Archive for April, 2013

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Today in journalistic fraud.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Philadelphia magazine recently ran a story called “The War Within” about John P. Boudreau, a former Marine sniper “who says he’s haunted by his actions in the Middle East”.

Here’s the headline and subhead according to Google:

The War Within: Meet the Sniper Who Killed 2,200 People in Iraq

“killed 2,220 people in Iraq”? Alarm bells ringing yet? Carlos Hathcock, for comparison purposes, had 93 confirmed kills. Chuck Mawhinney is credited with 103: that makes him #1 on the Marine list. Vasily Zaytsev had 242 confirmed kills, and Simo Häyhä 505 with a rifle.

So this guy had about 22 times as many kills as Hathcock and Mawhinney, about nine times as many as Zaytsev, and four times as many as Simo Häyhä, the most bad-ass sniper ever? And nobody raised any questions: like, how did you get to 2,200 kills? After, say, kill #110, or #200, or somewhere long before #2,200, you’d think the Marines would be pulling this guy back to teach at the sniper school in Quantico (or Pendleton, or Lejeune).

So why didn’t they? And why haven’t I linked to the article yet, or even a Google cached version of it, so you can play “spot the problems” along with me?

Yep. It was all a fraud. The magazine, and the writer (a Philadelphia radio host) got suckered by Boudreau:

In a series of conversations on Wednesday and Thursday, Boudreau, who claims a residence in Chester County, acknowledged that much of what he had told Gargano over the preceding several months—information he had also confirmed to Philadelphia magazine’s fact-checker—was either embellished or flat-out fabricated.

The magazine hasn’t even been able to confirm that Boudreau was a Marine. The article has been pulled from their website. (Google returns a search result for the original article, but the article has also been pulled from Google’s cache. Bing seems to have it cached, but I can only read page 1 and the comments.)

I don’t thnk the magazine was acting in bad faith, but it does bring to mind an observation that’s not original to me. I wouldn’t suggest we abandon the all-volunteer military, but back when we had a draft, you could count on the fact that a large percentage of the population – including the guys in the newsroom – had served in the military and could spot military related bullshit when they head it. If we still had a draft, I can imagine a Philadelphia magazine editor telling the writer, “I was in the Marines as a scout sniper myself. I talked to this guy: he doesn’t even know what color the boathouse at Pendleton is.”

Layers of fact checking, indeed.

(Forgot the hattip to Lord Jim.)

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Media | 3 Comments »

Firing watch.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Tim Pernetti is apparently out as Rutgers AD over the Mike Rice scandal.

Also out: Jimmy Martelli, aka “Baby Rice”, an assistant coach.

Both of these are being spun as “resignations”, but my reading between the lines is that they were more like “I’m quitting now before I officially get canned.”

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Quote of the day.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

No kidding: this the actual quotation of the day in today’s NYT:

“It becomes more and more difficult to avoid the sad conclusion that political corruption in New York is indeed rampant and that a show-me-the-money culture in Albany is alive and well.”

-Preet Bharara, United States attorney in Manhattan.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Update.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

A long time ago, I wrote about the cases of Tyquan Knox and Michael Slider. Knox allegedly robbed a teenage girl, then tried to intimidate her and her mother into dropping charges against him. When that didn’t work, he killed the mother. Knox stood trial three times for the murder: the first two trials ended in hung juries, but Knox was convicted the third time and is serving life in prison.

Yesterday, Knox’s girlfriend, Keeairra Dashiell, was sentenced to “life in prison with the possibility of parole after 19 years” after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted robbery. During the first two trials, she agreed to testify for the prosecution in return for a seven-year sentence:

Dashiell, however, proved to be a reluctant and unconvincing witness, often contradicting herself and getting caught in lies.

Noted #1:

After handing down the sentence, [Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael] Pastor spoke to Dashiell at length as she sat quietly next to her attorney with her head bowed. “You made horrific decisions and caused incalculable pain and suffering to others,” Pastor said in a somber tone. “You’re not entitled to pity.”

Noted #2: If this was reported at the time, I completely missed it. What ever happened to Detective Slider?

Taking in the emotional scene was Michael Slider, Henry’s uncle and a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. Slider was fired by the department in 2010 for leaking confidential information about the case after he became convinced that his fellow LAPD detectives had not done enough to protect Henry and Lark from Knox. After an appeals court threw out one of the department’s allegations against Slider and sent the case back to the LAPD for reconsideration, police officials relented and reinstated Slider.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

Roger Ebert.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Thinking about what I wanted to write, I came to the realization that I’ve already written much of what I wanted to say: he was a huge influence on how I think about movies (for which I am grateful), his views on what is and is not art were questionable, and many of the political views he expressed later in his life were appalling. (Roger should have spent more time reading Mencken.)

