Category: Uncategorized

I’ve been waiting for this ever since the story broke about a day ago.  It does not disappoint.

As for Subway, I never really got it.  Even I can make a sandwich.

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To get the obvious out of the way first, this wasn’t about some picture from Bulgaria showing up in someone’s email.  There’s a link to this “foundation” and quite a bit of access and influence potentially involved.

Moral, medical, scientific are things I am not really following.  To my knowledge this had nothing to do with smuggling girls or (widespread) trafficking.  I would call it more of a cultural or sociological problem, or even reality.

Moral is maybe for churches, medical is for doctors, and scientific, that could mean a lot of things.  Psychology probably is in there.  There’s a lot of ground to cover.  And “porn” is just, again, culture is as good as any other way to describe it.

“Child sex abuse,” on the other hand, is not so vague and difficult to deal with.  It is difficult to deal with.  But you know it when you see it, meaning the age-specifics are there for a reason.  It’s purpose is to protect the victims and, mostly because we have no way to deal with it on a much larger scale, punish the perpetrators.  In this case there is indisputable history and evidence.

That’s the thing about these crimes by these guys, they’re…  widespread isn’t the right word.  That’s why these guys are not just guilty, but going to jail.  Maybe this is where all the moral, medical and scientific stuff comes in–there really isn’t any reason to believe that profit or even abuse was the motivation in any way.  They did it, over a significant period of time with a number of “girls” (that’s the law, under 18). I don’t know the specifics of distributing and the crimes associated.  Obviously, they have teeth.

On an individual level, Fogle was married (second time) with two very young children.  The other guy had all kinds of video equipment–hidden video equipment.  I don’t know.  (EDIT:  Russell Taylor was married too.)

So what did we learn here, how is this case different than the others?  Boy, did everyone have their t’s crossed and i’s dotted on this one.  He’s a sleaze, he’s going away, and hopefully he’ll reform.  I guess that’s the white-collar, upstanding citizen reaction.  A couple of months ago everyone was saying Fogle hasn’t done anything wrong and it is just that other guy who’s the perv.  What was it, June?  (EDIT:  July 7.)  We now know that it takes about two months to analyze hard drives and reach a bit of a conclusion.

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Interesting. Did he lose?

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/mt-supreme-court/1522607.html

http://mtfamilylawblog.com/does-spousal-maintenance-under-montana-law-end-after-another-marriage-wolf-v-wolf/

Seems awfully roundabout.

INSERT image here of Tom Cruise (ew!) in Days of Thunder (Robert Towne, yeah!) saying “You gotta be good at your job/something.”

The sports blog has turned more and more into a repetitive look into management and championships. You might call it In Search of Excellence. Suppose, just for the fun of it, someone were to ask you…

What are you an expert at?

marketing research
survey research
deer and elk damage
the basics of psychology and anthropology
customer satisfaction

You can see the list is based a lot on education and work experience.

Imagine if I were a father, or mother, or housekeeper or wife.  Would I have the confidence to include “raising kids?”

Suppose it was worded as things you are very good at:

aspen
German cars ‘60’s to about 2000
sports/column writing
certain (e.g., alternative, folk) music genres
marketing
“novels to movies” (just kind of comparing them)
cooking (i.e., making pizza or brownies)
business consulting
creative writing

These include things I am good at for various reasons including experience, passion, and enjoyment.  Basketball, running, and tennis are wannabes.

Then there are things that I am just “at.”  These are things that I just do.  I am not really good at them.  I am functional, sort of like a dull job.

• law
• websites and computer programming

Finally, there are things I am bad at:

• housecleaning

 

Earlier in the playlist there was a Bob Mould imposter. Imagine!  Charlottesville bartender.

