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Is there a third sniper?
This article says ballistics linked the rifle used in the spree to the Alabama killing ... since witnesses in that slaying said Muhammad and John Lee Malvo only had a handgun, the rifle revelation suggests a third person could have been involved.
And, this article has a Wendy's employee who saw a blue Chevrolet Caprice that was parked parallel to the Ponderosa on the back lot of Wendy's. A few minutes later, he said, a burgundy car pulled alongside the Chevrolet. He saw a man get out of the burgundy car and joined the person already in the Chevy.
And, there's the witness who (apparently) gave or tried to give Muhammad an alibi for the Ashland shooting, as discussed here.
Posted to Sniper at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
David E. Kelley's loss, society's gain
'Girls Club' has been cancelled after just two episodes. Too, too fucking bad.
Yes, you read that right. I'm the man on the Internet who says 'fuck.'
While you're here, have those spy planes been put back in their hangars yet, or are they still circling over D.C.? You never know, there might be more snipings, right?
It must be the weather department: captives give up more and more interesting information in overseas locales than in Gitmo. Someone alert John Derbyshire.
Slippery slope department: U.S. military building database of terror suspects' fingerprints, faces, voices (and irises (and, although it's not mentioned, perhaps DNA)
Speaking of slippery slopes, how about that Catherine Bell?
UPDATE: Belay that order, she's a Sci$nt*@(g|$t.
Posted to Miscellania at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
Newsweek answers your sniper questions
This horribly written article makes everything sounds so... convenient. But, it does have two really neat drawings: "The Car" and "The Gun." That just makes everything so clear. Thanks Newsweek.
Anyway, it contains more than a few scary quotes, including:
Top officials... were angry that reporters had let slip that the Pentagon had provided spy planes... “It’s a chess move we would rather have made in the dark,” one police official said.
And:
A witness outside the Fredericksburg, Va., Michaels craft store, scene of a shooting on Oct. 4, reported a “dark-colored vehicle with New Jersey tags” leaving the scene. A woman calling the tip line on Oct. 7 said she had spotted a black man crouching beneath the dashboard in a dark Chevy Caprice. The woman was struck by the intensity of the man’s stare. The agent on the tip line brushed her off. “We’re looking for a white truck,” she said.
Posted to Sniper at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
Is it just me?
On the few occasions when I've seen Star Trek: Enterprise, everytime I see the captain I just keep repeating to myself "Scott Blacula, Scott Blacula, Scott Blacula." Is it just me?
Posted to Celebrities at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
More sniper stuff
The card to which they wanted money transferred was stolen from a Greyhound bus driver, and she didn't realize it had been stolen. As you can see by looking at the PDF files available at WaPo, the PIN number from the sniper's note is 9595. Just a minor nag. Was that the PIN number the Greyhound driver was using, and she had written it on the card, or was it a made up PIN number that John and his "son" wanted to be the new PIN? If the latter, what's the 9595 mean?
On another note, I'd like to know how they found out about the Msgr. with whom they discussed their spree. Out of the yellow pages, or what?
And, whatever happened to those spy planes? Have they stopped flying yet? Was their deployment temporary or "temporary?"
With each report, Mr. Muhammad is beginning to look more and more like someone whose primary motivation was $$$. While other motivations no doubt played a part, he appears to have been more of a schemer and small-time crook than, say, a super intelligent international terrorist. Just because he's a bit of a dummy doesn't necessarily mean he's a patsy, however: Jennifer and James Tyson, an African American couple from Upper Marlboro, said they were not convinced police had found the sniper because the two arrested men were black.
Posted to Sniper at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
After the Caprice
According to this article, One official said that the suspects failed to arouse police suspicion because they did not fit the beliefs that already were forming in the case. "Everyone thought we were looking for an angry white guy in a white van," said a senior government official. "Instead, it was really two black guys in a blue Chevy. We got stuck on that white van."
Correction. You appear to have been stuck on the "angry white guy" part as well.
However, some witnesses apparently saw one or two white men in a white van or truck, and others saw Hispanics/MEs. None of the witness statements that I ever heard about ever said anything about the snipers possibly being black. Moose did say several times that the shooters might be of any race.
Possible "Sniping While White" profiling aside, what might have solved this case earlier is if a description of the Caprice had been released to the public, or if police had been made more aware of it. The sniper's "death car" was stopped at least 10 times by traffic cops; perhaps one of them would have put 2 and 2 together.
Releasing information on the Caprice might have been somewhat difficult; one report describes it as dark, another describes it as beige. This article offers one possible explanation for the confusion: Witnesses saw a Caprice with its lights out, Ramsey said, but they also saw a burgundy Toyota Camry speed away and may have confused the two and come up with the wrong color. This article says "The D.C. police were talking about that Caprice."
Posted to Sniper at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
Troglodyte text-processing techies
If, several years ago, I had to divide techies into two camps, I would do it along these lines: binary and text. The binary camp would be exemplified by Microsoft and Apple; the text camp would be Unix.
For instance, aside from AppleScript, VBScript, and batch files, most programming on Apple/MS was done using compiled binaries; those binaries stored things like preferences in binary files.
On the other hand, Unix programmers generally prefer to use human-readable shell scripts when possible.
That "text culture" spills over into things like the design of the Internet's components: email, USENET, the Web, etc.
This "culture" leads to all manner of problems: big human readable text files must be parsed, and mistakes are usually discovered at run-time, rather than at compile-time. To a computer, a text file is just a subtype of a binary file. The difference is that the specification of a text file is almost always less precise than that of a binary file. And, text files can use different character sets, languages, and the like; these problems are not found in binary files.
This "culture" also lead to the use of HTML to do really weird things. New keywords had to be continually added to HTML, and despite all the Rube Goldbergian features added to it and XUL and XML and XWHATEVERTHEFUCK, nothing written in HTML today would look as good or have as much functionality as a well-written 80s Mac program.
The defense of text is sometimes stated as a battle between closed Apple/MS and "open systems." Supposedly, binary files are more amenable to "embrace and extend." That argument is completely bogus; text specifications have been "embraced and extended" as much as binary specifictions. Any argument that points out the advantages of something being human-readable is countered by the fact that viewers and compilers can be written that will convert any binary file into a human-understandable format. The binary side of things can be used for computers, they're good with that. The human-readable side is readily available for humans.
This article exemplifies the problems with this "script kiddie" approach to how computers should process information.
As you're reading that article, imagine how much simpler things would be if the people who had invented the Web had been familiar with how GUI-oriented computers are programmed, instead of being script kiddies with the belief that their way is best.
ObSniper: Unqualified Offerings has a lot of info and links. This article, if the witness' statement is accurate, points to the possibility of two cars.
Posted to Miscellania at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)
The media explains the Beltway Sniper for you
It turns out that the root cause of John Muhammed's alledged spree killings might not be due to religion, sociopathic hatred, or crime after all. In fact, the root cause has been discovered.
