The three men have been arrested, according to London police, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. Two of the men, 24 and 28 years old, were apprehended at a southeast London residence, while the other, a 21-year-old, was arrested out on the street. Police have also confirmed four other search warrants are being served in southeast London, in connection to the Rigby investigation.
I think it’s pretty low, and a bunch of sleazy, sleazy journalism. It has gone to the bottom of the barrel… it makes me sick.Toronto Councillor Doug Ford, brother of Mayor Rob Ford • Reacting to an article accusing him of selling hashish in his youth, an investigation of the Ford family’s relationship with drugs spurred by allegations his mayoral brother smoked crack cocaine. The article, published by the Globe and Mail today, uses 10 unnamed sources alleging Doug Ford sold hash in the 1980s, until he was 22 — earlier this week, Rob Ford denied the crack smoking allegations, saying “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.” source
1976 Apple computer sells for $668,000
AP: A German auction house said Saturday that a 1976 Apple 1 computer sold for a record $668,000.
The functional model, purchased by an anonymous buyer, was built by Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a family garage. It is one of only six functioning models left in the world, the auction house claims.
Photo: Courtesy Computer History Museum
Obviously Apple was fibbing a bit when they released the Macintosh Classic. This here is the true classic, right down to Steve Wozniak’s inimitable signature. Though that’s a pretty steep price tag for a machine that can’t even play Angry Birds.
We will bear all responsibilities. I have always promised you victory, and I promise victory again.Hasan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah • From a televised speech on the raging civil war in Syria, neighbor to Lebanon, Hezbollah’s country of origin. Nasrallah’s remarks today were the most overt yet in acknowledging Hezbollah fighters have been entering Syria on the side of Bashar al-Assad and his government. This reality was in play even as he spoke, with Hezbollah fighters aiding Assad’s forces in driving rebel forces out of Quasir, a strategically-relevant town which sits near the Syria-Lebanese border. source
North Korea’s hidden labor camps exposed: A new UN panel is vowing to hold North Korea’s Kim regime to ‘full accountability’ for decades of mass crime and murder. Will Pyongyang face ICC indictment?
One man’s escape from Camp 14 and North Korea
Photos: Satellite images taken of North Korea’s Ch’oma-Bong valley show an increase in prisoner housing between 2008 (top) and 2011, in this dual image created and distributed by human rights group Amnesty International in London. Courtesy Amnesty International/Reuters
North Korea’s use of brutal prison camps, in which starvation, torture and public execution are norms (according to accounts from those few who are actually able to escape, against all odds) is not exactly new news. It’s hard to know just how much of the public is aware of it, however — the number of North Koreans actively imprisoned in these camps is estimated between 150,000 to 200,000.
In another, investigators seized the phone records of Fox News reporter James Rosen, searched his personal e-mails, tracked his visits to the State Department and traced the timing of his phone conversations with Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department security adviser. Kim was charged in 2010 as the suspected source of a Fox News report about North Korean nuclear weapon testing. Perhaps most disturbing, documents related to the secret search warrant for Rosen’s phone and e-mail records cited him as a co-conspirator in the espionage case.
This appeared to journalists to put Rosen in unprecedented jeopardy for doing his job. Although the president said in his speech Thursday that “journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs,” he was nevertheless adamant about pursuing government officials who he said “break the law,” presumably by discussing national security matters and other classified information with reporters, even if that scares off officials from becoming whistle-blowers or even having any contact with reporters.
Downie, who is the paper’s vice president at-large and also spent nearly two decades as the paper’s executive editor, also says that the administration “has disregarded the First Amendment and intimidated a growing number of government sources of information — most of which would not be classified — that is vital for journalists to hold leaders accountable.”
Ours is an operation, whether it’s the state law or the federal, to go after illegals, not the crime first, that they happen to be illegals. My program, my philosophy is a pure program. You go after illegals. I’m not afraid to say that. And you go after them and you lock them up.Maricopa County, Az. Sheriff Joe Arpaio • As quoted in a federal court decision which ruled that the sheriff’s department illegally targeted Latinos in its immigration patrols. The accusations against Arpaio and his police department include accusations that officers pulled over residents for the purposes of checking their immigration status, along with a repudiation of the aggressive detentions people pulled over by police officers face. The quote above was used as evidence of improper conduct by the department. Arpaio denies the charges and his lawyer argues that the department received poor training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
haydensutton asks: M
» SFB says: Why yes, that is the letter “M.” — Ernie @ SFB
Around 30 arrested at Moscow gay rights rally
Reuters: Around 30 pro- and anti-gay activists were arrested on Saturday after defying Moscow’s ban on gay rights demonstrations.
Russia’s parliament has given preliminary approval to legislation which bans ‘homosexual propaganda’ which critics say would in effect ban gay rights demonstrations.
Saturday’s arrests occurred at the same time as Ukraine held its first ever gay rights rally which was protected by police.Photo: A gay rights activist holds a placard during a rally to mark the international day against homophobia in St. Petersburg on May 17, 2013. The placard reads ‘Homophobia kills!’ (Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters)
A reminder that the gay-rights battle still has many fronts around the world.
Basically, Republicans are attacking Obama where he is least vulnerable and at a time when they have minimal credibility. It isn’t working. By trying to turn everything into a scandal rather than saying Obama’s policies are wrongheaded—and rather than fixing their own image problems with minority, female, younger, and moderate voters—Republicans are focusing on attacking a guy whose name will never again appear on a ballot.Polling guru and political analyst Charlie Cook, explaining why Republicans’ attacks on President Obama may ultimately fall flat. Despite the media feeding frenzy over the three concurrent scandals to hit the Obama White House, the President’s approval rating has hardly suffered at all: In general, it’s hovered around 51%, with one poll even showing an uptick since April. Meanwhile, a recent CNN poll showed the Republican Party with the highest negative ratings—59%—that either party has received in more than 20 years. “Americans may not be ecstatic about President Obama and his policies,” Cook writes, “but compared with the Republicans, they think Obama doesn’t look so bad.” source
Abstinence-only education is now illegal in Illinois. A bill passed two days ago by the state senate will require that schools with sex education classes include units on birth control. Schools can opt out of sex education altogether if they so desire (as they can now), and they’ll still have to teach that abstinence is the only absolute, surefire way to prevent pregnancy and STIs, but now they’ll have to provide information on contraceptives as well. The governor is expected to sign the bill. source
Jan Brewer, liberal hero? The Republican Governor of Arizona—traditionally no friend to the left—has pledged to veto every bill that lands on her desk until her fellow Republicans agree to implement the Medicaid expansion in Obamacare. Yesterday, she made good on the threat, vetoing five bills in quick succession and repeating demands that Republicans in the state house approve the expansion. A local wing of the GOP is putting enormous pressure on Republican state legislators to oppose the expansion, which would provide coverage to an estimated 50,000 low-income Arizonans. (Photo credit: AP) source