Don Kirshner, music mogul. Lawrence suggested I insert Paul Simon’s parody of Kirshner from SNL here, but sadly I can’t find that online.
R. Sargent Shriver, who was never a sergeant, and was perhaps most famous as a Kennedy in-law.
Obit watch: January 19, 2011.
January 19th, 2011TMQ watch: January 18, 2011.
January 18th, 2011Is 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…
Gun crankery.
January 18th, 2011It 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.)
How appealing.
January 17th, 2011Since we have, in the past, noted cases where Austin Police Department (and Austin Fire Department) officers have won arbitrator’s rulings over disciplinary actions, simple fairness requires us to note this article in yesterday’s Statesman:
Certainly not the impression I had. However, if you read down a little more in the article…
So if the arbitrators have upheld 10 of 23, that implies they haven’t upheld the remaining 13, right? So is it fair to say “employees have lost that battle more frequently than not”?
In fairness to the author of the article, he goes on to state:
• Arbitrators have overturned only a single police disciplinary case.
• Arbitrators have agreed that officers erred in five cases but reduced their punishment.
My impression is that he’s grouping those as “wins” for the employees. That accounts for six out of 13. What of the other seven?
I think the author is counting the five settlements as “wins” for the city, where I would count a settlement as a “win” for the employee. Reasonable people can differ on this, and I’m not sure there’s enough evidence in the article to resolve that difference. Let’s be fair and count a settlement as a “tie”. By that count, I make it 11-6-5 (counting the withdrawn appeal as a “win” for the city).
Also interesting:
Apologies.
January 17th, 2011We are experiencing some issues both computational (our primary bombe had to visit the repair shop) and personal (a family member’s health issue, which we will not detail here) that are keeping us from running at 100% of our rated capacity.
Blogging will be catch as catch can for a bit.
“Rodeo clown transvestite”?
January 16th, 2011Well, it is that season, or will be soon:
It just gets stranger from there. I am amused by the detail that he was also carrying a Mexican flag.
Told you so.
January 14th, 2011We 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.
I’m on a horse.
January 13th, 2011Following up on yesterday’s story, the Statesman has an interview with the (allegedly) drunk horse rider on 6th Street.
The guy on the mule was apparently not available for comment. And for the record, the Statesman is reporting that the DWI charges against both men have been dropped, but the police are planning to charge them with public intoxication.
Baby, if you ever wondered…
January 13th, 2011…what Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, former city administrator for the city of Bell, now under indictment, was doing, the answer is:
He’s working as a parking lot attendant at the “International Surfing Museum” in Huntington Beach.
I think I speak for many of my readers when I say: there’s an “International Surfing Museum”?
Edited to add 1/14: Well, that was quick. Rizzo is no longer working at the International Surfing Museum.
Book geekery.
January 12th, 2011By way of TJIC, I found this nifty little query page that lists the NYT bestsellers for your birth week (both fiction and non-fiction).
I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I’ve only read one book on the list for my birth week. On the one hand, NYT bestseller lists seem to be dominated by a fair amount of transient crud; on the other hand, I’ve actually read more of the books on TJIC’s list (three total) than my own. (Believe it or not, I’ve read Boss
I am halfway tempted to start a project of blogging my way through the books for my birth week, just for grins.
From the APD blotter.
January 12th, 2011This happened Friday night, but we’re only just now hearing about it:
(Statesman link includes dashcam video.)
It appears that the DWI charge against the horse rider have been dropped, but police are going forward with the DWI charge against the guy on the mule. In addition,
(The horse and mule are apparently being held at an animal hospital in Elgin; ownership of the two animals has not been established.)
Nihilists!
January 12th, 2011And while I’m on the legal beat…
January 11th, 2011Alex Tabarrok, one of the Marginal Revolution bloggers, has an interesting article in the latest Wilson Quarterly about the economics of bounty hunting.
Edited to add: Just for grins, I thought I’d throw in a couple of links to Paladin Press books on bounty hunting, such as “Rex Venator”‘s Modern Bounty Hunting: A Real-Life Guide for the Bail Fugitive Recovery Agent
Poor Laura Hall…
January 11th, 2011TMQ watch: January 11, 2011.
January 11th, 2011Nudity! Gambling! This week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback! Now!