As this story makes clear, he was just "a former member of the U.S. Army," no other identifying information other than his name is given. That's linked to off the WaPo's KidsPost; gotta plant those seeds early.
This story even goes so far as to give one possible defense tactic: "We have people that are on death row now, people that killed and don't even know they've killed, and they were also in the area of the sarin gas exposure," Riley said.
This story is a little more intellectually honest.
This report contains the interesting statement This person is an American, he’s a former Gulf War vet, he’s black, he’s a criminal and he also may be mentally ill — and yet all those factors suddenly can be minimized and the Muslim name Muhammad rises above all these other realities of who he is.
Posted to Sniper at 07:17 PM | Comments (0)
Maybe the sniper wasn't living in his car all the time
According to this article:
Meanwhile, agents traced Muhammad to a car registered to an address in Camden, N.J., which housed a Caribbean take-out restaurant on the ground floor and apartments above...
Some said they had never seen [Muhammed]. Others said they saw him each day at the restaurant, called the All Nation's Club, working as a cook while reggae music blared for customers. "Anytime I'd go there, he'd be cooking," said neighborhood resident Anthony Thomas.
Thomas said he had last seen Muhammad on Saturday night, the same night the sniper shot a man in a Richmond, Va, suburb
According to yahoo, it's 241 miles from Camden NJ to Ashland VA. So, either the witness is lying, mistaken, or they drove really fast. The Ponderosa shooting took place at "around 8pm."
The circumstances of the call to the msgr. is also pretty interesting.
Posted to Sniper at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)
Alternate Universe Sniper News
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, MD - OCTOBER 25 (AP) - Police today announced the arrest of a suspect in the Beltway Sniper case. He is described as a blond, blue-eyed, white supremacist with known ties to a veritable grab bag of militia, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and ultra-Christian groups. The suspect, Christopher McChristian, is further described as heavily tattooed, a disgruntled loner, a skinhead, and the owner of guns.
Posted to Sniper at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
John Muhammed, Wack Job and Extremist
I think an easy way to characterize alledged sniper Mr. Muhammed is as a sociopathic, megalomaniacal control freak Muslim convert with a hatred for America on his (perhaps first and) last mission. Have I covered all bases?
He spoke highly of the 9/11 terrorists, he converted to Islam several years back, he provided security for the Million Man March, and he changed his name to Muhammed last year. So, I think anyone who attempts to ignore the Islam connection is an apologist of the worst sort.
But, I don't think he did what he's alledged to have done solely for religious or political reasons.
It would be convenient to blame everything on his religious beliefs, but I can only blame part. I think he's more or less an evil sociopath. He knew what he was doing, and he could have stopped. I doubt if he was hearing voices like our favorite epistolary Dave Berkowitz. So, hopefully, an insanity defense will not be available to him. Hopefully his request for money will be used to show that he wasn't just insane. Hopefully the kid will get the death penalty or at least life as well, and won't be able to get a reduced sentence by turning on his "dad."
I'd imagine that both of them are completely isolated from other prisoners; now or later he's target #1 for any other prisoner looking to make a name for himself.
For those who try to dissemble that this isn't about Mr. Muhammed's religious beliefs, is this story about the doc's religious beliefs?
I also think it might be time to take a little more in-depth look at Matthew Dowdy. While everything I said in that post still seems true, the possibility that he was intentionally giving the cops disinformation becomes somewhat more likely with a) the fact that Dowdy was in prison and might have converted while there, and b) Mr. Muhammed and friend don't appear as bright as originally thought.
I note that CAIR is already trying to apologize this away. "Police reports indicate the suspects acted alone, based on their own motivations. There is no indication that this case is related to Islam or Muslims."
Gosh, I'd like to believe you. It's just that me and all those millions of others who hear that Mr. Muhammed has expressed pro-9/11 hijacker sentiments then gone on a terror spree near Washington D.C. costing us 10 lives and millions of dollars that might be a little, er, skeptical as to his non-religious motivations.
Using the picture, it should be fairly easy to track his travels throughout the region. The fact that he or Malvo had quite the temper should help. I hope that any possible connection with anyone else is thoroughly investigated. While he appears to have bought the gun before becoming homeless, and appears to have been living on the cheap in his car, there's always the possibility that he received money, shelter, or other aid from accomplices.
There's very little chance that he's just a patsy who's taking the fall. However, there is the chance that his arrest provided the cover for his accomplices to escape.
Supposedly, "Investigators now believe that the Caprice was involved in all the shootings. Sightings of white vans and box trucks were attributed to erroneous witness accounts."
I think part of the difficulties in resolving this situation before now can be attributed to certain problems with the local populace. Many of them seem to have not been prepared for something like this to happen, even after there had been 10 shootings. Many of the people in that area no doubt spend 8 hours behind a desk, followed by shopping trips to Home Depot and Michael's. Perhaps it would be too much to have asked for them to have toughened up and been good witnesses.
Posted to Sniper at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
Geez, thank god for the ACLU
This blogger admirably admonishes the cops for taking advantage of all those "good citizen" voluntary searches on I95 and elsewhere related to the MD shooter.
Unfortunately, he spoils it by preceding it with his own creepy-n-silly "solution" to the MD shooter case.
Posted to Sniper at 09:27 PM | Comments (1)
Newsbabe of the week: Jane Yamamoto
Hello, this is Jane Yamamoto, and I'm reporting live from the monthly 'meatspace' meeting of the L.A. Bloggers, here at the Gardena Chuck E. Cheese. I'm speaking with a blogger who goes by the name 'Lonewacko'. Hello, Lonewacko, could you please explain blogging for us?
Hello, Jane. Blogging is a type of web site where we share our deepest thoughts and feelings, and comment on the news of the day. Unlike you in television, we can only communicate using text and pictures. Speaking of pictures, I noticed that you look different from your picture on your profile page. The pony tails make you look even prettier.
Why thank you. Now, Lonewacko, how do you think blogging is changing the world?
Well, by exposing more and more people to more and more different points of view, I think we're trying to bring people around the world together. In addition, Jane, we're having a lot of fun! Speaking of fun, I like to bike, hike, and climb. I see you played on the woman's team. In golf that is. I'd probably be impressed that your handicap is 9 if only I knew anything about golf. I do however have a Ping that I'd love to show you.
What do you think of the fact that most bloggers seem to be right-wing reactionaries?
That's just the way I like it. I was also quite impressed with the "rich cultural heritage" that you bring to the news. I'm going to take that statement on its face, and I won't assume that FOX is just pandering. Your participation in the Cherry Blossom Festival phwoarrr! has been noted.
Why, thank you. Now, Lonewacko, what are you and your friends doing here?
