Blind Man Who Shot Drinking Buddy Dead With Assault Rifle And Walked Free Under 'Stand Your Ground' Law Wins Right To Get His Guns Returned

Sometimes real stories are better than fiction.  This happened in Florida, of course.

DeWitt (the shootee) and his girlfriend had gone to Rogers' (the blind shooter) house to drink beer and had spent the night.  The next day the group had made a 10am trip to the store to buy more beer, according to Rogers' arrest report.  (note 10 AM beer run.)

The defendant testified that he had asked DeWitt to leave but that the victim had attacked him, so he went into another room and retrieved his rifle. After Rogers pointed it in DeWitt's general direction, he said DeWitt charged him.                (note that blind man walks into another room and fetches rifle, points it, and shoots.)

‘He felt like he had no choice but to shoot him, and he did, said Assistant Public Defenders Tim Caudill, according to the Sentinel. The men were 18 inches apart or closer. (umm...most rifles are longer than 18 inches.)

The story includes an obligatory mention of Trayvon Martin, and then wraps up with

Rogers - who has done probation for firing 15 rounds at a cousin and was jailed for pushing and punching a woman in a domestic disturbance three years ago—will have to buy new ammunition, however, since the state considered his cache 'too old and dangerous.'

Rogers' cache isn't the only thing that's old and dangerous, apparently. 

Full article here.

President Obama Proposes Deep Cuts to America’s Biggest Jobs Program

"The Pentagon plans to scale back the US Army by more than an eighth to its lowest level since before World War II, signaling a shift after more than a decade of ground wars."

Saying it was time to "reset" for a new era, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended shrinking American forces from 520,000 active duty troops to between 440,000 and 450,000.

If approved by Congress, the Pentagon move would reduce the army to its lowest manning levels since 1940, before the American military dramatically expanded after entering World War II.

The proposed 13 percent reduction in the army would be carried out by 2017, a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity...

For video of the announcement click read more

WLEM AM

Where these are the days of our lives.

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.

   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

   As any she belied with false compare.

-Shakespeare

A whole scene that pops up.

If you jab a a pencil or popsicle stick into a book, say near the center, open the book at the pencil, the pencil stuck in there stays up in the air, nothing actually pops up but it looks like it does because the pages on both sides of it fall flat.

I-bars elevate a surface, create a table or partial table or lacy table to good effect but like the stick, they merely fail to lay flat.

V mechanism.

This mechanism is different from those do nothing types, by transferring the energy of opening the page into lifting another page in a different direction. Lifting another partial page, by connecting on both sides in the shape of V. For demonstration the V is symmetric, when asymmetric then strange and unpredictable things happen.

My very first earliest drawing efforts were scenes. A circus. The whole deal. Tents swing sets playground implements and elephants. Impressions of bits of movies I saw without understanding a word of it, combat scenes with castles in the background and knights slaughtering each other mid and foreground, horses, fire, smoke, clouds, dust, chaos all around. Romans with crazy things on their helmets, all soldiers centurions, and WWII scenes with tanks on the ground and planes in the air. Those kind of scenes can be depicted this way.

The whole scene flips up at once. It's odd too, when opening the card it goes, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, bang, entire scene.

I moved these pages today, part of some thirty or so,  from an inactive site to a new blogger digs and thought, hey, this really does show it.

The tall piece is folded in half and holds the hawk flying above the troop.

The X5 piece Is much lower broad enough to cross the whole card but trimmed so it does not go all the way across and to different length for variety. The shape of the V is symmetric, but the lengths of both sides are not. The V can be longer on one side than the other like ✓.  

These are 5 bands cut straight across the sheet and glued on the back in the shape of a V. They will stand straight up because they were cut straight across. That makes for 90˚ upright when bent at the crease then bent in the middle into a V and the tabs glued flatly. When the card is closed these will fold reliably at 45˚ inside the closed folded card.

Cutting the strips in the shape of the V instead of cutting strips straight across changes the angle of the upright from straight up to leaning backward. If cut as a chevron and glued the same way they will all lean backward as one. They can be provided a roof and a whole new platform pops up, an entire scene can built on the platform and lift up, a tree can pull up and be part of a platform like this, an airplane, or bug can lift up and right off the page. In this case a bird will lift up and backward away from the viewer above the rest of the scene. 

[Conversely, if the strips cut into chevron aims up rather than down, then the mechanism will work on the page in the opposite direction. That is, content will lift up and off the page toward the viewer instead of away from the viewer as here, and sometimes that is a very good thing.]

