Headline of the day.

September 1st, 2016

Everyone was loving Montreal’s family-friendly puppet festival until the prison rape part

Posted in Media, Theatre | 1 Comment »

The police beat.

August 31st, 2016

A while back, I mentioned the case of an APD officer who allegedly pepper-sprayed a suspect who was handcuffed in the back of a police van.

The officer and the chief have made a deal: 45 days of unpaid suspension, along with some additional conditions (“requiring him to be evaluated by a police psychologist and to have a one-year probationary period”).

Despite the reprimand, Acevedo said that Caldwell was right to try to gain compliance from Wilson, noting that Wilson wasn’t being cooperative. Acevedo said Caldwell had other options — such as asking other officers for help to pin him down and restrain his legs — but described him as an officer with no previous disciplinary issues who “but for this incident has done a pretty good job.”

Part of the deal is that Officer Caldwell will not appeal the decision, since he just got an unpaid suspension instead of a firing.

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: August 30, 2016.

August 30th, 2016

Your Gene Wilder round-up: NYT. LAT. A/V Club.

In a statement, his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said that the decision not to disclose his condition was not made out of vanity but so that the many children who loved Wilder from his role as the eccentric candy-maker Willy Wonka wouldn’t feel worried or confused. “He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world,” Walker-Pearlman said.

And:

In his first major role on Broadway, Mr. Wilder played the chaplain in a 1963 production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children.” The production ran for less than two months, and he came to believe that he had been miscast. The good news was that he met the boyfriend of the star, Anne Bancroft: Mel Brooks, who wore a pea coat the night he met Mr. Wilder backstage and told him, “You know, they used to call these urine jackets, but they didn’t sell.”

Posted in Movies, Obits, Theatre, Urine | Comments Closed

Random notes: August 29, 2016.

August 29th, 2016

I almost want to give Maywood, California a category of their own.

Today’s update: the city hired ECM Group, an engineering firm, to do some work for them. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Nothing except that ECM Group was fired by the city of South El Monte for “questionable practices” after an audit earlier this year.

The audit slammed the company, saying that among other things, workers were reporting as many as 27 hours for some work days.

More:

Already facing a state audit and scrutiny by the district attorney’s office over whether the city violated open-meeting laws, Maywood this year hired a laid-off Boeing project manager whom the mayor had met as a customer at his auto shop to be its city manager, even though he had no municipal experience.

This one is kind of old, and I have no excuse except pure laziness for not blogging it before now. But it is still one of the more popular stories on the Statesman‘s website, and illustrates two important points.

Point 1: you know what weapon has a lot of stopping power? A 4,000 pound Lexus.

A woman ran over a man in her silver Lexus after he fired shots at her and her boyfriend in a Round Rock parking lot, according to an arrest affidavit.

More:

It said the man challenged Viera to fight in the parking lot of the Concentra Clinic at 117 Louis Henna Blvd. The man then called his girlfriend — the driver of the silver Lexus — and told her he was going to be involved in a fight and asked her to pick him up, the affidavit said.

Note a: The strip club in question is Rick’s Cabaret, for those who know Austin.

Note b: Where do guys find these women? With all due respect, most of the women I’ve known, if I called them and said, “Honey, can you pick me up at the strip club? Some guy wants to beat my ass.”, they would show up…with a big bag of popcorn to watch the beatdown.

This leads to point 2: you know what matters more than stopping power? Shot placement.

It said Viera then stepped out of his car and pointed his handgun at the woman’s boyfriend. The woman told police she then sped toward Viera to try to hit him, but Viera fired toward her car and stepped out of the way, the affidavit said.

The woman told investigators that she then turned her car around and saw Viera pointing his gun again at her boyfriend and running after him, according to the affidavit. The woman said she tried to hit Viera with her car again but he fired another shot at her vehicle, the document said.

Third time’s the charm:

It said Viera then fired a shot at the woman’s boyfriend. The woman then ran over Viera and struck a parked car, according to the affidavit. The woman’s Lexus became inoperable and rolled to a stop a few feet away from Viera, the affidavit said.

At last report, the bad guy is in jail, the woman wasn’t charged, and there’s no word about the state of the boyfriend or the Lexus.

Posted in California Über Alles, Guns, Law | 1 Comment »

Like sand through the hourglass…

August 24th, 2016

According to King Arthur Flour, today is National Waffle Day.

According to Knifecenter.com, today is National Knife Day.

Posted in Food, Knives | Comments Closed

Obit watch: August 23, 2016.

August 23rd, 2016

Steven Hill. A/V Club.

