Irresponsible

Just a quick note to observe how... disturbed and disappointed I was today on Twitter.

When the plane landed in the Hudson River recently it was an amazing thing to follow in real time Twitter. It spread viraly and the news of survivors and the photos spread to us Tweeters before they made it on to the TV or news websites.

That's an excellent use of this tool for instant independent journalism.

Today, reading Natasha Richardson declared dead, brain dead, dead, brain dead, suffering brain swelling, possibly fine, possibly not in real time, with RETRACTIONS, was disgusting and, frankly, frightening. There's nothing more irresponsible than just declaring someone DEAD without properly verifying. The Internet is a potent, powerful, and permanent tool. Please have the good sense to not race just to be the first person with the story unless you have the correct information. A lead is one thing. Actually posting a notice someone died is far different.

I feel awful for any member of a circle of family and friends who'd have to read such a thing. Being a celebrity, her family's misfortune is playing out on the world stage... but on any stage there's no excuse for declaring something like that about another person - something so final - without definitive proof. At least both Perez Hilton and the New York Post retracted their statements quickly.

I wish her and her family the best. I also wish them privacy, discretion, and respect.

Let's all remember to mind our Ps and Qs and be careful out there, okay.

Didn't see this one coming...

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Tali-ho: Stoppin' Crime!

My whole neighborhood can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. A gang of... well, pretty much children, calling themselves the "Northside Taliband" were swept up in a sting yesterday. My sources - and yes, for once I have a source - tell me that this was on the QT and hush-hush because it has been in the works for a while.

Very exciting! A huge relief for Northside... although I'm sheltered and hadn't heard word one about them. I guess I should be relieved because if I had I'd have been fearful, but mostly I'm resolving to get more involved in my community again.

Child Prodigy?

Arizona law generally holds that a child lacks competency to be held responsible
for a homicide. However, ..., “We think an exception can be made based on the facts and circumstances … This is precedent-setting.
We're going to charge an 8-year-old with two counts of homicide."

I'm very interested to see what comes of this story. How grisly could this event have been for someone to announce they're probably charging an 8 year old? Not that any murder or accidental death isn't grisly and tragic, but this must've really been... above and beyond.

Most curious, what do you do with this child? Prison? Juvie? Treat him like Rhoda Penmark and just try to put him down like a dog? Because I'm thinking that to, again, announce this to the world... something bad must've really happened here.

UPDATE:

More likely, and unsurprising, the police are being accused of railroading an 8 year old:

"They became very accusing early on in the interview," Brewer said. "Two
officers with guns at their side, it's very scary for anybody, for sure an
8-year-old kid."
A judge has ordered a psychological evaluation of the child,
who was being held at the Apache County juvenile detention
center. Prosecutors aren't sure where the case is headed, Carlyon
said. "There's a ton of factors to be considered and weighed, including the
juvenile's age," he said. "The counterbalance against that, the acts that he
apparently committed."
Carlyon said the boy had no record of complaints with Arizona Child Protective Services. "He had no record of any kind, not even a disciplinary record at school," he said. "He has never been in trouble before."

They're also talking... premeditation:

Under Arizona law, a juvenile under 8 years old is treated as a dependent child.
Charges can be filed against anyone 8 or older, which Melnick argued are
warranted in this case. He said the child didn't act on the "spur of the
moment," though he didn't elaborate on what the motive might have
been.
Defense attorney Mike Piccarreta, who is not involved in the case, said
that each case has to be considered on its own merits but that it would be hard
for him to comprehend that an 8-year-old has the mental capacity to understand
the act of murder and its implications.
"If they actually prosecute the guy, it's a legal minefield," he said. "And, two, society has to make a decision as to whether they want to start using the criminal justice system to deal with 8-year-olds. That doesn't mean you don't have a troubled kid."

I look forward to seeing where this is going. I guess I jumped to a conclusion and went all "Bad Seed," when maybe it was someone pushing back against abuse. That said, we're still talking about an 8 year old who may have committed... premeditated murder?

