Monday Miscellany! (#Zimmerman trial, #Syria, #Snowden, and more!)

[maxomai]

• Jury selection has begun on the George Zimmerman Trial. As you may recall, he's the guy who shot Treyvon Martin to death last year, and is claiming self defense. I remember when this case was first reported that many of my progressive friends and colleagues who declared Zimmerman guilty until proven innocent. Normally I would reject that kind of knee-jerk reaction, but since he's using an affirmative defense, this is exactly right. Now it's on him to prove that he had to act in self-defense. If I were the prosecutor, I would use the fact that Zimmerman lied to the court about his finances to nuke his credibility, and then infer from there that he's lying about how the shooting went down, too. I still think that there's a fair chance that he'll get off by stacking the jury.


• Obama is thisclose to escalating the proxy war with Russia arming the Syrian rebels.


• The NSA whistleblower is Edward Snowden, and he's one brave SOB - although why he chose to hang out in Hong Kong, which has an extradition treaty with the United States, is beyond me. Needless to say, professional blowhard Donald Trump has weighed in.


• Fox News (yeah yeah) has this bit on how states are looking to tax hybrids and electric cars, because they consume less gas and therefore pay less in road upkeep taxes. As a hybrid owner myself, I say fair is fair. What would also be fair is taxing the motherfuck out of asphalt-decimating snow tires, each of which does more to wear down the road in snow months than my entire hybrid does all year long.


• The Oregonian gives Badass Theater Company's "Invasion!" an outstanding review. I'll post my own review later. Meanwhile, just take my word for it and see it. "Invasion!" plays until the end of June at the Teatro Milagro in SE Portland.