Is this real? That was my first reaction upon seeing this political advertisement for the first time. A quick Internet search confirms that the man, Mark Block, is actually Herman Cain‘s chief campaign manager.
The ad features Block quirkily touting the benefits of Cain and saying “We’ve run a campaign like nobody’s ever seen.” Definitely. Then, at the fourty second mark, Block takes a puff from a cigarette and the whole then ends with The Joker Cain creepily flashing a smile at the camera.
So this is the type of thing you can get away with when you’re an incredibly wealthy corporation. Microsoft opened a store today right across from an Apple Store at the University Village shopping center in Seattle. It looks a lot like an Apple Store.
This opening is happening right in their own backyard, after all Microsoft is based just across Lake Washington from Seattle. I’m sure Microsoft wanted a great turnout. Perhaps coincidentally, the company also decided to offer a Black Keys concert and a OneRepublic concert the very next day— for free. What’s the catch? You have to be one of the first people in line to score your two free tickets to one of the shows.
Lines for the opening started forming the night before. Some people waited overnight for the grand opening. The Microsoft promotion worked like a charm. There were tons of people waiting in line for the store to open. Then, reporter David “Goldy” Goldstein from The Stranger asked them what Microsoft product they were most excited to buy.
Can you guess what they answered? Is this a brilliant promotional move by Microsoft or an epic fail because no one cares about their actual products?
Libyan revolutionary forces captured the city of Sirte after weeks of intense fighting and killed long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi following a lengthy gun battle.
Very graphic cell phone video shows a slain Gaddafi as fighters celebrate around him.
The Prime Minister of Libya confirmed the former dictator had been killed around 4:20 local time. One fighter said he witnessed Gaddafi being shot in the lower torso and then struck him in the head with his shoe, a grave insult in Middle Eastern cultures.
This image allegedly shows where Gaddafi was captured, a series of concrete pipes outside of hideout.
Here’s another image with a rebel holding Gaddafi’s “golden gun.”
Here’s video of Gaddafi after he was captured, but while he was still clearly alive. No word on what happened afterward.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received word of his capture between interviews in the Afghani city of Kabul. Her reaction was simple: “Wow!” The White House will hold a press conference on the events in Libya around 2:30 p.m.
An incredibly bizarre and tragic story continues to evolve in Ohio. Terry Thompson had an exotic animal farm in Zanesville, Ohio where he kept at least 56 creatures, including bears, lions, mountain lions, cheetahs and tigers. On Tuesday evening, Thompson opened the animals’ cages then committed suicide.
Police officers reported putting down 48 of the animals, including 18 Bengali tigers (some of the rarest in the world) and 17 tigers. Six animals were captured and taken into the zoo. Officers decided against tranquilizing the animals because it was approaching nighttime and they feared the animals would flee into the woods where the sedatives would wear off. Just one wolf and a monkey remain unaccounted for.
A picture posted to Twitter shows the carnage:
One highway sign read “Caution Exotic Animals. Stay in Vehicle. Call 911 If Seen.” Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz described the animals as “mature, very big, aggressive” and called public safety “my No. 1 concern.” Noted animal expert Jack Hanna defended the actions of the police, but was deeply saddened by the loss of the tigers in particular.
“When I heard 18 I was still in disbelief,” Hanna said. “The most magnificent creature in the entire world, the tiger is.” Here’s video of the most recent press conference.
Warning: the video above is extremely graphic and difficult to watch. Millions of Chinese people are debating the country’s moral customs following a horrifying accident that left a two-year-old toddler gravely injured and likely brain-dead.
Surveilance video paints an unmistakable picture of what happened. The two-year-old, named Yueyue, was absent-mindly wandering outside her family’s hardware store on a narrow street in a busy market. Out of nowhere, a van driver runs over the girl. The driver pauses for a second, as the girl lies trapped between the front and rear wheels of his vehicle, before he continues driving and runs her over again.
When reached by local media later, the man said he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was talking on the phone during the accident. “If she is dead, I may pay only about 20,000 yuan ($3,125). But if she is injured, it may cost me hundreds of thousands yuan,” he said.
Perhaps even more appalling is what happens next. Several people, some of whom have to have witnessed the accident, walk right by the fallen girl as she writhes on the ground. One man walks by without even looking at the girl. A cyclist makes a brief glance but continues on his way. In all, 18 people walk past the girl over an eight minute period before a 58-year-old trash collector named Chen Xianmei comes to her aid (there must be a parable in there).
After searching for someone to help, the trash collector located the girl’s mother who rushed her away to hospital. She continues to live but will remain in a vegetative state.
Not Intent on Arriving 