Why I'm a little worried

A co-worker of mine moonlights as a sports announcer doing color commentary for local high school football games and the like (he's very good). Earlier today he was working on lists of descriptive words for games, like "Clash" and "toe to toe" and commented that the Bengals were coming home from lame games they lost, which their own announcers would describe as "Titanic."

I said "The Bengals aren't in a 'Titanic' struggle. A 'Lusitanian' one, maybe..."

He didn't get it.

Yes, I know it's an oblique reference and I don't care. If a 27 year old man has never heard of the Lusitania I think I'm free to fret a little about the state of American education.*

*This is not unlike when I went to the "Sex and the City" movie and in a fully packed theatre was the only person to get the Diane Arbus joke.

On second thought, maybe I'm just over-educated...

Curmudgeon Role Model

Woman, 89, arrested for keeping football.

I always have said I wanted to someday grow up to pretty much be Walter Matthau. A grumpy old man. However I now have a new role-model for eventually being a curmudgeon. This local 89-year old woman has told them repeatedly, but the neighbor kids' couldn't keep their ball from going into her yard... so she kept it. She' done it before -she says 3 times, though the parent of the kids said 10 - and said she was going to give it back.

Eventually. After they'd learned their lesson.

When police asked Jester to return the ball to the children, she refused. They
warned her twice she would be charged if she did not cooperate, Schaffer said.
They tried to give her a citation, but she refused to sign for it, he said.

Of course,the police took her in and booked her. Some people think they over-reacted, some people think they didn't. I think we all have to agree to disagree. From one viewpoint, what was once a member of a village helping raise a child is now a petty thief. From another, this crazy old coot's stealing from children and it's about as cruel as building a gingerbread house to get them into one's dinner. The only people who can probably really gauge this situation are the friends and neighbors. Is she a mean old lady? Are the kids little hellions who should be put down now for the good of future society? Are they just kids, placing play over respecting property boundaries they don't even understand?

Evidently the max sentence is six months in jail or and a $1000 fine. Somehow I don't see her paying that. All the great old ladies I know are too strong and proud and stubborn to take that kind of guff...

The football, valued at $15, is being held for evidence, Schaffer
said.

Earbuds, or, my latest addiction

Earbuds, or "I luvs me my iPhone", originally uploaded by JayKulpa.

A month ago, my old LG flip phone finally died, so I ponied up for ... the iPhone. Big, fancy, filled with bells and whistles. You can email. Browse the internet. Play games. Watch TV. Even... make phone calls...

So far, so good. I like the functions, use it all the time, and justify it partially by remembering that one of it's main features is it's also an iPod. I'dnever owned an iPod before. (Have a little, tiny 256k MP3 player that someone gave me, but this is far, far different.)

This lead to my finally downloading and checking out what has turned out to be a huge bain to my poor, overworked computer: iTunes (boy, it's a pain in the ass to type all this little i-capital letter-little letters words). iTunes led to my latest obsession: podcasts.

I'd been familiar with the concept of podcasts for a while but had never listened to one before. Over the last 4 weeks, I've pretty much been listening to them all the time. I can't imagine how I've lived without them - actually, I'm more amazed I've never made one. You can - much like a blog- blather on about anything you damn well please and then put it out there into the ether... where random whackos (and here I'm whistling, looking around, hoping you don't put two and two together...) can download it and share in the minutia. Some of them are newsy, or I learn something... more of them are just "Why the hell are you still talking." But they all have so far fascinated me. I listen almost too often. In the morning around the house, in the car on the way to work and back, errands, at the gym, around the house, while typing... like now... before bed. I'm enjoying them.

Anyhow, if you're interested, these are what's been in my "heavy rotation": Savage Love, Horror Etc., Feast of Fools, A Prairie Home Companion: The News from Lake Woebegone, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Onion Radio Network, The Horror! Old Time Radio, Fox and the City (which Drew-o-rama has been recommending to me for AGES), Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, The Cadaver Lab, Real Time with Bill Maher, and a few more...

So, now that I've probably revealed far more about myself and my interests than I ever meant to let on, go check 'em out!