Content. This is where we let our arts flow. If you are judgmental with yourself then nothing can happen. The thing that gets me over fear of being artistically insufficient is considering all the crap cartoons out there, not funny, not interesting, not well done, and they get paid. Come on. You keep saying your kid could do it, so just do it. 

That's my attitude. 

The tall post with the bird is in place. The short uprights ready to place. Slots cut so tabs can be glued to back instead of on top. It doesn't matter. The tabs can be drawn and painted and part of the background. It's just being fussy on a detail. 

Changed the uprights. Did not use the strips cut straight across. Psych! Cut new ones with broader tops, then cut waves into the tops for random hills or waves of grass. Why? Because I didn't want a straight line going across holding up the animals. 

There is an additional bit attached to one side without a corresponding half, that attaches to another on its own side so depends on it to be lifted. That is, the smallest upright in front is dead weight, it is not lifting. An animal attached to that will be dead weight too and must be short enough to fit in that corner when the card is closed.

Aw, just draw the little guys over and over and cut them out. They pretty much all do the same thing. That is what makes them so amusing. They are not all running around doing different things.

Although they could. 

Why not Egyptians?  They're later. 

KLEM FM

I'm sorry, is that cover art NSFW?

I still remember buying that LP -- it came wrapped in opaque blue plastic. 

"Out Of The Blue" is great idiom. 

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Bless, planted five days ago.

Winter depression. I do not get that. How could I? The weather is incredible around here lately, but I needed a title with misdirection, wouldn't do to leave that blank.

It's fun.

The kits are fun. Usually I do not buy a kit, just use seed from things around here, but this time I did. And it wasn't on sale either. When you query [aerogarden coupon] there is usually something around to type in at checkout.

I could not find the place to type in the code. Nothing shows.

So I emailed aerogarden and said that. They wrote back immediately and said they applied the discount I found. The coupon code goes into the item line on the order, but like I said, I looked and saw no place to put it, and Maude, I PUT on my glasses and LOOKED.

The kits are expensive for seeds and that bums me out because they amount to a seven little cups each pre-packed with a single seed. The seed, the stuffing for the cup and the liquid nutrients, but the whole seed kit must be less expensive. And they are now. Before they were a little worse.

Expensive because that one seed in there really does need to germinate. When one or two fail to germinate there will be an anxious customer on the phone demanding replacement and becoming all bad-mouthy about your product. Guess how I know. For the company there is a lot on the line so the seed had better be good, the lights wasted for germination that did not happen, replacements out of synch with the rest, synch with the other type plants with varying times as with  herb gardens growing together. There is a lot to the organization, suggestions as to placement of cups, there is more to the product than meets the eye, for this is hydroponics for dummkopfs to be frank about it, and the company really is good with customer service, seed kits, lights, hydroponic units, all around very good service. That has been my direct experience.

Uh, what do you say when you admit something, disclosure, that's it, I own this company.

I love saying that. I hear it on the finance channels all the time and find it pompous as h-e-double cigarette holder sticks, like red carpet interviews, "Who are wearing?"  I have some stock because I like the idea of the company and that is what I base things on. Silly, I know. Hardly ruthless at all.  The stock was utterly cyclical at first, one year to the next the same ups and downs pegged at holidays, the units make great gifts, I bought stock, boom, the startup guy sold his company and bailed.

And that whole time I was imagining him the archetypical Boulder plant-loving alternate farmer type and turns out I'm wrong and he's all businessman.

The new major owners split stock to expand and there went its price.  I too could bail or keep the stock and see what happens. I did buy it because I like it. So I kept it and do not bother following the price anymore.

They expanded the product line. Modestly at first with smaller more affordable units, then expanded more dramatically with a line of larger more powerful units, the largest incorporating LED instead of high output fluorescent light.

They expanded the line of seed kits both herb combinations and flowers. Expanded the line of devices to assist independent of kits, trellises, reflectors water fillers and such things as ordinary hydroponics involve.

They hooked up with Scott's Miracle Grow company and expanded their distribution, a lot more outlets now, and Miracle Grow's marketing. The association with Miracle Grow and the expanded lines have already shown positive results. The company's quarter reports indicate significant steady increase.

Bink DAYTIME

No seasonal disorder around here. Disorder, yes, but not seasonal.

Aerogarden

Nice people.

