…than insurrectionist music and cheesy ’80s videos?
“If you’ve got a crush, don’t need an octopus”?
What could possibly be better…
September 11th, 2012The Indian of the group.
September 11th, 2012Bitter much?
Your loser update: week 1, 2012.
September 11th, 2012We are back, baby! Like that toenail fungus you just can’t get rid of.
NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:
New York Football Giants
Indianapolis
Cleveland
St. Louis
Miami
Kansas City
Jacksonville
New Orleans
Buffalo
Tennessee
Carolina
Green Bay
Seattle
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Oakland
And as we draw ever closer to the end of the long national nightmare that is baseball season, the Houston Astros are 44-97, with a .312 winning percentage. This projects out to 111 losses.
(As best as I can tell, the Astros have been mathematically eliminated from any possibility of post-season play. The Chicago Cubs have an extremely long shot at a wild card slot, still. I don’t think this is going to happen, but they haven’t technically been mathematically eliminated, so I don’t have to pay off Lawrence. Yet.)
“I like to do it like the Boss Tweed way.”
September 10th, 2012I’m sure it comes as no great shock to anybody that California isn’t the only place in the country where corruption runs rampant.
Also arrested were the mayor’s brother, Ralphiel, and Joseph Giorgianni, described as a “sandwich shop owner” and “convicted sex offender”.
It appears that Giorgianni was the bagman for the mayor, and that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. The “Boss Tweed” line above is a direct quote from Giorgianni. Other great quotes:
More:
“We’re not greedy. We’re corruptible.” That’s got to be a quote of the year right there.
And by way of the awesome Jay G., we learn that the not greedy, but corruptible, Mayor Mack was also a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. So he’s for gun control, but apparently had no problem with Giorgianni, who…
(Giorgianni and some other folks (not including the mayor and his brother) are also charged with selling oxycodone, and Giorgianni is also being charged with “weapon possession by a convicted felon”, speaking of illegal guns.)
(I’m linking to the WP rather than the Trenton papers, because I looked at the two Trenton newspaper sites that came up in Google, and their coverage wasn’t good.)
This is for Andrew.
September 9th, 2012An article from this week’s NYT Magazine:
Unfortunately, the article isn’t about couches with knife-like edges on the underside, but rather about the alleged dangers of flame retardant chemicals used in couch foam.
The big problems are:
- These chemicals apparently don’t stay bound to the foam, but migrate into the environment.
- These chemicals allegedly have negative side effects on human health.
- And these fire retardants may not be doing a damn bit of good in any case.
One question sort of implied, but not explicitly asked, by this article: many of these standards, like TB 117, were implemented at a time when far more people smoked, and smoke detectors were far less common. The idea was to keep Grandpa’s cigarette from setting the couch on fire if he dozed off in front of the TV set. Now that smoking has decreased dramatically, and smoke detectors are everywhere, do these standards continue to make sense? And shouldn’t this be a consumer choice? If you have kids, buy a couch with all natural fabric and stuffing. If you smoke and drink in front of the TV set and frequently doze off, get a couch that you couldn’t set on fire with a blowtorch and napalm.
Banana republicans watch: September 8, 2012.
September 8th, 2012Friday’s LAT had an interesting article about the tensions between LAPD beat officers and the homeless in downtown LA. Specifically, the homeless beer vendors:
Yeah, yeah, illegal, yeah, yeah, alcohol drives crime on skid row, yeah yeah. But I have to admit that my first reaction was “Damn, I wish Austin’s homeless were that entrepreneurial.” Seriously, it’d be kind of nice to be able to walk down the street and pick up a cold bottle of something to sip on for $2.50 or so. (This being Austin, you couldn’t get away with selling that Colt 45 or Steel Reserve crap on the streets. You’d have to go with the local craft brews; Shiner Bock in bottles, maybe some Fat Tire. Leave the malt liquor to the gas stations.)
Come to think of it, you don’t even have to limit yourself to beer, and all the problems associated with that. There are times when, if that guy on the street corner wasn’t panhandling for cash, but had a cooler full of ice and cold sodas and bottled water, damn sure I’d give him at least $2 bucks for a cold drink when it is 103 degrees out there. I know someone who tried this experiment a while back, but I’ll let him report in comments if he wishes.