Then come back and tell me, what are you listening to? Any recommendations?

Ten pounds lighter and terrified...

What's up with all the beheadings in the news lately? One in Canada, one in Brazil, and now Greece. As we all know, three means a trend. Is this the new hipster lifestyle choice? When will the trend-tracking article come out? Is decapitation the new black?

I'm making light, but seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people? The two "domestic violence" beheadings make me terribly sad, but the stranger chopping on the bus in Canada is especially chilling to all of us who travel...

UPDATE:
It gets worse, as if that is possible.

She said Vince Weiguang Li had a plastic bag containing his victim’s ear, nose
and part of a mouth in his pocket when officers arrested him. The only response
officers received from him was: “’I have to stay on the bus forever,”’ Dalmyn
said.

As someone who's traveled a lot I guess I've been very blithe about my personal security. There's something about this story that bothers me to no end. Poor young victim? Random savagery- and evidently it was random - that comes out of nowhere? The precious shortness of life? (God I hate being reminded of that) Have we just maxed out our capacity for dealing with crowds and we've hit our "Sink," where we just go to madness?

Pet Packaging Peeve

Why am I so skeeved out by the people who were going through everyone's recycling bins as I left the house this morning?

There's been a rash of it over the last few months. You put all your recycling out on the curb at night and when you're leaving the house in the morning it looks as tossed as your trash does when the raccoons get into it.

This morning I set my recycling out and looked up to find the dumpster divers. There were a couple of yuppie-looking types in Tie-Dye T-shirts who hopped out of their SUV and started bin-diving with big trash bags. As they were a cheerful looking bunch in matching shirts I'm tempted to believe they're part of some organization or charity. This however still files them under the heading "just nasty people" for me.

I took my recycling back in. It just bugged me that they were so nakedly riffling through my neighbor's garbage. I'm thinking I must be some kind of a tight ass (just some kind?) but I'm averse to their making money on the back of my empty empty-calorie containers. I know Rumpke does, and I know I'm being irrational, but at least I feel like I'm choosing where it's going, rather than the scavengers taking some sort of perceived "advantage." (After reviewing that sentence, I'm questioning if I don't need some meds, frankly.)

As I was getting into the car the guy called "Didn't want us going through your stuff?" and I really had to fight the urge to turn around and bawl him out for what really is pretty harmless... so here, I guess, is the question: am I offended that they were parasitically making money off of every one's refuse (illuminating that I could be doing it myself if I chose to go through the hassle) or that they were a couple of SUV-driving prats?

Or is it just one more offence piled on top of the random, ever changing junk yard that's being set up at the next door neighbors house? I look at their rusting refrigerators and shopping carts that pop up from time to time and feel powerless and disrespected (especially with all the work I've put into keeping the house in a show-able condition). Then, I get to turn around and find someone else literally "poaching" off of me. Maybe I'm just bucking for some social lice-shampoo...

Pet Plane Peeve

Everyone has a few pet peeves about flying.

Personally my problem is that I'm getting seriously tired of the douche bags who refuse to turn off their phones and other electronics when told to on a plane. You know we see you, palming your glowing blackberry or covering your iPod's glowing white screen... hell, half the time I can hear the music still coming out of your headsets.

Now I know you just dealt with the TSA, you're paying too much, you've been herded like cattle, and you have a little dick. That said, following the direction and turning off the item you've been asked to turn off DOES apply to you, . It will not emasculate you, and, no, the world won't end if you miss that one last, super important call. If you were someone where it would, you wouldn't be riding coach on Southwest, you jackass.

Trust me that if I can eschew my block-rockin' beats and texts from my many admirers for 2 hours, you can at least skip watching whatever that stupid tits 'n' jeeps program that was on your iPod during take off and instead, start it at 10,000 feet.

Flying is tough enough nowadays. I'm not the best flyer in the world. The chick I flagged on the way to New York and seat mate I barked at on the way home today are just the beginning. I'm going to become an airline electronics Nazi. Just to be mean. I know full well the chances of these things bringing down a plane are less than slim and encroaching on none (cell phones excepted), but we all obey a few simple directions to keep a little civility in the process, and if you can't do that, well then, I'm happy to make sure the overworked, underpaid, flight attendant busts your ass once I tattle to her like I was Angela on "The Office."