Well, these aren't really my friends, they're just my fellow bloggers. But, anyway, we're blogging live from the Chuck E. Cheese. Say, Jane, could you humor me with a teensy request?
Perhaps.
I knew you were coming to interview me, so I, and I hope you'll forgive me for being presumptuous here, but, I, bought you this official newsbabe outfit. Do you think you could wear it? With your pony tails it'd really enliven the local news.
I'll consider it. Thank you for your time, Mr. Lonewacko. Now, back to John and Christine.
Posted to Celebrities at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)
MD shooter: on a motorcycle?
I read on freerepublic.com the speculation that the shooter might have been using a motorbike. That makes sense if he has to run from the police: a motorbike can go between cars and I guess many can go faster than cop cars. Plus, they can fit in the backs of vans and box trucks. However, I tend to notice motorbikes more than cars, and some of them, but I guess not all, make more noise than many cars. Would a rice burner or similar attract notice in the areas where the shootings have occurred, or are there a lot of them on the roads?
Also courtesy of FR, here's an actual useful idea: have the cops shoot flares in the air to light up the inevitable wooded area. Of course, it would also make any targets easier to see, but I don't think it would matter.
Posted to Sniper at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Today's MD shooter speculation
First, doesn't stopping the guys in the white van at the phone booth in the manner described here kinda tip the cop's hand? Shouldn't they have carefully followed them and done the arrest away from the phone booth so the real shooter would continue to try to get in touch with them? Yeah, I know. They're there, let's get them while we can. But, it seems like that was somewhat of a mistake.
Back to the real shooter. Could he and his partner be gay? That would explain why one hasn't turned in the other. The rampage could have started when they learned that they were both HIV+, or that they couldn't afford HIV drugs. That might also, in one way or another, explain why there haven't been male victims between 14 and 36.
Unless of course the liquor store clerk was the first victim, in which case the age range 23 to 36 seems less of an issue. However, the liquor store clerk shooting might have been done by someone else, and it just gave the current shooter his idea. If that's correct, then I wonder how he found out about the clerk shooting. I doubt whether it was anything more than a small blurb in the WaPo, maybe it wasn't even in a newspaper at all. In that case, he could have found out about it through some direct or indirect connection with the liquor store, the shopping center it's in, the police, the paramedics, the hospital, etc.
If, however, the liquor store clerk was the first victim, then two of the victims are Indian. Is that percentage supported by the demographics of the areas in which they were shot?
Posted to Sniper at 06:26 PM | Comments (0)
MTBing in Runyon Canyon Park
Went MTBing in RCP earlier today. Unlike the trip reports there, I ascended then descended, I didn't just do a one-way. Took eastern route (up the steps made with railroad ties to the overlook with the benches) instead of the route suggested as Ride #3 in the excellent book Mountain Biking L.A. County (Southern Section). I heartily recommend you buy that book. Heck, buy 100,000 or more, so I can get 8% instead of 5%. I biked to the start of the path to the "low overlook," then I had to carry/push the bike up to the overlook. I was able to bike the rest of the way to Mulholland, then to the "high overlook," and then I came down using the western route featured in the book. The western route is paved starting halfway; next time I'll reverse the procedure. I saw neither celebrities nor guys having sex in the bushes.To find out about much more aesthetic MTB trails, you can signup for a 14-day free trial and get extensive information on a wide variety of mountain biking trails in Los Angeles, Southern California, and other areas.
I think I'm going to get a cheap old external frame backpack at a garage sale and convert it into a carrier for the bike. If that works out OK, I could take the bike with me to do something like Strawberry Peak. Doing third-class rock with a 30 lb. bike strapped to my back is strangely appealing.Posted to OutdoorSports at 05:48 PM | Comments (3)
Now, onto Prop. 51
I find it difficult to agree with state Senator Kevin Murray. You know, Mr. Driving While Black. Er, better make that Driving While Black or Brown. Er, how about Driving While Being A Person of Color? But, will that include Asians or not? (Shortly after Kevin's non-prostitute-related incident, I sent him an email about how I had been stopped by the BevHills cops mainly because I was driving a cheap car and despite me being completely Aryan. He never responded.)
Anyways, Kev had this to say to the author of Proposition 51: "The question is why aren't you in jail?"
While I wouldn't go quite that far, the author has admitted to trading campaign contributions to the Yes on 51 campaign in exchange for heaping big slices of pork from said Proposition.
You can see a chart of what contributions were made, and what was given in return here.
For instance, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians donated $500,000 and got a $120 million rail line to their casino in return.
On the other hand, Proposition 51 has some backers with which I'm somewhat familiar, such as North East Trees, the River Center (presumably the L.A. River Center) and the LA Bicycle Coalition (presumably the LA County Bicycle Coalition).
On the other hand, they also roll out the "it's for the kids" gambit. Because of that, and because of the pork, I think I'll vote with Kev on this one.
Posted to California at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)
NO on Prop. 52
Proposition 52 would allow you to register to vote on the day of an election. All you'd need to do to vote would be to show up on election day with either a CA driver's license or two pieces of mail in your name, and you could vote. Not only that, your (possibly fraudulent) vote would be mixed in with all the other votes, so there would be no way to, ahem, unring the bell.
The TV ads in favor of 52 say that this would solve those horrible, extremely prevalent cases where "those who turn 18 or move a few weeks before an election could be deprived of the right to vote." As soon as I heard that, I knew something else was afoot. That something else could be a) voting by illegal immigrants and other non-citizens, and b) the CA version of that good ol' Chicago saying, "vote early and often."
Proponents also tell us that "states with laws like Prop 52 lead the nation in voter turnout." Those states are: ID, ME, MN, NH, WI, and WY. Those states are not exactly on the front lines of illegal immigration, and their high turnout is probably due more to historical habits than same-day registration.
Check out both sites, and decide for yourself. I suggest you vote NO, but if you decide to vote yes, be aware you're on the same side as Danny Glover and Antonio Villaraigosa.
Posted to California at 10:04 PM | Comments (2)
The rally monkey doesn't bother me
It's the Lakers flags that really get to me. How about that Tim Salmon homer, eh? Which team should I cheer against? The team that beat the Yankees, or the team representing the self-satisfied wankers from up north?
Anyway, earlier today I went out to Hansen Dam to do some mtbing. Other than the Mexican oompapa music occasionally heard from across the lake, it's fairly interesting. Going through the fine dirt even on the flats was fairly difficult in parts. Right by the lake there's a short bit of single-track with reeds on either side. I also highly recommend the book Bicycle Rides: Los Angeles County. Hansen Dam is ride #60 in that book.