(And before you jump on my case: I know the problem is more complex than I’m making it sound, and selling bottled water and sodas on street corners isn’t a surefire way to get folks from homelessness to prosperity. But providing a useful good and/or service to a willing customer beats begging for bucks in my mind.)
Formula 1 is heck.
September 8th, 2012At least it will be in downtown Austin in November.
“But they aren’t racing in downtown!” No, they’re not. The racetrack is out near the airport.
But the city is considering three applications that involve closing downtown streets for up to a week during the festivities. The closures would include seven blocks of Congress Avenue, the main downtown artery.
The next question: who and why? The people who are organizing the race have requested two of the three pending closures.
…requested lane closures on Trinity between East 15th Street and East MLK from Friday through Sunday of that week for the scores of shuttle buses that will ferry fans to and from the race. There will also be similar operations at the Travis County Exposition Center and at another yet-to-be announced location.
“They’ll be loading 12 buses at a time,” said Gordon Derr, assistant director of the City of Austin’s Transportation Department. “There may be one through-lane open, which we may close intermittently.”
I’m actually semi-okay with this. I’m not sure they need to close the entire street, but I’ve never tried to run shuttle busses for 30,000 people. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Next:
…centered on the Warehouse District west of Congress, will be the site of Fan Fest, which will “celebrate Formula One the sport,” circuit spokeswoman Julie Loignon said Thursday.
Loignon said the Fan Fest, which will run from the evening of Friday, Nov. 16, through early Monday, Nov. 19, will feature music, food vendors and other elements that she declined to specify. Circuit officials plan to announce details of the event in the coming weeks, she said.
If the permit is granted as currently contemplated, Congress between Second and Fifth streets would close in stages starting Thursday evening, Nov. 15, and would open before rush hour on Monday, Nov. 19. Parts of West Second, Third, Fourth and Colorado streets would also be closed for several days.
I’m less wild about this: it seems like fan wankery for the eurotrash that come in for these kind of events. But it is in the Warehouse District, and they’re only asking to close a few blocks of Congress for what amounts to a long weekend. Number three:
The other pending closure application is for Experience Austin, a festival organized by Run-Tex that will run through the race weekend. It would close Congress from Seventh to 11th streets, as well as parts of Eighth, Ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th and Colorado streets. Some of those closures would last almost a week because of the time required for setup and breakdown of the festival.
Alexandra Stewart, community events coordinator for Run-Tex, said it will be “your typical Austin street festival,” with food, drink, music and artists. “Think Pecan Street.”
Pecan Street doesn’t close Congress Avenue for a week, you maroon! And why do we need both this and the “Fan Fest”? I can’t see a good reason, except that “Experience Austin” sees a way to make a few bucks by screwing up downtown traffic for a week.
In case you were wondering:
By comparison, at this year’s SXSW Music Festival, 36 downtown blocks were fully closed, most for four days. Those closures did not include Congress Avenue.
I’ve got some frequent flyer miles on the former Continental Airlines. Cleveland in November is beginning to sound nice.
Banana republicans watch: September 7, 2012.
September 7th, 2012Hey, remember Maywood? The city that couldn’t get insurance, and had to disband the police department and much of the municipal government, in large part because the cops were out of control? That Maywood?
Well, cops are going to be cops, right? And if they aren’t cops in Maywood, they’ve got to end up somewhere, right?
Guess where they ended up.
If you said “I bet they ended up with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department”, you get to drink from the firehose.
Should being employed by Maywood be a bar to signing on with LACSD? Given the level of misconduct and corruption in that department, I think a case can be made that yes, former Maywood officers should not be employed in law enforcement anywhere. But let us set aside the generalities for the moment and focus on specifics. Some of the former Maywood officers hired by LACSD included:
- one who got drunk at a friend’s house, left and shot at the house with his duty gun, was stopped by police and denied any knowledge of shots being fired, and was ultimately convicted of “a misdemeanor of discharging a firearm”.
- Another one who was actually being investigated by Maywood for perjury, “a probe that was never concluded because the agency had disbanded”.
- A third who was fired from one department for “dishonesty”.
