A U.S. military tribunal has condemned Nidal Malik Hassan to death for committing “workplace violence” in the name of Allah. Some four years ago, Hassan killed 13 people and injured 30 others at Fort Hood, firing his FN FiveseveN at dozens of disarmed soldiers. His “case” will automatically be appealed; it will stretch on for years, if not decades. That was yesterday. Today, Hassan’s death sentence has been punted from the first page of Google news results, currently topped by Kim Jong-un’s ex-girlfriend reportedly executed by firing squad . . .
The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reports that singer Hyon Song-wol and 11 others had been arrested on August 17 for violating North Korea’s laws against pornography and was executed [by machine gun] three days later. The paper reported that the condemned, all members of the performing groups Unhasu Orchestra and Wangjaesan Light Music Band, were accused of making videos of themselves having sex and selling the videos, which the paper reported were available in China.
My first thought: Charlie Sheen. My second thought: shooting’s too good for Hassan. But if it were sooner rather than later . . .