California, Missouri: Super Auctions SPECIAL ABSOLUTE AUCTION.
Sounds cooler than the COMMON RELATIVE AUCTIONS I normally attend.
To be able to say "Noggle," you first must be able to say "Nah."
California, Missouri: Super Auctions SPECIAL ABSOLUTE AUCTION.
Sounds cooler than the COMMON RELATIVE AUCTIONS I normally attend.
Just so you are keeping up with the story, which might have gotten lost in the Michael Jackson Trial of the Season thing, this is the Year of the Pit Bull again.
(The earlier chapters in the saga: Denver Pit Bull Genocide, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Wants Pit Bullocide, No Dog Bites Man, But Post-Dispatch Covers It Anyway.)
Apparently, a EU leadercrat regrets that some people were exposed to the entire EU constitution before the votes (story):
It was a crucial mistake to send out the entire constitution to every French voter, the architect of the EU’s first constitution Valéry Giscard d’Estaing has said in an interview.
In an interview with the New York Times, his first since the French rejection of the constitution two weeks ago, the former French president apportions most of the blame to president Jacques Chirac for failure in the referendum campaign.
One crucial mistake was to send out the entire three-part, 448-article document to every French voter, said Mr Giscard.
Over the phone he had warned Mr Chirac already in March: “I said, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it'”.
“It is not possible for anyone to understand the full text”.
Mr Giscard d’Estaing also puts the blame on the present generation of political leaders.
Neither Mr Chirac nor other European leaders had a strategy for ratifying the constitution, he said.
“The present generation of leaders, whatever their strengths, never put Europe at the top of their agenda”.
Damn this pretense of allowing the peasants to have a voice in their dominion!
I inherited this book from my aunt along with a couple of the next books in the series. Amazon informs me this is the eleventh book in the series, so I’ve undoubtedly missed a lot of the references and asides within this book that allude to incidents which the long-time fans of the Lucas Davenport novels would recognize. Each time I hit one of these many references, I recognized it for what it was, but I let it go. I know what a Robert B. Parker fan who started with Hugger Mugger must feel.
The book starts, chapter 1, in the mind of the killer with a bunch of foreshadowing; the killer awakens and doesn’t know he’s going to kill someone later, but he does. Honestly, given the plot of the book, ultimately the cheap foreshadowing doesn’t hang right with the rest of the plot. But the frenetic nature of the action, with the multitude of police characters and considerations in handling a case, one can overlook them–or forget the first chapter by the time the bodies start to pile up.
Good points:
Face it, he’s the hardboiled fantasy from the 1940s or 1960s aged a couple decades.
Bad points:
Still, the pacing of the book and the engagement of the characters–or at least the condolence of the main character to the adolescent fantasies that carry over into adulthood–carried me along to the end. I have two other books in the series, and I look forward to reading them. They will determine whether I backfill the previous novels and buy more recent novels. Overall, I’m optimistic, which is the most I can say for any suspense series I’ve picked up in a while (barring the Robert Crais books which, gentle reader, you remember I started out optimistic and sort of soured).
Blogging at GlennReynolds.com, Ann Althouse expresses belief in the system:
I didn’t watch much of the news analysis that evening. I switched off Nancy Grace not long after she declared, “Not guilty by reason of celebrity!” The one aspect of the post-verdict coverage that interested me was the jurors’ press conference. The fact is that they were there through all of the months of testimony, and we weren’t. They listened to the witnesses and studied their demeanor.
And in the end they found reasonable doubt. Watching the jurors, I felt deep respect for the good sense and competence of ordinary people faced with a solemn task. I feel no inclination to say I think they were wrong.
I agree with her. The jurors heard more information than any of us did, unfiltered by the media (blogs, networks, or papers). I have faith in them.
The wheels are in motion to make it happen.
HJ 24 IH
Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SABO, and
Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following joint resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several
States within seven years after the date of its submission for
ratification:
Search for it yourself at http://thomas.loc.gov/.
(Submitted to the Beltway Traffic Jam.)
From a story about the drunken, registered sex offender ice cream man:
The offending driver had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to a New Berlin police report.
Previously, it was only 2.4 times the legal limit back in the “old days” when the legal limit was .10 BAC. Now that the legal limit is .08 BAC (so that the state of Wisconsin doesn’t lose Federal highway funds, donchaknow?), the same BAC is now 3 times the limit.
