Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! watch (#3 in a series)
Wednesday, September 11th, 2013Random notes: August 27, 2013.
Tuesday, August 27th, 2013Back in July, I noted the rhythmic gymnastics scandal. There’s a new development:
More updates, this time on “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”. It took in $966,952 last week. This is not good, as the cost of running the show is over $1 million a week.
Only the police should have guns department:
There were no deaths or injuries, as both sides “did not fire at each other, he said, but into the air”. Of course, what goes up must come down, somewhere…
It turns out that the rival gun-toting campers were both Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.
Random notes: August 20, 2013.
Tuesday, August 20th, 2013NYT headline:
(Edited to add: I am willing to offer karma points and gratitude for a photoshop of Admiral Ackbar in a Yankees uniform.)
At least Richard Cohen is consistent. Here’s a man who’s never met a totalitarian initiative he doesn’t like.
Speaking of NYC and guns…
Say what?
So let’s see. NYC has strict gun control. So crooks are stealing weapons (already illegal) or engaging in “straw purchases” (also illegal, and rarely prosecuted by the Feds). So what we need is more gun control, and also stop and frisk.
I would laugh at these guys, but…I’ve got my own embarrassing gun related issue (which I will write more about at some time in the future; no, it wasn’t a negligent discharge, I’m just having problems getting something to run right), so I’m withholding the laughter for now.
Random notes: July 24, 2013.
Wednesday, July 24th, 2013Man, this is a day for sad sports stories in the NYT.
George Sauer Jr. passed away in May.
What makes this story interesting is that Sauer, according to people who knew him, was a really smart guy who may have never wanted to play football in the first place; what he really wanted to be was a writer.
On a slightly more upbeat note, there’s an interesting piece by Frank Bruni in the paper of record. Vetri, a very well regarded Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, transformed itself for three nights into Le Bec-Fin, a legendary restaurant that closed (temporarily?) in 2012.
I like the idea of recreating legendary restaurants for a few nights. I’m not sure what Austin restaurant I’d like to see do this; I think that needs some more consideration than I am currently able to give it.
And since this isn’t behind the paywall, i’ll link to it: the Austin Police Department has fired another officer. What did he do? Well…bad guy broke into someone’s home and stole their pickup and gun. Police chased the bad guy. Bad guy wrecked the truck, fled on foot, and broke into another house.
This has gone to the arbitrator:
And the arbitrator said:
I think the take-away here is: hit what you aim at. And always be sure of your target and what’s behind it:
Cause.
Monday, July 22nd, 2013I haven’t gone crazy since I got the new job. I did purchase a few things: I bought a couple of DVDs during the Criterion 50% off sale. And I bought myself a snazzy new lunchbox, because I really needed one to take my lunch to work in. (I can’t use one of those plastic grocery bags, after all.)
I haven’t bought any guns, yet. (One of our local gunshops had a really nice US property marked Mossberg 44, at a reasonable price. But first I had to leave town, and then I dithered some when I got back, and when I went back Saturday they’d already sold it.)
There are a few other things I have on my agenda, but those may wait either until I get paid or until I empty the change bank. (I don’t really need the money in the change bank that badly, but it has actually gotten so full that the coins in it are interfering with the mechanism and keeping me from adding more coins.)
There’s one thing that I was glad to be able to do before time ran out: donate to the Evict Lyme FUNdraiser.
I don’t know Bonnie of Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease. I’ve never met her in person, and if I did, I suspect she’d want to punch me in the nose. But she has a problem of the kind that requires expensive and extensive surgery, and she needs help paying for it.
I don’t know Jennifer, of In Jennifer’s Head, either. I’ve never met her in person, and if I did, I suspect she’d want to punch me in the nose. (If you think you’ve detected a theme here, you’re right. I pretty much assume everyone wants to punch me in the nose until proven otherwise.) But I feel pretty confident in saying that Jennifer is a good and decent person. Why? Because she’s running a raffle to help Bonnie out.
Not a charity, a raffle. With some pretty nice prizes. I like that leather range bag from Brownell’s (and I like the fact that Brownell’s donated it; it makes me feel all squishy inside when I think about them. Or that may be the enchilada burger making me feel that way. I can’t tell.) And that’s a swell looking holster from Dragon Leatherworks. (If I don’t win that one in the raffle, I’m planning to order a holster from Dragon soon-ish.)
There’s other nifty prizes as well. Would you like a shot at a pen and a bottle opener made from spent 50 BMG brass? A nice rifle sling? Wind chimes?
Go over and check out Jennifer’s post for rules, instructions, and a full list of prizes.
As I’ve said before, I don’t like using this blog to beg folks for money, so I try to keep the number of charitable solicitations down. I also don’t like asking you to give to a cause I haven’t given to myself, which is why I waited until I had a job and could chip in before posting here. In a way, I kind of feel that being employed now is sort of like being touched by grace, and giving money for Bonnie is kind of a thank-you prayer, or a way of paying that grace forward.
