Last Week in Weird (August 17, 2014)
Last Week in Weird
datelines 8/4/2014--8/15/2014 (Part I)
[Links, chronological, on Extended page]
Copyright 2014 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
All War Is Weird (I): Factories in Ukraine are still manufacturing and selling military gear to Russia (parts for ships, technology for tanks and nuclear missiles). The Ukraine “defense industry” says it needs the jobs. And meanwhile, the noted American musician, Mr. Steven Seagal, gave a pro-Putin concern in eastern Ukraine.
All War Is Really Weird (II): And then there’s the U.S., bombing ISIS’s weapons, which used to be our weapons until we gave them to the Iraq army, which abandoned them because we couldn’t train them, because we disbanded Iraq’s regular army in 2003 (well, the ones we didn’t shock-and-awe to death). We have to save Kurds in Iraq because, since we wouldn’t arm them, either, they have to use weapons they captured from Russians in the 1980s. ISIS sleeps comfortably in Syria every night because we declined to help Syrian rebels against Assad--because we were afraid radicals like ISIS would steal all our aid weapons. (Max Fisher: “So now we’re bombing the guns that we didn’t mean to give ISIS because we didn’t give guns to their enemies because then ISIS might get guns.”)
A Generation of Superb Parenting: (1) Kayla McKenzie, 22, DUI in Bismarck, N.D., rammed at least 6 vehicles and structures in one trip while holding her year-old in her lap and with two other toddlers unsecured in the back seat. “I look like a bad mother, but I’m not. I’m actually a really good mom.” (2) Rayvon Campos sentenced to 20 yrs for pummeling his 1-month-old daughter, said, “This is the first time I have ever been in trouble. I’m a real good dude.”
Dogs Might Have Been Her Best Bet: Let’s go to the mugshot! Shari Walters was arrested for poisoning pals because she feared they’d turn her in for having sex with dogs.
Quirks in (a) FDA Regs and (b) Americans’ brains, still: The family, honoring “AJ” Betts’s last wish before his suicide, had no trouble donating his liver, lungs, kidneys, and heart, but the brokers won’t take his eyes because “AJ” . . gay.
The Latest Iteration of the Dilemma: If you are involved in an injury to someone or someone’s property (as in this Redwood City, Calif., incident), do you express regret at the scene or to you go stoic? Expressing regret may becalm a victim to less aggressively seek compensation--or be used against you in court when the victim’s lawyer finds out you squished up at the scene.
Darwin implies that if a black rat snake is so stupid he’ll swallow a ceramic egg (slowly, you know; they should have time to realize), it simply needs to be out of the gene pool, but there’s always a rescue center willing to muck things up.
Speaking of organisms on the left tail of their respective Bell Curves, the police in Moreno Valley, Calif., were tired of drivers who failed to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks by claiming they “didn’t see” the crossers, so they dressed a detective in a large traffic cone and had him go back and forth in the crossing. They still caught 15 drivers, “many” of whom claimed they “didn’t see” Mr. Cone.
Simple As That: University College London academics have figured out a formula to predict “happiness.” (You must take a look.)
How to Completely Confuse a Typical Arizonan: An appeals court ruled that Thomas Beatie can, too, get a divorce from his wife Nancy. Thomas is the husband, Nancy the wife, thus no violation of Arizona’s same-sex marriage prohibition, and everybody needs to forget the pesky fact that Thomas is the one who bore the couple’s three kids (because he, born female, kept his eggs while he was transgendering).
The few residents of the French village La Mort aux Juifs (and a couple of powerful national bureaucrats, apparently) are taking a Daniel-Snyder-like stand against changing the name (in English, it’s “Death to Jews”), which they say, dates to the 11th century.
