Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 299

Rape, Suicide, Finally Charges?

UPDATE #2 Rick Ross has finally apologized for lyrics that bragged about giving date rape drug to woman then having sex with her while unconscious.  See below and decide if apology should be accepted.  Reebok just dropped him as spokesman--only then did he offer apology. 

UPDATE #1:  CBS ties together the California and Canada tragedies here.

Earlier:  Sexually assaulted, pictures taken and ending up on the Internet, ending with the girl, 15, hanging herself eight months later.    This time it was in California.  Finally three teens have been charged.   Her parents have set up a foundation and seeking a new law.  In  a similar case in Canada, 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons of Halifax, Nova Scotia, died Sunday after hanging herself last week.

Truths and Lies About Guns

Tim Egan in his latest online NYT column calls out Adam Lanza's mom, Sen. Ted Cruz and others, but especially Wayne Lapierre of the NRA.

Wayne LaPierre is a clown. That’s what the governor of Connecticut, Dan Malloy, said a week ago about the leader of the gun lobby. “This guy is so out of whack, it’s unbelievable,” said Governor Malloy.

LaPierre’s job is to frighten people; more than a clown, he is the Kim Jong-un of American politics, saying things that are so outrageous that, by contrast, garden variety extremists don’t look so bad. Recently, of course, he suggested militarizing all elementary schools to prevent further shootings.

Early Warrening

The Senator from Massachusetts schools the bankers again.

Howard End for Rand?

Jon Stewart with epic takedown of Rand Paul's appearance at Howard U.


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Bob Seger, Post-Coma

Gotta be the best lede for an AP story so far this month:  "The first words of a 79-year-old Michigan woman as she emerged from a five-year semi-coma were, “\I want to go to a Bob Seger concert.' And now her wish has come true."  More on her latest night moves:  "Evie Branan cheered, threw her hands in the air and danced during Seger’s concert Thursday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. She also met Seger and his family, talked with crew and band members and received VIP treatment...After suffering a stroke that left Branan unable to speak, move or eat on her own, she became a resident of Willowbrook manor’s long-term care unit. She awoke from the semi-coma on May 7, 2011." Video below.  Longer story here.

Greg Mitchell, longtime editor at Crawdaddy, is author of more than a dozen books.

'Fatal' Conclusion?

As you may know, Errol Morris recently wrote a book basically backing the idea that former Green Beret Jeffrey MacDonald may be innocent in the so-called "Fatal Vision" murder of his wife all those many years ago.  Thia naturally ticked of  Joe McGinniss, author of the famous book of that title, who responded with a bestselling Kindle Single questioning Morris's views and accuracy.  Now The Atlantic has published an interview with Morris--which prompted McGinniss to threatened tbem with a lawsuit for defamation, based on what the author of the piece wrote (too much to go into here) about his deal or non-deal with MacDonald. 

Now The Atlantic, McGinniss just wrote on Facebook--while providing all of the letters back and forth-- has "corrected" the piece in two places and also linked to a key piece critical of Morris, and while they refused to apologize,  it seems the lawsuit threat is gone.  For now.

Oliver Stone Meets Julian Assange

Despite my long history of WikiLeaks writings (see my books over on the right rail), and my recent interview with Oliver Stone, I somehow missed his meeting with Julian Assange--at the embassy, of course--last week, Oliver's tweets, and yesterday's Hollywood Reporter story. 

At Twitter, Oliver summarized:  "Strong mind, no sun,friends who visit, work to be done,one documentary coming out from Alex Gibney that is not expected to be kind...A sad occasion in that Julian could not follow me out the door. He lives in a tiny room with great modesty and discipline...I don't think most people in the US realize how important Wikileaks is and why Julian's case needs support."

The Two Men Behind That Mitch McConnell Tape?

Just out, Dem official in old Kentucky claims to local TV that two guys from Progress Kentucky (a Super Pac) did it--from outside the Senator's office while the strategy meeting was underway.  So: not illegal?  Grey area for sure.  Names named. Two men not yet responding.  UPDATE:  Treasurer of the PAC quit this week after MoJo released tape, says he's against "illegal" activities.  

"They were in the hallway after the, I guess after the celebration and hoopla ended, apparently these people broke for lunch and had a strategy meeting, which is, in every campaign I've been affiliated with, makes perfect sense,” [Jacob] Conway told WFPL. “One of them held the elevator, the other one did the recording and they left. That was what they told to me from them directly."

Conway continued, "Apparently the gentlemen overheard the conversation and decided to record it with a phone or recording device they had in their pocket. Could've been an iPhone, could've been a Flip camera or something like that."

Ten Years Ago: Rumsfeld on 'Untidiness' in Iraq

Yes, it was ten years ago that the Donald offered his famous press conference amid the looting and general chaos set off by U.S. "victory" in Iraq (which would only get worse).  Here's link to it.  You remember: "Stuff happens."  Love this:   "We've seen in that transition period there is untidiness. And there's no question but that that's not anyone's choice."  For much more on Iraq disgraces see my new book.

And the classic:

And does that mean you couldn't go in there and take a television camera or get a still photographer and take a picture of something that was imperfect, untidy? I could do that in any city in America. Think what's happened in our cities when we've had riots and problems and looting. Stuff happens! But in terms of what's going on in that country, it is a fundamental misunderstanding to see those images over and over and over again of some boy walking out with a vase and say, ''Oh, my goodness, you didn't have a plan.'' That's nonsense. They know what they're doing. And they're doing a terrific job. And it's untidy. And freedom's untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that's what's going to happen here. . . .

ATF Found 500 Violations at Gun Store Linked the Sandy Hook

My local paper, the Journal News (you know the one that got slammed for printing names of gun owners here), with probe that found that the gun shop that sold that Bushmaster to Adam Lanza had previously been cited for 500 violations by the ATF--but only shut down after the Sandy Hook tragedy. 

Among the “willful violations” found from January 2010 to July 2011 at Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, Conn.: A senior store employee “sold ammunition on at least two occasions” to a man “he had reason to believe was a felon.”It’s the same employee who sold the Bushmaster XM15 rifle to Nancy Lanza on March 29, 2010, that her son, Adam Lanza, used at Sandy Hook Elementary School to kill 26 people on Dec. 14, ATF records show.