My “Law and Order: Original Recipe” fan window is very narrow. I never took to Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy. For me, the idea lineup was Logan and Briscoe (and Cragen)/Stone and Kincaid. But I did like Hill’s Adam Schiff: he served as a much needed counterweight to, shall we say, the enthusiasms of the other folks in the DA’s office.

I’m pretty sure most folks remember him for that. But let us not forget his other semi-famous role, especially since that gives me an excuse to use this clip:

Even decades later, Mr. Hill declined to discuss his reasons for leaving the series, other than to say that the first season had been a bad experience. Other sources, including Patrick J. White, author of a book on the series, “The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier,” said Mr. Hill was dismissed and learned the news only when he read a Daily Variety announcement that Mr. Graves was being hired.

Posted in Law, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: August 21, 2016.

August 21st, 2016

Convicted Ponzi scammer and boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman.

(Remember O-Town? I do, but only because I had a friend who was into “Making the Band” at the time.)

Jack Riley has also passed away. He was in a whole bunch of stuff, including some of the lesser Mel Brooks movies, but he was best known and regarded (at least to me) as Elliot Carlin on “The Bob Newhart Show”.

I can’t really find a clip I like, but this one comes close:

Posted in 1970s, Law, Movies, Music, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

More from the police beat.

August 18th, 2016

Lawrence put up a post yesterday on Austin’s murder rate, which is “up nearly 80 percent from the same time last year”.

So what is the cause of Austin’s rising murder rate? Possibly just random statistical variation. Possibly the result of understaffing the police department.

I’m not totally convinced on the “understaffing the police department” argument. It kind of seems to me that the police basically come along and clean up after the murder’s already been done. Even with more cops on the street, what are the odds that one of those cops is going to run across the guy with the knife raised in time to stop him from stabbing a woman to death?

The flip side of this is the “broken windows” theory of policing: by concentrating on reducing disorder in neighborhoods, serious crime can be reduced. When disorder increases:

…many residents will think that crime, especially violent crime, is on the rise, and they will modify their behavior accordingly. They will use the streets less often, and when on the streets will stay apart from their fellows, moving with averted eyes, silent lips, and hurried steps. “Don’t get involved.” For some residents, this growing atomization will matter little, because the neighborhood is not their “home” but “the place where they live.” Their interests are elsewhere; they are cosmopolitans. But it will matter greatly to other people, whose lives derive meaning and satisfaction from local attachments rather than worldly involvement; for them, the neighborhood will cease to exist except for a few reliable friends whom they arrange to meet.

(Hattip to the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy for the link.)

This probably isn’t news to most of you, but I bring it up here because of a second item, from yesterday’s Statesman:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Austin, Clippings, Cops, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

As seen at the fun show this past weekend…

August 18th, 2016

I don’t know why, but I got a big kick out of this particular gun.

Not that I’m going to buy one (I need another .22 rifle like I need another hole in my head) but I think it would be very useful.

If I was Finnish.

And if I was hunting Germans Russians.

During the winter.

With a Ruger 10/22.

Posted in Guns | 2 Comments »

Obit watch: August 18, 2016.

August 18th, 2016

Arthur Hiller, noted director. (“Love Story”, “Silver Streak”, “The In-Laws”, “The Americanization of Emily”, “National Lampoon’s Pucked”.) A/V Club.

For the record: John McLaughlin. Should have noted this yesterday, but the day got past me.

John F. Timoney, a blunt Irish-born cop who could outrun crooks and quote Yeats and who, as a ranking police official in New York, Philadelphia and Miami, plotted innovative strategies that reversed years of skyrocketing crime, died on Tuesday in Miami. He was 68.

Posted in Cops, Law, Movies, NYPD, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

Citizen Kane.

August 16th, 2016

Kathleen G. Kane, the Pennsylvania attorney general whose aggressive investigation of her predecessor unleashed a chain of scandal that ended with her conviction this week on felony and conspiracy charges, said Tuesday that she is resigning.

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#33 in a series)

August 16th, 2016

Didn’t pick up on this until this morning. Sorry. But it did probably need some time to perk.

Kathleen Kane, the nutty paranoid anti-gun attorney general of the state of Pennsylvania:

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

A jury found Ms. Kane, 50, guilty of nine criminal charges, including perjury and criminal conspiracy, convicting her of leaking grand jury information, and then lying about it, in an effort to discredit a political rival.

More from philly.com:

Under the state constitution, Kane must resign from office by the day of her sentencing. While Kane faces a maximum sentence of 28 years, state sentencing guidelines call for a far less severe sentence for someone like her with no criminal record.

This is interesting:

“There is to be absolutely no retaliation of any kind against any witness in this case, either by your own devices, from your own mouth or your hand, or directing anybody to do anything,” the judge said. She threatened Ms. Kane, who is currently free on bail, with immediate incarceration if she failed to comply.