There were apparently four “questionable” applicants from Maywood hired (the article does not mention why number four was considered questionable) out of an unknown number of applicants from Maywood. As a reminder:
Quick banana republicans update.
September 6th, 2012The bankrupt city of San Bernardino has voted to cut 100 city jobs.
The city is not cutting fire department positions. (It is interesting that the original reports stated that 20 positions were proposed to be eliminated, nine people would be demoted, and nobody would be laid off. I wonder why, if this was the plan, there were threats of “rotating, temporary closures of fire stations”.)
Obit watch: September 6, 2012.
September 6th, 2012Art Modell, perhaps the single most hated man in Cleveland.
EarthQuest watch.
September 5th, 2012Promoted from a comment left by SoapBoxMom:
Don Allen Holbrook’s frivolous harassment suit seems to be falling apart. He has dismissed the case against the Houston Press and Craig Malisow before they even had the chance to file a response. Malisow was the linchpin for Holbrook’s entire case.
Holbrook is still pursuing the remaining parties, including the John and Jane Doe taxpayers who have commented in these matters of vital public concern. Trying to silence folks discussing where their tax dollars are going is an outrage! I don’t think he should ever receive another dime from a governmental entity ever again!
I couldn’t find a mention of Holbrook dropping his suit on the Houston Press site, but I did find this quite interesting article on Holbrook and some of his more…colorful claims. For example, Holbrook claims to have “launched the first economic development Web site in the world in 1991”. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Banana republicans watch: September 5, 2012.
September 5th, 2012We previously mentioned the lawsuit by former police chief Randy Adams against the city of Bell over unpaid severance.
The other shoe has dropped: the city is suing Adams and wants all the money he was paid, plus “a portion of the $20 million the city estimates it lost as a result of a corruption scandal that led to the arrests of eight former civic leaders.”
Corcoran was demoted, placed on “administrative leave”, and Adams “started an investigation for insubordination”.
Meanwhile, the bankrupt city of San Bernardino is considering…cutting the city’s budget. No, really. (Edited to add: Or maybe not.)
I noticed this article yesterday, but didn’t have time to read it: Lawrence also sent me a link. Basically, police unions in California are behaving like bullies towards people who criticize them.
TMQ Watch: September 4, 2012.
September 4th, 2012Once again, TMQ’s all-haiku predictions roll around. Let’s jump in and listen for the splash of water…
You had me at “bacon”.
September 4th, 2012The State Fair of Texas has announced the winners of the 2012 “Big Tex Choice” awards for the best fair food this year.
The winner of the “Most Creative” award was Butch Benavides, with the “Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll”, described on the TM Daily Post site as a “cinnamon roll dipped in a special sweet pancake batter, rolled in crispy fried bacon crumbles, deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar.”
The winner of the “Best Taste” award was Abel Gonzalez Jr. with “Deep-Fried Jambalaya”, “jambalaya using shrimp, Cajun sausage and seasonings, then coated in lightly seasoned flour and fried”.
More from the TM Daily Post here. And here’s a link to an article from last week breaking down the eight finalists.
Almost everything that made the finals sounds good to me. I’m not a huge fan of jambalaya, but I might even try that.
Morning random notes: September 4, 2012.
September 4th, 2012Would you pay $18 for a 40-minute vinyl record of previously unreleased Charles Manson songs?
Yeah, I wouldn’t, either.
I want to come back to this later and elaborate on the idea some, but I’m getting more than a little tired of the mass media being coy in their reporting. (See also: Russian punk bands.)
This kind of bothers me, too, but I’m not sure I can articulate why.
Headline in the NYT:
First paragraph:
Matt’s death is tragic, but a 21-year-old man who has been accepted to grad school is not a child.
(Gee, doesn’t NYC have strict gun control laws?)
I don’t think I ever saw anything Michael Clarke Duncan was in, and I wouldn’t say I was a big fan of his work. But 54 is just too young. (NYT. LAT. A/V Club.)
The Frank Lloyd Wright archive is moving to New York City. This sounds like a very good thing:
(Well, a very good thing for everyone except Mike the Musicologist, who hates NYC.)
Headline from something called “The Root”, linked from the WP site: