Apparently, he was afraid of rocking the boat a little too much. The photos, which document the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. military, could tick off the Muslim world at large, Obama was told by his military advisers. So rather than cause a buttload of fresh drama, Obama chose to keep the photos sealed. Probably a smart move on his part. We can live without seeing photos of waterboarding. source
It is really creepy stuff. If you read the chat logs, it makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck. [This person] certainly knows how to push the right buttons.
Celia Blay • A British woman who informed authorities of a creepster who masqueraded around online as a young girl, convincing people to join her in a suicide pact and arranged to let her watch on a webcam. Blay helped narrow it down to a Minnesota man who works as a male nurse. William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, 46, admitted to instigating five suicides, although he never actually watched the videos. He’s also suspected in a sixth in Canada. Creep. • source
Five of Obama’s six possible choices are women, and just one is a dude. We wonder which way he’s leaning. Clearly, it’s with the guy. Because he’s dropping tons of hints. source
The judicial choices are two female appeals court justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood, and a male Calif. Supreme Court justice, Carlos Moreno. source
Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who argues for the government in Supreme Court cases, is also a possibility. Plus, she knows everyone on the bench already. Hooray! source
Outside of the courtroom are Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano, both of whom are fairly well-known. source
Whoever wins the race to become the next Supreme Court justice, we recommend using extra Lysol on David Souter’s chair, because who knows where that guy’s been? source
$16,254 a yearthe amount co-pilot Rebecca Shaw made; she once had to augment the job with part-time work at a coffee shop in our former home town of Norfolk, Va. (please don’t be Fair Grounds … Yikes!) source
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday’s erotic massages. After much prodding from attorney generals across the country, not to mention the terrible PR of a guy labeled the “Craiglist killer” killing massage therapists all over the Boston metro area, Craigslist is finally getting rid of one of their most, uh, popular sections, the “Erotic Services” section. It’ll be replaced with a moderated adult category which we’re sure is going to put massage therapists working out of sketchy hotel rooms out of work. source
The goal Astronauts from Shuttle Atlantis are up in space attempting to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, a 19-year-old beast of technology which needs new batteries and gyroscopes, a new camera and pointing mechanism, and a 300,000-mile oil inspection. source
The goal Astronauts from Shuttle Atlantis are up in space attempting to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, a 19-year-old beast of technology which needs new batteries and gyroscopes, a new camera and pointing mechanism, and a 300,000-mile oil inspection.
The perils Well, beyond the fact that they’ll be chilling outside attempting to fix a broken telescope via spacewalk, there’s lots of space junk in that part of the orbit, and if a piece hits the shuttle, NASA might need to send a rescue mission. Scary. source
April was a shocker. I would have bet on a dip because March foreclosures were so high.
RealtyTrack spokesman Rick Sharga • On April’s cruddy foreclosure numbers, which saw a record 342,000 homes receiving default notices. On the plus side, though, repossessions fell 11%. Still though, that’s like saying torture’s way up but beheadings are down. • source