My first thought was that this kind of warning is unprecedented; but on second thought, I’m sure federal judges have issued this kind of warning in the past to convicted defendants. For example, members of the Crips or Bloods. Or drug gangs. Or organized crime groups. But has a federal judge ever felt compelled to issue that kind of warning to a politician? And has a politician ever done as much to merit a warning like that?

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Someone once said…

August 15th, 2016

“It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep their money.”

From Bloomberg News by way of the News@Ycombinator Twitter: the SEC has halted trading in shares of Neuromama Ltd.

Neuromana? Surely you haven’t heard of them: they have a current valuation of $35 billion, and haven’t submitted financials since 2013.

Shares of the company, based in a beach community just south of Tijuana, Mexico, have quadrupled this year to $56.25, giving it a paper value exceeding Tesla Motors Inc., Yum! Brands Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.

$56.25 a share? What do they do? With a name like Neuromana, you’d think maybe brain science or something like that: perhaps a promising cure for Alzheimer’s?

Neuromama’s website says the company operates in a broad range of businesses: a search engine, licensing “heavy ion fusion technology patents,” and Cirque-du-Soleil-style performances in Tijuana, to name just a few.

Cirque du Soleil sold 90% of the company to a group of equity firms last year for $1.5 billion. So a company that stages Cirque du Soleil knockoffs in Tijuana (“the happiest place on Earth!”) is worth $35 billion? But wait: they’ve also got a search engine! And “heavy ion fusion technology patents” whatever the hell those are (if they’re even valid patents).

“We’re in an industry that has high valuations,” Zubkis said in a telephone interview Monday, citing the company’s social network and oceanfront property.

Did he just say “social network” and “oceanfront property” with a straight face?

“Zubkis” is Steven Zubkis, who has his own “colorful” history. But for that, you’ll need to give Bloomberg their click: make sure to turn on your ad blocker first.

Posted in Law | Comments Closed

Memo from the police beat.

August 12th, 2016

There are a couple of ongoing stories in the news, two of them locally. Both of those two had significant developments today (in other words, “Let’s break this news on Friday afternoon and see if it gets lost over the weekend.”)

First story: You may recall the controversy back in April where our city manager, Marc Ott, accused the police chief of insubordination and fined him five days of pay?

Looks like we know who won that battle.

Austin City Manager Marc Ott, the most powerful man at City Hall, is leaving his post for a prestigious job running a Washington, D.C., association.

…

Last month, the council gave him a $22,000 raise, bumping his pay and benefits to $361,000 annually. His predecessor at the management association made $478,000 in 2013, the group’s tax returns show.

At least, we know who won for the moment. It will be interesting to see how the replacement process plays out, and how much deference (if any) the incoming city manager will be expected to show to the APD and the chief.

Also worth pointing out is what may have been Ott’s final “F— you” to the APD. There was a recent report (the “Matrix Report”) that called for increasing the number of police officers.

Additionally, the report also calls for the department to create positions for 66 officers and eight corporals beyond what has already been authorized, and to add an average 17 new officer positions over the next four years. Finally, the report calls for adding four officers to the Motorcycle Unit.

So that’s 78 sworn officers over and above the current authorized staffing level, which APD is still about 100 officers short of. What did the City Manager and his team ask for in the current budget?

Currently, the city has taken a phased approach to increasing staffing at APD in FY 2017. Included in the City Manager’s proposed FY 2017 budget are 12 new sworn positions and 21 new civilian positions to transition existing sworn employees back to patrol activities.

Twelve. To quote our great and good friend RoadRich: “‘But first let me deny you most of the required staff to protect the city… and then I shall leave you to your fates. Suckahs.'”

(Another problem which I would like to get into, but the margins of this post are too small to contain: there’s also talk of converting the district representative positions, which are currently sworn officers, into civilian positions.)

Next:

Read the rest of this entry »

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

DEFCON 24 updates: August 11, 2016.

August 11th, 2016

“SITCH – Inexpensive, Coordinated GSM Anomaly Detection” doesn’t just have slides up. Or a whitepaper.

It has an entire freaking website. Which does include, yes, slides and whitepaper. (Thanks to SecBarbie on Twitter for this.)

Slides for the Tamas Szakaly “Help, I’ve got ANTs!!!” talk are here. And his GitHub repo is here.

Good stuff is going up on the Black Hat 2016 briefings site, too. I haven’t had a chance to go through all of the abstracts yet, but my current favorite is: “Does Dropping USB Drives In Parking Lots And Other Places Really Work?”. Slides here, code here, blog post here, no spoilers here.

Posted in DEFCON 24, Phones, Radio | Comments Closed

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