Said Broward County habitual offender Todd Bontrager, hoping to get the judge to release him on bond on a trespassing charge: “All my arrests were intentional, just to study. Incarceration improves your concentration abilities.” Judge: You’ll “have plenty of time to concentrate on this case.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-factories-equip-russian-military-despite-support-for-rebels/2014/08/15/9c32cde7-a57c-4d7b-856a-e74b8307ef9d_story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/10/steven-seagal-pro-russian-separatists-ukraine-crimea-concert
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/8/5982501/the-us-is-now-bombing-its-own-military-equipment-in-iraq
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-accused-of-multiple-hit-and-runs-while-driving-with/article_98478e58-2312-11e4-b93c-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Real-good-dude-sentenced-for-severely-beating-5689273.php
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/15/nm-woman-tried-to-poison-roommates-after-they-caught-her-having-sex-with-dogs-police/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/gay-teens-organ-donation-rejected/
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2014-08-15/supreme-court-restores-fatal-crash-conviction-redwood-city-mans-post-incident-silence-and-fifth-amendment-rights-at-issue/1776425128461.html
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/08/13/black-rat-snake-undergoes-surgery-after-eating-ceramic-egg/
http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/mvs14-0813.asp
http://time.com/3079902/this-is-the-equation-for-happiness/
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/26276583/court-transgender-man-can-keep-pursuing-divorce
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/13/these-french-villagers-want-to-keep-living-in-a-place-called-death-to-jews/
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-jail-to-study-20140807,0,1487859.story
datelines 8/4/2014--8/15/2014 (Part I)
[Links, chronological, on Extended page]
Copyright 2014 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
All War Is Weird (I): Factories in Ukraine are still manufacturing and selling military gear to Russia (parts for ships, technology for tanks and nuclear missiles). The Ukraine “defense industry” says it needs the jobs. And meanwhile, the noted American musician, Mr. Steven Seagal, gave a pro-Putin concern in eastern Ukraine.
All War Is Really Weird (II): And then there’s the U.S., bombing ISIS’s weapons, which used to be our weapons until we gave them to the Iraq army, which abandoned them because we couldn’t train them, because we disbanded Iraq’s regular army in 2003 (well, the ones we didn’t shock-and-awe to death). We have to save Kurds in Iraq because, since we wouldn’t arm them, either, they have to use weapons they captured from Russians in the 1980s. ISIS sleeps comfortably in Syria every night because we declined to help Syrian rebels against Assad--because we were afraid radicals like ISIS would steal all our aid weapons. (Max Fisher: “So now we’re bombing the guns that we didn’t mean to give ISIS because we didn’t give guns to their enemies because then ISIS might get guns.”)
A Generation of Superb Parenting: (1) Kayla McKenzie, 22, DUI in Bismarck, N.D., rammed at least 6 vehicles and structures in one trip while holding her year-old in her lap and with two other toddlers unsecured in the back seat. “I look like a bad mother, but I’m not. I’m actually a really good mom.” (2) Rayvon Campos sentenced to 20 yrs for pummeling his 1-month-old daughter, said, “This is the first time I have ever been in trouble. I’m a real good dude.”
Dogs Might Have Been Her Best Bet: Let’s go to the mugshot! Shari Walters was arrested for poisoning pals because she feared they’d turn her in for having sex with dogs.
Quirks in (a) FDA Regs and (b) Americans’ brains, still: The family, honoring “AJ” Betts’s last wish before his suicide, had no trouble donating his liver, lungs, kidneys, and heart, but the brokers won’t take his eyes because “AJ” . . gay.
The Latest Iteration of the Dilemma: If you are involved in an injury to someone or someone’s property (as in this Redwood City, Calif., incident), do you express regret at the scene or to you go stoic? Expressing regret may becalm a victim to less aggressively seek compensation--or be used against you in court when the victim’s lawyer finds out you squished up at the scene.
Darwin implies that if a black rat snake is so stupid he’ll swallow a ceramic egg (slowly, you know; they should have time to realize), it simply needs to be out of the gene pool, but there’s always a rescue center willing to muck things up.
Speaking of organisms on the left tail of their respective Bell Curves, the police in Moreno Valley, Calif., were tired of drivers who failed to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks by claiming they “didn’t see” the crossers, so they dressed a detective in a large traffic cone and had him go back and forth in the crossing. They still caught 15 drivers, “many” of whom claimed they “didn’t see” Mr. Cone.
Simple As That: University College London academics have figured out a formula to predict “happiness.” (You must take a look.)
How to Completely Confuse a Typical Arizonan: An appeals court ruled that Thomas Beatie can, too, get a divorce from his wife Nancy. Thomas is the husband, Nancy the wife, thus no violation of Arizona’s same-sex marriage prohibition, and everybody needs to forget the pesky fact that Thomas is the one who bore the couple’s three kids (because he, born female, kept his eggs while he was transgendering).
The few residents of the French village La Mort aux Juifs (and a couple of powerful national bureaucrats, apparently) are taking a Daniel-Snyder-like stand against changing the name (in English, it’s “Death to Jews”), which they say, dates to the 11th century.