Say, have you spent some time over at freerepublic.com lately? Seems like >75% of their visitors have turned into basically panicking ninnies about the MD shooting thing. They seem to think this definitely has to be al Queda. It's not that they're just considering the possibility, it's that they refuse to accept any other possibility that gets to me. Many of those seem to confuse cause and effect. "I'm terrorized, therefore it must be a terror organization." While it certainly may turn out to be al Queda, the Iraqis, the Chinese, the Israelis, a drug cartel, or some other state or actor or combination of the above, this idea of leaving a note with a phone number sounds, well, sounds more like a run-of-the-mill nut. Of course, it could be a red herring. But, why not a more interesting red herring? Like, something really weird like a juju doll or something.
This latest shooting just goes to show that military spy planes aren't going to work for catching what is probably just a criminal. Better declare martial law and send in the tanks. Don't worry, it'll just be a temporary move.
Posted to Miscellania at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)
Today's MD shooter speculation
The latest shooting happened at a steak house in Ashland, VA. Looking at an aerial photo, I guess the steakhouse is on the southwest intersection near the red pushpin. That photo is also 8 years old, so the area might have changed since then. It looks like the easiest way out would be to run through the wooded area either east or southeast to a waiting vehicle. Rather than heading north, the vehicle would head south a block, turn right on Junction, and then get to Highway 1, the north/south street on the left side of the aerial photo. As shown on the street map, heading south on Highway 1 and turning left on Ashcake Rd. takes you to I95 after 2.5 miles. From there, it's not that far to the maze of streets and freeways surrounding Richmond, where it would probably be easy for the shooter to lose himself in the crowd.
But, what's he going to do when he reaches Richmond? Is he going to keep driving around all night? Is he going to get a motel room? Or, a campground? And, the idea of getting back on I95 seems risky. This time, it apparently took just one minute for the first cop to arrive on the scene; for all the shooter knew, the local PD could have blocked entrances to I95. It's probably more likely that he took some combination of side roads back to wherever he was going; as this post makes clear, that probably wasn't that difficult.
There's also the possibility that this is organized terrorism, and the shooter already had a local safe house. Less likely is that he biked or hiked somewhere. Although, the surrounding area appears to be fairly flat, and someone in good shape could probably cover a lot of ground fairly quickly. He might have even made an impromptu camp somewhere within hiking or biking distance. In the morning, he could catch a Greyhound bus back to his home base. If he's doing this without a vehicle, however, one would think that bloodhounds searching for the scent of a recently shot gun would be able to find him.
I also note that this victim is 36 years old, the youngest male victim except for the 13 year old kid. This shooting also lends doubt to the theory of 9 kills in 11 attempts being some kind of 9/11 code.
Posted to Sniper at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)
Is the accused false witness a shooting suspect?
Unqualified Offerings hypothesizes that Matthew Dowdy, who is accused of giving false witness in the MD shooting case, might be the shooter or his accomplice.
In a word, no.
While I might be wrong, he seems to me to be a bit of a bumbler. How else would you describe someone who claims to have been outside the Home Depot where the shooting occurred, but then is found to have been inside? I would tend to think that it would be physically impossible for the shooter to be inside the Home Depot at the same time or even shortly after the shooting occurred. The shot was supposedly fired from at least 30 yards, and more likely 100 or more. Was he able to sprint that distance to the inside of the store? I don't think so.
So, could he be the shooter's accomplice? The shooter certainly appears to be cold and calculating. Why would the shooter choose someone as his accomplice who appears to be a bumbler? Why would the shooter need this red herring of the cream-colored van and the AK-74 anyway? He's already evaded the police so far, and he already has the perfect opportunity to throw red herrings their way, such as by leaving another tarot card with something weird written on it. Nonetheless, if the false witness suspect is his accomplice, wouldn't he have chosen a place to stand where his red herring story wouldn't have been easily proven to be false? Did the shooter really need a red herring story to get away? If he was the shooter's accomplice, weren't he and the shooter taking an extremely large risk? Taking risks doesn't seem to fit all of the shooter's past actions.
Another scenario is this: the shooter met the suspect in a bar, and offered him $1000 to act as a false witness. To avoid the possibility that the suspect would tip off the police, he picks him up in the white van and takes him to (the suspect's local) Home Depot just before the shooting.
That makes as little sense as the first idea. The shooter is, once again, cold and calculating. He wouldn't risk letting someone else know who he is by driving him around, or revealing his identity beforehand. And, faced with the thought of getting $1000 or getting $500,000, I think we know what would have happened.
So, I think the idea that the false witness suspect is somehow otherwise involved is really wacky. I think the more likely explanation is that he wanted to grab his 15 minutes and he saw a good chance and took it. The reward might have played a part. Speculation that this is somehow an al Queda plot might have resulted in him IDing Osama's very own gun.
BTW: The cops probably figured out that he might not be telling the truth by interviewing the other people in the store. If several of them said they saw the suspect inside the store, that would tend to indicate he was inside the store. Maybe HomeDepot even has a surveillance camera over their entrances and exits. The tape would be timecoded, and even if not it would be possible to tell when the shooting occurred by looking for a bunch of people running out (or, more likely, running in).
UPDATE: Here's another wacky scenario. You are marginally acquainted with the suspect either personally or through his work. You start discussing the shooter situation with him, just as no doubt thousands of conversations have taken place between residents of the area. You fill his head with al Queda this, al Queda that. You get him, for instance, to picture an AK-74 in his mind. You make him think that he's come up with these ideas all by himself. You never, of course, tell him you're the shooter. You just find someone suggestible, and fill his mind with your suggestions.
Then, you, posing as someone he's never met who got his name from the phone book, call him at 9pm and say you have a rush job for him the next morning. He immediately rushes out to Home Depot to get supplies for this "job." He's completely unaware that the "job" is just a hoax. You're lying in wait at the Home Depot for him to arrive. When he does, you shoot and leave. He immediately starts playing back the mental pictures that you're planted in his mind: an AK-74 carrying terrorist. In this case he's not an accomplice, he's just someone who got played.
While I'm sure things slightly similar to that have happened before, I think the probability of it happening in this case is extremely remote.
Posted to Sniper at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)
More MD shooter speculation
Looking at the list of the shooter's victims here, I notice a couple of interesting things. They've probably been noticed by the cops already, but anyway:
- except for the 13-year-old boy, no male under 39 was shot. In other words, no males between 14 and 38 have been shot.
- 4 out of 6 shown male victims were wearing beards of some kind (at least in the photos provided, whether they were clean-shaven or not at the time I don't know)
- the last seven victims have alternated between black and white.
Many (but not all) hunters given a chance would like to shoot a "prize buck," the largest, most fit male of the herd. This shooter appears to target mainly older men and women. To be very crass about it, in the shooter's mind could he be "culling the herd?" Or, could he identify with 14 to 38 year old males? Or, could they just not be on his radar screen?
Also, the interactive timeline linked on the right side of this page is informative.
