Winning Hearts & Minds

Georgian president accused of using state funds for botox treatments

"Georgian prosecutors said Friday they were probing the alleged misuse of state funds, as accusations surfaced that President Mikheil Saakashvili had spent thousands of dollars of government money on botox treatments in the United States. According to alleged expense documents aired by anti-Saakashvili broadcaster Imedi on Friday, the president splashed out more than $11,000 (8500 euro) in government money on cosmetic procedures while visiting New York in 2009 and 2011. The documents also purported to show that Saakashvili spent around $9,000 of state money in the United Kingdom on a naked portrait of an unspecified US actress." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorgian president accused of using state funds for botox treatments

Couple handcuffed for passing out End the Fed literature near Liberty Bell

"A video recently posted on YouTube features a man and woman sitting on the ground near Independence Hall handcuffed for at least 10 minutes. The reason for their detainment: passing out fliers. What’s that sound? I think it’s Benjamin Franklin rolling over in his grave. According to the description for the video, Mark Passio and his wife Barb were passing out End the Fed fliers to folks standing in the line near the Liberty Bell, which Mark says he’s done nearly 20 times." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCouple handcuffed for passing out End the Fed literature near Liberty Bell

Cops Taser Then Shoot Man to Death After Family Calls 911 for Help for His Depression

"A California sheriff's deputy needlessly Tasered and then shot a man to death after his father called 911 seeking help for his son's depression, the family claims in court. Parents and two brothers of the late George I. Ramirez sued Stanislaus County, its sheriff's department, Sheriff Adam Christianson, and Deputy Art Parra Jr. in Federal Court. George Ramirez, the father, says he called 911 on April 16, 2012, seeking help for his son. Ramirez says in the complaint that he told the 911 operator that his son was depressed, but never said that the family was in danger or that a crime was in progress." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Taser Then Shoot Man to Death After Family Calls 911 for Help for His Depression

Woman Handing Out Samples at Va. Costco Shot Dead by Police

"A Sterling, Va., Costco has resumed normal business hours Thursday, less than a day after sheriff's deputies fatally shot a woman who came at officers with scissors and a knife. The melee began at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, when store employees noticed the woman acting oddly while handing out pizza samples, said Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman. Deputies were called to the store to handle the disturbance. One officer tried to use a stun gun on Scott, but Chapman said the stun gun 'did not work,' and one of the deputies fatally shot her. A sheriff's deputy also was wounded in the leg, possibly by a ricochet. The only shots fired were by one of the deputies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman Handing Out Samples at Va. Costco Shot Dead by Police

Exclusive New Adam Kokesh Arrest Footage; Calls For Orderly Disbandment Of Washington

"Adam's arrest in Philadelphia as never seen before with multiple camera angles and exclusive footage that shows him clearly being targeted and pulled out of the crowd WITHOUT assaulting anyone!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExclusive New Adam Kokesh Arrest Footage; Calls For Orderly Disbandment Of Washington

Google wants blimps to bring wifi access to sub-Saharan Africa

"Google is planning to develop high-speed wireless networks in sub-Saharan Africa with the help of high-altitude balloons that can transmit signals across hundreds of square miles. The internet search giant wants to connect one billion more people to the internet in emerging markets such as Africa and south-east Asia, and is ready to team up with telecoms firms and equipment providers to build networks that will improve speeds in cities and bring the internet to rural areas. Google is considering a mix of technologies, broadcasting signals from masts, satellites and even remote-controlled balloons known as blimps." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle wants blimps to bring wifi access to sub-Saharan Africa

Parking Tickets Issued on Wrecks while Stockholm Burns

"While the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. 'Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,' Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday. Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParking Tickets Issued on Wrecks while Stockholm Burns

Man Responsible For NY 15-Year Mandatory Minimum Pot Sentences Dies

"William M. Fine, a former magazine publisher and retailer whose research for Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller helped shape New York State’s stringent narcotics laws, died on Friday in Beverly Hills, Calif. His biggest impact on history resulted from a dinner party conversation with Rockefeller in early 1972, according to a former Rockefeller aide. On May 8, 1973, Rockefeller signed legislation mandating minimum prison sentences of 15 years for selling two ounces or possessing four ounces of heroin, cocaine or marijuana. The legislation was the toughest in the country, and increased the state’s prison population 500 percent over the next 20 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan Responsible For NY 15-Year Mandatory Minimum Pot Sentences Dies

Glenn Greenwald: Andrew Sullivan, terrorism, and the art of distortion

"I used to wonder how people who continuously justify any manner of violence and militarism by their own side could possibly spend so much time pointing to others and depicting them - those people over there - as the embodiment of violence and savage aggression. But at some point I realized that it's precisely because they continuously justify so much violence and aggression from their side that they have such a boundless compulsion to depict others as the Uniquely Primitive and Violent Evil. That's how they absolve themselves. It's how they distract themselves from the reality of what they support and what their governments do in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Andrew Sullivan, terrorism, and the art of distortion