Said Broward County habitual offender Todd Bontrager, hoping to get the judge to release him on bond on a trespassing charge: “All my arrests were intentional, just to study. Incarceration improves your concentration abilities.” Judge: You’ll “have plenty of time to concentrate on this case.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraine-factories-equip-russian-military-despite-support-for-rebels/2014/08/15/9c32cde7-a57c-4d7b-856a-e74b8307ef9d_story.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/10/steven-seagal-pro-russian-separatists-ukraine-crimea-concert
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/8/5982501/the-us-is-now-bombing-its-own-military-equipment-in-iraq
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-accused-of-multiple-hit-and-runs-while-driving-with/article_98478e58-2312-11e4-b93c-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Real-good-dude-sentenced-for-severely-beating-5689273.php
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/15/nm-woman-tried-to-poison-roommates-after-they-caught-her-having-sex-with-dogs-police/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/gay-teens-organ-donation-rejected/
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2014-08-15/supreme-court-restores-fatal-crash-conviction-redwood-city-mans-post-incident-silence-and-fifth-amendment-rights-at-issue/1776425128461.html
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/08/13/black-rat-snake-undergoes-surgery-after-eating-ceramic-egg/
http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/mvs14-0813.asp
http://time.com/3079902/this-is-the-equation-for-happiness/
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/26276583/court-transgender-man-can-keep-pursuing-divorce
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/13/these-french-villagers-want-to-keep-living-in-a-place-called-death-to-jews/
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-jail-to-study-20140807,0,1487859.story
Comments
The uproar about the refusal to accept gay cornea donations is only a play for attention by the "Oh, woe is me!" crowd.
Cornea transplants are not live-saving procedures, and there isn't a great shortage of corneas as there is for other organs.
Being solid tissue, there's no good way to test corneas for AIDs. There will probably never be a way to test that isn't more expensive than the cornea is worth.
You'll notice that the organs which are live-saving and which can be tested were accepted for donation without comment.
I know it's really odd to think that the FDA is actually right about something, but it does happen.
Cornea transplants are not live-saving procedures, and there isn't a great shortage of corneas as there is for other organs.
Being solid tissue, there's no good way to test corneas for AIDs. There will probably never be a way to test that isn't more expensive than the cornea is worth.
You'll notice that the organs which are live-saving and which can be tested were accepted for donation without comment.
I know it's really odd to think that the FDA is actually right about something, but it does happen.
Posted by Phideaux on 08/17/14 at 08:25 PM
War II Sorry, Chuck, this just ain't weird; it's been going on since foreeeeevvvverrrrrrrrr.
Darwin You mean like the Western Whiteman messing up the ecology in Africa?
Darwin You mean like the Western Whiteman messing up the ecology in Africa?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/18/14 at 01:24 AM
Reply: Phideuax, regarding HIV testing and cornea transplantation.
One tests for HIV in cornea transplant donors exactly the same way one tests for HIV in any other organ or tissue donor: by testing a sample of the patient's blood. (Transplant centers do not cut out little pieces of heart, lung, or liver for HIV testing, either.)
More useful and on point would be regulations screening for high-risk sexual behavior - recent new partners, multiple partners, etc. - whether the potential donor is gay, straight, or anything else. The goal would be to rule out donors who might have become infected during the approximately-three-week 'window' period after infection, where the virus is present in the patient but before it reaches high enough levels to be robustly detected by standard screening tests.
One tests for HIV in cornea transplant donors exactly the same way one tests for HIV in any other organ or tissue donor: by testing a sample of the patient's blood. (Transplant centers do not cut out little pieces of heart, lung, or liver for HIV testing, either.)
More useful and on point would be regulations screening for high-risk sexual behavior - recent new partners, multiple partners, etc. - whether the potential donor is gay, straight, or anything else. The goal would be to rule out donors who might have become infected during the approximately-three-week 'window' period after infection, where the virus is present in the patient but before it reaches high enough levels to be robustly detected by standard screening tests.
Posted by ThatOtherGuy on 08/18/14 at 09:57 AM
Thomas Beatie - Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Shari Walters - Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Shari Walters - Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Posted by RobK on 08/18/14 at 11:50 AM
There's a better photo of the cop dressed as a traffic cone here:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-deputy-traffic-cone-costume-sting-20140814-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-deputy-traffic-cone-costume-sting-20140814-story.html
Posted by ges on 08/18/14 at 12:22 PM
@ThatOtherGuy -- Acceptance into program is based on tests of patient's blood. Tests are redone after extraction (don't want a typo fouling up a transplant). Some hospitals require retesting prior to implant.
Source: did maintenance on software which performed report comparisons for just this reason. Saw files containing reports from six different labs for one organ.
