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02 Mar 2011 12:46

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U.S.: Nearly 43 years later, Sirhan Sirhan mounts a Manchurian defense

  • 6/4/68 Following a win in the California Democratic primary, Robert Kennedy was shot three times by Sirhan Sirhan, wounds that would kill him. Sirhan admitted to the shooting and claimed “twenty years of malice aforethought” went into the crime. He also claimed to have done it for his country, which suggests that Kennedy’s support for Israel likely played a role in the native Palestinian’s crime.
  • 3/2/11 A Sirhan lawyer, William F. Pepper, is taking a peculiar and pretty provocative case before the parole board, the 14th time Sirhan has appeared for parole since the shooting. Pepper plans to argue for both the possibility of a second gunman, and that Sirhan had been “hypno-programmed” into the murder. Moreover, Pepper claims he thinks he knows who did it, but declined to tell the press. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 12:33

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Politics: Fox News kills Newt, Santorum contracts over presidential plans

  • This had been contemplated from the start. This is Fox policy, this is the announcement that is being made today.
  • Fox News’ Brett Baier • Explaining why Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, each of whom are running for president, just had their contracts suspended while they consider presidential runs. Sixty days from now, if they actually plan to run, their contracts get terminated. So … wait. There are a bunch of other folks on Fox News’ payroll in the same boat. Like, you know, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, who have basically used their entire careers on Fox News as one long presidential pre-campaign. And they’re not getting ditched yet, simply because they haven’t done their presidential exploratory committees? Wuuh? Fox News has some very strange policies about what constitutes “considering presidential runs.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 11:09

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World: Pakistan’s poisonous, difficult anti-blasphemy environment

  • This kind of attack was expected after the government’s response to governor Taseer’s assassination. Because of the government’s very weak response … it has encouraged the hardliners in society.
  • Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies Amir Rana • Explaining how the response to the assassination of Salman Taseer, who fought a blasphemy law unpopular with Christians in the country, may have led to today’s assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti. Before his death, Taseer fought in favor of a pardon for a Christian mother of four who had been sentenced to death for reportedly saying blasphemous things about Prophet Muhammad. After Taseer’s death, Pakistani officials have stayed away from changing the law. Some feel that the effect of this has encouraged some to take more hardline approach to minority groups. Sigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:43

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World: David Cameron steps up British efforts to help out in Libya

  • last week The British government faced criticism over the speed in which it got its own people out of a very volatile situation in Libya. Rescue planes only came to oil fields days after the crisis started.
  • this week As a sign in contrasts, David Cameron is now planning on evacuating 6,000 Egyptians from the border of Libya and Tunisia. The decision caught British officials off guard with its speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:31

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U.S.: Free speech wins: Supreme Court favors Westboro in funeral case

  • 8-1 the vote in favor of Westboro’s free speech rights source
  • » Sad, not surprising, but understandable: The fact of the matter is, while we would’ve loved to see Westboro blocked from picketing funerals as a political message, the First Amendment is pretty set in stone and, as much as we dislike the ramifications of this decision, it certainly was the right one. (By the way, the lone dissenter? Samuel Alito.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:16

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World: Gaddafi: I’m not actually in any sort of political office

  • Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve … [I hold] no position from which to step down.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Explaining that he can’t step down from office because he’s not currently in any political position. Let your brain chew on that one for a second while we invent an office for him to step down from. How about “Chief Asshole”? Works for us. How about you guys? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 10:08

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Culture: Recap: The people currently living with Charlie Sheen right now

  • one former model, nanny and graphic designer named Natalie Kenly
  • one porn star named Bree Olson (Her real name? Rachel Oberlin)
  • zero kids; they were taken away yesterday by police officials source
  • » What happened? For obvious reasons, Sheen’s estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, filed a restraining order against the Alex Jones devotee and then took the twins from Sheen and his “goddesses” with the help of a sheriff’s deputy. Sheen plans to use legal action to get the kids back. But considering he’s now unemployed and living with a porn star, this oughta be tough.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Mar 2011 09:55

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World: Christian Pakistani official Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated

  • Shahbaz Bhatti was targeted because he was Christian. Pakistan’s minister of minorities was ambushed in his car, shot multiple times and killed. He was one of Pakistan’s only Christian political figures and its only Christian political minister. As Bhatti was Catholic, the Vatican has already condemned his murder. “To the prayer for the victim, the condemnations for this dishonorable act of violence, to our closeness to Christian Pakistanis so beset by hatred,” a Vatican spokesperson said about the incident. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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