I have not followed all the nuances around this event.  However, when saw the floor plan for the first time, and contrast it against the story he was telling, his version of events just doesn’t pass the sniff test.    What are your thoughts?

(Reuters) – The first witness at Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial told the court on Monday she heard “bloodcurdling screams” from a woman followed by shots, a dramatic opening to a case that could see one of global sport’s most admired role models jailed for life.

Taking the stand after the Paralympic and Olympic star pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day last year, neighbor Michelle Burger testified that she was woken in the middle of the night by a woman shouting for help.

“I was still sitting in the bed and I heard her screams,” Burger, who lives 177 meters (194 yards) from Pistorius’ home in an adjacent housing complex, told the Pretoria High Court.

“She screamed terribly and she yelled for help. Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help,” she said, speaking in Afrikaans through an interpreter. (more…)

The truly Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan knew that summits with Gorbachev were the one way he could directly telegraph a message to the walled-off Soviet public. After all, even Soviet TV was obliged to cover these events.

The partners’ first handshake took place outside a 120-year-old Geneva chateau. Reagan arrived first and burst out the door, bounding down the steps without his coat on a cold day, as Gorbachev’s limo pulled up. Gorbachev, bundled in a gray overcoat, looking very much like the guest, was greeted by a dapper Reagan, 20 years his senior.

To top it off, Reagan put his arm under Gorbachev’s, as if he were aiding him up the stairs. All this was captured live on Soviet TV, and it was the first step in reshaping the view of Reagan in the eyes of the Soviet public.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan smiles as he talks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev outside the villa Fleur D’Eau at Versoix near Geneva, Switzerland, November 19, 1985

In the U.S., Reagan’s talk of the sinister nature of Communism was often dismissed as the rhetoric of a right-wing ideologue. In Moscow, policymakers believed he meant business. The Communist Party newspapers (of course, back then all of them were party newspapers) whipped themselves into a frenzy with invective about the 40th U.S. President.

He was portrayed as a wild “cowboy,” a “shameless liar,” and “a rabid militarist” who employed the “slogans and methods of Hitler.” Cartoons depicted him waving a Stetson as he gleefully sat atop a ballistic missile. He may have called them the Evil Empire, but in the Soviet view, Reagan was evil incarnate. (more…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the United States has decided not to send a presidential delegation to the Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The move is in retaliation for Russia’s military advances in Ukraine.

White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden says President Barack Obama still supports the U.S. athletes participating and wishes them success.

The U.S. and its allies are weighing sanctions and other potential consequences to persuade Russia to reverse course in Ukraine. Britain has also decided not to send ministers to the Paralympic Games, which start Friday. (more…)

We’ve noticed several independent minded blogs beginning to pose the ultimate question around full-scale legislated gun confiscations in Connecticut.  (Links follow Summary Article)

(The Courant)  Everyone knew there would be some gun owners flouting the law that legislators hurriedly passed last April, requiring residents to register all military-style rifles with state police by Dec. 31.

But few thought the figures would be this bad.

By the end of 2013, state police had received 47,916 applications for assault weapons certificates, Lt. Paul Vance said. An additional 2,100 that were incomplete could still come in.

That 50,000 figure could be as little as 15 percent of the rifles classified as assault weapons owned by Connecticut residents, according to estimates by people in the industry, including the Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation. No one has anything close to definitive figures, but the most conservative estimates place the number of unregistered assault weapons well above 50,000, and perhaps as high as 350,000.

(more…)

Important notes:  •The deadline for force surrender is 10:00pm tonight.  •Secretary Kerry arrives in Ukraine tomorrow.  •Russia has declared  a new state: “The Autonomous Republic of Crimea“.

(Via NBC)  The Russian military has given Ukrainian forces in Crimea until 5 a.m. Tuesday (10 p.m. ET Monday) to surrender or face a “storm,” Interfax news agency reported.

“If they do not surrender by 5 a.m. tomorrow, we will start a real storm in Ukrainian bases in Crimea,” according to the statement sent by the Russians to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, a ministry source told Interfax. NBC News could not immediately confirm the report.

The ultimatum was attributed to Alexandr Vitko, chief commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. (more…)

The New York times deposits a story today titled “Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia“.   The generally sympathetic article toward Obama is being cited by numerous politicos while the left-leaning media are circling an almost bizarre wagon to prop up the perception of Obama as strong.

MSNBC’s Mark Halperin is winning so far in the over-the-top water carrying category by stating that Ronald Reagan never faced a Russian adversary as strong as Russia’s President Putin:

The political analyst and author also cited a New York Times report published Sunday that said in her call with President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised doubts about Putin being in touch with reality, saying he is “in another world.”  Halperin called it “the scariest thing I’ve seen in the last 24 hours.”

“President [Ronald] Reagan never faced a Soviet leader like this. This guy is ruthless,” Halperin added.  (link)

{ Slobber – DRINK – Slobber }

However, what Mark Halperin, and the rest of the media, fail to see in the Times article is the evidence it holds for the ineptitude of the White House.  (more…)

HatTip MoonBattery

A rogue street artist has ambushed the 86th Academy Awards with a slew of street art posters poking fun at President Barack Obama and the Oscars.

The posters, of unknown origin, feature the Oscar statue with Vladimir Lenin’s head and the title “OCZARS,” referring to the proliferation of “czars” — powerful officials with no congressional oversight — in the Obama administration. The “O” is the Obama campaign’s familiar symbol.  (more…)

Hat Tip Weaselzippers:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †