Brief because I’ve covered this several times before.
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was 50 years ago today.
I have not read it yet, and I’m probably going to wait for the trade paperback, but: The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon looks like it could be an interesting book on the subject.
James Watson, DNA guy.
…
Dr. Watson’s tell-all memoir, “The Double Helix,” had also provoked his colleagues when it was published in 1968, infuriating them for, in their view, elevating himself while shortchanging others who were involved in the project. Still, it was instantly hailed as a classic of the literature of science. The Library of Congress listed it, along with “The Federalist Papers” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” as one of the 88 most important American literary works. (The list was later expanded to 100.)
But it was in discerning the double-helix physical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, the chromosome-building molecule and medium of genetic inheritance, that won Dr. Watson and his co-discoverer, Francis H.C. Crick, enduring fame and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962.
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In 2007, Dr. Watson became the second person to have his full genome sequenced. The first was J. Craig Venter, who as president of the Celera Corporation started a human genome sequencing project originally in competition with the government effort. Both men made their genomes available to researchers.
Today, commercial concerns sell sequencing efforts to the public. And the double helix has entered popular culture. Its image has appeared on commercial products ranging from jewelry to perfume and on postage stamps issued by countries as various as Gabon and Monaco. Salvador Dalí incorporated the image in a painting, and the performance artists who make up Blue Man Group use the image in their shows.
John Cleary. You probably don’t recognize the name, but you might recognize the photo:
He was shot and seriously wounded at Kent State on May 4, 1970.
Ed Moloney, historian of the Troubles.
I wanted to note his death because of this:
After moving to the Bronx in 2000 to help care for his mother-in-law, Mr. Moloney directed the Belfast Project at Boston College, a collection of audio interviews with paramilitary fighters on both sides of the Troubles conducted by two people, one a loyalist and the other a former I.R.A. volunteer who had served 17 years in prison for murder.
The tapes were to stay sealed until the interview subjects died. Mr. Moloney used interviews with two of them for his 2010 book, “Voices From the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland,” which was adapted into a documentary film of the same name that year.
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After the British government learned of the archives — which, among other things, implicated Mr. Adams in the McConville killing — it asked the Justice Department, under a mutual assistance legal treaty, to compel Boston College to turn over the tapes.
Under a federal subpoena, 11 of the 200 tapes were turned over in 2013. The college offered to return the tapes to the participants in the project and has done so in some cases, said Jack Dunn, a university spokesman. The archive is closed to the public.
I’ve had this in my back pocket for a couple of days, waiting to use it. As you know, Bob, I am an unabashed and unrepentant Smith and Wesson fanboy.
Honesty compels me to link to this post from the Revolver Guy blog:
“S&W 432 Ultimate Carry Ti Review: No Thanks!”
It is about 5,800 words, but I think you can see where the author is going from the headline.
I actually own one of these revolvers, as well as one of the earlier Lipsey’s Ultimate Carry guns in .38 Special. I haven’t had a chance to go to the range and give them a through workout yet, but my extended Christmas/end of the year vacation is coming soon. I’m also not carrying either until I have a chance to put rounds downrange: for right now, I’m relying on either a Beretta in .25 ACP or one of my old-school J-frames.
Greg Ellifritz also linked to this review in his Weekend Knowledge Dump for this week, and he has some additional comments. I would encourage you to read, not just his comments, but the whole Weekend Knowledge Dump. There’s some additional fun stuff in it: I would also recommend “DesertTech MDRx – Dubious Gun, Horrific Customer Service” and “The Open-Bolt MACs”. Or, as the article by Dr. Dabbs puts it: “The Open-Bolt MACs: The Worst of Absolutely Everything”.
NBA teams that still have a chance to go 0-82:
None.
The Brooklyn Nets were the last team standing. But, sadly, they beat the Pacers last night for their first win.
Both teams are now 1-7, along with the Washington Wizards.
A reliable source has informed me that the NRA is ending publication of Shooting Illustrated and America’s First Freedom. I have not found a link for this, and when I checked the NRA website earlier today, I still had a choice of these magazines with my membership.
The same source also informs me that the NRA is switching to quarterly print publication for American Rifleman and American Hunter. Again, I have no link for this. I’ve checked the NRA’s website and done a lazy Google search. But this is not a person prone to misinformation or falsehood, so I trust them implicitly. If I find a link, I will update here.
I think this is just another example of what Roy Huntington is talking about: the gun, ammo, and gun accessory manufacturers are dropping print advertising in favor of the Internet, and the print market just isn’t sustainable any longer. Of course, nobody’s considered what’s going to happen when the big companies that effectively control the Internet start hating guns again.
Edited to add: link from Bearing Arms, dated October 30th. It doesn’t name the magazines, but my source tells me they are named in the linked Cam and Company interview.
