Archive for August 6th, 2024

Quick random book post.

Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

I was busy all this past weekend, and will be busy all of this coming weekend. I’m hoping to get a gun book post up sometime between Wednesday and Friday, but I’m not sure if that’s going to work out. I did want to get this post up today, though, for obvious reasons.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Exhibition Guide. No author and no publishing information given. I think this is about 68 pages.

There are two sections to this, which are actually printed reversed (as you might gather from the index: apologies for the lousy picture, but I couldn’t get this to sit flat easily). One covers “The Reality of the Atomic Bombing” and “Damage From Radiation” along with introductory material (“Hiroshima Before the Bombing”, “The Atomic Bombing”, “A Lost Way of Life”). The other covers “The Dangers of Nuclear Weapons” and “Hiroshima History”.

This was a gift from my beloved and indulgent sister, who was able to tour Japan recently and brought this back for me.

Posted in Books, History | 3 Comments »

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#124 in a series)

Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

I think this may be marginal, since the person in question is not an elected official. But they were still a high-ranking official in a position of trust locally.

The chief financial officer for the Austin Independent School District was arrested yesterday.

Technically, he’s the former CFO: according to the article, he submitted his resignation July 23rd, it was scheduled to be effective August 16th, and he was placed on leave immediately after his arrest.

He’s charged with insurance fraud, though the reports say the case against him has nothing to do with AISD.

In a statement, Ramos told KXAN, “We have a judicial process. I ask that everyone let the process run its course before rushing to judgment.”

…

According to the district’s website, Ramos oversaw Austin ISD finances, including the budget, purchasing, state and federal grants, and the Historically Utilized Business program. His district biography stated he worked in school finance for 27 years, including as chief of finance and operations in Pflugerville ISD and deputy superintendent of finance and operations in Hutto ISD.

Posted in Austin, Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Loser update: August 6, 2024.

Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

The Chicago White Sox lost to the Soon To Be Oakland No Longer But Nobody Knows Where They Will End Up A’s last night, 5-1.

This is the 21st consecutive loss for the White Sox. That ties the American League record for most consecutive losses (with the 1988 Baltimore Orioles). The National League record in the “modern” (post-1900) era is 23, held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.

The overall record is 26 straight losses, surprisingly held not by the Cleveland Spiders, but by the 1889 Louisville Colonels.

The White Sox are currently 27-88, for a .235 winning percentage. By my math (and ESPN’s agrees with me) that’s a projected 124 losses, “which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134.” For comparison purposes, the 1962 New York Mets, who hold the modern era record in Wikipedia, went 40-120. So I’ve got high hopes for the White Sox.

They play the A’s again tonight. The A’s are the favorite, but ESPN has it about 60-40. So maybe the Sox might get the dead cat bounce and pull one out? Even if they do, there’s probably still enough margin in there to keep them in contention for the worst MLB team of the modern era.

Posted in Loser, Sports | Comments Closed