m. ET as President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former President George W. Bush and others take part in a forum on "The Beginning of the End of AIDS" at George Washington University.

It's one of many events marking World AIDS Day.

Charged this week with trying to trade methamphetamine for sex with a man, former Arapahoe County (Colo.) sheriff Patrick Sullivan is now sitting in jail.

More specifically, he's being held in the county's Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility. That's right. It's named after him. His bail has been set at $500,000.

Three days of big gains, including the best day for the Dow Jones industrial average in more than two years, look like they'll be followed today by a bit of a pause in the latest stock market rally on Wall Street.