Link from News2A, also dated October 30th.
On a happier note, “Teen Vogue” has snuffed it. More or less.
“Teen Vogue”, the print publication, actually ceased publishing in 2017, but it continued on as a website under the Condé Nast brand until yesterday. Condé Nast is folding the website into the regular “Vogue” website. I’ve seen one report that says 75% of TV’s staff was fired, “including its entire politics team”.
I would be happier about this if they had snuffed regular ‘Vogue”, too, but you take your victories where you find them.
And, finally, Gannett announced today that they are changing the name of the company. The new name? USA Today Company.
Other credits include “Carnosaur”, “White Lightning”, “Then Came Bronson”, and “The Fugitive”. And the pool of living “Alice” actors gets even smaller.
Former vice president Dick Cheney. WP (archived).
Victor Conte. I’m not sure how many people will remember that name: he was the founder of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), the people who provided “performance enhancing drugs” to various athletes “including baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones”.
Hugh Freeze out at Auburn. ESPN.
15-19 in “two plus” seasons, 6-16 in the SEC, and they lost to Kentucky yesterday, 10-3. They are 4-5 this season.
And the NYPost is reporting that, with Mr. Freeze’s $15.8 millon buyout, the count is now up to $182 million owed to fired college coaches.
70 years ago today, United Flight 629 (a DC-6B) disintegrated near Longmont, Colorado. There were no survivors among the 44 passengers and crew.
Chris Grier out as general manager of the Miami Dolphins.
The spin on this is that it was by “mutual agreement”. But the Dolphins are 2-7, and lost last night to Baltimore. So…yeah.
ESPN.
“50 Years Ago, My Father Wrote the Headline That Refuses to Die” in the NYT.
Is it “Headless Body in Topless Bar”? No, but that does get a shout-out in the article. In this case, it is the other one.
NBA teams that still have a chance to go 0-82:
Indiana Pacers
Brooklyn Nets
New Orleans Pelicans
And today’s bonus firing for you: Scott Woodward fired as athletic director at Louisiana State University.
As you may recall, LSU fired Brian Kelly and owes him $54 million. This has attracted the ire of many, including Louisiana governor Jeff Landry. Gov. Landry went as far as to state that Mr. Woodward wouldn’t be picking the next football coach.
Additional coverage from ESPN.
Dalya Attar is a state senator in Maryland.
Dalya Attar has been indicted on federal charges of, believe it or not, extortion. Most of the time, it is mail or wire fraud, often in conjunction with bribery. Extortion is so rare, let us savor that for a moment. The indictment was handed down October 23rd, but I’m only seeing reports of it today.
Reports say that there were two people who were “detracting from or negatively influencing her election campaigns”.
This dates back to 2020, when she was working on her re-election to the Maryland House of Delegates. Reports say she had a falling out with a consultant who had previously worked on her 2018 campaign. The consultant became a vocal critic of Ms. Attar, and Ms. Attar wanted her to be “a non-issue in my mind”.
Ms. Attar allegedly conspired with her brother and a Baltimore police officer.
…and others involved in the plot allegedly placed a tracker on the consultant’s car and installed hidden cameras in a smoke detector in an apartment the victim used to rendezvous with her married paramour.
“Damn, I wish I had [the man’s] stamina,” Finklestein stated in a WhatsApp voice message after installing the cameras, according to the indictment.
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In December 2021, Joseph Attar allegedly met with the man who’d had an affair with the consultant at a Baltimore-area shopping center and claimed to have “hours of footage of you in bed with [her] … the only thing you need to do is very simple, is go to [the consultant] and tell her, leave Dalya alone. Don’t bring her up anymore to anyone. Stay out of this election … and make sure she doesn’t do anything against Dalya.”
According to the indictment, Joseph Attar also told the man that if he didn’t do what he asked, “I’ll share this video with everybody you know, everyone she knows, every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters … I already have all her daughters’ phone numbers, right? And every shadchan [matchmaker] in Israel who is trying to set up her daughters, I’ll share these videos with.”
Sen. Attar wasn’t elected to the Senate: she was appointed in January, but she is currently running for the seat.
I’m linking to the Sun’s coverage, but it is kind of thin right now. “This article will be updated.” The NYPost is a little more detailed, but also “This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.”
LaMar Cook is a staffer for Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts.
LaMar Cook has been charged with various crimes.
“unlawful possession of a firearm”. As we all know, Bob, Massachusetts never met a gun control measure it didn’t like.
“unlawful possession of ammunition”. See above.
And “trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine”. Way over 200 grams. Try eight kilos of cocaine. Which he had delivered to the state office building he worked in.
As a great philosopher once said, “Cocaine is a hell of a drug.“