Lee Kuan Yew: Singapore holds funeral procession
Singapore is bidding farewell to its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday aged 91.Despite torrential rain, thousands lined the streets to view the funeral procession carrying Mr Lee’s coffin from parliament, where it has been lying in state, across the city.
A state funeral attended by world leaders is now taking place, ahead of a private family cremation ceremony.
One million people have visited tribute sites this week, say local media.
More than half a million people – 12% of Singaporean citizens – visited Parliament House to see Mr Lee’s coffin, while at least 850,000 others went to community sites to pay tribute.
March 29, 2015 archive
Mar 29 2015
Six In The Morning
Mar 29 2015
Alternative Choices for 2016
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
The day after the 2012 elections, the Democratic and Republican Parties started gearing up for the 2016 presidential election. The Democrats seemed determined to anoint another corporatist, war hawk with Hillary Clinton while the Republicans, true to form, have loaded the bus with just about every extreme right wing clown who, so far, are battling for the position of who is the most unelectable. As is in 2012, there are alternatives to the parties of the same evils. One of them is the Green Party. Their nominee, Dr. Jill Stein scared the Democrats and Republicans so much that they had her and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, arrested to keep them out of the debate venue. They were disqualified by the Bipartisan Campaign Commission because, even though they were on 85% of the state ballots, the Green Party candidates had not garnered at least 15% in national polls in order to participate. Dr. Stein is currently thinking of running again in 2016 and has formed an exploratory committee and hired a communications director.
On Real News Network’s Reality Asserts Itself, Dr. Stein discussed building The Green Party with host Jay Paul
It’s good to have choices. Stay informed
Mar 29 2015
Rant of the Week: Jon Stewart – Mighty Morphin Position Changers
Adapted from Rant of the Week at The Stars Hollow Gazette
Fox News fails to provide coverage of the Department of Justice report that revealed widespread systemic racism in the Ferguson police department.
Mar 29 2015
2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: Regional Finals Day 2
Composed by Leonard Falcone.
Yesterday’s Results-
Score | Seed | Team | Record | Score | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
68 | 1 | Kentucky | 38-0 | 66 | 3 | Notre Dame | 32-6 | Mid-West |
85 | 1 | Wisconsin | 35-3 | 78 | 2 | Arizona | 33-4 | West |
Tonight’s Matchups-
Time | Channel | Seed | Team | Record | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
2:20pm | CBS | 4 | Louisville | 26-8 | 7 | Michigan State | 26-11 | East |
5:05pm | CBS | 1 | Duke | 31-4 | 2 | Gonzaga | 34-5 | South |
Mar 29 2015
2015 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament: Regional Finals Day 1
Last Night’s Results-
Score | Seed | Team | Record | Score | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
105 | 1 | UConn | 35-1 | 54 | 5 | Texas | 24-11 | East |
66 | 3 | Louisville | 27-7 | 82 | 7 | * Dayton | 28-6 | East |
65 | 1 | Maryland | 33-2 | 55 | 4 | Duke | 23-11 | West |
73 | 2 | Tennessee | 30-5 | 69 | 11 | Gonzaga | 26-8 | West |
Only 1 upset yesterday (sorry Gonzaga), but don’t worry- We will crush Tennessee like bug (sorry Dayton).
Today’s Matchups-
Time | Channel | Seed | Team | Record | Seed | Team | Record | Region |
12:00pm | ESPN | 1 | South Carolina | 32-2 | 2 | Baylor | 32-3 | Mid-West |
8:30pm | ESPN | 1 | Notre Dame | 33-2 | 2 | Florida St. | 31-4 | South |
Mar 29 2015
On This Day In History March 29
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
March 29 is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 277 days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day in 1951, the Rosenbergs are convicted of espionage.
In one of the most sensational trials in American history, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their role in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II. The husband and wife were later sentenced to death and were executed in 1953.
The conviction of the Rosenbergs was the climax of a fast-paced series of events that were set in motion with the arrest of British physicist Klaus Fuchs in Great Britain in February 1950. British authorities, with assistance from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, gathered evidence that Fuchs, who worked on developing the atomic bomb both in England and the United States during World War II, had passed top-secret information to the Soviet Union. Fuchs almost immediately confessed his role and began a series of accusations.
Fuchs confessed that American Harry Gold had served as a courier for the Soviet agents to whom Fuchs passed along his information. American authorities captured Gold, who thereupon pointed the finger at David Greenglass, a young man who worked at the laboratory where the atomic bomb had been developed. Gold claimed Greenglass was even more heavily involved in spying than Fuchs. Upon his arrest, Greenglass readily confessed and then accused his sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, of being the spies who controlled the entire operation. Both Ethel and Julius had strong leftist leanings and had been heavily involved in labor and political issues in the United States during the late-1930s and 1940s. Julius was arrested in July and Ethel in August 1950.
By present-day standards, the trial was remarkably fast. It began on March 6, and the jury had convicted both of conspiracy to commit espionage by March 29. The Rosenbergs were not helped by a defense that many at the time, and since, have labeled incompetent. More harmful, however, was the testimony of Greenglass and Gold. Greenglass declared that Julius Rosenberg had set up a meeting during which Greenglass passed the plans for the atomic bomb to Gold. Gold supported Greenglass’s accusation and admitted that he then passed the plans along to a Soviet agent. This testimony sealed Julius’s fate, and although there was little evidence directly tying Ethel to the crime, prosecutors claimed that she was the brain behind the whole scheme. The jury found both guilty. A few days later, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death. They were executed on June 19, 1953 in Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both maintained their innocence to the end.
Since the execution, decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, have supported courtroom testimony that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but doubts remain about the level of Ethel’s involvement. The decision to execute the Rosenbergs was, and still is, controversial. The New York Times, in an editorial on the 50th anniversary of the execution (June 19, 2003) wrote, “The Rosenbergs case still haunts American history, reminding us of the injustice that can be done when a nation gets caught up in hysteria.” This hysteria had both an immediate and a lasting effect; many innocent scientists, including some who were virulently anti-communist, were investigated simply for having the last name “Rosenberg.” The other atomic spies who were caught by the FBI offered confessions and were not executed. Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, who supplied documents to Julius from Los Alamos, served 10 years of his 15 year sentence. Harry Gold, who identified Greenglass, served 15 years in Federal prison as the courier for Greenglass and the British scientist, Klaus Fuchs. Morton Sobell, who was tried with the Rosenbergs, served 17 years and 9 months. In 2008, Sobell admitted he was a spy and confirmed Julius Rosenberg was “in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information and what the American government described as the secret to the atomic bomb.”
Mar 29 2015
The Breakfast Club (Mean Mary Fast)
Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
Breakfast Tune:Mean Mary playing fast banjo
Today in History
Highlights of this day in history: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of Cold War espionage; Lt. William Calley, Jr. convicted in the Vietnam War’s My Lai massacre; U.S. troops leave South Vietnam; Attorney Johnnie Cochran dies. (March 29)
Breakfast News & Blogs Below