Don't be a dick, just turn the damned thing off, okay?

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

MTV is going to remake "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

There was a point, right at the end of high school, right before college (in the cradle, there) where I was going every Saturday night to the Dayton affair. I was even in it once, as Dr. Scott, in the wheelchair and everything. It was innocent fun, silliness, and a very cherished event in my life, even if I haven't been back in 10 years.

That movie has grown such an unusual crowd of fans, and is such a... door into a world of variety and difference and "Rich Weirdos" -- and weird richness -- that it's perfect as it is. Untouched. Unrevised.

Leave it alone, MTV, just air the original.

Besides, who the hell are you going to get who could fill Tim Curry's heels?

Black Canary is not a "Biker Bitch," thank you very much!

Possibly even more exciting than the Tippi Hedren in "The Birds" Barbie is the forthcoming Black Canary Barbie.

Exciting in more ways than one, it seems...

Shockingly it seems that the combination of black leather and fishnets has the overreaction brigade up in arms with all the "It's filthy" comments. Personally, though, I think the only thing really trashy about the outfit is the bangs. It's more Pam Anderson in "Barb Wire" than anything else, really.

I remember Black Canary in the outfit she's mostly sported, especially from the 40s to the 70s... the Bolero jacket, bustier, and fishnets look was a lot more innocent compared to this Biker Bitch Barbie look. I don't know whether to collect her or ask her put a cigarette out on my ass while I'm tied up...

My unsolicited advice? Drop the leather and go for the classic '40's look and give her the Veronica Lake "Peek-a-boo." Some people will still complain but I bet the sales would be better.

You left me, you broke my heart, but I moved on Mr. Farve. I. Moved. On.

I do hope Mr. Farve doesn't start whining too much.

Evidently, he's just gotten the bad news that the Packers are going to stick him into a "Back up role," not releasing him from his contract now that he's changed his mind about his "retirement."

He decided his news may have been a little premature, but it seems they decided to go on with someone else as starting quarterback. Now that the dithering Farve decided he's not retiring after all, they're sticking with their acting quarterback and holding him to his contract... and sending him back to the back of the line since he left it.

"We've communicated that to Brett, that we have since moved forward,"
Thompson said. "At the same time, we've never said that there couldn't be some
role that he might play here. But I would understand his point that he would
want to play."When asked whether that role might be as a backup or coach,
Thompson said: "not a coach."Added McCarthy: "He did ask about that,
though."

I do hope, Mr. Farve, you accept it with dignity or grace. Either retire or be a team player and be the back-up quarterback... if other people move on you have to accept that as a consequence of a decision.

You're flighty, they made other plans, suck it up. No cuts.

...the people in your neighborhood...

So my neighbors have added a lovely new set of patio furniture to their outdoor seating area...

Or rather, a broken down, upended sleeper sofa, full laundry hamper, and oil change pan have been dumped next to a dead guys car that's been sitting there for 6 months and now was weeds growing up into it...

Seriously, I don't know what to do. These aren't exactly the kinda neighbors I have a relationship with. Rather their the ones I call the cops on when they're having knock-down, drag-out screaming fights at 2 AM.

On Sunday I have an open house. Trying to sell the damn thing. I don't need this ghetto-UNfabulous horse shit going on... I'm not sure how to address it though. Do I have any recourse instead of walking over and whimpering "um, could you please do something about the couch?"

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't celebrate the 15-year anniversary

Gee, evidently people are starting to think that America's soldiers are capable of acting like responsible adults.

Congress should repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law because the presence of
gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win,
according to a new study released by a California-based research center.

and:

"Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to
pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion," the
officers states.

To support its contention, the panel points to the British
and Israeli militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without hurting
the effectiveness of combat operations.

I've never understood "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Partially, I've never understood the homophobic "undermine unit morale" argument because it sells short our military and assumes their incapable of putting any differences aside -may as well re-segregate if you follow that argument.

