Archive for April 2007
Victor Niederhoffer
Back up a bit. It must have been about 10 years ago -- '97 or so -- when I last walked the streets of New York City. Whenever I'm in a great city -- be it New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. -- it is my consistent habit to be out and about fairly early in the morning. Lots of reasons why, but I suppose it's primarily that I like…Read More
Radley Roundup
Another victim of commonplace police and prosecutor criminality is set free after being held as the slave of Los Angeles County for 20 years. Meanwhile, other similar criminal behavior is exposed for the 200th time. [BalkoLink] What do you think would happen to you if you got drunk, argued with a police officer about whether you were fit to drive, then pulled out a gun and shot him? Why not a paid vacation? Two of…Read More
Seascape
Looks like it's been about three weeks since I told you I was going to build a marine aquarium. Well, I've been telling everyone who has any idea of how difficult this is to get right that I'm embarrassed because it's just going so damn well. I've never had a tank go so perfectly, but I think I owe that to using 100% live sand (wet sea sand actually bagged and shipped out from Fiji…Read More
Pascal’s Folly
Would that Sam Harris laid it to the dustbin of history once and for all.Read More
One Man’s Tale
A well written, very credible account of one man's experience with the exceedingly corrupt Dallas SWAT, Dallas Sheriff, Dallas Police, Dallas Code Enforcement and the Dallas District Attorney; along with their partners in crime at Granada Entertainment and A&E Broadcasting. Make no mistake: all of the above are the criminals in this story. The show of force and weaponry brought by the cops was simply outrageous and unjustified, given the circumstances, but, then again, are…Read More
A Friday Afternoon
Alright. What a week, what with the Va-Tech massacre and attendant gun-control lunacy in wake. Rather than another post about why there's no guarantee attached to "gun free zone," I thought I'd just go out and reaffirm my own disposition. Those shots were aimed at the head on the left. Not too bad, I'd say, since it's been like 1988 since I shot one-handed (I'm holding the cam in the other hand and we're shooting…Read More
A Comment
I imagine that in those awful, brutal moments during the assault; with sounds of pop, pop, pop; with people screaming as the marauder rampaged from room to room... many must have been wishing, lamenting that the government had just done something more -- somehow -- to halt the proliferation of guns. Can you just imagine -- in their final moments of life or safety -- how they must have yearned and longed for guns to…Read More
Larry Hincker
That's the moron so roundly put down and kicked about yesterday by every rational person with keyboard, blog, and righteous rage. Well, it seems like the moron himself feels qualified to write on these matters. The only real difference between his screed and the thousands of imbecilic screeds like it is that he bet against the odds of being proved stupid, and lost. Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a…Read More
What I’d been wondering but didn’t mention
There are reports -- granted unconfirmed at this time -- that several students were forced to line up, kneeling, and executed from behind. I pray to the old gods -- the gods of war and blood and thunder -- that this is not the case. I pray that some students went down fighting. Because as bad as this is -- and this is a horror -- as bad as this is, if fifty some-odd people…Read More
Worthless
I don't know about you, but I have nothing but a deep and profound loathing for that whole cop-scene looping continuously on the news surrounding the Virginia Tech mass murder. I hadn't a chance to watch any TV while things were unfolding yesterday, but I flipped around the dial last evening and was just appalled by the display. Don't know I could put it any better than Billy: ...where all the video shows us these…Read More
Eerie
What can you say? It has only been thousands of years of civilization and yet "we" still don't seem to understand the distinction between good people of honest character and bad people of a predatory bent. There's no guarantee that this would have prevented or stopped what happened at Virginia Tech, today, but it's a certainty that disarming the former kind of people did nothing whatsoever to discourage, prevent, or stop the latter kind of…Read More
“Duke”
Well, I think Radley's about one-thousand percent right about this. Until Republicans stop supporting the War on Drugs Americans; stop calling for "tougher laws;" stop angling for harsher prison sentences; stop vying for mandatory minimums; stop cheering for "more cops on the streets" ... they can all go fuck themselves. I'm not interested in what any of them have to say about the Duke matter. They have no qualifications, much less a scintilla of credibility…Read More
“Nappy-Headed Ho” Redux
Here is likely the best analysis of the whole Imus incident and its political and cultural underpinnings. But first, along the way, there's this gem about Howard Stern: Whenever I listen to Stern, I feel unclean, as if I have been in the presence of cretins who live in a sewer and revel in it and mock anyone with pretensions higher than a sewer. Me too, though I understand Stern has his fans; and so…Read More
The Liar’s Name is Crystal Gail Mangum
Let's hope nobody ever forgets it. Note to the liar, Crystal Gail Mangum: people have rightly ended their own lives on far less justification. Think about it. And the very least the media networks could do -- who so promoted and pumped this false story, this obvious lie, for all it was worth -- is fire each and every "newsperson" who piled on, and then reimburse the $3 million in legal fees incurred by the…Read More
Dickheads
Hah. Indeed. (Balko)Read More
“Enlightenment” in the Service of the Infantile
I've never seen or listened to more than about three minutes of Don Imus. My impression of him is negative, which may be accurate or inaccurate according to my values, but I really don't care enough about him, one way or the other, to find out whether I'm missing anything I'd rather not miss. I was driving home from a grocery run and NPR had the nappy-headed hos Rutgers women's basketball team on with their…Read More
Collective Assimilation
I've never once made any bones about the fact that I spent eight years as a U.S. Navy officer because it seemed like a cool and fun thing to do. It was. I never once regretted it (quite the contrary). It was a job. I signed a contract. I performed on that contract and was paid (well) for my services. Truth be told: I have always felt as though I got the better end of…Read More
Big Fucking Impact Man
I believe I've come across the perfect little character attribute that best serves to differentiate me from the eco-freaks and other assorted lefties. Just a couple of hours ago I was in the car listening to NPR and this guy, Colin Beavan, was on. I didn't link up any particular entry on that blog because I looked at a few and any one is about as insane as any other. Sort of. I don't really…Read More
Factual Relativity
Back in 1999 when we moved out of an apartment in downtown to a fixer-upper in the 'burbs, I took down my large marine aquarium that I'd maintained for a number of years. This was a big reef tank -- 220 gallons in all -- with a good 300 lbs. of live reef rock and other stuff. In terms of dimensions, we're talking larger than a coffin. It was big. But the immediate future held…Read More
I love it when a plan comes together
I really do love craigslist. What a value, and yet I've never paid them a dime -- not that I wouldn't, should they ask. The first time they got me out of a jam was a few years back. I got an eye for a new travel trailer of a hybrid design. You may have seen them. They're like a normal trailer, but all the sleeping compartments fold out from the side, sheltered with tenting.…Read More