Cheat Sheet - Is Russia Looking for a “Hot War?”

Today: Are Opponents of Arizona's Anti-Gay Law Eager to Deceive? , Putin's Crimea Propaganda Machine , Oscar Pistorius's Defense Team Launches a Preemptive Strike March 03, 2014 HE'S BEEN THERE 1. Georgia's Ex-President Tells Ukraine: 'Prepare for the Worst' Mikheil Saakashvili predicted Russia's invasion of Crimea and with good reason: Putin invaded the country he led, occupied part of it, and won't let go. In an exclusive interview with Josh Rogin, Saakashvili says Russia is looking for a "hot war" and the West should get ready. Crimea is only the beginning. Read it at The Daily Beast BACKPEDAL 2. The Anti-Gay Law Blizzard of Lies Following the veto of Arizona's SB 1062, supporters are backpedaling to save face any way they can—from semantics to redefining the original meaning of the bill. Kirsten Powers calls the bluff of conservative backers who have distorted the contents of the bill and attacked anyone who disagreed with them as a legal Luddite and hysteric. Read it at The Daily Beast INFORMATION WAR 3. Putin's Propaganda Machine To justify its invasion of Crimea, the Kremlin and state-run media went into full fabrication mode this weekend. Oleg Shynkarenko reports on the lies that Russia tells to justify war, from supposed neo-Nazis attacking ethnic Russians to fake news that Ukrainians are fleeing to Russia. Read it at The Daily Beast BLADE RUNNER 4. Team Pistorius's Preemptive Strike Oscar Pistorius's legal team came out of the blocks fast on the first day of his murder trial. Kelly Berold reports from South Africa that the defense said the state contaminated the crime scene where Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp, tampered with evidence, and assassinated his character. Read it at The Daily Beast RETWEET 5. Ellen Smashes Twitter Records Not only was Ellen Degeneres a pretty awesome Oscar hostess, she managed to break Twitter records at the same time. Her Oscar selfie with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and several other celebrities went viral on Twitter, racking up more than 700,000 retweets in 30 minutes and temporarily crashing the social-networking site. As of Monday afternoon, her tweet has nearly 2.7 million retweets. The previous record for most retweeted went to a photo President Obama after he won his second term in 2012, which got 778,000 retweets. The Twitter honor doesn't just go to Ellen, but Samsung, which was the maker of the smartphone that tweeted the selfie. Clearly, Samsung's Oscar sponsorship more than paid for itself. Read it at Los Angeles Times #FLORIDA Woman May Get 60 for Warning Shot Would've originally served 20 years. THAT WAS FAST China Arrests Knife Terrorists They stabbed more than 150. GRADING ON A CURVE SCOTUS Doubts IQ Test on Death Row Margin of error under consideration. JUDGMENT Bin Laden Son-in-Law Tried in NYC Highest-ranking al Qaeda member ever in U.S. court. Baby Boom Prince George to Make Debut in New Zealand Assuring worldwide gushing. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Matthew McConaughey's God Moment by William O'Connor Republicans Better Get Modern Fast by Lloyd Green Pharrell's Pleasant, Unchallenging Dive into the Mainstream by Rawiya Kameir

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