Gallup: "Fewer Americans Think Obama Respected on World Stage"

"For the first time, more Americans think President Barack Obama is not respected by other world leaders than believe he is. Americans' opinions have shifted dramatically in the past year, after being relatively stable from 2010 to 2013."

The results are based on Gallup's annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 6-9. Although opinions about a president's perceived world standing often track with his job approval rating, a majority of Americans still thought world leaders respected Obama in 2010 and 2011, when his job approval was similar to what it is now...

Though the current data represent a personal low for Obama, they are not the lowest Gallup has measured since the question was first asked in 1994. That was reached in 2007, when 21% of Americans thought world leaders respected President George W. Bush...

Democrats and independents are mainly responsible for the slide in Obama's ratings. Independents now, by a wide margin, believe world leaders do not respect Obama.

The words "for the first time" reminded me of Michelle Obama's 2008 campaign trail statement "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country..." You might say Michelle was feeling respected in her adult lifetime. But, at what cost has that pride and respect come?

Gallup via Drudge

Meet the NYC flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans)

"Few of us ever get a good view of a flying squirrel, but then again, not many of us know they truly exist. Not unlike its cartoon depiction, as the brainy, be-goggled sidekick of Bullwinkle the Moose, the Southern flying squirrel is an impressively well-adapted resident of New York City. With a preference for older beech and oak woods, these squirrels are primarily nocturnal. An uncommon habitat and our very urban instinct to avoid late-night walks through obscure woodlands make finding one a deliberate effort."

"The flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) does not actually fly — it glides. When a squirrel leaps from its perch in a tall tree, it spreads its limbs, stretching out its two patagia (thick, furred membranes that extend from its wrists to its ankles). In this way, a squirrel less than 10 inches long (including a tail almost half that length) can, in a single bound, cover 150 feet or more, gliding through the treetops effortlessly" READ MORE

List: "What items might people be surprised to find in your fridge?"

"Here are 9 (out of 15) surprising foods you can--and sometimes should--stock in your freezer. (Be sure to check out our essential Guide to Freezing for smart tips on how to store and thaw food.)"

1. Nuts and nut flours: Because of their high oil content, nuts can go rancid very quickly. We recommend freezing both nuts and nut flours if you don't plan on using them right away. To freeze peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, and almonds (shelled or unshelled), simply wrap them well in plastic, then place in a resealable freezer bag.

2. Herbs: Chop up fresh rosemary, oregano, sage, or thyme. Pack in ice cube trays (about 1/2 full), pour extra-virgin olive oil over, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze overnight. Remove cubes from trays and store in freezer in resealable plastic freezer bags. When ready to use, thaw in a pan on low heat, or use in stews or soups. (Pesto also freezes well: Put in ice cube trays, freeze overnight, then store in resealable plastic freezer bags.)

4. Bacon: We love freezing bacon, not only because, well, it's BACON, but also because it defrosts incredibly quickly at room temperature. Wrap individual portions (3-4 slices) of raw bacon side by side in parchment paper or wax paper, pop them into a resealable freezer bag, and place in the freezer. (If you need to chop the bacon for a recipe, it's very easy to do so when it's frozen.)

6. Ripe bananas: Store very ripe bananas in resealable freezer bags (squeeze out as much air as possible and arrange them so they don't stick together). Blend frozen bananas (after peeling with your fingers or a knife) with yogurt and other produce for a super-creamy smoothie, or defrost them (they should thaw after about an hour at room temperature) and use in banana bread.

9. Bread: When freezing loaves of homemade bread, like French bread, be sure to let them cool first, then wrap whole loaves airtight in plastic wrap then place in resealable freezer bags. Lightly toast the bread to restore its texture and bring out its flavor. Can't finish that whole loaf of storebought bread? Freeze it, then toast slices right out of the freezer.

10. Coffee: If you're an iced coffee lover and you haven't yet made coffee ice cubes, I have to ask: What the heck are you waiting for? Pour your leftover coffee into ice cube trays, freeze, them toss the caffeinated cubes into your iced coffee to give it a boost. Because you do need that extra boost, right?

11. Citrus juice: Again with the ice cube trays! Squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice into ice cube trays (measure out 1 or 2 tablespoons in each cube), freeze, then store in resealable plastic freezer bags. Add the cubes to iced tea or lemonade to give your drink an extra kick, or use them in recipes calling for lemon or lime juice.

