Picture of the Week

Holiday decorations hang over a street in Ferguson, MO last night, before the announcement that police officer Darren Wilson would not face charges over the shooting death of Michael Brown last August.

The grand jury indicated that they could not find probable cause to indict Wilson on a range of charges from first degree murder to involuntary manslaughter, second degree.  It was a curiously drawn out announcement, which had the effect of causing tensions to build over the weekend and into Monday night, which then erupted in violence and arson.  What was more curious is that the biracial jury didn't think firing 12 shots at or into Brown constituted "reckless" action resulting in death, the basic criteria for involuntary manslaughter at a minimum.

The anger and disappointment of the residents at the grand jury's decision was widespread, prompting demonstrations across the country.  Police departments nationwide will be under intense scrutiny for their actions, and under pressure to better engage the community they police and to equip police with body cameras.

(photo:  Reuters)

Picture of the Week

President Obama speaking to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first direct conversation between a U.S. President and an Iranian President since 1979.  Obama initiated the call as Rouhani was ending his trip to the U.N.

(White House photo by Pete Souza)

Picture of the Week

The I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis is lit in rainbow colors to celebrate Minnesota's enactment of marriage equality legislation.  Pretty damned impressive.

(photo: City of Minneapolis)

Picture of the Week

President Obama takes time out of his schedule to talk to internet/YouTube phenomenon "Kid President" (a.k.a. Robbie Novak) in the Oval Office.  Kid President helped Obama publicize the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

(White House photo)

Plutocratic Picture of the Week

Seen in the window of FAO Schwartz in New York, a jeweled Etch-A-Sketch, a perfect gift for that shape-changing plutocrat on your Christmas list.

(via Maddowblog)

Picture of the Week

(click to enlarge)

Take a close look at the round object in the top right hand corner: that's right, it's King of Hate Radio Pills Limpballs picking his nose at the Super Bowl!! Why New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft would allow that sack-of-crap into his box is incomprehensible. The look on rocker Steve Tyler's face suggests that Pills just treated them all to a dose of his flatulence. Add the owner of the Patriots to the Cowboys' Jerry Jones and Redskins' Little Danny Snyder to the list of clueless sports moguls.

Picture of the Week

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embraces Burmese human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi in a visit to Suu Kyi's home. After the Burmese government showed signs of reforming, Clinton became the first major American official to visit Burma (also known as Myannmar) in some 50 years. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has opposed the brutal Burmese military junta's violation of human rights for decades.

Picture of the Week

A picture of Wisconsin's Rethug Gov. Scott "Too Much Johnnie" Walker on the back of a truck, with a hilarious question. On Wisconsin!

Picture Of The Week

A statue honoring the shoe-thrower at Dumbya's Baghdad press conference last month was unveiled in Tikrit, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's home city. They love them some Dumbya in Iraq, don't they? And how about the "thumbs up" gesture of the person in the picture.

Bwahahahahaha!

UPDATE: The sculpture is apparently at an orphanage. Wow. Gives it a whole different perspective.

(photo: Saleh/Getty; story in the NY Daily News)