Tsarnaev “Jihad”, Ricin Arrest
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Vol.2, No. 119
Call Your Mother: The NY Times reports that the Russian warning about Tamarlan Tsarnaev in 2011 was the result of two intercepted phone calls with his mother discussing “jihad”, the term for religious war or struggle. The Times says the Russians didn’t reveal the source of their concern until after the Boston Marathon bombings.
National: The FBI arrested a Mississippi man they now believe mailed ricin-laced letters to the President, a US Senator and a state judge.
Everett Dutschke, 41, was arrested at home in Tupelo. Agents originally arrested Paul Curtis, an Elvis impersonator, but quickly dropped the case. The two men have a long-standing grudge against each other and agents are acting on the theory that Dutschke mailed the letters to make it look like Curtis did it.
- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 74, is in the hospital following surgery after breaking his shoulder in a bicycle accident. It’s the justice’s third serious bike accident since 1993.
Come Fly With Me: Boeing says its 787 Dreamliner is safe to fly again with newly designed battery packs. Lithium ion batteries overheated and melted on two jets in January. Ethiopian Airlines was the first to fly the 787 since January.
CelebuPress: The stars and scribes were out together again last night at the annual self-love festival known as the White House Correspondents Dinner. Among the celebrity guests: Julie Bowen and Sophia Vergara of “Modern Familiy”, style icon Anna Wintour, actors Tracy Morgan and Clare Danes. Some journalists also were there. President Obama took a few political shots. His biggest laugh of the night: “Some folks still don’t think I spend enough time with Congress. ‘Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?’ they ask. Really? Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?”
Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw refused to attend after the troubled Lindsay Lohan was a guest last year. It was the last celebrity straw for him. “What kind of image do we present to the rest of the country?” Brokaw asked. “Are we doing their business, or are we just a group of narcissists who are mostly interested in elevating our own profiles?” Uhhh, yes.
For Want of an “S”: President Obama declined to sign the bill restoring full service to air traffic control because one of the words was missing an “s”. The air controllers will return to work today anyway, and the President will get his “s” but nothing else in trade for signing the bill.
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