13. Cooked pasta: Boil your pasta until barely al dente (so pasta isn't mushy when you reheat), then freeze without sauce in individual freezer-ready containers. To serve, microwave or just add to a hot sauce--ta-da!

14. Cooked rice, quinoa, and other hearty grains. I only very recently cottoned to the concept of freezing rice and other cooked grains. Just cook, let cool, then store in resealable plastic freezer bags. When ready to serve, pour into a bowl and microwave for a minute, or heat the grain with a little liquid on the stovetop. Read More

NYT Social Q's: "Have Gun? Won’t Visit"

Pulled from a NYT Social Q's as it appears on the Fashion & Style Section...

I am the mother of three small children. When the oldest was 2, we arrived at a relative’s house for a planned visit, and found a shotgun propped against the dining room wall and an open box of ammunition nearby. Fortunately, I was one step behind my curious son. But the incident caused a big fight; our relatives were offended that we asked them to lock up the gun during our visit. Since then, I’ve been proactive about guns in houses my children visit. But asking, “Do you have a gun in the house?” seems intrusive and somehow accusatory. How should I approach this?

Amanda, Fayetteville, Ark.

Answer...

Talk about prying it from their “cold, dead hands”! You may already have met the only adults in America who think that leaving rifles and live ammo where toddlers play is a good idea. Still, you have every right to confirm your children’s safety. Why not just say: “We had a scary play date recently with folks who left a gun lying around. We weren’t comfortable with that. Are you?” And then you’ll know. (But given your recent luck, you may as well scope out the playroom for “Hunger Games” crossbows when you drop your darlings off.)

Do you see what this guy did there? Any comments?

NYT A version of this article appears in print on February 23, 2014, on page ST10 of the New York edition with the headline: No, Not So Smart.

World's Largest Nude Ocean Swim

Hundreds of people stripped off Sunday to take part in the second annual Sydney Skinny in an attempt to break the world record for the largest nude ocean swim.

The photos in the article are safe for viewing at work.  A few butts, but not much more.  I'll do better next time, I promise.

Over 700 people took part in last year's inaugural swim, which aims to promote a positive body image.

Seven hundred people?  That seems kind of low for a world record, don't you think?   A world record should be thousands of people.  Heck, I was at this beach one weekend and there were many more than 700 nude people swimming.  Maybe that didn't count because the Declarers of World Records weren't there. Still, a mere 700 people is an unimpressive body count for a World Record.

Creator Nigel Marsh said that people use the Sydney Skinny "to throw aside concerns of body image, to connect with nature and celebrate living with more courage and kindness".

Not really.  People used the Sydney Skinny to look at each others' nude bodies.   Otherwise, why even bother? Connecting with nature and living with more courage and kindness can be celebrated anywhere.  This dealio was about getting nude with other people.  Not that there's anything wrong with that; it was probably a lot of fun, provided you were age 21-40 and in excellent shape.

"Such an amazingly fun and well organised event. Thank you to all behind the scenes and those making it smooth today."

It appears the event was indeed quite smooth.  Not a body hair visible in any of the photos.  In fairness, the photos are the posterior view only, but still, smooth is the operative word.  Because being smooth and the desire "to throw aside body image" are totally the same thing.  And big thanks to the photogs, by the way, for not troubling the reader with  images of overweight bodies.

Body image, my ass.  Ba dump bump!

Hey, Happy Monday everyone!

WLEM AM

Where we beg to differ.



What chains bind you?

beautiful

Nefer.

If you wanted to write the word "Denver" in hieroglyphics -- and who doesn't? -- you can use the triliteral n-f-r, nefer, their word for "beautiful."

It is a popular word. A design element. It is used in jewelry. Made from various materials.

A necklace can be made of seeds and woven with other materials in such a way as to spell out 100 times the word "beautiful" and the museum placard will read:

Necklace, material cornflower seed.

Or the like. And the object is sitting there veritably screaming

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful

Like this.

All I did was type "nefer" and this came up first page. See what I mean?

Beauty, happiness, good fortune, and youth.

Imagine having a favorite young wife, wait! Imagine first being a pharaoh, then imagine having a favorite young wife, perhaps a royal daughter by such a wife, a real doll, a fortunate and happy girl, look at her, look at that face of hers, and bestowing her a gold and jewel necklace fashioned to perfection by your state craftsmen that reads "beautiful" hundreds of times, just to see her wear it. Is that hot or what?

