I don’t really have words to explain how or why this touched me on quite such a personal level, or how much joy I’ve experienced knowing Cory will be freed. Instead, again, I implore you to read what Radley Balko has to say, as well as some words from Cory himself.

The Back Story.

A Letter from Cory Maye.

Welcome home, Cory.

^{(Photo from Radley Balko)}

“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing,” McDonald, 64, told reporters.

“You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f— it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.

“I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”

Read more

Forget knights on white horses and all that crap. SCUBAing in to rescue your wife of 20 years from a tsunami? Now that shit is romantic.

After an early wakeup call this morning, the crew began landing preparations at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT). The doors of the shuttle’s payload bay were closed at 8:12 a.m. EST (1312 GMT).

The astronauts then fired Discovery’s orbital maneuvering system engines for about three minutes, in what is called a deorbit burn. This slowed the shuttle down enough for it to begin its hour-long descent.

The unmistakable sound of the arriving space shuttle echoed across Florida’s Space Coast — one last effort for Discovery one last opportunity to make its presence known before the crew could bring it to a safe halt.

“And Houston, Discovery. For the final time, wheelstop,” Commander Lindsey said when the orbiter stopped on the runway. He also thanked the Kennedy team for giving the crew a “terrific vehicle for a final flight.”

Discovery is NASA’s oldest and most-flown spacecraft, and at the end of its career, had logged about 148 million miles (238 million kilometers) worth of travel. The STS-133 mission is Discovery’s 39th and final flight.

…she’s making her final trip to space.

(And I’m already a little choked up, not gonna lie.)

Jury pool in marijuana case stages ‘mutiny’

Oh, Montana. What am I going to do about you?

McDonald’s hit with class action over toys

Some choice excerpts:

The lawsuit charges that using toys to market Happy Meals to young children is illegal because it “is inherently deceptive and unfair.” McDonald’s advertising is also unfair to its competitors, who do not choose to attract very young children with the lure of a toy, according to the complaint.

…

“Every time McDonald’s markets a Happy Meal directly to a young child, it exploits a child’s developmental vulnerability and violates several states’ consumer protection laws, including the California Unfair Competition Law,” Steve Gardner, CSPI litigation director, said in a statement.

…

“McDonald’s congratulates itself for meals that are hypothetically possible, though it knows very well that it’s mostly selling burgers or chicken nuggets, fries, and sodas to very young children,” said CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson.

You know what’s more terrifying to me than Happy Meal toys? The idea of a previously unknown-to-me army of gainfully employed three-year-olds! I mean, how the hell else are the rugrats getting cable? Seems like TV commercials are the only way McDonald’s can really be marketing “directly to a young child,” unless Ronald McDonald has started giving sales pitches at preschool. I’m not surprised the lawsuit originated in California, either, since we all know their DMV is screwy, and someone is obviously issuing drivers licenses to kids up in there. The fat little ankle-biters clearly aren’t walking to McDonald’s for their fix. Someone should probably sue the phone company for giving out the phone books they’re using to see over the steering wheel, amirite?

By four female detectives.

One of whom, I know.

Out-fucking-standing, ladies.

The Sal Giunta Story from SebastianJunger/TimHetherington on Vimeo.