Obit watch: March 22, 2016.

March 22nd, 2016

There’s a nice tribute in today’s WP to Bob Ebeling, who died on Monday. You may not recognize the name:

In the days before the space shuttle Challenger burned up in mid-air, killing all seven astronauts on board, Ebeling and four other engineers had pleaded with NASA to delay the launch. They had concerns about whether the rubber o-rings on the shuttle’s booster rockets would seal properly in the frigid winter weather. Ebeling even authored an alarmed memo detailing the problems with the rings. Its subject line read, bluntly, “Help!”

For the historical record: Andrew S. Grove.

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Use of force, Luke.

March 21st, 2016

How much force can police use?

The first answer to that question probably ought to be another question, “Under what circumstances?”

For example, if someone’s passively resisting – just goes limp, doesn’t fight back – should a police officer whip out his issue sidearm and kill them? Perhaps if the officer is a member of the Chicago Police Department (where apparently officers can get away with anything) but in a normal police department, such behavior will get you fired and criminally charged.

Is this okay?

Is it okay to shoot an unarmed, naked, 17-year-old male? Is it okay to pepper-spray someone in the back of a police van? These last two questions are ones the city of Austin has been dealing with recently.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Cops, Law | 2 Comments »

Data point.

March 20th, 2016

Something that might be of interest to Texas People of the Gun:

My license to carry was up for renewal this year. I filled in the renewal application online on March 3rd.

My new license was in the post office box when I checked yesterday. So Texas DPS processed it in, at most, a little over two weeks. Not bad, not bad at all.

(To be fair: I did not have to take a renewal class this cycle, so I wasn’t required to send in proof of that. Also, while Texas DPS did warn me that this was a possibility, it turned out I did not have to get new fingerprints or a new photo. And I suppose it is distantly possible that these results were skewed by the fact that I had to go through recent background checks with the Austin Police Department for the Citizen’s Police Academy classes and my ride-along with APD.)

Posted in Guns, Politics, Texas | Comments Closed

Just got paid today…

March 18th, 2016

…so I feel comfortable asking you to give money to a cause I believe is worthy. As I’ve stated before, my policy is: I don’t ask you to donate for things I haven’t donated to myself.

Short version: Alexis Nicole is eight years old, and a competitive shooter. Her grandfather was taking her for training last week when he was killed in a car accident.

Longer version of the story from Oleg Volk here.

YouCaring page for donations to help with medical and funeral expenses here.

Hattip on this to the great and good Erin Palette.

Posted in Endorsements, Guns | 1 Comment »

Short random notes: March 18, 2016.

March 18th, 2016

I absolutely hate the BuzzFeed inspired headline on this story. But the story itself is worth reading:

Twenty-seven years ago, on a drug raid conducted by an elite special operations team with the same county police department, Sommers had shot and killed his best friend, a fellow squad member named Mark Murphy. In the days afterward, one of the few people who could reach Sommers, locked away in private torment, was another officer who had also accidentally killed another cop.
And now Sommers was being asked by his friend to do the same thing for the officer who had killed Colson — just as he has done for cops across the country who have suddenly found themselves at the center of unfathomable circumstances.

Obit watch: James Sheldon has passed away at the age of 95. The name didn’t ring a bell with me, but wow, what a career:

Mr. Sheldon directed episodes of some 100 series in virtually every genre, including classic episodes of “The Twilight Zone” (among them “I Sing the Body Electric” and “A Penny for Your Thoughts”), 44 episodes of the hit series “The Millionaire” and a full season of “The Bing Crosby Show,” a short-lived family sitcom.

Larry Drake. You know, I remember being fond of “L.A. Law” when it was first running; I wonder how it holds up today.

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Gonzaga 68, Seton Hall 52.

March 18th, 2016

Well, I was right about something for once.

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Obit watch: March 17, 2016.

March 17th, 2016

Frank Sinatra Jr.

Later that year Frank Jr.’s name was in headlines nationwide when he was kidnapped at gunpoint from a casino in Nevada. He was freed, unharmed, a little more than two days later, after his father paid $240,000 in ransom.

Three men, Barry Worthington Keenan, Joseph Clyde Amsler and John William Irwin, were convicted of the kidnapping, despite defense lawyers’ claim that it had been a publicity stunt. “The criminals invented a story that the whole thing was phony,” Mr. Sinatra said in an interview with The Guardian in 2012. “That was the stigma put on me.”

Apparently, Barry Keenan was involved in a project to build a casino in downtown Austin? How did I miss that?

Posted in Law, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Police now give you no break…

March 16th, 2016

During stops that resulted in a citation or an arrest, African-Americans had a 1 in 6 chance of being searched in the same type of stops, which was the same rate since 2012. Hispanics had a 1 in 9 chance of being searched, which also was the same rate from the previous two years, the report found. Whites had a 1 in 22 chance of being searched.

I wanted to take note of this story, and the complete report from the Office of the Police Monitor.

Chief of Staff Manley, who is quoted extensively in the Statesman report, addressed our Citizen’s Police Academy class last week and spent about 30 minutes going over the report. I feel comfortable saying that pretty much everything he told us, as far as APD’s response to the report, made it into the Statesman‘s article. But I’m glad to get the OPM’s side, too.

(A representative from the OPM did address our CPA class, and I think the CPA deserves some credit for having him there. However, his presentation came the week before the OPM report was released.)

There are some things that Chief Manley said in his presentation that bother me a bit, but I’m having trouble articulating exactly why; this may be the subject of a longer post later, along with one I’m trying to write about “response to resistance”.

(As we all know, resistance is a) futile, and II) voltage/current.)

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | 1 Comment »

A couple of random notes: March 16, 2016.

March 16th, 2016

How did I not have a “Lovecraft” category before now? Fixed.

What brought this to mind? Anther AP story, this one about the relationship between H.P. Lovecraft and Providence.

Lovecraft aficionados, drawn to Providence, leave trinkets and notes at the author’s gravesite in Swan Point Cemetery. The Lovecraft council has a store downtown and holds conventions and events to celebrate Lovecraft’s work and influence.

When I visited Swan Point on one of my trips, I was told Lovecraft’s grave was the most visited one in the cemetery. This struck me as interesting, because Sullivan Ballou, aka “the guy who wrote the letter from the Ken Burns series that everyone but me loves” is also buried in Swan Point. My recollection is that this was near the peak of “Civil War” mania, but I guess Lovecraftian horror beats banjos and sentiment at least five out of seven days of the week.

Tam has a very nice obit up for Todd Louis Green, noted pistol trainer, class act, and “Archer” fan.

I never got to take a class with him, and I wish I had: I think I would have enjoyed both learning from him, and finding out if he hates Bionic Barry as much as I do.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Lovecraft, Obits, Rhode Island | Comments Closed

Imagine a rotting Elvis shopping for fresh fruit…

March 15th, 2016

Today’s Statesman ran an AP article on the decline of Elvis mania in Las Vegas. I think this is the original.

Low attendance numbers were also to blame when the Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil show at the Aria casino-hotel was cancelled in 2012 after a two-year run. That’s a much shorter shelf life than most of its sister shows. The longest-running one, Myste’re, started on the Strip more than two decades ago.

It’s left the Strip’s largest casino operator, MGM Resorts International, without any Elvis-themed shows, attractions or weddings. Rival Caesars Entertainment Corporation still hosts tribute acts and weddings, but a spokeswoman said few of those getting hitched ever choose the official Elvis packages.

…

Elvis impersonator Ted Payne, 54 said business has slowed dramatically since he started taking photos with tourists for tips just six years ago.

“When I first started out, I wouldn’t get out of a bed unless I (could) make at least $150,” he said. “Now, these days, $50 is a great day.”