Chicago Sun-Times. NYT. LAT.

A/V Club. Onion. There are several posts at Jimbo’s site, but this one in particular seems to be worth highlighting.

This whole thing is kind of odd, taken in the light of Roger’s April 2nd blog post, where he talks about launching a Kickstarter campaign to bring back “At the Movies”, relaunching RogerEbert.com, and various other projects. I wonder how things went downhill that fast.

And I also wonder what’s going to happen to RogerEbert.com. My understanding is that Ebert et al planned to move the site to their own servers, and off the Sun-Times site. That’s fine. But I went to the site for the first time in weeks yesterday and realized that I wasn’t all that interested any longer; only one of the current reviews was written by Ebert. Many of the others were written by Richard Roper (who I only tolerated because he was on the same show as Ebert), Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Jim Emerson, and other reviewers who I don’t find interesting. I’m hoping the site stays up as an archive of Ebert’s writing (and it’d be nice if it also archived “At the Movies”), but it isn’t a place I’m going to go for movie criticism any longer.

That’s a little mean, but it is also the truth. Let’s end on an upbeat note. Or two.

They don’t make them like that any more. (Actually, they do, but only for the SyFy channel.)

I couldn’t find their “Worst Movies of 1992” show online, but here’s their original review of “Shining Through”, which was their pick for worst movie that year (this clip does include the strudel scene):

Someone’s done an IMDB list of all of Siskel and Ebert’s worst movies of the year, just in case you’re interested. A Google search will turn up clips from some, but not all, of those episodes.

Posted in Clippings, Movies, Obits, TV | Comments Closed

This is probably going to shake a few people up.

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

“Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University”.

When I think of Jerry Falwell, I don’t think about him the way Bill Maher does. I think about the man who would wear a huge Blue Afro wig to our school games, or the man who slid down a waterslide in his suit, or the man who would allow himself to be mocked during our coffeehouse shows. I think about the man who reminded us every time he addressed our student body that God loved us, that he loved us, and that he was always available if ever we needed him.

I never told Dr. Falwell that I was gay; but I wouldn’t have been afraid of his response. Would he have thought homosexuality was an abomination? Yes. Would he have thought it was God’s intention for me to be straight? Yes. But would he have wanted to stone me? No. And if there were some that would’ve wanted to stone me, I can imagine Jerry Falwell, with his fat smile, telling all of my accusers to go home and pray because they were wicked people.

Posted in 2013, Clippings, Reading list | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 4, 2013.

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Roger Ebert has passed away.

Their servers appear to be overwhelmed at the moment, and I have not seen this reported elsewhere. I’m going to give this a bit of time, and will probably have more to say later on.

Posted in Clippings, Movies, Obits | Comments Closed

“…jackass legislation”

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

I am a great admirer of H.L. Mencken. I have been since I was in high school (mumble mumble) years ago.

But I had not previously encountered this particular essay.

The new law that it advocated, indeed, is one of the most absurd specimens of jackass legislation ever heard of, even in this paradise of legislative donkeyism. Its single and sole effect would be to exaggerate enormously all of the evils it proposes to put down. It would not take pistols out of the hands of rogues and fools; it would simply take them out of the hands of honest men. The gunman today has great advantages everywhere. He has artillery in his pocket, and he may assume that, in the large cities, at least two-thirds of his prospective victims are unarmed. But if the Nation’s proposed law (or amendment) were passed and enforced, he could assume safely that all of them were unarmed.

Also noted:

What would become of the millions of revolvers already in the hands of the American people if not in New York, then at least everywhere else? (I own two and my brother owns at least a dozen, though neither of us has fired one since the close of the Liberty Loan drives.)

I would be very interested in knowing what revolvers Mencken and his brother owned. I’d be even more interested in owning one of Mencken’s revolvers, but I suspect the associational value puts that out of my price range.

(It does not come as a great shock to me that Mencken was pro civil rights: his “A New Constitution for Maryland” included a provision establishing the right to keep and openly carry arms. But encountering an essay of Mencken’s that I haven’t previously read, and is relevant to my interests…that lights up my whole day.)

(Hattip on this one to the amazing Roberta X.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Guns, History, Law | 1 Comment »

Bread blogging: Cheddar and Herb.

