I have not been paying much attention to the Olympics, but some of the images from the closing ceremony in this photo gallery are stunning.
In particular, the ballerina cum phoenix, translucent octopus bus, and pretty much all the fireworks related images knocked me off my feet. I wish someone could explain the Pet Shop Boys to me, though.
Tyrone Freeman used to be the president of Local 6434 of the Service Employees Industrial Union (SEIU).
Then things started happening. The LAT did a series of reports on Freeman’s spending as head of the local. The federal Department of Labor, the FBI, and the IRS started investigating.
And now Freeman has been indicted on 15 counts:
Oddly enough, I see no mention of strippers. Freeman was apparently big on cigars and cognac.
Yeah, Hawaii is nice and all. But, dude, the Pro Bowl? Seriously?
Last year, NYC sold 28,000 pounds of spent brass to Georgia Arms, which reloaded the casings and sold re-manufactured ammunition.
Not surprisingly, the NYT has issues with this.
Meanwhile:
More:
“It’s not working! Do it harder!”
Interesting:
This appears to be a breaking story:
(This is also partially an Olympic watch.)
We’re the only ones professional enough…to shoot ourselves while cleaning our weapons.
The HouChron has a nice profile of Sergeant Glenn Eller, of the Army Marksmanship Unit. Sgt. Eller is competing in the shotgun double trap competition in the London Olympics. This is his fourth time at the rodeo; he won a gold medal in double trap in 2008. And he’s had an interesting time of it:
Worth noting:
You know, I like these AMU guys. It’d be fun to meet some of them and hang out. I wonder if the AMU will have a presence at next year’s NRA meeting?
(Joy! Also speaking of the AMU, Amazon says my copy of US Military Match and Marksmanship Automatic Pistols
I haven’t been following the baseball losers this year: I plan to do a post at the All-Star break about who has the worst records.
But I did want to point out this article from the HouChron:
(The Astros lost today, to make their record 33-53, still the worst record in baseball. Second worst is a tie between the Colorado Rockies…and the Cubs, both at 33-52.)
Edited to add: Huh. Well. Whaddya know? I guess we’re at the All-Star break after tonight’s games finish. I had no idea…
According to the NYT, one of the current hot button issues in the United Kingdom is: “Who will represent Britain in the under-80-kilogram weight class for men’s tae kwon do?”
Aaron Cook is ranked #1 in the world in this weight class. Aaron Cook is not on the team. Lutalo Muhammad, who is ranked #59, is on the team.
The British Olympic Association rejected Muhammad last week; his nomination has been resubmitted and the BOA is meeting today to consider it. And the World Taekwondo Federation is also investigating, though their ability to actually do anything is limited.
A few weeks ago, we asked the musical question:
…how bad was the damage to Petrino’s Harley Davidson Road King?
By way of FARK, we have an answer. The Harley is for sale on a site called copart.com. It looks to be in pretty bad shape; as both the Mobile Press-Register and copart note, the Harley is estimated to have suffered $18,000 worth of damage, but is only valued at $16,000.
Obit watch: Junior Seau, former linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots.
And the Kennedy assassination conspiracy has claimed another victim: Earl Rose, the Dallas County medical examiner who wanted to autopsy Kennedy but was overruled. Dr. Rose also did the autopsies on J.D. Tippit (the police officer Oswald shot), on Oswald himself, and on Jack Ruby.
I am aware of the rumors that I was the winning bidder on Munch’s “The Scream”. At this time, I have no comment.
Yes, we know we are a little late with this week’s TMQ Watch. ESPN has made it incredibly difficult to find TMQ, and we’ve been somewhat overwhelmed with plans for an upcoming party and work-related issues. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
But not before noting that by publishing on Tuesday, TMQ missed two of the biggest NFL stories so far this year. Of course, he knew what he was getting into when he bought the tickets. We say let him crash.
The NFL has announced disciplinary actions against four players for the New Orleans Saints for their roles in the bounty scandal.
It looks like the the Vilma and Hargrove penalties were harshest because of their level of involvement. Vilma was the defensive captain at the time and allegedly assisted Gregg Williams with the bounty program, as well as offering “$10,000 to any Saints teammate who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC championship game.”
Hargrove apparently obstructed the investigation and lied to investigators; his punishment may have been mitigated somewhat because he flipped later on, submitting “a signed declaration that established not only the existence of the program at the Saints, but also that he knew about and participated in it.”
According to Pro Football Talk, all four players plan to appeal. This could turn into an interesting legal battle.
I’m trying to think of harsher player suspensions in the NFL, and I’m not coming up with much; Vick got an “indefinite” suspension that basically worked out to two years (most of which he spent in prison). Albert Haynesworth got five games for stomping on a guy. Plaxico Burress got four games for shooting himself. Roethlisberger got a six-game hit which was reduced to four games. And apparently a few players (Dexter Manley being the most famous) have gotten lifetime bans for multiple failed drug tests.
I feel a certain compulsion to note the achievement of the Charlotte Bobcats, who finished the NBA season with 23 consecutive losses and the worst winning percentage (0.106: 7-59 overall) in NBA history.
But here is my problem, and the reason I haven’t been on this like flies over a cow’s head in a Damien Hirst installation:
Charlotte only played 66 games. The 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers played 82 games, and finished with a 0.110 percentage (9-73).
So, yeah, Charlotte’s achievement is noteworthy, but it goes in my personal record book with a big old asterisk. I don’t like counting records from strike-shortened seasons.
Of course, if the Bobcats come back next year and make a strong run for the futility title, I’ll be on it as much as I am on anything involving the NBA.
TMQ is back temporarily, for the first of his two yearly draft columns. We were actually kind of wondering about this; ESPN dropped “Page 2” a couple of weeks ago, and we were unsure if TMQ would stay or go.
Anyway, we are glad to see Easterbrook back, and, after the jump, we will mock his mockery…
Seth Greenberg out as Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach.
He went 170-123 in nine seasons, went to the NIT tourney five times and the NCAA tourney once.
The ESPN article made it sound like his firing was completely unexpected, but the one I’ve chosen to link above indicates the firing had less to do with his record and more to do with turnover among his assistant coaches.
So is the implication here that there was a management problem? Because that’s what I’m picking up from AD Weaver’s statement.
…that giving a young woman a ride on your hog would get you fired?
Seriously, I don’t have a problem with Arkansas firing Bobby Petrino. It just comes as a surprise. I read FARK’s thread yesterday and the consensus was that he might get a short suspension, perhaps a fine, but the university wasn’t going to fire him.
Yeah, I know, FARK, hardly experts. But the consensus was that Petrino was rebuilding the program, and that was too important to the university. Thinking about it some more, I’m glad to see FARK was wrong, and the weasel is gone.
Edited to add: In all the discussion of this, I haven’t seen any coverage of the most important point: how bad was the damage to Petrino’s Harley Davidson Road King?