Mostly, though, I always thought that if Clinton was going to broach the topic that he shoulda said "Hey, I'm chief now. Toe the line." Just pushed it through instead of a wimpy, "Hey, you know and I know" compromise like that policy. I also never understood the shortsightedness of throwing gay translators of Arabic out of the military (and revoking their security clearances and all) in the middle of A FUCKING WAR.

But, I've never been enough of a "Cut your nose of to spite your face" type...

I also worry about what our talking head "Culture Warriors" on channels like Fox News are going to say about this. They'll probably take offense to be compared to the Israeli and British militaries...

Anyhow, I am very enthused to see some sensible recommendations coming out about this ridonkulous policy.

We are, in fact, quite screwed

2 headlines on MSNBC.com this afternoon, one presented right over the other:

G-8 wants to halve global emissions by 2050
Newsweek: Why the G-8 doesn't matter

It still amazes me that our national policy is "nah, we're not going to curb our pollution... ya'll do that." I really wonder why we think we're such "leaders" and setters of example when we can't even deign to get together and turn our American Know-How to preservation and clean air and hedging our bets with this oh-come-on-it's-not-"iffy"-you-enormous-jackasses science of preventing"Global Warming" for no other reason than that it's the right thing to do and there's money to be made in it?

Oh, wait, I can't be bothered to add 2 hours to my commute every day and get up an hour earlier to take the bus... least I'm not flying to Chicago for Pitchfork. I'm taking the bus - that's curbing my emissions by sharing with others. Giga will be driving nearly 4 hours round trip to join me... sigh... we have a lot of work to do.

I'm going to try and actively pay attention to my emissions. I keep my air conditioning off more than on. By coasting to save gas I'm turning into a far-less-aggressive driver. We'll have to see what else I can do... because everything I do will be cancelled out by Billions of Asians buying those cheap enough to afford Tata cars...

Aaak, I shoulda stayed in Europe. I'm a pinko, French-loving Lefty.

Frescuit, anyone?

We got coupons at work today for a free "Maple Baked Frescuit" off the new Wendy's Lunch Menu.

1) This thing looks nasty, like a dried out scone with bugs that got caught in the batter...
2) the coupon has an all brown-and-yellow aesthetic. Sausage, Hash Browns, coffee cup, weird cheese flap thing.

3) The facing coupon is for a free Breakfast Sandwich or Breakfast Burrito. The burrito is pictured. It makes the Frescuit look appetizing.

I of course will be getting one and will let you know. I'm thinking this is going to be deep in the zen of "Hey! This milk is sour! Taste it!"

Wednesday's edition of "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

I personally am responsible for the violation of lending libraries and Sunday picnics.

I love how all the people complaining about the legalization of same-sex marriage in California hasn't bothered to read anything about it. A big part of what the decision turns on read to me as equal validation of a family relationship.

"Whether or not the name 'marriage,' in the abstract, is considered a core
element of the state constitutional right to marry, one of the core elements of
this fundamental right is the right of same-sex couples to have their official
family relationship accorded the same dignity, respect, and stature as that
accorded to all other officially recognized family relationships. The current
statutes -- by drawing a distinction between the name assigned to the family
relationship available to opposite-sex couples and the name assigned to the
family relationship available to same-sex couples, and by reserving the historic
and highly respected designation of marriage exclusively to opposite-sex couples
while offering same-sex couples only the new and unfamiliar designation of
domestic partnership -- pose a serious risk of denying the official family
relationship of same-sex couples the equal dignity and respect that is a core
element of the constitutional right to marry."

I don't read anything in that particular paragraph about turning our churches or schools into Hedonistic Indoctrination Camps. I'm more and more convinced that all these complainers are really afraid of is the temptation they feel.

... and California has NOT "slid off of its foundations into moral anarchy.” It slid off it's foundations from the earthquakes. Duh.

(At worst, it'll get lucky and slide off the mattress...)

(the above quote from the REPUBLICAN-APPOINTED judge's decision from Salon.com, and available here.)