Here are the times between shots:
3 and 4: 31 minutes
4 and 5: 25 minutes
5 and 6: 81 minutes
Shots 5 and 6 are separated by just 5 miles, and took place on what looks to be the same street. So, what was the shooter doing in the time span of almost an hour and a half? Was he just driving around, and it took longer to find a victim than in the other cases? Did he drive south and check out the area around where shooting 7 occurred? Was he driving by the previous shooting locations to see what the cops were doing?
Or, did he stop somewhere and perhaps listen to a police scanner or a news radio station? Are there parks on or near Connecticut Ave? Or, perhaps a McDonalds or some other restaurant, or a gas station? Or, assuming that he has some kind of job, did he pick up or deliver something as part of that job?
Posted to Sniper at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
My new favorite blog
I like this blog. And, no, not just because it makes me feel "funny."
Posted to Bloggage at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
What's the deal with the first shot?
I haven't heard anyone analyzing the MD shooter's first shot, the one that went through the window at the Michael's store. I have a few ideas here.
According to this article, the shot was "a few feet above eye level." Why was this shot a "miss," and all the (known) others hit someone? Does it have a connection to the store, or perhaps the shooter was trying to send a message relating to the name "Michael," either what it means in Hebrew or in reference to a person named Michael? Or, could it be a red herring designed to foster the belief in a weird connection of some kind?
Also, this article has the rather disturbing info that "Side roads that radiate from Seven Corners, the busy junction where the sniper struck Monday night, were still open to traffic at least 15 minutes after the fatal shooting."
If not for that fact, and the supposed report that bloodhounds tracked the shooter on foot for several miles, I'd think the shooter might have a safe house within the search perimeter, such as I described earlier. Another, very complicated and problematic but still possible idea I got from freerepublic.com is that the shooter drove his vehicle into a waiting big rig and was able to escape that way.
Posted to Sniper at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)
"Blogging for Dollars: Giving Rise to the Professional Blogger"
According to this article: What I propose is slightly different: make it a commercial endeavor and hire an experienced blogger. Engage someone who's already proven they can filter, condense, and write. Work with someone who can blog day in and day out for more than a month or two.
Personally, although I've never tried it, I could blog non-stop for months. I especially like the thrill of blogging in front of lots and lots of people. Sign me up for the coming Blog Boom. Get yer stock right here. Just make sure you don't get listed at www.fuckedblog.com. Maybe instead of blogging myself (as in me blogging) I'll just become a blog gadfly, an expert on blogging who will be called on by CNN when they need background on blogging. Or, maybe I'll start charging you micropayments to read my nuggets of info. Who knows? This blogging thing is wide open. How many Aeron chairs should I buy with my IPO money?
Posted to Bloggage at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
Inching towards a police state?
Do we really need to deploy military spy drones to find a sniper who's killed a relatively small number of people? The deaths are certainly tragic, but I don't think it's either necessary or wise to use the military in this case. Good detective work, plus taking proactive steps like trying to figure out likely spots where the sniper will strike next and staking them out, should be able to do the trick.
Unless the sniper disappears immediately, this is probably not going to go on much longer. It will probably end in a final gun battle, the shooter being killed along with his exact motive and his knowledge of whoever helped him.
While I still think this is most likely just one or two psychos without a political motivation, I have to admit that there's a moderate chance this could be a terrorist attack. But, does that mean it has to be al Queda? I don't think so. Aren't their plans usually a bit more ham-handed? According to an al Queda training tape, one of their plans was to have shooters in the back of pickups. Then, when the first responders arrived, shoot them too. That's pretty far removed from sniping and then successfully fleeing, no? Whoever's doing this doesn't want to be caught, at least right now. And, they've apparently put some thought into how they're going to get away. None of the attacks so far appear to have been the work of someone who's suicidal. Could this be the work of a more intelligent, devious organization, such as a state's secret police? Say, Iraq? If this is an Iraqi agent, he would most likely not be suicidal, and he would most likely want to be able to get away so no suspicion would fall on Iraq. However, with each passing incident, the chance of him getting caught increases. It would seem like a wise spy would have stopped well before now and faded back into the woodwork.
Even if this is terrorism, I don't think calling out the military is a wise or necessary move.
Posted to Sniper at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)
Madpig and other anagrams
Assuming that the tarot card left at one of the sniper's sites said "Dear Mr. Policeman, I am God," it might be somewhat interesting to note that an anagram of the initials of that phrase is "mad pig."
Posted to Sniper at 12:32 PM | Comments (2)
Finding the white truck
Let's assume:
- the white truck exists and is more or less as described
- the white truck belongs to the sniper
- the sniper doesn't want to get caught, at least now
- the correct truck has not yet been turned in by someone to the police tip line
Could the sniper be driving this truck around the general area on a daily basis?
Most likely not, with one exception. The description of the truck includes indistinct or so-far-unrecognized black lettering on the side. What if that lettering is just a red herring? What if, instead of being painted on the truck, the lettering is on a plastic card of some kind which is inserted into a bracket on the truck or is otherwise bolted to the solid white truck. Alternatively, the lettering could be on the truck (perhaps not fully painted over), but most of the time it's covered with a large plastic sign.
Let's say you buy a used truck which is painted with the name of some other company. To look spiffy, you decide to paint the truck, but you're also cheap. Because you know you're going to put a sign there anyway, you don't pay that much attention to obliterating the previous company's name, you just do a bad, quick paint job.
The sniper could put the letter board on the truck (or take the larger letter board off) just before committing an attack, and then simply reverse the procedure afterwards. Those who see the truck would notice that it didn't have the requisite lettering, and would assume it's not the truck that's being looked for.
But, for now, let's make the further assumption that the lettering is painted onto the truck, and it's not covered up by the sniper.
Could the sniper drive that truck around on his daily business, assuming that he has a job of some kind?
I don't think he could spend a lot of time in one area near the crime scenes, or regularly visit the areas around the crime scenes, in this truck without someone turning him in. The reward is very large and people are on the lookout for this truck. If, for instance, you worked at a delivery company with several trucks like this, wouldn't you examine them to see if one of them had rear body damage, or if the timing is such that they could have been used? If you worked at, for instance, a restaurant, wouldn't you pay special notice to the delivery trucks, or think back to what the trucks used by those who deliver to the restaurant look like? Even if you were going to employ a plumber for a very small and quick job, wouldn't you examine his truck to see if it matched the description? Even if this is someone who you've known for a long time, a half a million dollars can make people turn in even their own family members.
So, still assuming that the somewhat illegible black lettering is not usually covered over or removed somehow, I don't think this truck has that much people contact.
There are, however, a couple of exceptions to my supposition. One, it could be driven by someone no one suspects, or two, the writing could be such that no one suspects it.
In the first case, the usual driver of the truck could be a clergyman of some kind, or could be an elderly woman.