(Yeah, my theology is probably a little messed up. But this is the theology I have, and which is mine.)
I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone.
Monday, July 15th, 2013Well, not really “gone”. I hadn’t been back to Ohio for nine years, and it amazed me somewhat both how much and how little has changed.
For example, there’s an entire grocery chain that I don’t remember from my last trip…that takes the Discover card and cash. No Visa/AmEx/MasterCard/Diner’s Club, not even debt cards with a PIN, just cash and Discover. Who came up with this idea?
On the other hand, the tractor tire store that was a landmark on the way to Grandma’s place is still there, after 40 something years. And Grandma’s place still feels remote from everything, even though there’s major strip centers at the end of her road, and even though much of the land was sold off over the past few years (and now has houses sitting on it).
And the old NASA hanger is still visible from the airport. That was another landmark for us kids. (My dad worked there, back when it was still the Lewis Research Center, before it was renamed “NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field“. Which is a mouthful. Not that I’m bitter or anything over the renaming; by gosh, if anyone deserved to have a NASA facility named after him, it was John Glenn.)
This is shaping up to be a long post, and sort of “stream of consciousness”, so I’m going to put the rest of it behind a jump. Before I do, here’s Grandma’s obituary, just for the record.
Today’s bulletin from the Department of WTF…
Friday, July 5th, 2013Administrative note.
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013I’m going through a little bit of personal agita right now. The next few days leading up to, and during, the holiday, are shaping up to be kind of busy. Mostly the fun kind of busy (some of us are trying to plan a range trip; plus, fireworks), but with some work involved.
This coming Saturday, I will be flying out to Cleveland. My maternal grandmother passed away on Saturday, and her funeral is scheduled for a week from today. I plan to take a laptop with me and blog as much as I can from the road, but be prepared for a bit of a slowdown.
(I know there’s been a bit of a slowdown already. Mostly, that’s because there hasn’t been a lot going on that I’ve found worthy of blogging. I think we’re into the summer slowdown season; things are so hot that everyone is acting like giant lizards, conserving energy as much as they possibly can. Which is great for keeping cool, but not so great for providing blog fodder.)
(Is it just me, or is Houston experiencing a rash of motel fires?)
Random notes: June 13, 2013.
Thursday, June 13th, 2013Gun control works! How can a bunch of people with rifles and handguns defeat a heavily armed military? Just ask Syria!
More on our pal Louis Scarcella, the former NYPD detective whose cases are being reinvestigated: gee, there’s awfully similar language in many of the confessions he obtained.
Noted without comment:
Since Lawrence and I have both touched on this story, I thought I’d link to the followup: the “psychic” who claimed there was a mass grave in Liberty County has been ordered to pay $6.8 million in damages to the property owners. If I understand the HouChron correctly, this was a default judgment, as the psychic didn’t appear in court. (Insert your favorite psychic joke here.)
More on Kimber and LAPD SWAT.
Saturday, May 25th, 2013Last August, I noted an LAT article about allegations that LAPD SWAT members were purchasing specially made and marked LAPD SWAT Kimber pistols at a steep discount and reselling them on the open market. At that time, it was unclear if this violated any regulations or laws; LAPD conducted one investigation, which was badly botched, and had just started a second investigation when the LAT ran their report.
Today’s update: the investigation has expanded to include LAPD’s Special Investigative Section (SIS), who also had custom Kimber pistols made for them. And the FBI is involved.
Yeah, I remember the Kimber SIS guns. I thought they were kind of neat looking, but:
- I need another .45 like I need another hole in my head. Not that that stops me from looking and drooling, but
- I already have one Kimber (from prior to 2000), and…
- This was the period when I heard bad things about Kimber’s quality control, especially on the smaller guns. (I understand the person who was in charge at Kimber during this time has since left and gone over to Sig Sauer. I don’t know if Kimber’s QC has gotten any better.)
Yeah, see my previous entry for more details on the LAPD SWAT gun. As for the SIS gun, here’s an example from GunBroker. N.B.: I am not the person selling this, I have no connection to that person, and the GunBroker link is for illustrative purposes.
I’m sorry. Did the LAT, which has been calling for more gun control, just refer to Federal gun laws as “arcane” and “complicated”?
And here’s a small note that amuses me: this month’s American Handgunner (July/August 2013) has an article on the new LAPD SIS gun: the Glock 30S, which was custom built for LAPD SIS, but:
More from the Glock website. I suspect this won’t be quite as controversial as the Kimber, only because Glock seems to have eschewed adding the “SIS” logo to the slide.
(And is there anyone out there who can explain to me why Glock’s .380 pistols are law enforcement only?)
Logrolling in our time.
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013I kind of half-assed my post about gun related bills in the Texas Legislature this morning. I blame the vertical integration of the broiler industry and the fact that I had to rush out the door for an appointment.
Over at Battleswarm, Lawrence has given my post a full ass, with a quick overview of the various bills and their individual statuses, complete with links. I commend his post to your attention.
Random notes: May 22, 2013.
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013Back in October, I wrote about the defunct art gallery Knoedler & Company and their troubled relationship with a dealer named Glafira Rosales. Many of the works Ms. Rosales supplied to Knoedler are now considered fakes.
Yesterday, Ms. Rosales was charged with tax fraud.
And:
In other news: the LA County DA plans to retry the Bell city council members. As you may recall, the jury in the first trial completely acquitted one council member (Luis Artiga), convicted the other five members on some charges, acquitted them on other charges, and ultimately hung on the remaining charges.
Texas gun legislation update: things are getting interesting. The concealed carry on campus bill, and the ban on enforcing any new Federal gun laws, are tied up in the Senate. However, the Senate has approved…
This same bill also prevents local governments from outlawing BB guns and Airsoft guns.
My understanding is that the bill to cut back the number of hours of class time required for a concealed carry permit has also passed both houses, and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
More here. I was previously unaware of the TSRA PAC site; the front page summary of legislative events is very useful.
Cahiers du Cinéma: Alphaville.
Sunday, May 19th, 2013Last night’s movie was Alphaville
Lawrence has said he’s not sure he wants to write a review of it, so I guess the duty of commentary falls to me. The problem is, I’m not sure what to say about it. I get the idea that Jean-Luc Godard is an important director, and Alphaville is an important film in the history of the French New Wave.
And the movie does have some things going for it:
- The women are beautiful, especially Anna Karina.
- “Hey, we don’t have a budget, so let’s use a Ford Mustang as an interstellar spacecraft, and Paris at night to represent an alien city.” Sounds good to me.
- Godard does do a lot with little money in this movie.
- It is shortish: 1:39.
- I am not sure, but I believe this may be the first pop culture example of the “destroy the computer by setting it up with a logical contradiction” trope. TVTropes is not helpful in this regard, but Alphaville does predate Star Trek.
- At least Godard had the good taste to give Lemmy Caution a 1911.
- Wow. What great staircases.
Beyond those things, though…wow, this is one hot pretentious mess. Alphaville is the kind of movie that is great to be able to say you have seen, but not all that great to actually sit through.
(I have a feeling this is going to make it much harder to talk Lawrence and everyone else into seeing Made in U.S.A.
(And no great shock here, but my guess was right: you can buy Alphaville buttons online. However:
- Lawrence isn’t a button person.
- $6.25 seems steep to me, especially given that…
- …most of the things I’ve ordered from Zazzle have been disappointing, especially t-shirts.
Maybe if there’s a button maker at Worldcon I’ll get some done. Goddard won’t mind me infringing his copyright, will he? If he does, it isn’t like he has any room to complain.)
Invisible airwaves crackle with life, bright antenna bristle with the energy…
Friday, May 10th, 2013As Linoge says, you can’t stop the signal.
Edited to add: Quote of the day:
The right to download CAD files is the right to be free. 😉
—Tam
(Reference explained here for the non SF fans in my audience.)
Random notes: May 8, 2013.
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013(Fresno is paying their poet laureate $2,000 for a two-year term.)
Paging Andy Ihnatko. Andy Ihnatko to the white courtesy phone, please.
(Seriously, this does not strike me as a good idea.)
“She” is Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Edited to add: Ken over at Popehat has a post up flaming the LAT and other newspapers (and, sort of by implication, your obedient servant) for seizing on the karaoke angle and taking out of the context it was in.
The Statesman has been all over the collapse of RunTex (a local running shoe store, which was also active in various community events) like flies on a severed cow’s head at a Damien Hirst exhibition. I haven’t paid much attention to the story because I’m not a runner and didn’t care about RunTex. I remember my sister (who competes in triathlons) telling me about going there a while back and being totally unable to find any shoes that fit her. (And my sister does not have giant mutant feet.)
In that vein, I found this Statesman column rather interesting. It looks like my sister wasn’t the only person who had that problem…
Edited to add: A friend of WCD told us a similar story in email; he went in looking for the Nike shoes that would work with their iPhone application and transmitter. They didn’t have any shoes in his size, let alone the Nike ones. When he inquired, they told him “We’re not a shoe store. We support the running lifestyle.”
“We support the running lifestyle.” WHAT THE FRACK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?
“We’re not a shoe store.” Yeah. Now, you’re nothing.
This is just further evidence towards my theory: the problems with the American economy have much to do with the fact that nobody wants to take money for goods and services any longer. I’m not kidding: I can’t count the number of experiences I’ve had, or been told about recently, involving wanting to make a purchase and not being able to get help, get questions answered, or get people to take money.