Rodolfo Torre Cantu, who was running for governor in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, was shot along with four of his supporters.

Police say he was on his way to a series of campaign rallies when his convoy was ambushed by hooded gunmen.

He was standing for the Todos Tamaulipas coalition in Sunday’s gubernatorial elections.

Mr Torre Cantu of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was attacked near Ciudad Victoria, where he was going to catch a flight to Matamoros for an end-of-campaign event.

His rival for the post of Tamaulipas governor, Jose Julian Sacramento of the National Action Party, cancelled his campaign meetings in Matamoros following the killing.

Mr Sacramento said he had known Mr Torre Cantu for years and respected him.

Tamaulipas has been the scene of a fierce turf war between rival drug gangs fighting over access to lucrative drug smuggling routes to the United States.

2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting alternatives to the war on drugs for 10 years, and I can say without a doubt that there was more debate and movement toward sensible drug policies this year than in the last 9 years combined! Here are 10 stories that contributed to the unprecedented momentum to end America’s longest running war.

1) Three Former Latin American Presidents Call Drug War a Failure (February) Read the full story

By JEFF BAENEN (AP) – 8 hours ago

MINNEAPOLIS — Jesse Ventura is back for another stab at TV stardom, this time hosting a program that digs into conspiracy theories, including alternate views of what was behind the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the purpose of a sprawling research center in remote Alaska.

The former Minnesota governor, professional wrestler and Navy SEAL stars in “Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura,” which premieres Wednesday night on truTV. The cable network, part of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., has ordered seven episodes of the hourlong weekly series. Read the full story

For four decades there have been rumours that Marilyn Monroe’s death was not a simple suicide. Now a Los Angeles-based Australian writer and director, Philippe Mora, has uncovered an FBI document that throws up a chilling new scenario.

BOBBY KENNEDY’S affair with the screen idol Marilyn Monroe has been documented, but a secret FBI file suggests the late US attorney-general was aware of – and perhaps even a participant in – a plan “to induce” her suicide.

The detailed three-page report implicates the Hollywood actor Peter Lawford, Monroe’s psychiatrist, staff and her publicist in the plot.

The allegations suggest the 36-year-old actress, who had a history of staging attention-seeking suicide attempts, was deliberately given the means to fake another suicide on August 4, 1962. But this time, it is suggested, she was allowed to die as she sought help.

The document, hidden among thousands of pages released under freedom-of-information laws last October, was received by the FBI on October 19, 1964 – two years after her death – and titled simply “ROBERT F KENNEDY”.

It was compiled by an unnamed former special agent working for the then Democrat governor of California, Pat Brown, and forwarded to Washington by Curtis Lynum, then head of the San Francisco FBI. Despite a disclaimer that it could not be sourced or authenticated, it was considered important enough to immediately circulate to the FBI’s five most senior officers, including director J. Edgar Hoover’s right-hand man, Clyde Tolson.

The report was in effect buried for decades as a classified document, and even the released version contains censored sections. Never before mentioned despite thousands of articles, books and documentaries about her death, it details aspects of Kennedy’s on-and-off affair with the movie star, including sex parties and a lesbian dalliance, as well as her emotional departure from 20th Century Fox and descent into depression.

Critically, it raises an alleged conspiracy, apparently overseen by Lawford, for Monroe to unwittingly commit suicide with the drug Seconal, a barbiturate used to treat insomnia and relieve anxiety. The document gives no precise reason why she would be killed but hints it may be linked to her threats to make public her affair with Kennedy, as other conspiracy theories have previously claimed. It states in part: “Peter Lawford, [censored words blacked out] knew from Marilyn’s friends that she often made suicide attempts and that she was inclined to fake a suicide attempt in order to arouse sympathy.

“Lawford is reported as having made ’special arrangements’ with Marilyn’s psychiatrist, Dr Ralph Greenson, from Beverley Hills. The psychiatrist was treating Marilyn for emotional problems and getting her off the use of barbiturates. On her last visit to him he prescribed Seconal tablets and gave her a prescription for 60 of them, which was unusual in quantity especially since he saw her frequently. On the date of her death … her housekeeper put the bottle of pills on the night table. It is reported that the housekeeper and Marilyn’s personal secretary and press agent, Pat Newcomb, were co-operating in the plan to induce suicide.”

Read More:

http://www.smh.com.au/

That’s a week after granting that status to the closing of the Champlain Bridge — the disasters are coming more often — and President Obama’s declaration that the swine flu was a National Emergency.

The executive order has these effects:

• Allows health care workers who are not doctors, nurses or nurse practitioners to administer the vaccine
• Allows school-based health centers to handle vaccinations Read the full story

CORVALLIS, Ore. — After years of searching, the remains of Corvallis murder victim Brooke Wilberger have been found and on Monday, her accused killer changed his plea to guilty in the case.  Background: Wilberger murder

Wilberger’s killer, Joel Courtney was set go on trial for the 19-year-old’s death in February, 2010, but officially changed his plea to guilty Monday and was sentenced to life in prison after weeks of negotiations, the D.A. said. Read the full story

I found this amusing to say the least. Here you have a former President who butchered the English language almost every time he spoke claiming our current President ‘has no clue’….President George W Bush, maybe you should have invested in teleprompters while you were in office so this comment does not sound as ignorant. This comment does not help our country’s current state either. The last thing we need is previous administrations radical opinions fueling the fire that is already burning….

New book claims George W Bush said Barack Obama ‘has no clue’

George W Bush believed Barack Obama was “a cat” who “has no clue”, dismissed Sarah Palin as a nonentity and insulted Hillary Clinton’s posterior, according to a new account of life in the White House under the former president.

For all his politeness in public, Mr Bush is alleged to have privately mocked fellow big name politicians, claims his former speech writer Matt Latimer, whose book Speech Less: Tale of a White House Survivor has been awaited with some anxiety by members of the previous administration. Read the full story

-Rockefeller & Co CEO dies in “apparent suicide”

http://www.google.com/

-Newport Beach financier Danny Pang dies at 42

Pang is the Newport Beach financier accused by federal regulators of a massive fraud in which millions of dollars were re-directed for his personal use. He had been taken from his Newport Beach home Friday afternoon by paramedics and died early Saturday. Lots to sort out at this point, but the cops appear to be ruling out foul play. From the WSJ: Read the full story

Turkey’s largest city Istanbul has been inundated by flash floods sparked by torrential rains. The death toll has already passed two dozen and is expected to continue to rise. The flooding has brought much of the city to a halt and is being described as the worst to hit the city in decades.

The floods hit the western suburbs of Istanbul the hardest, turning many of the city’s main roads into fast moving rivers of mud and dirt during early morning rush hour. Read the full story

Disclaimer: The OP listen to all types of music, including agressively harsh music. This write-up is not meant to minimize any other type of music

The Mozart Effect refers to research results linking the effects of classical music to

* increase in intelligence
* reduction of violence
* heightened performance
* increase in well-being

Ive seen the Mozart-effect in action on two occassions: In a city I lived, classical music was deployed in the subway-systems of the entire city, resulting in a notable drop in violence and crime. This made the newspaper headlines back then. Read the full story

For a world first, the announcement came with remarkably little fanfare.