As soon as legislators pass their next compromise with MADD and lower it to .06, the same BAC will be 4 times the limit.
So the legal limit multiplier reflects more on the current state of legislation than the actual state of drunkeness.
The state of Wisconsin, or at least a set of bipartisan lawmakers, is ready to deter businesses from doing business and employing people:
A bipartisan pair of state lawmakers are recommending a radical change to the way health insurance is bought and sold in Wisconsin by proposing the creation of a statewide insurance purchasing pool.
The proposal is intended to help businesses cope with skyrocketing health care costs and stem the number of uninsured residents. The plan will be unveiled today to an Assembly committee studying reform of the state’s Medicaid health care program for the poor, elderly and disabled.
The proposal would essentially impose an 8% to 12% payroll tax on all employers to provide basic health insurance to everyone in Wisconsin younger than 65.
Let the nationalization begin. Oh, wait, it’s already started.
Hefeweizen is German for “half urine.” The name comes from the very light yellow color, as well as the speed of passage through the body.
Feel free to pass that on and disinform your friends.
..You are receiving this email notification because... -> MICROSOFT SENDS ILLEGAL UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL SPAM <- OUR MISSION: Worldwide Boycott of MICROSOFT Software / Hardware / Service SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: "Don't Support Illegal Spam, Don't Buy Microsoft Products" OUR GOAL: 100 Billion Views / 99.9% Internet Saturation / 178 Parts (2005-2007) [SPAMIS Foundation: Strategic Partnership Against Microsoft Illegal Spam] [Part 47 of 178] ----- ---- --- -- - - - Microsoft Employee Mike Lyman Speaks Out on Online Spam Message Board NANAE & Mailing List SPAM-L on Microsoft Spam ___________________________________________________________ MICROSOFT IS ONE OF THE "GREATEST, MOST HATED INSTITUTIONAL SPAMMERS AROUND" "I'm with one of the greatest, most hated institutional "spammers" around. most people speaking officially for the company will go round and round with you how we don't spam. Well, in the past it was not always obvious that you were opting in, sometimes it still isn't obvious and our sign up process still leaves a lot to be desired and is open to abuse." FIRMLY ADMITTING THAT MICROSOFT IS A "SPAMHOUSE" AND SENDS OUT SPAM "We are a spamhouse. Doesn't matter that we're Microsoft. Our legitimate, unsolicited email is still just spam." ___________________________________________________________ MIKE LYMAN: Microsoft Head Email Abuse Administrator for Microsoft Speaks Out About Microsoft's Previous & Current Spamming Activities PREVIOUS CREDENTIALS: West Point Military Academy Graduate of 1987 Ex-Computer Administrator for the US Department of Defense ___________________________________________________________ MEDIA & JOURNALISTS INTERESTED IN A STORY ON SPAMIS AND/OR MICROSOFT SPAM? LEGAL FIRMS INTERESTED IN LITIGATION AGAINST MICROSOFT'S ILLEGAL SPAMMING? Contact: Spamis, Box 1259, Seattle, WA 98111 / Phone or Fax: (206)260-2409 QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE PUBLIC STATEMENTS FROM MICROSOFT: Microsoft Head Spam Spokesmen: Aaron Kornblum or Ryan Hamlin SPAMIS EXISTS DUE TO THE IMPROPER, RUDE AND FALSE ALLEGATIONS SET FORTH BY: Microsoft Head Law Firm: Preston, Gates, Ellis, Seattle, WA - USA Lawyers at Fault: Robert J. Dzielak / David A. Bateman / Theodore J. Angelis [Part 47 of 178] (c)2005 SPAMIS: Strategic Partnership Against Microsoft Illegal Spam
Thanks for playing, spammer. Perhaps my virulent anti-Microsoftism will inspire me to send you some cash. But probably not.
Union wants false claims against cops prosecuted:
If Nashville’s police union has its way, anyone who makes a formal complaint against a Metro police officer could face felony criminal charges if the department’s internal investigators clear the officer of wrongdoing.
Nashville Fraternal Order of Police President Ed Mason asked for the enforcement in a March 15 e-mail to Police Chief Ronal Serpas, who has told the FOP that he has concerns about the request.
