Archive for February 13th, 2012

This goes out to Mike the Musicologist…

Monday, February 13th, 2012

…aka “My one reader who is a Frank Lloyd Wright fan and doesn’t read Balko’s blog“:

Frank Lloyd Wright’s doghouse design.

I wonder how many architects have done doghouses; I know that a few years back, Frank Gehry offered a doghouse design in a benefit auction, but I can’t find out it if was built, or if his design is online anywhere.

Posted in Art, Clippings, Gehry | Comments Closed

Let us enrage you.

Monday, February 13th, 2012
  1. Sunday’s Knoxville News Sentinel ran a long piece on former judge Richard Baumgartner. Baumgartner presided over the high profile cases of Channon Christian/Christopher Newsom and Raynella Dossett Leath. He was also a bad guy: Baumgartner shook down his staff for OxyContin and other painkillers, became involved with a former defendant in his court (and had her procure drugs for him), and apparently engaged in even more misconduct (hidden in sealed TBI files). And Baumgartner’s erratic behavior went on from at least 2007 to 2011. Four years of an addict presiding over criminal trials. (Hattip: Insta.)
  2. Also by way of Insta:

    A three-month Sun Sentinel investigation found almost 800 cops from a dozen agencies driving 90 to 130 mph on our highways.
    Many weren’t even on duty — they were commuting to and from work in their take-home patrol cars.

  3. And from Balko, for a change-up: the story of Scott Henson, who was stopped and detained by nine Austin Police Department officers while walking his five year old granddaughter home. Henson is white: his granddaugher is black, and they were stopped by the APD immediately after a previous encounter with a deputy constable.
    So far, this is outrageous. Of course we only have one side of the story, but does Henson have any reason to lie about this? I hope he pursues this. I hope he forces a full investigation by an external third party, not APD. And if all of this is true, I hope people loose their badges and jobs over this. Including Chief Acevedo.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law | 1 Comment »

As a liberatarian…

Monday, February 13th, 2012

…I am generally opposed to the use of my tax dollars for things other than the basic functions of government: police, courts, and the military.

However, if the government is going to spend my tax money on other things, I prefer that the government spend it on cool stuff: things that go fast, things that explode, things that go fast and explode, or just simply engineering marvels.

Like the 50,000 ton forging press.

Its 14 major structural components, cast in ductile iron, weigh as much as 250 tons each; those yard-thick steel bolts are also 78 feet long; all told, the machine weighs 16 million pounds, and when activated its eight main hydraulic cylinders deliver up to 50,000 tons of compressive force.

According to Alcoa’s web site, the Fifty is back in service. And they have video (which I can’t watch on my work machine).

I wonder if they offer tours? If not to the general public, to polite bloggers who agree to wear a hard hat and safety goggles, and promise not to put their hands in the press?

(Hattip: TJIC on the Twitter.)

Posted in Clippings, Geek | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 13, 2012.

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Nello Ferrara, of the Ferrara Pan Candy Company.

I like Lemonheads okay, but I’ve got a serious soft spot for Atomic Fireballs. They’re bad for my teeth (and other things) but I still indulge every once in a while. (I had to stop buying the big tubs of them at Sam’s, though.)

Posted in Clippings, Food, Obits | Comments Closed