Monday Post

Let's begin...


Go home, Elizabeth. You're drunk (viewer discretion is advised):


Just... wow...

She actually wrote some of this down so I guess alcohol isn't completely to blame.

That she would try excusing her drunken yet heartfelt rant on lack of sleep is either a total lack of imagination or some residual spirits.


Sister Helen Prejean believes that convicted murderer Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has repented for his crimes and, therefore, does not deserve the death penalty:

Since testimony began in Boston federal court in early March, the jury has heard from about 150 witness, including parents who lost children in the attack, first responders who attended to victims who had lost limbs, and Tsarnaev's Russian relatives who remembered him as a loving young boy.

But the closest they came to hearing from Tsarnaev himself was Monday's testimony from the nun, Sister Helen Prejean, 76, who described meeting him five times over the past year at the request of defense lawyers. Prejean, whose story inspired the 1993 book and 1995 film "Dead Man Walking," said she believed Tsarnaev was remorseful.

"He said it emphatically. He said no one deserves to suffer like they did," said Prejean, the public face of the New Orleans-based Ministry Against the Death Penalty and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. "I had every reason to think that he was taking it in and that he was genuinely sorry for what he did."

The defense rested its case after her testimony.

Dzhokhar Ysarnaev is as repentant as Omar Khadr is.

Oh, wait....

Omar Khadr is an angry and "highly dangerous" terrorist who shows no remorse for the killing of a U.S. soldier and other crimes, a psychiatrist speaking on behalf of prosecutors told a Guantanamo Bay court Tuesday. 

Khadr, who pleaded guilty to five war-crimes charges on Monday, still has strong ties to his "al Qaeda family" and has made no effort to distance himself from extremist views, Dr. Michael Welner told Khadr's sentencing hearing. 

"He's highly dangerous," Welner said. "It is his belief that he should not have been here for a day ... and that it is everybody else's fault that he is." ...

According to the statement of facts, Khadr threw a Russian-made F1 grenade from behind the wall of a compound in Afghanistan that was under siege from American forces in July 2002. Khadr was in the compound with other members of a terrorist cell with whom he had a pact to die rather than surrender. 

"Khadr threw the grenade with the specific intent of killing or injuring as many Americans as he could," prosecutor Jeff Groharing told the court. 

The grenade killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. Groharing told the court Khadr was "happy" to have killed a soldier, a fact that would bring him comfort during his time in custody at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul. 

"Khadr indicated that when he would get 'pissed off' with the guards at Bagram, he would recall his killing of the U.S. soldier and it would make him feel good," Groharing said, reading from the statement of facts.

Once more, Pamela Gellar is vindicated:

Fox News analyst Sean Hannity and Muslim hate preacher Anjem Choudary got into a shouting match Wednesday, along with cartoonist and free speech advocate Pamela Geller, over Geller’s cartoon contest last weekend that sparked a shooting ...

Choudray has spoken in the past in favor of killing people who draw Mohammed. Speaking after the deadly Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, Choudray said that people who would draw Mohammed “know the consequences” and should expect death.

I don't recall other religions putting bounties on peoples' heads for some perceived slight.

Being afraid to anger the perpetually enraged Islamists is like an abused wife being warned by her wimpy neighbours to have supper on the table lest her abusive husband smack her again.



King Salman did not attend a summit at Camp David may indicate that not even the Saudis have any confidence in Obama:

Last month, Obama invited GCC leaders to Washington after his administration secured a framework agreement with Iran to limit Tehran’s nuclear program. Gulf states worry that the potential deal — offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program — will provide Iran with an influx of cash to fund proxies and expand its regional ambitions in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon.

This week’s summit aimed to let the U.S. settle those nerves about the emerging deal and discuss regional security issues, including the takeover of Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced that the country’s monarch, King Salman, would not attend the summit, even though White House officials told reporters on Friday that he would be there.

Saudi officials denied that his absence amounts to a snub, and said the last-minute decision by King Salman to stay in Riyadh reflected his desire to monitor the cease-fire scheduled to begin Tuesday between the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition that has been launching airstrikes in the country.

Curious because they were such friends.


George Zimmerman, acquitted of shooting Trayvon Martin, was injured when someone tried shooting him:

George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 2012 shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Florida, suffered a minor wound after being shot at in his vehicle on Monday, police said.

Zimmerman did not fire a gun in the Monday incident, his latest brush with law enforcement since his 2013 trial, according to police. 

No charges were immediately filed in the shooting, which took place on a roadway in Lake Mary, Florida, a suburb of Orlando.

The other man involved was Matthew Apperson, police said. Apperson previously accused Zimmerman of threatening to kill him during a September 2014 roadside dispute, but declined to press charges.

Given the recent riots and spate of attacks on police officers, I expect the situation will get worse.






And now, things you might not know about the Pieta:

Michelangelo carved it from a single slab of marble. 

Specifically, he used Carrara marble, a white and blue stone named for the Italian region where it is mined. It's been a favorite medium of sculptors since the days of Ancient Rome.