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Damn Detroit Police Department! You burned, shot and killed Aiyana Jones, a little seven year old girl.

You threw a stunt grenade through the front window and lit the little girl’s blanket on fire! And then you shot off a bullet that landed in her neck!  We know you were looking for the suspect in the murder of a 17 year old, but according to the family and other witnesses, that person was in the upstairs apartment.

And while this defenseless angel was lying in her blood, taking her very last breathes, you handcuffed her father and put his face in his daughter’s last remains! First you said that the grandmother attacked the officer who pulled the trigger that pierced the neck of Aiyana, and now you have revised your story to say that the grandmother “may have simply collided” with the officer.  No matter what happened, you should never have used those tactics, because there were children in the house.  And of course you knew that – since there were toys all over the front lawn! Now that a family has been shattered and a life has been lost, an entire community is left to question, “How could this happen?”

How, in this age of unfettered technology, did you get this so wrong?!! It’s my sincere hope that the cameras for A&E’s “The First 48” television series that trailed you and filmed the whole incident didn’t spur your heroics! I know reality shows, very well indeed. Please tell me that this wasn’t a performance for the cameras!

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was leaving a news conference one afternoon when a tall man with a coppery complexion stepped out of the crowd and blocked his path.

Malcolm X, the African-American Muslim leader who once called King “Rev. Dr. Chicken-wing,” extended his hand and smiled.

“Well, Malcolm, good to see you,” King said after taking Malcolm X’s hand.

“Good to see you,” Malcolm X replied as both men broke into huge grins while a gaggle of photographers snapped pictures of their only meeting.

That encounter on March 26, 1964, lasted only a minute. But a photo of that meeting has tantalized scholars and supporters of both men for more than 45 years.

As the 85th birthday of Malcolm X is marked on Wednesday, history has freeze-framed him as the angry black separatist who saw whites as blue-eyed devils.

Yet near the end of his life, Malcolm X was becoming more like King — and King was becoming more like him.

“In the last years of their lives, they were starting to move toward one another,” says David Howard-Pitney, who recounted the Capitol Hill meeting in his book “Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s.”

“While Malcolm is moderating from his earlier position, King is becoming more militant,” Pitney says. (more…)

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SECAUCUS, N.J. – With his championship ring on her hand and her late husband’s dreams of another on her mind, Irene Pollin stood in shock as the Washington Wizards won the draft lottery.

Towering over her to the side, Mikhail Prokhorov watched the New Jersey Nets lose yet again.

The Wizards won the draft lottery Tuesday night, moving up from the No. 5 spot to earn the top pick in next month’s draft, when it will likely choose between Kentucky freshman John Wall and national player of the year Evan Turner of Ohio State.

Washington was represented by Irene Pollin, who wore the 1978 Bullets championship ring of her late husband, longtime owner Abe Pollin. When the Wizards pulled off the surprising win, her jaw dropped and appeared to mouth ‘Oh my God!!’ with wide eyes.

Abe Pollin died at age 85 in November.

“This is very, very special. I have been in this my entire adult life and to be here, representing my husband, this is very special to me tonight,” Irene Pollin said. “I think it’s the culmination of my husband’s dream because he wanted another ring and maybe this will get us another ring.”

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Too slow? Too old?

Try two wins from the NBA finals.

Indeed, the Boston Celtics look like they saved their best this season for when it mattered most.

“I know,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said. “It’s starting to look that way.”

Pierce scored 28 points, Rajon Rondo had 25 and the revived Celtics again avoided a late collapse to take a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 95-92 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Boston bullied and bruised its way to a 2-0 series lead on the road against a Magic team that had won 14 straight until this series.

After being hampered by injuries for much of the season, often showing their age, the Celtics are now just two wins away from their second finals appearance in three seasons.

“I think we are becoming the team that started the season,” Rivers said. “The team that started the season was pretty good.”

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 Voters rejected one of President Barack Obama’s hand-picked candidates and forced another into a runoff, the latest sign that his political capital is slipping beneath a wave of anti-establishment anger.

Sen. Arlen Specter became the fourth Democrat in seven months to lose a high-profile race despite the president’s active involvement, raising doubts about Obama’s ability to help fellow Democrats in this November’s elections.

The first three candidates fell to Republicans. But Specter’s loss Tuesday to Rep. Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s Democratic senatorial primary cast doubts on Obama’s influence and popularity even within his own party — and in a battleground state, no less.

Of course, it’s possible that Democrats will fare better than expected this fall. And there’s only so much that any president can do to help other candidates, especially in a non-presidential election year.

Still, Obama’s poor record thus far could hurt his legislative agenda if Democratic lawmakers decide they need some distance from him as they seek re-election in what is shaping up as a pro-Republican year. Conversely, it might embolden Republican lawmakers and candidates who oppose him.

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Featuring a 10-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 28-106mm equivalent f/2.0-5.3 lens with image stabilisation, semi-manual exposure modes and 720p HD movie recording, the Canon IXUS 300HS White Edition is available only from UK photography retailer Jessops for £379.

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