Archive for May, 2012

Newer Entries »

Well, darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable, and lightness has a call that’s hard to hear.

Monday, May 7th, 2012

  He went home three years later. He explained no more than to say, “I lived with the Crows for a while. It was sometime before I could leave. They called me Horse.”
He did not find it necessary either to apologize or to boast, because he was the equal of any man on earth.
—”A Man Called Horse”, Dorothy M. Johnson

  Instapundit and other folks have written eloquently about the “higher education bubble”. Other people I know and respect, like TJIC, have commented on ridiculous majors and the ridiculous people who pursue them.

So why did I go back to school? Why did I spend six years and <mumble mumble> dollars pursuing a degree? And why St. Ed’s? I’m not Catholic.

(more…)

Posted in School | 2 Comments »

Headline of the day.

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Dolphins die of heroin overdoses after zoo rave

Posted in Clippings, Media | Comments Closed

Obit watch: May 6, 2012.

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

George “Goober” Lindsey.

Posted in Clippings, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: May 4, 2012.

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Daring Fireball is quoting sources as reporting the death of Adam Yauch, aka “MCA” of the Beastie Boys, aka “Sir Stewart Wallace”, aka “Nathan Wind”.

To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Beastie Boys, with the exception of two songs. One is “Rock Hard”. And the other? Like you couldn’t guess.

Posted in Clippings, Music, Obits | 1 Comment »

Academic update Spring 2012, part II: If you can make one heap of all your winnings…

Friday, May 4th, 2012

No, really, I haven’t been obsessively checking the university’s website waiting for that last grade.

Once every hour half-hour quarter-hour five minutes isn’t obsessive, is it?

The email from the professor came in at 10:29 AM yesterday, about the same time I was checking the website for the 1×101010 time.

As a reminder, the grade I was waiting on was the one for the big final paper; the “Capstone” project as they refer to it, which is supposed to be a summation of what you’ve learned up to the end of your academic career. At least in terms of ethical analysis, critical thinking, research skills, ability to write prose that makes sense, and maybe something to do with your actual major.

And?

(more…)

Posted in School | Comments Closed

A roundup of items from the legal beat.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Back in January, I noted the indictment of DC Council member Harry Thomas on embezzlement charges. Thomas pled guilty, as expected, and was sentenced today to 38 months in prison. Guidelines called for 41 to 51 months; his attorney was asking for 18 months plus six more in “home confinement”.

I was going to put this in the earlier post, but I forgot, and it fits better here anyway:

Thirteen people were criminally charged on Wednesday with hazing in the death of a Florida A&M University marching band member who was beaten after a football game last fall.

11 of those charged were charged with felonies. If the charges are proven, I have no sympathy for those charged, and I hope they draw long, hard time.

James M. Woosley, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intelligence chief, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to an elaborate scam over several years involving false travel expense reports totaling nearly $600,000.

I’m not sure what happened here: did I miss the story until Balko drew it to my attention, or has it been buried by the mass media? A Google search for references to “James M. Woosley” specifically on nytimes.com and latimes.com turned up nothing: the same search on washingtonpost.com turned up some references to Woosley’s suspension from his post and the convictions of other people in this scheme, but nothing about Woosley’s conviction.

Posted in Clippings, Law | Comments Closed

FSBO.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Wanna buy a boat?

No?

Wanna buy a duck?

Of course it quacks, it’s a duck!

Okay. Last offer. Want to buy the Righthaven trademark? Act fast! Supplies are limited!

Posted in Clippings, Food, Geek | Comments Closed

I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Best. AR. Lower. Ever.

Posted in Guns | Comments Closed

Random notes: May 3, 2012.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

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.

Posted in Art, Clippings, Law, NFL, Obits, Sarcasm | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: May 1, 2012.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

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.

(more…)

Posted in NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Working for the crackdown.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

The NFL has announced disciplinary actions against four players for the New Orleans Saints for their roles in the bounty scandal.

  • Jonathan Vilma: out for the entire 2012 season.
  • Anthony Hargrove (now with Green Bay): suspended for eight games.
  • Will Smith: four game suspension.
  • Scott Fujita (now with Cleveland): three game suspension.

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.

Posted in Clippings, NFL | Comments Closed

Your tax dollars at work, ladies and Vernons.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

The notoriously corrupt California city of Vernon is in the news again.

State pension officials have concluded that the city of Vernon improperly boosted the benefits of nearly two dozen employees, including some attorneys who were erroneously granted generous “public safety” retirement packages usually reserved for police officers and firefighters.

Specifically, the city is accused of classifying some of the attorneys on staff as “public safety” employees. This is typically a classification reserved for cops and firefighters, not lawyers – not even prosecutors. The city argued that the staff attorneys were “primarily engaged in the active enforcement of criminal laws.”

In fact, former Vernon Police Chief Sol Benudiz said he could not recall a single instance when Vernon’s city attorneys appeared in criminal court. He said those cases were always handled by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The city also has issues with their former administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst. Mr. Malkenhorst collects the largest pension of anyone in the California public pension system – according to the LAT, more than $500,000 a year.

When he was employed, Mr. Malkenhorst brought in $911,000 in 2006. It is not clear from the article exactly what he was doing at the time. The article does mention that at one point he claimed to hold 10 separate positions in Vernon’s city government, but it it not clear if he held these positions in 2006.

By the way, Mr. Malkenhorst pled guilty to a charge of “misappropriation of public funds” last year. His replacement, Eric T. Fresch, is one of the attorneys who were classified as “public safety” employees; he pulled in $1.65 million in 2008. Fresch is currently employed as a “special consultant” to the city at a rate of $525 an hour.

The former mayor of Vernon, Leonis Malburg, was convicted of perjury in 2009.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law | Comments Closed

Making the news personal.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

I wouldn’t ordinarily make note of the five guys arrested for conspiring to blow up a bridge in Ohio. Terrorist plots are a dime a dozen these days, and it seems that many of them turn out to be a bunch of losers who couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery without help from undercover FBI agents.

But I’ve noted before that I have family in the Cleveland area. Some of them live in Sagamore Hills, and I’ve driven over the Ohio 82 bridge many times while visiting them.

Here’s what that bridge looks like in Google Maps satellite view:


View Larger Map

And here’s your Google Image Search results for the Ohio 82 bridge. It is a nice looking bridge, I have to admit.

Posted in Bridges, Clippings, Roads | 4 Comments »

Newer Entries »