In the second case, the lettering on the truck could be for the rangers at some local park, or a university, or a church, or some kind of inner-city food program.
In either of those cases, people would tend not to suspect the truck.
That, I believe, covers the cases where the truck has a fair amount of contact with people in the general area of the attacks.
Alternatively, the truck could be used as a work truck, but it is only used as such in an area far enough away to avoid suspicion, such as PA or NC.
But, generally, I don't think this truck is currently used as a work truck. I think the sniper realizes it's important to avoid the truck being seen regularly.
If the truck is not parked 100 or more miles away from the general area, it's probably stored in an unobservable area with difficult-to-observe ingress and egress. Two such areas come to mind, both desolate: a very rural area with easy access to a crowded highway, or a deserted industrial area, perhaps right across from railroad tracks, a concrete sound buffer, a river, or some other natural or man-made protection from observation. For added protection, the truck could only be driven out early in the morning, and it could be returned after dark.
Where did the truck come from in the first place? Presumably, the police are cross-referencing MD and VA registrations. What if, for instance, it was bought in TX? The police most likely aren't checking registrations from out of the area. However, even if the witnesses aren't able to read the license plate numbers, surely one of them would have noticed that it didn't have the license plates that they're most likely used to. So, the sniper could have put stolen local plates on it, or switched the plates with another vehile to which he has access.
Alternatively, the truck could be a former work truck which hasn't been used for a couple years, and perhaps was registered as non-operational. The neighbors who knew at one time that the sniper owned such a truck would most likely have forgotten about it if they hadn't seen it being driven for a while.
Posted to Sniper at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
Talkin' bag
How are we doin'?
What? Who the hell said that?
It's me, the McDonald's bag. How are we doin'?
You're "doin'" just fine. Except, you're promoting sloppy, incorrect English. I'm just thankful it's English.
I was approved by 10 McDonald's VPs before being printed. We wanted to be folksy.
You certainly succeeded. The lower orders who eat at your "restaurant" do indeed speak that way.
Posted to WackyHumor at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)
"We pay, you go away"
On your tax form, you can choose to donate money to a campaign finance fund.
How about a modified form of that program that might have an even greater impact on society. A general fund that would pay annoying well-known celebrities and politicians to retire, go away, get lost.
For instance, you could decide to give $.20 to pay Gray Davis to retire, $.17 to Alec Baldwin, and $.16 to David E. Kelley.
Small change, you say? Well, try multiplying that by 280 million contributors. Gray would get a whopping $56 million dollars, and all he'd have to do is make himself scarce.
This whole thing could be done electronically. Finally put the Internet to a good use. This could even be a reverse auction of some kind. If Rosie won't retire for $80 million, well then, people will just have to increase their bid.
Posted to WackyHumor at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
The sniper from a shooter's perspective
Interesting article from a WaPo movie critic (?) about the sniper from a shooter's perspective.
He refers to the first shot as a miss. That's the one that went through the Michael's craft store window. Apparently, all of his other shots hit someone; that's the only one that "missed." It continues to strike me as odd that someone who has the skills described in the WaPo article would have such a big miss.
Has the person who was the supposed target been found? Was it someone outside, or one of the people inside the store? Was this just the result of the sniper's inexperience? Had he never shot through a window before, but had only been shooting animals in the woods? Was his original target just windows, but he switched to people when the window thing didn't give him the emotional lift he was seeking? Was it the result of a dare? Was it an intentional miss to throw people off? Was he a fired Michael's employee or contractor?
Also, search for apricot here. He doesn't seem to be hitting them there, aiming for the body as described in the WaPo article referenced above.
Also, for one more possibility, search for (F here.
Posted to Sniper at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
Echo Park Soap Box Derby
FYI: I'll be at this event on Saturday, providing non-costumed moral support to Team Caco.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
Ryding with Gina
You look cold. Need a lift?
That's OK. The bus should be here in a few minutes.
There's an angry mob of transsexual hooker bag ladies headed this way. You better get in.
No, really, thanks. Anyway, I don't take rides from strangers.
It's OK. I'm on the Internet.
Why does it say "Lonewacko" in big yellow letters on your Jeep?
That's my blog's name.
O! ... you're... a blogger?
So, where you going?
To the L.A. Press Club. I'm a, er, maid there.
That's a long way from 5th and Central. Nothing to be ashamed of about being a maid.
You didn't go to that big blogger party last night, did you? I would have recognized you if you'd been there.
Naw. They don't invite me to things like that. And, I wouldn't go anyway.
You sound bitter.
Not at all. I've just got plans. I'm starting my own revolution. Believe it or not. Not interested in hanging out with the degenerate intelligentsia.
Yeah, it got pretty wild last night. They were even linking to each other live at the party.
Well, when the revolution comes, there won't be parties like that anymore.
So, this revolution, when are you going to start it?
October's always a good month for a revolution.
Wow. So soon. I better... I mean, I better join your revolutionary party as soon as possible.
Here, fill this form out.
OK, but, I really think you've got these bloggers all wrong. Maybe you should give them a chance. Why don't you come up to the Press Club with me? I think Luke Ford (search for "press club") mentioned something about the Bogas Bros. needing a new token. I've got his number up at the Club. Maybe he could even introduce you to Gina Ryder.
Mmmm... Gina Ryder. I'd like to...
Yes, I would too! Why don't you come up?
Really, sorry, I need to adhere to my revolutionary ideals.
We've got some canopes left over...
I don't need the table scraps of the bourgeoisie.
C'mon, lighten up a bit. It'll be fun. Turn that frown upside down, join the L.A. bloggin' team!
Who the hell are you anyway? You sure don't talk like an oppressed servant! Hey, I know who you are! Get the fuck out of my car!
OK, but just remember, we're everywhere. We control you, and there's nothing you can do about it! Good luck with your "revolution!"
Get out of my car, now! The revolution will not be blogged!
Posted to Bloggage at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)
Kiefer Sutherland Rocks!
When I shot these Kiefer Sutherland pics on the set of 24, did he complain? Did he shoot me an angry eye? No. "Kief" is a kewl kat.
By contrast, for the past few days they've been filming a big budget sequel of a certain movie at the Griffith Park Observatory. I know what movie it is, and I'll let you know if you want, but I don't want to give them any publicity so I won't put the name here in this extremely popular space.
What pisses me off is they're taking over the whole friggin' Obs. parking lot. The security guys, backed up by a real off-duty cop, won't let you stand where you can view what's going on. I was considering trying to take pics, but, unless you wanted to shoot a celeb leaving or entering the parking lot, it's probably not possible. And, considering the stars involved, it's not that interesting either.
Posted to Celebrities at 08:45 PM | Comments (4)
Is the sniping terrorism?
This article thinks so, and lists all the school closures as evidence of the effect this has had. However, I remember the hysteria that greeted past cases like this (Hillside Strangler, Manson Family, etc. etc.) I don't think the reaction to this case is that much different.
