Things are still kind of up in the air, but improving slowly. In the meantime, have a handful of random crap:
Your Jack LaLanne obit from the NYT. And from the LAT.
Just for Lawrence, a review of the New World Center, designed by Frank Gehry.
Happy belated birthday, John Moses Browning.
The Pack is back, baby! (Mostly, I’m linking this for the font: may not be valid after 1/24. Did they drag the “Japs Attack Pearl Harbor!” font out of the Linotype case?)
Remember the case of the clerk who shot the beer thief? The one who got eight years probation for his murder and evidence tampering conviction?
Yeah. Well, there’s a follow-up to that story. You see, it turns out that the jury couldn’t do that.
So the judge tossed the verdict, and everybody involved made a deal. Romero pled out to manslaughter instead of murder, and got the same eight year probated sentence.
I would have preferred to see a retrial, and a fight at the appellate level if Romero was convicted again. But I can’t blame Romero and his lawyers for taking the deal.
Someone who can claim credit in the comments (or send me an email if they want) suggested a T-shirt:
Front: “One down, 534 to go.”
Back: “Wearing this t-shirt is cause for revoking your civil rights. At least in Massachusetts.”
I don’t have time to work on the design (the personal situation I alluded to in an earlier post is not improving as rapidly as I would like) but if someone does want to take the ball and run with it…I would suggest that any proceeds go into TJIC’s legal fund.
We generally do not read the Huffington Post, although we do not react to it in the same way we react to that wretched hive of scum and stupidity known as Salon. However, we wanted to make note of this article, even though it has been thoroughly linked and blogged elsewhere:
We especially wanted to make note of this article in light of another recent event. Supporter and sometime commenter on this blog TJIC had his Massachusetts firearms license suspended over postings on his blog. Yes, you read that correctly: Jay G. has a more detailed account, which also preempts much of the commentary I would otherwise offer on this subject.
TJIC’s commentary may be disagreeable, even reprehensible to some. But if being disagreeable and running contrary to popular opinion was a reason to revoke someone’s civil rights, where would we be today? Jay says it better that we can:
Or how does it make you feel to know that Martin Luther King was denied the ability to defend himself and his family, because he was black and unpopular?
Can we get an “Amen!” for Brother Jay?
Is it possible to be a football atheist? Plus Easterbrookian ignorance about guns and stealing jokes from FARK. All in this week’s TMQ after the jump…
It is well known that I am an unabashed Smith and Wesson fanboy.
I will not be purchasing one of these, thank you very much.
I already have a S&W that shoots .45 LC, and while I’d like to add a .45 ACP revolver to the collection, it won’t be one that looks like it has been knighted with the ugly stick. I also don’t have a burning desire for a handgun that shoots .410 shells. (The Circuit Judge actually does have a small amount of appeal to me, but there are a lot of long guns higher on the list, like the Ruger Scout Rifle or something in .45-70. I think the reason the Circuit Judge appeals is that it doesn’t look as ugly as I originally expected it to be. Then again, the Uberti revolving rifles are also attractive.)
(Hattip: Tam.)
We previously blogged about the local store clerk who was charged with murder after shooting at a fleeing thief who’d stolen a 12-pack. The thief was found dead in an abandoned car a few hours later, and the clerk apparently tried to cover his tracks after the shooting.
The clerk was just convicted of murder and evidence tampering.
We repeat what we said at the time, “If you had a good reason for shooting, the evidence is only going to help you. Altering or destroying evidence only makes you look bad.” And it will probably get you convicted.
Edited to add: The jury that was deadlocked for several days does not appear to have had much trouble returning a sentence; eight years probation.
Both of these broke yesterday, but I was waiting until I found some better sources before posting:
Peter Yates, director. Lawrence and I were discussing his rather interesting career yesterday. Yates directed such films as Bullit, The Dresser, Breaking Away, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. He also directed The Deep, Mother, Jugs & Speed, and Krull. (And let’s not forget The Hot Rock, one of the better adaptations of a Donald Westlake Dortmunder novel.) (LAT obit.)
Richard Winters, of Band of Brothers fame. (WP obit.)
I haven’t had much to say about events in Arizona, and probably won’t. Other people are covering this much better than I am; you can pretty much click on any blog in my blogroll for commentary. If you have to pick one, Battleswarm seems to be doing good roundups.
I’m running a bit behind today due to a personal matter this morning, so here’s a quick roundup of some things I felt were worth rounding up.
Day after coverage of the Kubiak situation from the HouChron. Kubby stays, four assistants get the axe. And it looks like the Wade Phillips thing is moving closer to happening.
Fire last night in one of our downtown condo complexes. A close friend of WCD and many of our readers (who shall remain nameless here to protect his privacy, but the people who know him know who I’m talking about) lives in that condo one floor above the fire. He’s fine, and his condo suffered what he describes as minor smoke and soot damage.
