Archive for November 13th, 2013

TMQ Watch: November 12, 2013.

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

When we were growing up in Houston in the 1970s and early 1980s, these were the rules:

  • Root for the Houston Oilers over everyone.
  • Root for the Dallas Cowboys over everyone except the Houston Oilers.
  • After that, it was pretty much personal preference. At the time, we were fond of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because we are suckers for underdogs, lost causes, and beautiful women. (Tampa Bay falls into two out of those three.)

Of course, that was a long time ago, in another country, and besides Tom Landry is dead. Jerry Jones runs the Cowboys. And, in this week’s TMQ, after the jump…

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Posted in Guns, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

Random notes: November 13, 2013.

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

The three civilian officials, who oversee highly classified programs, arranged for a hot-rod auto mechanic in California to build a specially ordered batch of unmarked and untraceable rifle silencers and sell them to the Navy at more than 200 times what they cost to manufacture, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors.

According to the WP, “the silencers were designed for the ‘AK family of firearms'”. The people who are under investigation claim they were intended for DEVGRU.

In February, the silencers were delivered to a Naval Research Laboratory warehouse in Chesapeake Beach, Md. NCIS agents seized the silencers two months later.
The silencers were unmarked and untraceable, despite a federal law requiring all firearm manufacturers to imprint them with a serial number and the name of the maker.

Yes, there’s nothing better when you’re running clandestine ops than having a serial number and manufacturer’s name stamped on your gear. (That is, assuming these silencers were actually intended for clandestine ops. “Officials with SEAL Team Six told investigators that they were unaware of any such order for silencers, according to court documents.” But if they weren’t intended for DEVGRU, what was the plan for them? We’re through the looking glass here, people.)

Today’s NYT has an article on the Industrial Trust Building in Providence. The Industrial Trust is the tallest skyscraper in Rhode Island – and now it’s vacant. The current owners want to convert it into apartments, but they need tax credits and breaks to do it; and the state isn’t inclined to give out those after the Curt Schilling fiasco.

This has a little bit of special significance to me. I used to travel to Rhode Island, and I remember this skyscraper. I’ve even stayed in the Biltmore (which you can see in the corner of the second photo in the slideshow).

It is a nice building. I’m sad to see it vacant. But I bet you Buddy Cianci could get something done with it.

Obit watch: John Tavener, classical composer.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Music, Obits, Rhode Island | Comments Closed