It is certainly interesting that this happened near DC. It's also interesting that he's apparently using the same ammo as NATO. Could this be an attempt by the New World Order to force us even closer to a police state? In addition to those cameras pointing at the Wal*Mart parking lot, they could add cameras pointing at the surrounding streets, or, better yet, a camera on each corner. Or, joking about the WaPo story aside, what does the fact that the sniper's victims look like a diverse cross-section of the community mean? Is the sniper making a homocidal comment on the MultiCultiCult? Is the sniper doing it to throw people off on the sniper's real target(s)? Is the sniper doing it as part of terrorism to show that everyone's at risk? Or, was it just a coincidence, and those who were shot were in the wrong place at the wrong time?
In any case, DC is surrounded by rural areas in which live people who are used to hunting and killing animals. Does that make them more likely to kill people? No, it just means they're used to guns and the fact that guns can be used to kill. One of the people the cops wanted to talk to was supposed to be a drug user, in addition to other media-friendly stereotypes. However, based on the timing, I don't think the sniper was using meth at the time. If the sniper had been, the shooting probably would have continued through the night.
I still think this is just a psycho, thrill killin' good ol' boy who finally flipped his lid.
Posted to Sniper at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
Blogger Blind Items
Which Elton John-quoting blogger is also an AFC?
Which well-known blogger is a former Thai lady-boy? (link went bye-bye)
Which blogger learned English by reading this?
Posted to Bloggage at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
"County's Growing Diversity Reflected in Those Gunned Down"
This WaPo article has that as its subtitle. "Their names and faces reflected the diversity that has become Montgomery County... etc. etc..."
Yes, but none of the victims were Asian. Or, at least East Asian. And, none were Native American, Pacific Islander, or Inuit, Eskimo, Aleutian, or Other. Someone call Jesse Jackson.
Posted to Sniper at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
Cheapening the Blog Concept
Doesn't the blog at http://www.fox.com/firefly/weblog.htm just cheapen the whole concept of blogging? Blogs are supposed to be sacred fonts of information and opinion. Fox is trying to turn them into its own crass cross-promotional ends.
Posted to Bloggage at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Thirty-Five-Step Beer Fetching Device Developed
CNET reports on a new robot kit from IdeaLab. One of their demos involves teaching the robot to fetch a beer from a fridge:
The key to making an ER1-equipped laptop perform useful tasks is the software, which includes a point-and-click interface for creating behavior routines that tell the robot what to do.
"That's how you train the robot to do things," says their Chief Marketing Weasel. "The beer-fetching application took a string of 35 linked behaviors."
[Reaching a bit more, another possible use includes] remote security and monitoring. "You could go to work, leave your laptop on and connected to the Internet, and make sure (a visiting) contractor arrived on time," the marketeer added. "We got that idea from a Dilbert strip."
"It's not a product that solves any burning customer need." continued the marketeer. "Actually, this product makes no sense whatsoever. Around the office we joke that it's basically just a waste of a good domain name. Why can't I work for a company that actually does something?"
Posted to Miscellania at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
When is a hate crime not a hate crime?
Apparently everyone except D.A. Steve Cooley thinks the West Hollywood beatings were anti-gay hate crimes.
According the D.A.'s own release, "Statement indicate the suspects wanted to 'rob rich white people'"
As in, "rob rich white people."
Why didn't they just say they wanted to rob "rich people?" Would they have tried to rob, say, Shaquille O'Neal, or would they have given him a free pass? Even if for some reason unknown to anyone else Cooley can't get them on anti gay hate crime, it would seem like he could get them on an anti-white hate crime. Except, I guess wanting to rob white people isn't a hate crime.
Ron Fineman makes the same point. I'm linking to him even though he won't link to my Newsbabes page. See, unlike me he's a serious journalist.
Posted to MultiCultiCult at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
How much of my money is being wasted on the Winona Ryder case?
National Review and Slate have interesting and shocking articles about the Winona Ryder prosecution.
Prior to the incident, I'd probably heard of Winona Ryder. But, I've never seen one of her movies, and I probably couldn't pick her out of a lineup. And, I'm not a big fan of celebrities in general.
But, the idea of spending dozens of lawyer-weeks on what is a minor shoplifting charge (that Saks wants to forget about) strikes me as indicative of D.A. Steve Cooley's lack of judgment.
The only good thing that will come out of this is it will dissuade other stars from committing minor crimes. Oh, and Steve Cooley's opponent (perhaps one of those anonymously quoted in the NRO piece) will be able to point to it as a shining example of the Cooley regime.
Posted to Celebrities at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
Profiling the MD sniper
There was a discussion on USENET about the MD sniper. Someone thought it might be terrorists. I posted the following remarks.
"Who's terrorized? It looks like the killers have moved south, and there might not be any more shootings, at least for a while. Political terrorists, even if their specific group denies its guilt, usually want their crimes to be discovered to be terrorism rather than something that a psycho or a common criminal might do. They have a cause, after all. Unlike terrorists, these people were using a sniper rifle and appear to want to be able to get away with it. They were apparently shooting fairly well: I think there were no missed shots.
They could be current or ex-military, current or ex-cops, hunters, backwoodsmen, or have experience just as a hobby. If it was terrorism, I think they would have either tried to kill or terrorize many more people. If this starts happening with other killers in other cities, or if they leave some kind of indication of their cause, I would think it would be terrorism then.
What's interesting is that the first shot was through a shop window. Were they trying to hit someone and missed? A test shot? I think it's more likely that that was the result of a dare.
Let's say you and your brother own a small business of some kind in a rural area either north or south of DC. You're delivering something to the DC area. You bring along your rifle, well, just because.
Your brother says "I dare you to fire into that window." You do it, no one catches you, and you feel emboldened. Later that evening, they shot their first victim. Shooting someone might have been just the next step up from shooting through a window.
Then, they slept. The next morning, they drove around looking for more opportunities since the first one they did went so smooth. Then, you decide to get out of dodge. You stop for food in VA and do another one. Then you head for the hills and (sadly) bury your trusty weapon in the deepest hole you can find. Then you keep driving south, or head east and then north.
Maybe that's way off. But, I think the shooter and driver need to have a lot of trust or be on the same wavelength. Maybe they were cousins like Buono and Steve Ventura. Or, maybe they're army or cop buddies. While they might end up being gangsters, I think it's more likely that they're from a rural area."
Someone else pointed out that this might be like the Tylenol poisonings; only one person was the real target, the others were shot to throw everyone off. Based on the descriptions of the targets, none seemed important enough. Perhaps a domestic dispute? I think the Tylenol idea is a bit of a stretch.
Posted to Sniper at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
Newsbabe of the Week: Patricia del Rio
(This entry has an update here.)
Hello, is this Lonewacko?