Local gun store (McBride’s) robbed. This is the second break-in at McBride’s that I can remember; I have it in my head that the perps were caught in the act the first time, but I can’t confirm that now. It struck me as odd that they only stole “several” handguns, but this KXAN article describes them as high-end .45 autos. I think I know which guns were taken, as I’ve seen them in the display case. My recollection is that they were Wilson Combat and Les Baeur 1911s. Nice to know that our local crooks have good taste, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to move those easily. Assuming that they want to move them, as opposed to using them personally…
The Macy’s store in Highland Mall is closing. I’m thinking this is probably the end of Highland Mall. I haven’t been there in…I can’t remember how long. And I haven’t been to that Macy’s since shortly after they dropped the Foley’s branding. (I miss Foley’s.) Highland Mall attempted to file for bankruptcy last year, but had the petition dismissed. The mall itself has been in decline for several years; there are a lot of allegations that it has become a hangout for gangs, and a hotbed of criminal activity. The more recent Statesman articles avoid discussing those issues, but you can pick up on them by reading the discussion and this older Statesman article.
Question: if you level the mall, what do you put there as part of the redevelopment process?
Headline in the LAT: “Wine and online sales: It’s easier to buy a gun than merlot”.
First paragraph of the article:
Okay. Let’s take a close look at that. Yes, in “most states”, you can order a gun online. Unless you, yourself, have a Federal Firearms License, the gun has to be shipped from a registered dealer to another dealer who also has a FFL. (You can order from a private party; however, that person has to find an FFL near them to process the transaction.) Once the gun arrives at the dealer you’ve selected, you have to go in and fill out a Form 4473. For the benefit of my readers who have never purchased a gun, here’s what a Form 4473 looks like. The purchaser has to fill out everything in section A.
Once you’ve filled out the Form 4473, the dealer then still has to call in to the National Instant Check System (NICS) to determine if you’re allowed to go through with the purchase, denied, or delayed. (There are some exceptions to that; for example, because I have a Texas CHL permit, dealers are not required to make the NICS call, because I’ve already been vetted by the State of Texas. I still have to make arrangements with a FFL to receive the gun for me; the only thing my Texas CHL permit allows me to bypass is the NICS call.)
In addition, you’ll typically end up paying shipping on the gun you ordered. Dealers also don’t generally do these transfers for free. Depending on how good a negotiator you are, you may end up paying the seller’s transfer fee to their FFL (if the gun comes from a private party and not a dealer); for sure, you’ll end up paying a transfer fee to the dealer who receives the gun for you, has you fill out the 4473, and does the background check. $25-$30 is what these fees average in the Austin area.
As far as ordering pornography; who does that these days? As far as cigarettes, I think the author needs to do a bit more research on that particular subject. Here’s a hint: you may not go to jail, but you’re likely to end up being billed for taxes. And as I recall, New York and several other states were attempting to ban credit card companies from processing online cigarette orders, and trying to persuade the Postal Service and other carriers to ban cigarette shipments.
I don’t, as a matter of fact, disagree with the author’s general argument; online wine sales are excessively complicated, largely due to laws that were put in place to protect liquor wholesalers. However, neither his argument nor the credibility of the LAT are helped by misrepresenting facts.
I’ve already sent this to Jay G. so he can up the Dead Goblin Count (Edited to add: yeah, me and about 11 other people), but I think it is worth noting here: bad guys try to hold up a jewelry store.
Adding to yesterday’s discussion of Bob Feller, Daring Fireball had a couple of good tributes: here, and here. (Edited to add: even more from Gruber.)
There was a story I wanted to link yesterday, but forgot about: I previously mentioned the case of General John D. Lavelle, and the presidential decision to grant him a posthumous restoration of the star he lost. Unfortunately, that decision seems to have become bogged down in politics. Worse yet, Kissinger seems to be behind this.
Might not hurt to give your Senator a call.
The Statesman is reporting that the APD has taken further action in the case of the drunk SWAT officer: four other SWAT officers have been kicked off the team.
The NYT has a little “slice of (NYC) life” piece about the last day at one of the city’s OTB parlors. Short summary: where are all the cranky old men going to go now?
I am aware of the WP‘s latest “Hidden Life of Guns” effort. (Look! Mexican gun ducks!) I am not sure if and when I’ll get around to writing about it.
Edited to add: Forgot one. Followup in the NYT on the American Anthropological Association and the “science” controversy.
Mike the Musicologist came up over the weekend bearing gifts. Look what he got me.
Stuff from the NYT:
Longer, more detailed obit for John duPont.
What is the purpose of anthropology? Is it a science, or should it focus on “advancing public understanding”?
I would be remiss if I did not include this here. Sorry, but this is the best version I could find on YouTube:
“Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts” always makes me giggle.
Not from the NYT:
Lawrence was asking me yesterday if I knew anything about the Joel Rosenberg situation. I had to confess that I had not been keeping up with it, sadly. However, Popehat has decided to bring the noise in their usual inimitable way; I tip my hat to Patrick (and Ken, who Patrick says is responsible for “the good parts”).
Apropos my comments about the gun show, my great and good friend Glen sent me a link to this Cool Tools writeup of the Dillon Precision RL-550B.
I’ve heard a lot of good word of mouth about Dillon’s stuff, but I didn’t realize the 550B was in the price range of a mediocre laptop. That’s seriously tempting. (And, yes, I realize that there’s additional costs for dies.)
Things I wonder about, and maybe that part of my audience that reloads can answer: