Stuff For a Tuesday

Quickly now....


There will be no peace in Syria until Bashar Assad is gone:

The Syrian government and its security forces are using women and children as human shields in the government’s war with Syrian rebels. The brutal regime of

Bashar Assad has forced thousands of Syrians to flee to Turkey as a result of their atrocities. There have been numerous reports of the regime's shelling of residential neighborhoods and targeting of civilians. 

Santorum is out of the running:

 Rick Santorum ended his improbable run for the White House on Tuesday after leading a Republican tilt to the right that could dog the more moderate front-runner, Mitt Romney, in November's election.

Trailing in polls and fundraising, the conservative former Pennsylvania senator suspended his campaign and cleared the way for Romney to clinch the nomination to face President Barack Obama in the November 6 general election.

A staunch social conservative with a penchant for sleeveless sweaters, Santorum was the underdog who clawed his way to near the top of the Republican race and won the first 2012 nominating contest in Iowa by a thread.

His rise forced the issues of birth control and the role of Christianity in public life to the forefront of the campaign, frustrating Romney, a former private equity executive who sought to keep the focus on the economy.

(Sidebar: no. The popular press put birth control on the map, the way they do with other things that eventually mar their reputations.)



Related: Juan Cole doesn't understand Rick Santorum, Catholicism or anything else.



Put this somewhere between "get your stinking paws off the local economy, you damn, dirty Asian!" and "the only good Jap is an extinct one":

Peter Cho is a “good Asian,” according to Marion Barry, despite the fact that his store has plexiglass barriers and is therefore “dirty.”

Barry inserted his foot in his mouth yet again last weekend when he visited an Asian grocery store to boost his public image, and presumably do some damage control.

Mission not accomplished.

Barry visited Peter Cho, who has owned a grocery store in Washington, D.C. since 1984, and promptly told a Washington Post reporter that Cho was an an “example of a good Asian.”

 (thank you)

Shocked Cat just can't believe the Asian-hate.

And now, some animal cuteness. Enjoy.