…

Others say the market was oversaturated by Elvis impersonators for so long that the appeal burned itself out here, even as Elvis’ reach grows internationally.

I have no joke here, I just like saying “oversaturated by Elvis impersonators”.

First Liberace, now Elvis. Is there no sense of history in Vegas?

(Subject line hattip.)

Posted in Clippings, Elvis, Music, Travel | 1 Comment »

Memos from the sports desk.

March 14th, 2016

Trent Johnson out as men’s basketball coach for Texas Christian University. Story with official announcement from the horribly designed Dallas Morning News site. ESPN.

Hattip on this to Lawrence. And speaking of Lawrence, once again I have taken Gonzaga against the field for $5 with Lawrence.

I know that Gonzaga struggled to get a tournament bid this year, but it seems like they are on a hot streak. I think they might at least be able to surprise Seton Hall…

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Sports, Wagers | Comments Closed

I heartily endorse this event or product. (#13 in a series)

March 13th, 2016

The Cotton Bureau is doing another run of HENCHMAN t-shirts.

You can also get HENCHWOMAN t-shirts as well.

And you can get them in youth sizes, and even in a onesie.

These shirts are brought to you by way of the Batman 66 Labels project, aka “my new favorite thing on the Internet ever“. How can you not buy a HENCHMAN t-shirt after seeing this?

Seriously, I own one of the shirts from the first run, and think it is a fine shirt. If you have children, you should purchase at least one for each of them. Orders are being taken through March 23rd.

(I’m not getting any kickback for this: I just really like my shirt, and Batman 66 Labels.)

Posted in Clothing, Endorsements, Geek, Shirts | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 13, 2016.

March 13th, 2016

I actually didn’t find out Keith Emerson was dead until I sat down to dinner last night and started browsing while I waited for Lawrence. A/V Club. Lawrence. NYT.

Sunny Balzano, owner and bartender of Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn, died Thursday night. I mention this here, not because of Mr. Balzano’s prominence, but because this is a really, really good obituary for a neighborhood “character” (for want of a better word): it is the kind of thing that the paper of record, when it does it, does it well.

Posted in Clippings, Media, Music | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 9, 2016.

March 9th, 2016

I have to note this one: Kathryn Popper has passed away at the age of 100.

Ms. Popper had a very small, almost microscopic, role in “Citizen Kane“: she appears as a photographer at the very end of the movie, and has two lines.

According to the NYT, she was the last surviving person to have appeared in the film: Jean Forward Baker, who dubbed Susan Alexander’s voice, is still alive.

Her first visit to New York was with Welles to promote “Citizen Kane.” She moved to the city a year later, befriended many celebrities, wrote a hibachi cookbook and never left.

I’m guessing this is the cookbook?

Also among the dead: George Martin, noted record producer, perhaps most famous for his work producing an overrated mediocre band with a few toe-tappers.

Posted in Books, Food, Movies, Music, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: March 7, 2016.

March 7th, 2016

I know I keep using this excuse, but it really was a busy weekend. I spent a large chunk of Saturday babysitting children, away from a computer I could use. I may write some later on about how I spent my Sunday, but not right now; also, I wanted to let the Nancy Reagan obits sit for a day.

NYTimes. LAT. WP. Lawrence.

Catching up from the weekend and for the historical record: Pat Conroy. NYT. WP. A/V Club. Charleston Post and Courier.

I’ve read very little of Conroy’s work: The Prince of Tides in particular always struck me as being chick lit. But somewhere recently (and I wish I could remember where) I read part of his followup to The Great Santini, The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son…and I was actually kind of hooked. Maybe I need to give his work a second look.

And I have to confess: I’m a sucker for crap like this. (See also this, which I picked up at Half-Price over the weekend, even though I’m a little embarrassed to admit it.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, History, Obits, Politics | Comments Closed

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