Why, yes. With who am I speaking?
It's me. Pah TREE cee ah del RRREE oh from KTLA.
Who? Oh yeah, Patty Mitten. How are you?
I'm fine, except I'm no longer Patty Mitten, I am Pah TREE cee ah del RRREE oh.
But, the first time I saw you was on KCET. You were named Patty Mitten. I don't know how it was spelled, maybe it was Midden. Then, overnight you suddenly changed your name to what it is now. Then you left. Then, I guess you came back to L.A. and became a reporter for KTLA. I saw you reporting on some train thing or something in south O.C. You have a nice rack. But, I guess you knew that, right?
Please, Lonewacko, I'm here to discuss L.A. bloggers. I'm here to start where the L.A. Times left off. I'm interviewing the major L.A. bloggers, and I know you're one of the best.
Thank you. By the way, I don't think your photo does you justice. What is it with people who shoot head shots for newsbabes? Why can't they get it right? I'm just surprised they didn't backlight and soft focus you like one of those 30s movie star shots. Anyways, back to your name change. Was that a result of marriage or divorce? My cynical side seems to think this is a ploy to get work because your name helps KTLA appeal to a certain demographic. Most stars don't change their names when they get married. No one talks about Jennifur Pitt, right? I mean, in my wildest fantasies, I'd just be happy married to Val Zavala or Laura Diaz, I wouldn't force them to change their names and lose all their recognition. They'd have to conduct a massive PR campaign, like Exxon did. Maybe this wasn't a result of marriage, but of divorce. Now, I hate to mention the following name because I try to avoid evoking any images of the spandex-clad 80s whippet either in myself or others, but, anyway. Pat Benatar. Her birth name is longer and harder to pronounce, Benatar was her divorced husband's name. So, in a way, she made his name famous. But, she probably wouldn't have become as famous with a harder to pronounce name. "Benatar" has a certain ring to it, like the non-generic name of a prescription drug. (Please, please, let me get the sound and image of P.B. out of my head.)
When you say "certain demographic" do you mean people who like young ladies with pretty faces and nice bodies?
No, I mean, "Patty Mitten" sounds so, I dunno, Anglo. Whereas your current name appears to be more demographically focused.
OK, I admit it. I'm just a product. In fact, the only L.A. reporter who isn't a product is Hal Fishman. Hal is, well, he's just Hal. You know, he doesn't need the money, he only does this for fun. He'd much rather be flying his plane. In any case, it doesn't look like you're a good interview, so I'm going to find me another L.A. blogger. Ciao.
OK, ciao.
Posted to Celebrities at 10:04 AM | Comments (3)
Gray and Friends
Why, look! It's hopefully-soon-to-be-former governor Gray Davis with his friends the President of the U.S. and Sparky, the "Please wait" mascot for the CA ISO!
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Gray's TV commercials have factual inaccuracies. If you want to read a few of them, KCET's Life and Times did a "Reality Check" of some of the statements made in one of his commercials, as you can see by searching for "VAL>> PHEW" here.
Posted to California at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
Internet vs. Real World
THE BIG PICTURE
Studios' Web 'Plants' Lead to an Ethical Thicket
By PATRICK GOLDSTEIN
Ever since Harry Knowles burst to prominence with Aintitcoolnews.com, the Internet has blossomed with hundreds of movie geek Web sites, each one crammed with its own oddball assortment of news, reviews and message boards devoted to "Star Wars," Quentin Tarantino and other pressing matters. For movie fans, the sites represent authentic participatory democracy--everyone's opinion or obsession carries equal weight.
The preceding is the first paragraph of an article from the LA Times. It's just too easy. If I start picking apart an article from Calendar Live, what's next? Beating up chickens? Anyway, "geek"? "oddball"? "pressing matters"? C'mon. I guess on the movie rating scale, I'd have about a .001, and Patrick Goldstein would have about a 1.05. He is, after all, a professional.
Posted to Los_Angeles at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
Val Zavala gets a better picture
From http://www.kcet.org/life_times/hosts/index.htm
This is much better than the last pic, but it still looks like a bit of a forced smile. Less of the posing, more of the spontaneous. C'mon, Val, let me do it.
Posted to Celebrities at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
Write if you find work
during the off-season, that is. Let's... go... Yan... kees.
Posted to Miscellania at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
74. I would like to be a florist.
Guten Morgen, Little Green Man
Yo
I got my stitches out. Plus, I got linked to by lablogs.com. Thus rendering everything else said heretofore irrelevant.
Way to embarass yourself before not just the L.A. blogger community, but the entire blogosphere.
Yes, sometimes I do that. Byvaet. I have a question for you. I believe I am an important person at florist school, but sometimes I hear a voice in my head that others don't hear. It tells me that people are being nice to me just because they want something. While I am liked by most people who know me, I do not like being made fun of, and sometimes I think I would like the work of a forest ranger instead of my chosen lifework of that of a florist. There seems to be a fullness in my head or nose most of the time. Sometimes I sneak into the cloakroom at florist school when I am sure no one is watching. I am so strongly attracted by the personal articles of others, such as shoes, gloves, etc., that I want to handle or steal them, though I have no use for them. I feel as if I have done something wrong or evil. I make sure and turn on the lights in the cloakroom, because I can't go into a dark room alone even in my own home. When I leave the cloakroom, I check several times to make sure I have turned the lights off. Sometimes, I feel like just giving up, but then I think how absolutely wonderful it would be to do the work of a librarian. I would glady settle with just doing a librarian. Especially one of those swingin' liberal librarians at Central.
Draw a house please.
I'm not that good with pitchers, but, OK...
How's this? That's supposed to be a clown.
Does it say Gacy on the door?
Of course not. This is a nice house. Say, Little Green Man, I've got an IQ test, courtesy of USENET.
Hey, you're paying me for the time, so, just go ahead.
Q: Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on. In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. Now, what was the name of the bus driver?
I give up.
A: Oh, for Heaven's sake... It was you!
But, that makes no sense. I have never once driven a bus. While I have seen bus drivers, and I have frequently been haunted by thoughts that I would like the work of a bus driver, I have never once driven a bus. Furthermore, in your question, who exactly is "you"? We now know that you can't have been referring to me, aka Little Green Man. Thus, you must have been referring to someone else reading this. Now, since this page will be read many times by many people, only a small percentage of whom are qualified and/or licensed to operate a bus, I feel that your question is deeply flawed. Were those reading this expected to be driving multiple busses, perhaps within a short time space of each other? I have difficulty believing that those numbers would stay the same even with just a small number of busses. Perhaps this is a British thing, this synchronized bus driving and a-mounting, akin to train spotting. Have you ever considered the hobby of train spotting?
Is it OK if I postdate the check a couple days?
No.
Posted to WackyHumor at 10:54 AM | Comments (1)