 

 

A new crop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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http://www.grainger.com/product/YARD-MASTER-LED-Floodlight-38YJ18?cm_sp=HIO-_-HIDP-_-RR_TS&cm_vc=IDPRTZ13&zoneId=IDPRRZ13

http://www.zoro.com/power-first-outdoor-led-ground-stake-120v-21rj29/i/G5307626/?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google_Shopping_Feed&gclid=COXnv-2Z-cYCFQ-PaQodiocMkA&gclsrc=aw.ds

http://www.grainger.com/product/YARD-MASTER-LED-Floodlight-38YJ18?cm_sp=HIO-_-HIDP-_-RR_TS&cm_vc=IDPRTZ13&zoneId=IDPRRZ13

https://www.carolinarustica.com/low-voltage-vs-line-voltage

http://lighting.about.com/od/Lighting-by-Location/tp/Top-10-Tips-for-Safe-Outdoor-Lighting.htm

 

Part of the solution.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thomas-Lighting-SL4946-Outdoor-Spotlight-Aluminum-NEW-contractors-6-pack-/160875676753?ssPageName=ADME:L:COSI:US:1123

Let me see, those LED spotlights are something like 180 watts equivalent each.  I think there was a typo in the original listing.  I offered $20 and they’re on their way.

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http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13332578/new-england-patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-nflpa-likely-come-short-court-challenge-roger-goodell-decision

I have not read it.  I doubt the writer knows… anything.  It is a) money poorly spent and b) a bizarre world where the publicity undermines it.  And egos too.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/22/documents-sandra-bland-previously-attempted-suicide-felt-very-depressed-on-day-of-arrest/?tid=pm_pop_b

“Self-reported computerized suicide assessment?”

PTSD.  No.

The whole thing is a little like that guy in Baltimore who slammed himself into the doors and walls of the paddy wagon and later died.  Why was this woman so angry?

 

I wish I could find the new Globe Trekker (Isolated Islands:  Saint Helena) show online.  The island doesn’t look that great.  But it was worth it to see where Napoleon lived—it was not as lavish as I had thought, a one-room house and then later a nicer home consumed by a cold and rainy “micro-climate.”  I wonder if what the guides and locals had to say is more than just self-hyping gossip.

Apparently precautions were taken to prevent his escape from the island in addition to the 3.000 British troops.

Seinfeld-ology:  He was a ruthless war monger.

Napoleon Bonaparte.  Napoleon Dynamite.  North Dakota, Montana, Idaho…

 

Rick Steves mentions it but does not elaborate… The French Revolution and end of monarchies, but Napoleon was maybe worse.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/14/americas/el-chapo-guzman-us-extradition/index.html

From the outset (el Chapo) there was all this talk about how it proves Mexico can’t be trusted.  On the heels of the NY escapes that seems harsh.

Pablo Escobar basically lived in a hacienda within the prison until he decided that wasn’t good enough.  That he was “connected” wasn’t even transparent.  This guy is even bigger.

Guzman learned pretty much only poppy farming as a kid and turned that into a life-long career of… manufacturing and distribution.  Beating competitors and government and community relations are keys to success and survival.  I don’t know about technology—“tunnel digging” is a skill that can probably be learned as a job or career pretty easily.  The management, that of the people inside and outside the organization, is the extraordinary part.

The theory is this guy was in prison only so he could bust out again.  That is how ingrained it is.  It sounds ridiculous, and you have to do a little reading to reach that conclusion, but it may be true.  A big part of it is the U.S. influence.

I believe the warden of the first prison he broke out of is still in jail.

Oh, Guzman’s still-wife—as in he is still married to her—went to Los Angeles to give birth to their twins so now they are U.S. citizens.  She is the beauty queen who he found at 17 and married at 18; she is his third wife.  Her father too is a successful businessman (i.e., career smuggler).

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I had no idea Colorado was the prison capital of the U.S.  Really, really ugly.  Capital punishment?  Terrorism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html?_r=0

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/25/the-alcatraz-rockies/a0BWrZjRpmQatMsfm8FUOL/story.html#

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/25/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-supermax-prison/

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I learned Mexico has 31 states.  Look up Sinaloa.  The notable residents are mostly boxers and drug lords (the drug workers are not included).  A random selection turned up Amado Carrillo Fuentes.  He is another example of someone who reached heights in his career; his niche was airplanes, specifically Boeing 727s.  Apparently he died while undergoing plastic surgery (in Mexico City) and the two surgeons were found dead in concrete.