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

The previous two breads I made were both repeats that I chose not to write up again here: Shiner Bock Cheddar from Laurence Simon, and Sourdough Chèvre from Brody and Apter. Of those two, the Shiner Bock Cheddar (with Cabot Sharp Cheddar) came out pretty well: I used a custom cycle on it, and still had some top crust problems. I added the jalapenos and sesame seeds right after the third rise started, and found that the peppers stuck better; the sesame seeds did not. Probably I’ll keep this one in the rotation, but won’t be making it again until I try some newer recipes.

The Sourdough Chèvre I jacked up with a tablespoon of Pensys “Italian Herb Mix”. The top crust would have come out okay, except the bread collapsed in the center. Adding the herb mix did make a difference in taste; specifically, it seemed less blah to me. My personal feeling, though, is that it is still a little bland: I’m not keeping that bread in rotation, as I just don’t feel the results are worth the effort.

New bread: Cheddar and Herb, from the Laurence Simon songbook.

Photos and comments after the jump.

(more…)

Posted in Bread, Food | Comments Closed

I cannot tell a lie…

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

…I only just got around to this, but:

…luring noted playwright and director Neil LaBute from his own hotly-anticipated theatrical project Not the Bees: An Evening With Nicolas Cage.

kicked over my giggle-box, as did:

“You asshole, you can’t even get your director in-jokes right,” LaBute reportedly said, and stormed out, never to return.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Random notes: April 3, 2013.

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

Some notes from the legal beat to get things started:

Javaris Crittenton is being charged with murder and “gang activity”. Crittenton is a former NBA player with the Lakers, Wizards, and Grizzlies. You may remember him as “that guy who got into a locker room altercation with Gilbert Arenas that ended with guns being pulled and a 38-game suspension”.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Louis C. Taylor has been freed from prison. Mr. Taylor served 42 years before his release: he was convicted of starting a hotel fire in 1970, when he was 16, and sentenced to 28 life terms. However, it looks like the evidence used to convict Mr. Taylor was questionable, and (if I read the article correctly) the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence.

Mr. Taylor’s release offered him only a small measure of redemption. Under an agreement with prosecutors in Pima County, he entered a no-contest plea during an hourlong court hearing, which set aside his original conviction and gave him credit for the time he had spent behind bars. The arrangement means that he did not admit guilt, but because he did not contest the charges, he is effectively barred from suing anyone who had a role in his conviction.

And:

Prosecutors, in filings and at Tuesday’s hearing, said they still believed Mr. Taylor was guilty, but chose to accept the agreement because they would not have been able to pursue a new trial. The evidence is too old and scarce, and there are not enough living witnesses, they said.

Of course they believe Mr. Taylor was guilty. God forbid they should admit someone served 42 years for what may not have even been a crime.

On Tuesday, [New York State Senator Malcolm A. Smith], Councilman [Daniel J.] Halloran and the Republican Party leaders were charged with wire fraud and bribery. The senator was also charged with extortion.

Senator Smith is accused of trying to bribe his way onto the ballot for the mayor’s race in New York City.

The complaint described envelopes of cash trading hands in Manhattan hotel rooms and restaurants, payments of thousands of dollars to persuade Republican leaders in New York to put Senator Smith, from Queens, on the Republican ballot in November. The bribes were to be paid to obtain certificates authorizing him to run for mayor as a Republican even though he was a registered Democrat.

Wait. What?

In case you were wondering, Robert “Ratso” Rizzo’s trial on corruption charges is scheduled for September. Ratso’s former assistant, Angela Spaccia, is asking for a separate trial.

From the department of things that suck: noted SF author Ian Banks is dying. Many of my friends, including Lawrence, are big Banks fans. I never got into his work, personally: the only Banks book I own is Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram, his non-fiction book about touring Scotland in search of single-malts. But I know that Banks was a hugely important SF writer, and this is just a damn shame.

Firing watch: Mike Rice out as basketball coach of Rutgers after video of him acting like an a–hole becomes public.

Posted in Books, California Über Alles, Clippings, Firings, Law, Obits, Politics, Schadenfreude, Sports | Comments Closed

Best. Restaurant. Review. Ever.

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

The plating of the poached mutton buttock with fermented butter was so abstract, it was as if abused zoo animals had produced the dish in a therapy session.

Unfortunately, this is also an April Fool’s joke.

(Hattip: Ryan Sutton.)

Posted in Clippings, Food | Comments Closed

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