With Senator Rick Santorum’s recent departure from the Republican Presidential primary, three candidates are left: Governor Mitt Romney (the presumptive nominee), Speaker Newt Gingrich (who’s campaign had a $500 check bounce…), and Congressman Ron Paul (yes, he is still in the race). All candidates vow to stay in the race until the convention in Tampa, Florida this summer. Notably, Santorum said he would “continue the fight in November,” but offered no endorsement of any candidate left in the race.
Although he did not explicitly give a reason for the suspension of his campaign, many believe that it has to do with health of his daughter, who suffers from a chromosomal defect she was born with called Trisomy 18. She had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia. Ron Paul’s campaign commented on Santorum’s departure by saying he was the only alternative left to Romney.
National story provokes response at OSU
Attorneys for George Zimmerman, the community watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, have quit, citing an inability to get in contact with him and not knowing his whereabouts. Zimmerman shot the unarmed 17-year-old the night of Feb. 26, claiming self-defense. Zimmerman has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The arrest comes after more than a month after the incident occured. Recently at Ohio State University, the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center was defamed with swastikas and racist graffiti proclaiming, “Long Live Zimmerman.”
Zimmerman proudly placed the images on his website and used them to help raise money to pay for his living and legal expenses. The photographs have since been taken down. OSU President Gordon Gee has denounced the graffiti and the administration expressed disappointment over Zimmerman’s use of the images.
In more local news, Delware County Sheriff Walter L. Davis III has resigned in the face of allegations of wrongdoing. An investigation was started to look into how he spent money he was reimbursed for during a trip to Virginia. Davis has maintained his innocence, but has said he will repay not only the money in question, but also all funds used for the trip. In separate allegations, he has been accused on using state funds to rent a car that he used to visit a woman.
iSued: Apple gets served
The United States government has brought suit against Apple, Inc. and various publishers for conspiring to raise the price of ebooks. The Justice Department alleges that book prices were $2-$3 more than they should have been and cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. The antitrust lawsuit claims that the price conspiracy was meant to limit competition. This suit comes in the wake of investigations into Apple’s partner, Foxconn, and their factories in China.
Apple jumped into the ebook market when it launched its popular tablet the iPad with the iBooks app, direct competition to Amazon’s ebook the Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader.
Misconduct, murder blight Chinese govt.
A top Communist Party official in China is being suspended due to allegations of serious misconduct. Bo Xilai, who was until March the Chongqing party chief was thought by many to be next in line to join the Politburo, China’s nine-member ruling panel. Mr. Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, who is a lawyer, has been detained and is being investigated in the killing of a Neil Heywood, a British businessman who was found dead in a hotel room in Chongqing.
The death was initially said to have been from alcohol poisoning, but Mr. Heywood’s family countered that he rarely consumed alcohol. Mr. Heywood conducted business frequently in China, with his British colleagues constantly wondering how he became so successful. Preliminary reports suggest that his business dealings with Kailai led to his death.
This is one of the most significant controversies in politics in China, which is preparing to undergo a change in leadership as Xi Jinping prepares to succeed Hu Jintao as President of the People’s Republic of China.
