No?
Of course it quacks, it’s a duck!
Okay. Last offer. Want to buy the Righthaven trademark? Act fast! Supplies are limited!
Archive for May, 2012
FSBO.
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned.
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012Random notes: May 3, 2012.
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012Obit watch: Junior Seau, former linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots.
And the Kennedy assassination conspiracy has claimed another victim: Earl Rose, the Dallas County medical examiner who wanted to autopsy Kennedy but was overruled. Dr. Rose also did the autopsies on J.D. Tippit (the police officer Oswald shot), on Oswald himself, and on Jack Ruby.
I am aware of the rumors that I was the winning bidder on Munch’s “The Scream”. At this time, I have no comment.
TMQ Watch: May 1, 2012.
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012Yes, we know we are a little late with this week’s TMQ Watch. ESPN has made it incredibly difficult to find TMQ, and we’ve been somewhat overwhelmed with plans for an upcoming party and work-related issues. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
But not before noting that by publishing on Tuesday, TMQ missed two of the biggest NFL stories so far this year. Of course, he knew what he was getting into when he bought the tickets. We say let him crash.
Working for the crackdown.
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012The NFL has announced disciplinary actions against four players for the New Orleans Saints for their roles in the bounty scandal.
- Jonathan Vilma: out for the entire 2012 season.
- Anthony Hargrove (now with Green Bay): suspended for eight games.
- Will Smith: four game suspension.
- Scott Fujita (now with Cleveland): three game suspension.
It looks like the the Vilma and Hargrove penalties were harshest because of their level of involvement. Vilma was the defensive captain at the time and allegedly assisted Gregg Williams with the bounty program, as well as offering “$10,000 to any Saints teammate who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC championship game.”
Hargrove apparently obstructed the investigation and lied to investigators; his punishment may have been mitigated somewhat because he flipped later on, submitting “a signed declaration that established not only the existence of the program at the Saints, but also that he knew about and participated in it.”
According to Pro Football Talk, all four players plan to appeal. This could turn into an interesting legal battle.
I’m trying to think of harsher player suspensions in the NFL, and I’m not coming up with much; Vick got an “indefinite” suspension that basically worked out to two years (most of which he spent in prison). Albert Haynesworth got five games for stomping on a guy. Plaxico Burress got four games for shooting himself. Roethlisberger got a six-game hit which was reduced to four games. And apparently a few players (Dexter Manley being the most famous) have gotten lifetime bans for multiple failed drug tests.
Your tax dollars at work, ladies and Vernons.
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012The notoriously corrupt California city of Vernon is in the news again.
Specifically, the city is accused of classifying some of the attorneys on staff as “public safety” employees. This is typically a classification reserved for cops and firefighters, not lawyers – not even prosecutors. The city argued that the staff attorneys were “primarily engaged in the active enforcement of criminal laws.”
The city also has issues with their former administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst. Mr. Malkenhorst collects the largest pension of anyone in the California public pension system – according to the LAT, more than $500,000 a year.
When he was employed, Mr. Malkenhorst brought in $911,000 in 2006. It is not clear from the article exactly what he was doing at the time. The article does mention that at one point he claimed to hold 10 separate positions in Vernon’s city government, but it it not clear if he held these positions in 2006.
By the way, Mr. Malkenhorst pled guilty to a charge of “misappropriation of public funds” last year. His replacement, Eric T. Fresch, is one of the attorneys who were classified as “public safety” employees; he pulled in $1.65 million in 2008. Fresch is currently employed as a “special consultant” to the city at a rate of $525 an hour.
The former mayor of Vernon, Leonis Malburg, was convicted of perjury in 2009.
Making the news personal.
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012I wouldn’t ordinarily make note of the five guys arrested for conspiring to blow up a bridge in Ohio. Terrorist plots are a dime a dozen these days, and it seems that many of them turn out to be a bunch of losers who couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery without help from undercover FBI agents.
But I’ve noted before that I have family in the Cleveland area. Some of them live in Sagamore Hills, and I’ve driven over the Ohio 82 bridge many times while visiting them.
Here’s what that bridge looks like in Google Maps satellite view:
And here’s your Google Image Search results for the Ohio 82 bridge. It is a nice looking bridge, I have to admit.