Source: did maintenance on software which performed report comparisons for just this reason. Saw files containing reports from six different labs for one organ.
Posted by Phideaux on 08/18/14 at 03:21 PM
Ukrain- Are they familiar with the phase 'cutting one's nose off to spite one's face'?
weapons- Arming one side or the other in other countries is always a gamble. More often than not it bites us in the ass.
babies- Some people should not have them, Perhaps we could have a program where these types could be bribed to get sterilized.
alliteration exercise- Poisoning pals to prevent prosecution for perversion with pets.
drivers- If you can not avoid hitting pedestrians then you should not have a license.
history vs racism- The same issue surrounds the Confederate flag, symbols of racism are painful reminders of abuse. They are insults to those who suffered the abuses.
deliberately arrested- Guess he will have to deliberately serve his sentence as well.
weapons- Arming one side or the other in other countries is always a gamble. More often than not it bites us in the ass.
babies- Some people should not have them, Perhaps we could have a program where these types could be bribed to get sterilized.
alliteration exercise- Poisoning pals to prevent prosecution for perversion with pets.
drivers- If you can not avoid hitting pedestrians then you should not have a license.
history vs racism- The same issue surrounds the Confederate flag, symbols of racism are painful reminders of abuse. They are insults to those who suffered the abuses.
deliberately arrested- Guess he will have to deliberately serve his sentence as well.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 08/18/14 at 08:31 PM
Seagal: And once more my opinion of this chunk of Spam goes down.
War II: Part of me keeps believing it's intentional.
Babies: In theory I agree with patty. In practice it would be the poly-tickians who decide who gets them and who doesn't, or what's worse, it would be the rich. So, no.
Happiness: This equation is meaningless. I don't even need to know what any of the terms stand for, simply the presence of the fudge factor w0 makes it meaningless.
War II: Part of me keeps believing it's intentional.
Babies: In theory I agree with patty. In practice it would be the poly-tickians who decide who gets them and who doesn't, or what's worse, it would be the rich. So, no.
Happiness: This equation is meaningless. I don't even need to know what any of the terms stand for, simply the presence of the fudge factor w0 makes it meaningless.
Posted by Richard Bos on 08/19/14 at 05:19 AM
Richard, that's an insult to Spam!
Patty, that's an impressive piece of alliteration.
War I: Patty, you're only half right. Yes, arming third parties in a conflict is a gamble, but the gamble is only whether you will make a huge profit or a really huge profit. Of course, the best option is to arm both sides and hope that the conflict stays out of Switzerland.
Officer Cone: Sounds like a similar exercise carried out in Paris many years ago. The cops were fed up with people running red lights, so they had nationwide TV and newspaper coverage that on a certain Monday, they were going to have a crackdown. They still caught several hundred violators, including a man who just had to get to McD's with his son, and a Japanese tourist who insisted the light was blue.
Patty, that's an impressive piece of alliteration.
War I: Patty, you're only half right. Yes, arming third parties in a conflict is a gamble, but the gamble is only whether you will make a huge profit or a really huge profit. Of course, the best option is to arm both sides and hope that the conflict stays out of Switzerland.
Officer Cone: Sounds like a similar exercise carried out in Paris many years ago. The cops were fed up with people running red lights, so they had nationwide TV and newspaper coverage that on a certain Monday, they were going to have a crackdown. They still caught several hundred violators, including a man who just had to get to McD's with his son, and a Japanese tourist who insisted the light was blue.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 08/19/14 at 11:08 AM
Ukraine really does need the money, unfortunately. Along those lines, an aircraft recently arrived in the US to deliver two RD-180 engines for the Atlas V rocket. These are the Russian-built engines that caused so much consternation not long ago, with Rogozin suggesting on Twitter that they'd stop sending them over (but quietly not doing a damn thing because *Russia* needs the money too, or at least NPO Energomash does). What I found funny was that they were delivered by the Soviet-era cargo workhorse, the An-124. Which is operated exclusively by the Antonov company, which is Ukrainian. 😉
Oh, and they don't just sell *parts* for ICBMs to Russia. They sell the whole damn rocket. They also sell rockets internationally, and are one of the major industry players in the satellite launch biz: look up "Yuzhnoye" for more.
Oh, and they don't just sell *parts* for ICBMs to Russia. They sell the whole damn rocket. They also sell rockets internationally, and are one of the major industry players in the satellite launch biz: look up "Yuzhnoye" for more.
Posted by Calli Arcale on 08/22/14 at 12:21 PM
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