“The (Fraternal Order of Police) would like the department to present cases to the (District Attorney’s) Office when a serious allegation has been made and the case has been cleared,” Mason’s e-mail reads.
The union’s request is based on two situations in which Metro officers were targets of “blatant lies” during the police formal complaint process, Mason said.
However, when asked about the two cases, Mason said he and other FOP officials could not recall the officers’ names or the situations.
Based on cases they cannot remember, these union leaders want to penalize honest grievances that have no criminal merit.
Thankfully, the chief of police isn’t eager for a power-grab:
Serpas has raised concerns about the idea. “Charging every complainant whose complaint was not sustained has been viewed by some courts as an unconstitutional effort to intimidate citizens and keep them from making legitimate complaints,” reads a reply from Serpas to Mason, whose union represents most of Nashville’s 1,200-plus police officers.
Serpas’ written reply, obtained by The Tennessean, also states that he believes the formal complaints made by residents are often based on a misunderstanding of police procedures and policies and that “charging complainants should be considered in only the most extreme cases.”
Just because an internal police investigation clears an officer of wrongdoing, it doesn’t mean the situation stated in a complaint did not occur, Serpas said.
(Link seen on Ravenwood’s Universe.)
I inherited this book from my aunt, and with her legacy I’ll read plenty of horror/suspense fiction in the next couple of years.
This book deals with a suspense writer whose family is stalked by his evil twin. I get it. It’s Stephen King’s The Dark Half, without the birds. I had a lot of time and extra thinking energy through the first 120 pages, which Koontz spent lavishly assuring us that the writer is a good family man and that the dark, er, copy is a bad man. I explained to Heather that I was turning the pages out of discipline and not desire. Face it, it’s no Odd Thomas.
After the first quarter of the book, the action picked up and the story began. I’d have enjoyed it better if the first 120 pages had been 30 pages and if the dark half–an inadvertent clone, as it turns out–hadn’t fallen to a caricature.
I note that one of the reviewers on Amazon couldn’t stand the PC tone of some of the books asides. Odd, for the political asides were not what one typically considers PC–pro gun ownership, pro independence and self reliance. They were more libertarian than anything else, affirming the family as the basic unit of society, and so on. I believe a lot of the stuff, so I could make it through them even though they were semipreaching in nature. I could have also lived without the author taking the assumed name of John Gault at the end of the book.
Some worker’s right activists don’t want you to understand at-will employment. Instead, concentrate on the right you have to an employer’s continued indulgence with a paycheck: Off-duty behavior can affect job:
Some companies are cracking down on employees’ off-duty behavior, raising questions about how far employers should go in policing what workers do on their own time.
Employees are being disciplined or fired for such behaviors as drinking on their own time, using competitors’ products and displaying political bumper stickers. No one tracks the number of such cases, but some workers rights’ groups are concerned that the practice is on the upswing.
“The shock is that there’s no legal protection,” says Lewis Maltby, of The National Workrights Institute, a non-profit based in Princeton, N.J., that focuses on employee rights. “You can get fired just for having a bumper sticker the boss doesn’t like.”
Yes, that is how it works. Kind of like the worker can leave the job at any time with two week’s notice if they’re polite or right now if their employer does something the worker doesn’t like or if the worker doesn’t like the work, if the worker has something better to do, or if the worker gets a better job.
No, workers’ rights advocates want one-way indentured servitude: they want employers on the hook for perpetual employment.
Mmmm, Bork! Bork! Bork!
CNN: Report: Paris Hilton to retire in 2 years.
No word on whether she’ll choose Michelin, Cordovan, or Pirelli, but we who await every word and deed can hardly contain ourselves in anticipation.
(Link seen on Professor Bainbridge.)
Michael J. Totten reads the Microsoft Manual of Style so you don’t have to:
While flipping through the book I noticed Taiwan, of all things, had its own entry. Taiwan, according to Microsoft…wait for it… belongs to China. Totalitarian propaganda has actually made its way into a style guide for user manual and Help file writers.
Anyone want to bet what the Encarta encyclopedia and dictionaries say?
Actually, I won’t bet, because if I did, I’d have to use those “tools” as reference material if only to settle the bet.
