Archive for September 28th, 2023

Loser update update.

Thursday, September 28th, 2023

I should have put this in this week’s update, but I didn’t think to check the schedule until after I posted.

Denver (0-3) plays da Bears (0-3) at noon on Sunday.

Minnesota (0-3) plays Carolina (0-3) at noon on Sunday.

This means a few things:

1. I will probably try to post the loser update on Sunday afternoon after the games end, assuming I’m not napping.

2. We’re going to have two 0-4 teams. Unless there’s a tie, which I would not rule out.

3. It looks like Sunday is the last day of the MLB regular season, so I will probably post a special loser update on Monday for that.

Posted in Loser, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: September 28, 2023.

Thursday, September 28th, 2023

Sir Michael Gambon, British actor. The NYT is still in “A complete obituary will appear shortly.” mode.

Among the first group of actors recruited by Olivier for the National Theatre Company in the early 1960s, Gambon, a Dublin native, was nominated 13 times for an Olivier Award, winning in 1986 and ’90 for Alan Ayckbourn’s A Chorus of Disapproval and Man of the Moment, respectively, and in 1988 for Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge.

172 acting credits in IMDB.

Posted in Movies, Obits, Theatre, TV | 3 Comments »

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#110 in a series)

Thursday, September 28th, 2023

This isn’t a normal flaming hyenas watch, as the subject isn’t quite a politician. But I think the exceptional circumstances justify this.

Jose Torres used to be a politician. At one point in his life, he was the mayor of Patterson, New Jersey. Fortunately, he was convicted of using city workers and city money to renovate a warehouse being leased by his daughter and nephew.

The workers’ labor was marked as overtime and paid for by Paterson’s taxpayers — a move that landed Torres in front of a judge, who later sentenced him to five years in state prison.

He spent 13 months in the joint. But that’s not why he’s a flaming hyena.

After the plea, Torres agreed to a forfeiture order that banned him from ever holding public office or employment in the Garden State. If he broke the agreement, he’d face a contempt charge.

Would you like to guess what happened next?

If you guessed “he tried to run for office again” take two gold stars and advance to the next blue square. Last year, he filed to run for mayor.

But it gets better.

When the Paterson city clerk rejected his petition, Torres sued, according to a statement from state Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Yes! Not only did he try to violate the order, he actually sued when he was told he was violating the order.

Mr. Torres is now facing a criminal contempt of court charge.

“It takes remarkable brashness to flout a state court order and then attempt to strong-arm the city clerk, via civil litigation, into allowing an impermissible campaign to proceed,” [State Attorney General Matthew] Platkin said.
“That is bold. And, according to the grand jury, it is also indictable.”

I’m not sure “brashness” is the word I’d use. I think I’d call it “stupidity”. But oddly, it’s only the second most stupid thing I’ve seen this week.

(I’m still trying to decide if I want to link to the most stupid thing I’ve seen this week. It does relate to some of this blog’s areas of coverage – cocaine and aircraft. But the details are pretty R-rated, and I actually sort of feel bad for the subject.)

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed