It’s 7:15 a.m. at the Verizon store in Burbank, and tears are welling in Chelsea Northrop’s eyes.
Perhaps I should have sent my story to the LAT.
This is NEWS?
February 11th, 2011This is just what we needed.
February 11th, 2011CSM headline: “Scientists discover how to make squids go completely berserk“.
We still have no cure for cancer, or ALS, but we’ve figured out how to drive (some) cephalopods crazy. Go science. I’m sure this will come in handy next time the SyFy channel wants to make a movie.
To be honest, I’m more than a little skeptical about this article. I’m hoping someone with a stronger biology background (like LabRat) picks up on this.
(Hattip: Dinosaur Comics, the go-to comic for biological news.)
Top Gehry.
February 11th, 2011I missed this one until Tam linked to it (with her usual dose of snark):
NYT architecture critic Nicolai Ourossoff reviews 8 Spruce Street, a new residential tower designed by WCD’s favorite living architect, Frank Gehry.
Speaking of Gehry, I can buy Frank Lloyd Wright Legos
One for the Ayoob Files?
February 11th, 2011This story is worth keeping an eye on, especially since it represents a weird intersection on the Venn diagram between the jihad watch and gun crankery.
In brief, Raymond Davis is an employee with the U.S Embassy in Lahore. Davis was out driving around when (he claims) two men on motorcycles tried to rob him. Davis shot them both, and claims self-defense. Pakistani prosecutors claim that Davis killed the two men in “cold blood” and are pressing murder charges against Davis.
More:
And:
CIA, maybe? That would explain why he was carrying a pistol. It would also lead me to give more credence to his robbery defense; somehow I doubt a CIA employee would blow his cover and blow away people in the street unless he had a genuine fear for his life. (This is where you all can accuse me of being naive, which is probably true.)
The bitter, bitten.
February 11th, 2011There’s a guy in Pflugerville who leases out food trucks to independent operators. He had some issues with the way the City of Austin regulated food trucks, and started lobbying for stricter rules “to address health, safety and environmental concerns”. Ultimately, the City Council did make some changes to the law.
Can you guess what’s coming?
More:
For Cthluhu’s sake, why?
February 10th, 2011As much as I like LaRue Tactical and the 10/22, this is one product I won’t be purchasing.
(Hattip: Say Uncle.)
(Edited to add: Video of the product in action here. Thanks to our friend James.)
Mexican Gun Ducks!
February 10th, 2011I generally don’t read Stratfor articles unless someone points me to them. Nothing against Stratfor; it’s just a matter of limited time, and the sort of geopolitics Stratfor usually covers being more along the lines of other bloggers.
However, Snowflakes In Hell has a link to a solid article on the Mexican gun issue.
Interesting fact:
I’m not worried.
February 10th, 2011Interesting article in the NYT about the state of the Houston Grand Opera, focusing in particular on their recent productions of “Dead Man Walking” and “Lucia di Lammermoor”.
Good to know.
Obit watch: February 10, 2011.
February 10th, 2011Emory Bellard, former Texas, Texas A&M, and Spring Westfield football coach.
There’s nothing wrong with breast cancer awareness, but where are the colored mugs and other tchotkes for ALS?
Impressive.
February 9th, 2011Actual HouChron headline:
Actual text of article:
I see the Journalist’s Guide to Firearms Identification is still in use.
Followup roundup for February 9, 2011.
February 9th, 2011Staff Sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient Sal Giunta is leaving the military when his current tour ends in mid-June.
You know, if I ran a public (or private) university somewhere, I’d come up with the money to offer Sgt. Giunta a full free ride for four years. Maybe he’d be willing to work part-time, perhaps as a mentor to younger students who could use some help?
The NYT reports on the controversy over early “Spider-Man” reviews.
Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles has opened their sit-down restaurant. Until I visited their website, I had no idea how tough these guys have had it. I knew about the trailer theft, of course, but the death of a child, divorce, and reconstructive hand surgery? This guy sounds like Austin’s own version of Job. I’m going to try Lucky J’s this weekend; not because of the suffering, but because I like the idea, and because it’s sort of on my usual weekend path. (Man does not live by Torchy’s Tacos alone. Though I have to admit, the new location on Burnet Road is much nicer than some of the others I’ve been to.) Full report to follow.
The LAT would like for you to know that cockfighting is bad, m’kay? And not just because people sometimes get stabbed to death by roosters with blades.
Obit watch: February 9, 2011.
February 9th, 2011Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, has passed away.
I came in right at the end of the DEC era, and never really had a chance to work on a PDP-anything, a VAX, or a DEC-XX. (There was, at one point, a scheme to purchase a used PDP-8, but nothing ever came of that.)
I still smile, though, whenever I see a reference to one of those machines (or, for that matter, one of those machines in person at DEFCON).
In honor of the late Mr. Olsen, here’s a link to SIMH, which will let you emulate much of the DEC line.
Today’s bulletin from the Department of WTF? (#2 in a series)
February 8th, 2011If you want a pretty constant diet of WTF moments, the best thing you could do is subscribe to The Agitator‘s RSS feed. Be warned, though, that Balko’s collection of “WTF” moments is also likely to lead to an increase in your blood pressure.
Sometimes, something just jumps out at me from his site that goes beyond the usual “WTF” moments. This story is one of those moments.
Short summary: Barney Brown was arrested at the age of 14, tried in juvenile court for a rape and robbery, and acquitted. But that’s not the “WTF?” part. The prosecutor put him on trial again for the same crimes as an adult. He was convicted, and sent to prison for life.
This took place in 1969. Barney Brown served 38 years.
The fact that one trial took place in juvenile court and the second in adult court doesn’t matter. There is clearly settled case law on this; once Barney Brown was acquitted in juvenile court, jeopardy protections applied. The prosecutor had no authority, no right, no legal ground, and no business trying Barney Brown again in an adult court.
This is the kind of egregious misconduct by a prosecutor that, I believe, rises to a standard where the shield of “sovereign immunity” can, and should, be pierced. In a just world, that prosecutor (if he is still alive) would be in prison right now, and his assets would be signed over to Barney Brown.
TMQ watch: February 8, 2011.
February 8th, 2011Mystery! Suspense! Pathos! None of those are present in this week’s “Tuesday Morning Quarterback“, but that doesn’t stop us from blogging it anyway. After the jump…
Spider-Man, Spider-Man…
February 8th, 2011Oh, look! The producers of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” are upset that reviewers reviewed the show when it was still in infinite preview mode!
If you’ll excuse me a second, I’m going out and purchasing tiny violin futures.
And I’d argue that part of being a “professional” is not giving the people you cover the power to jerk you around that Feldman and other critics (including John Simon) seemingly want the “Spider-Man” producers to have.
Meanwhile, Patrick Healy has a more comprehensive roundup of reviews.
(Hattip to Jimbo for both of these.)