We are sure that folks have been wondering: exactly how is TMQ going to deal with the 8,000 pound elephant in the room? Well, now’s our chance to find out in this week’s TMQ…
Archive for the ‘Clippings’ Category
TMQ Watch: November 15, 2011.
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011“The Ones Who Set Off Bombs In The Crowds At Those Festivals in Omelas”
Thursday, November 10th, 2011John Scalzi needs no help from me, but I wanted to link to his “Omelas State University” entry anyway because:
- I think he pretty much hits it out of the ballpark and into the windshield of a car in the parking lot with this one.
- I have a certain fondness for “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” as an example of an SF story that also touches on ethical questions like Kant’s categorical imperative. I know I probably sound like a member of the freshman philosophy B.S. debate club, but it hasn’t been that long since I took “Ethical Analysis”.
- That said, I also really like the critical comments by John Barnes and Elizabeth Moon on “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. I remember reading the debate on “The Cold Equations” in NYRSF; if someone did a similar debate on “Omelas” in book form, I’d buy that. And, yes, I’d preorder the John Barnes book, too.
Let’s do some random stuff, just for the heck of it.
Thursday, November 10th, 2011Wilson Ramos, catcher for the Washington Nationals, kidnapped in Venezuela.
(By the way, I know the Jefferson County and landfill stories are on FARK, and I usually don’t throw up links that are already on FARK. In the Jefferson County case, I wanted to link that because I swear I’ve covered Jefferson County here before; but I can’t find that link right now. As far as the landfill goes, that’s one of those stories that I think is too important not to link.)
(And speaking of FARK, does anyone have a take on what’s going on with the FARK moderators and JoePa? There seems to be a lot of criticism in the FARK threads that the mods have been several days late and more than a few dollars short in greenlighting Penn State related threads. I know there are three things in life that FARKers love: beer, the female anatomy, and complaining about the moderators. But even by FARK standards, the criticism has been pointed and sustained.)
This is intended to enrage you. (#2 in a series)
Thursday, November 10th, 2011Today’s muncipal bankruptcy…
Thursday, November 10th, 2011Obit watch: November 9, 2011.
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011In his honor, let me link to a couple of my favorite “Family Circus” strips.
Okay, that was a little mean and unfair. How about this one?
I can’t put it any better than Josh did: “Dolly, grinning like a meth-crazed demon, announces to a horrified gathering of Eisenhower-era matrons that she plans to end her little recital with a tune about a stab-happy killer from a Weimar-era Marxist agitprop musical.”
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, sues whoever a spider can…
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011You’ll never guess who is suing the producers of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”.
No, really. Go ahead, try to guess.
Did you guess Julie Taymor? Very good. Take two gold stars and advance to the next blue square.
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011Did you read that? They lost body parts.
(ETA: WP coverage.)
But hey! They manage to account for 99.5% of the body parts! Shouldn’t we give them a pass? After all, it isn’t like they work for Penn State…
I haven’t had much to say about the story because….well, I haven’t had much to say about the story. I’ve always had a certain fondness for Penn State (my dad went there for a couple of years, and Penn State was his college football team, to the extent that he followed sports), but what can you say about this?
For once, I’m going to point to a FARK thread, which actually contains some good information and links (in addition to the usual FARK Internet Tough Guy BS).
And remember our friendly Orleans Parish prosecutor’s office? They got their butts handed to them by the Supreme Court in oral arguments.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011Except apparently there is.
Also worth noting: Thompson’s defense attorney has asked for a new trial, alleging that some of the jurors may have seen press coverage that they shouldn’t have been exposed to. The more coverage I see of these allegations by Thompson’s defense attorney, the less substance I see in them; the allegations are detailed in the linked article for anyone who’s interested.
Random notes: November 8, 2011.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011Obit watch: Smokin’ Joe Frazier, 32-4-1. (And two of those losses were to Ali.) NYT obit.
Christo has obtained Federal approval for his latest project, “Over the River”.
(Artists conception in the linked article.)
Yeah. At least, it must never happen again until the next time the NYT and the current administration want to drum up support for a ban on modern sporting rifles.
Important safety tip (#8 in a series).
Monday, November 7th, 2011If you dine out, in a sit-down restaurant, where someone actually brings food to your table, you should leave a reasonable tip.
I’m generally on the side of 15% as a base, though what I do in practice is double the sales tax. (Local sales tax around Austin is generally 8.25%, so that’s actually 16.5%.) I will tip 20% or 25% if I have a good reason to. I’m not as bothered by an 18% mandatory gratuity on large parties as I used to be; if the definition of a large party meets mine (five people is not large; seven+ is) and if they go above and beyond in some way (splitting the ticket six or seven ways for a party of seven, to me, justifies at least 18%).
In any case, I strongly recommend against a 200%+ tip, especially if you’re on an expense account.
Because if you’re on an expense account and turn in a receipt that shows you tipped the waitress at Hooter’s $24.52 for a mushroom cheeseburger that cost $7.48, somebody in the accounting department is going to ask questions. And eventually they’re going to find out that you tipped the waitress $24.52 to cover your bar tab, since your city expense account doesn’t cover alcohol.
(The heck of it is, I think the city policy is unreasonable. It doesn’t bother me that much for a couple of off-duty cops dining out of town to have a beer or two with their meals, and have the city pay for it. As long as they don’t get messed up and embarrass the city, say, by having the waitress pose with their patrol rifle, I don’t get hot and bothered by adults having a beer. But if they knew city policy was otherwise, and they lied about it because they were too cheap to pay their own bar tab, yeah, fire their butts.)
(If you’re not on an expense account, the above doesn’t apply to you. Feel free to tip the waitress 200%. Or 300%. Or 500%. But keep in mind; she’s not going to sleep with you, no matter how much you tip her.)
Your rogue grand jury update.
Monday, November 7th, 2011Previously on “As The Grand Jury Turns”, two prosecutors and two court reporters were summoned before a judge to answer contempt of court charges. Specifically, the two prosecutors are accused of obtaining transcripts of confidential proceedings from a grand jury that is investigating the DA’s office; the court reporters are (as far as we can tell) accused of being the ones who gave the prosecutors the transcripts.
Anyway, the hearing was today, and…the judge in the contempt case ended up having to recuse herself, as she may be called as a witness in the contempt case as well.
Chalk up another point for The Hon. Murray Newman.
All your GPS are belong to the State.
Monday, November 7th, 2011Tomorrow, the Supreme Court takes up the case of United States vs. Jones. The key issue in Jones is: did the use of a vehicle-mounted GPS device, without a warrant, to track the movements of a suspected drug dealer, violate the 4th Amendment?
This may very well be one of the most significant 4th Amendment cases in years. The Ninth Circuit has already ruled, in a different case, that the subject
The LAT has an overview of the case, and the issues involved. We’re pretty biased in favor of Jones, and in favor of our hero Judge Alex “Big Al” Kozinski, who wrote:
There is nothing about GPS tracking that rises to the level of “exigent circumstances” that would justify giving law enforcement a pass on the requirement for a search warrant. We hope that the Supreme Court feels the same way.
(Bonus points to Carol J. Williams for opening with the story of Katz vs. United States, which we have covered previously in this space.)
Things that make you go “Hmmmmmm” (part N of a continuing series).
Sunday, November 6th, 2011Or, what do you do with an apparently abandoned hospital that you can’t unload?
Today’s Statesman has an article about the hospital situation in Lakeway. (For those unfamiliar with Austin geography, Lakeway is a rapidly growing part of the greater Austin area, located west of Austin proper, out near Lake Travis.) I happen to be interested in this story for reasons I’m not sure I can talk about, but there’s some things in it that are worth blogging about.
Basically, there were plans for two hospitals. One is the Lakeway Regional Medical Center, which is going to be a pretty large complex (complete with labor and delivery facilities). The other was Lake Travis Transitional Medical Center, a smaller (46 beds) facility that started out as a “transitional facility”: “the hospital would be aimed at patients who were recovering from a traumatic injury or had some other serious medical problem and needed to be hospitalized 25 or more days.” At some point, though, plans changed and Lake Travis Transitional became a direct competitor of Lakeway Regional.
Another twist:
Lake Travis Transitional asked HUD for information about the loan, but HUD wasn’t forthcoming. LTT sued HUD:
Nobody with Lake Travis seems to want to talk to the Statesman these days.
My personal opinion is that this is slightly misleading. The distances the Statesman gives are accurate, but to get to Seton Southwest you have to travel Texas 71; traffic frequently backs up, especially in Oak Hill, and there have been a lot of serious (fatal) accidents on that stretch of road. The Hospital at Westlake is, I think, a little better to get to. Bee Cave Road isn’t as bad as 71. But The Hospital at Westlake strikes me as being more of a boutique hospital than a general practice one. It seems like the kind of place that people go to for plastic surgery, not where you’d go when your left ventricle seizes up.
More about the 1%.
Sunday, November 6th, 2011I previously noted the story of Stephen Kinzey, professor at Cal State San Bernardino, accused member of a biker gang and meth dealer.
Today’s LAT provides us with a longer background piece on Professor Kinzey and the charges against him. Interesting note:
Also amusing:
Yeah, honey. Meth’s a heck of a drug.