Last week’s story about the state of Missouri regulating personal watercraft use by minors drew this supportive letter from a trade group:
We cannot point blame at personal watercraft for causing accidents when operator-controlled factors such as inattention and inexperience are cited as the leading contributors (“Zippy craft, young riders are making waves,” June 4). Irresponsible boaters cause accidents. Because most accidents are preventable, steps must be taken by boaters themselves to improve safety.
People who take a boating safety education course are less likely to be involved in an accident. Rental-business owners should more thoroughly explain the rules to customers, so that they know how and where to ride, in addition to not jumping a boat’s wake or riding to close to another personal watercraft.
We applaud Missouri for its new boater education law that requires all boaters born after Jan. 1, 1984, to pass a safety course. But older boaters should take a class, too. Personal watercraft manufacturers support laws that require all PWC operators, regardless of age or previous experience, to take a course. We also support a minimum age requirement of 16 years to operate a personal watercraft and 18 years to rent one.
To prevent an enjoyable boating day from becoming an unfortunate tragedy, we all must take steps to assure that safety and responsibility come first.
Maureen Healey
Executive Director
Personal Watercraft
Industry Association
Washington D.C.
Instead of lobbying for regulation, perhaps Ms. Healey could have told her association’s members and customers to just not rent to minors. However, it’s cheaper for the members if the state handles all the expense of the entrepreneurs’ costs of business. After all, it’s working wonders for the airline industry.
(Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.)
Pink Floyd to reunite for London concert July 2:
Four members of seminal British rock band Pink Floyd will play together for the first time in 24 years at London’s Live 8 charity concert for Africa on July 2, publicists for the event said today.
Guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Richard Wright will be on stage with bassist Roger Waters for their first public performance since they played at London’s Earls Court in 1981.
I would welcome a new studio album from Pink Floyd as long as it’s a Pink Floyd album and not a bad Roger Waters album.
I’ve owned a Gillette Mach 3 since the razor came to market, and I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars in recurring revenue on the expensive little cartridges. But when my current supply is out (unfortunately, quite some time since I buy them at a warehouse store), I shall switch to the Schick Quattro. Why?
I saw the commercials for the Mach 3 Turbo, which allows you to put a battery into your razor. In return, it has a little green light on it and, Gillette claimed, micropulses of electricity would lift the hairs for a closer shave. Well, at least the light worked.
The judge ruled that Gillette’s claims that its M3Power could raise the stubble on one’s face were not true.
The court ordered Gillette to change the TV and print ads and the packaging for the product in 30 days.
Gillette yesterday asked the court for a clarification. The razor maker argued that neither the packaging nor the instore displays for M3Power depict hairs “changing angle or changing length.”
“‘Gentle micro-pulses stimulate hair up and away from skin,’ does not suggest that hairs are changing angle or changing length,” it argued in court papers.
I was never tempted to buy the stupid thing because I’ve already got an expensive handle for an expensive razor cartridge, but Gillette brought an expensive product to market that does not do what Gillette says the product does; that is, its selling point is untrue and its value above and beyond the regular Mach 3 does not exist. Gillette did this to try to relieve me of more of my money, and now it will henceforth relieve me of none.
And now that it’s caught, it’s trying to Clinton its way out of changing its packaging to marketing copy that does not outright lie. Splitting, but not changing the angle or length, of legalistic definitions to save itself 1.6 million dollars.
You know what punishment I would prefer? Gillette would have to run advertisements in the same markets and media as its previous ads with its leaders admitting they tried to pull one over the shaving public.
Man, the Patriot Act / Homeland Security blah blah blah investigates everything:
A clump of cloth mixed with plastic was found in the stomach of the bear, who died of surgical shock and cardiac arrest.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will review the St. Louis Zoo’s care of Churchill, a polar bear who died May 26 during surgery to remove an abdominal obstruction.
“An investigation is just a closer look,” Jim Rogers, an agency spokesman in Washington, said Friday. “It doesn’t mean any laws were broken.”
Man, what riveting television that would be. Who poisoned the polar bear with a plastic and cloth capsule? I suspect the shifty looking penguin.
But all mirth aside, how many tax dollars will we expend to collectively, as a society, possibly spare another polar bear the same circumstantial fate? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated story, Government investigates possible case of mad cow; I suspect they’re acting on a jailhouse tip from an enraged sheep.