I understand, I read in places, a lot of times actually, the symbol portrays a trachea rising up from the heart. And the whole time, years, I thought it a banjo. Type instrument. But come on, trachea is attached to lungs, not heart, and that does not explain the tuning pegs on top, but it does explain why Gardiner classified the sign under Parts of Mammals F35.

For Denver we still need a "D" and that is a hand. Human hand. Parts of Human Body D46.

Denefer.

Close enough. It is how they would do it. Take as many shortcuts as possible with biliterals and this snags a triliteral, and a great one at that. Beautiful. The sign is irresistible.

Sometimes you just have to take control and write it as you think it should be.

I drew that. Can you tell? This is not a legal thing, obviously, they were not so foresightful as to contrive a ligature in anticipation of American cities, (except for Memphis) but if they did, it could look like this. The "R" is redundant as they do to fill space, to balance things, to make sure, out of habit, union rules, what have you, we see inconsistency in these things all the time. R, human mouth D21. The wagon wheel depicts a crossroads, a spot where caravan routes meet become towns develop to cities. Crossroads O49 is a determinative sign that says, "this is the name of a place." All of these are very common perfectly acceptable signs.

Middle East Conflicts Wall War Memorial, Marseilles, Illinois

Watch it grow!

 

Land for the project donated by Illinois Valley Cellular, and it is beautiful riverside area too. Additionally Cellular built a museum to house the many artifacts left there, in reaction to them being discarded vandalized even thrown in the river. 

Jerry Kuczera and Tony Cutrano 

Today is the first I've heard of this project. Cheering. Mostly the urgency finding expression immediately gets me. Without slipping into diatribe about the slowness of monolithic distant government engaged in their own thing, still I still cannot help entertaining an alternate project starting from Washington and what that would look like, by seeing this before with the Vietnam memorial and Freedom Tower in NY,  how such a thing would proceed, how architects and artists are chosen, contracts dispersed, location chosen, even which country builds it, out of what material, the exact  placement, environmental impact, and all the attendant things I cannot think of, not dismissing the result just briefly entertaining an alternate federal project to this organic expression, because I cannot help it. 

Conversely, this is as if watching forest ants suddenly joining together in mass and doing something different apart from the usual doings, for some reason, some urgency. It is exciting. The way it comes about is exciting.

The usual thing failed or is failing or is too slow or otherwise unsatisfactory.

Having said that, I think, a good part of the descending mob aspect of it has to do with already owning a motorcycle and a desire, a strong desire, to do something useful. There you are with your motorcycle, what do you do with it? Ride around on it, of course, go places. It's fun. Pick up a few things load up the bags vrooom vrooom vroooom off you go, it'a good day. Then what? While enjoying the freedom of cycling and all that goes into sustaining that freedom, what purposeful meaningful thing can be done? And even if you are not  thinking such things, when offered, the whole effort sounds great because it does give meaning. Boom. Crowd of motorcyclists. Just like that. 

I have to say Illinois sure is interesting.

My son always wanted to own a motorcycle so when he was deployed to Afghanistan he told me when he come home he's gonna buy one. And he didn't come home. And so we bought one for him and had his pictures painted all over it and now we ride him everywhere. It's all in honor and memory of him and we ride it everywhere to all these events just so the world will remember and love our heroes because our soldiers are our true heroes in America ... They give their todays for our tomorrows.

Hang on, here comes a sharp turn. I risk flipping off the rails.

Aberdeen Washington is setting up a memorial for Kurt Cobain. I do not have a problem with a memorial to Curt Cobain, it is a good thing, he is famous after all, but by way of contrast it is offered.

Aberdeen Washington acknowledges Kurt Cobain had a big impact on music. It's something. They're avoided acknowledging him as a product of their town until now due to the heroin  thing and the suicide thing, two things there difficult to celebrate, still he had a big impact on music.

Shhh.

Don't shhh me.

Tourism.

The woman in the second video who lost a son and drives around a motorcycle that her son wanted, not her, and with his picture on it to take him in spirit all over the place frankly breaks my heart. Aberdeen have you no such heroes to acknowledge? My google-fu is just awful tonight I'm getting all sorts of anti-war things. ["aberdeene washington" iraq afghanistan died] I see that there are. But there is no such organic urgency in Aberdeen for a thing as happens in Illinois. 

Critique. Video marred by bagpipes. Sorry, Scotland, it just is. Amazing Grace on bagpipes at funerals makes all three things worse, song, bagpipe, service.