Original Apple 1 Computer sells for $374,500 in Sothebys auction [WSJ]

Economists demonstrate exactly why bank robbery is a bad idea [Ars Technica]

We're all Kulaks now: The war on property rights [James Bovard]

Actual sword fighting techniques are not what you see in movies [ARMA]

Man bit by feral cat in Oregon now has plague [Seattle Times]

Film director Joe Cornish to make Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash into a movie [Deadline]

In re the crime wave washing over Ann Arbor; cops say 'don't worry'

There have been a spate of armed robberies of late in Ann Arbor and which is a bad thing for our community, (and especially bad if you're the one with the gun barrel in you face), whatever the cops say about gun violence being "rare" in Ann Arbor.

Guns Don't Kill People; Dangerous Minorities Do

Good point. Some timely observations from the SBPDL blog. And, sad to say, they are most likely correct observations about how things really go around here. Minus out the violent crime hotspots here in Michigan (Detroit, Flint, etc.) and this place would have the same crime stats as as a civilized social democracy like Sweden.

pot-shots

local pot-shots

Send in the clowns. The editorial board of the MLive (Jackson edition) webzine has called for the ATF to put a detachment in Jackson to help with busting all the felons caught with firearms around there. Be careful what you ask for folks, just in case you get it.

An interesting but altogether too short piece on an Ann Arbor-area homeless encampment with some photos here. Even in the midst of the People's Republic of Ann Arbor's bourgeois whitetopian bliss grinding poverty and its related maladies exist. As does the hateful attitude toward these casualties of the ongoing class war.

Meanwhile back among the People's Republic's lotus eaters comes this semi-amusing vignette which illustrates all too well what passes for a major problem in their lives. Quit a contrast with the above mentioned, eh? If the author of this screed had to live in a tent in mid-Winter Michigan he'd appreciate that he has phone service of any quality at all. Or maybe he just gets paid by the word?

Corruption, malfeasance, stubbornness and idiocy in re the Ambassador Bridge/Maroun family versus MDOT lawsuit continues ad nauseum. The old Alinsky-style tactic of "accusing the accusers" has now been employed by the Maroun legal team. Muddying up the waters isn't going to work though I predict.

When wearing second-hand clothes is a fashion statement rather than a necessity. UM of students prowl the clothes racks at thrift shops toward that end. Funny as toothache.

Silly boondoggle or law enforcement theatre? Does it matter?

InfoWars and the AP are reporting that East Orange, NJ cops are gonna put red colored spotlights on telephone poles in high crime areas to shine red colored light beams on suspicious persons or activity to let the potential culprits and the public know that the cops are watching them and/or on the way.

I guess the crooks and thugs in East Orange have never heard of shooting out lights or wearing masks to disguise their identity. The cost of this bullshit is to be borne by the federal treasury of course.  Given the human cesspool that inhabits East Orange demographics-wise perhaps that is the case. However they will no doubt quickly learn and adapt. After all even amoebas learn from simple stimulus-response cycles. What a laugh. Scary and funny at the same time.

A dipshit yuppie writer's exploration of the stolen bicycle racket

Silly masochistic fun on the author's part I guess given all the bikes he's lost to thieves. Now if he'd have gone all Paul Kersey on the thieves I'd have enjoyed it more. The sad conclusion the author comes to is that if you inhabit an urban area your bike is going to get ganked, dismantled, and fenced and there ain't nothing you can do for it. Bottom line: Buy something cheap so it can be easily replaced. Not much else is to be learned from his screed beside that sad to say. [Outside]

Detroit becoming an "artist's haven, hipster's hotspot" says LA Times

Downtown Detroit could perhaps evolve into something interesting but only if they do something about all those icky, nasty neighborhoods (and the people that live in them) that surround it.

"Yet Detroit is evolving," says the LA Time's Andrew Bender, "not unlike late 1990s downtown Los Angeles. Cheap rents and an urban pioneering spirit are attracting young artists, and new restaurants, nightspots and even urban farms are serving this growing community and its hipster fans. It's still the early days, but change is palpable, even to the casual visitor."


Yeah well we've seen this sort of thing before Mr. Bender. The last time Detroit had a cultural renaissance back in the 1960's all the artistes and their parasites moved off to Los Angeles and New York  just as fast as their checks cleared. I'm not trying to be a buzz-kill here but there needs to be a sobering reminder of how things go in real life injected into this fog of optimism.

“Our drivers are scared, they’re scared for their lives."

Fearing a repeats of recent acts of gang violence against them at work Detroit bus drivers are engaged in a wild cat strike over safety issues today.

Pissed off mob of young men run amok in Ann Arbor parking structure Sunday night

More lumpen antics. Dr. Pinker call your office.

Detroit needs more than high-tech gimickery to get a grip on public safety

Detroit police chief Ralph Godbee wants to deploy (at a cost of $2 million plus) some new technology that will hear gunshots, triangulate where they came from and automatically notify police dispatch. Like all the new whiz bang high-tech stuff the police-industrial complex comes up with the ex-cop salesmen who hawk it promise it lead to a huge decline in gunfire on the streets. Well it could conceivably but only if DPD had enough officers to appropriately respond to the alerts. And that's the rub.

Sports builds character

Except when it doesn't. These two a-holes likely never had much character to begin with. EMU is better off without 'em.

Vandals attacking Greater Lansing Food Bank vehicles

First their refrigerated van was stolen and burned and now someone has thrown a steel pipe over the fence and through the window of one of their trucks. Why would anyone attack an organization set up to help people through hard times? (Lansing State Journal)

Wayne county circuit court's "catch & release" policy for convicts

Person's who have been convicted of serious crimes and are facing hard time (i.e., more than a few years in prison) are being allowed to roam loose on bail after being found guilty at trial but before their sentencing says this story in the Detroit Free Press. And then some of them (about one in ten) decide to blow off court and run. Go figure? If you can't trust a convicted rapists, child molesters or attempted murder convicts to show up for court who can you trust? Wait. What now?

Reform: Michigan's Attorney-General needs to be "reformed" right out of a job

Ex-State senator, ex-appeals court judge, ex-US representative, and ex-candidate for everything and current Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, is attempting to undermine the Michigan Medical Marihuana  Act passed by voters in 2008.

AG Schuette and his cats-paws want to "reform" the reform passed in 2008. This voter-passed law was intended to provide a legal path so people who needed or wanted to use cannabis could do so without having to fear a SWAT team crashing through their doors. AG Bill Schuette dislikes this law and wants to redo it so that the police and other LEO types (like him for example) can regulate who can have, distribute, and use cannabis. Well, screw him. Hey Bill! The people voted on this and you should respect that. But he doesn't.

Here's a reform we could use while we're at it. Let's abolish the office of AG as an independent executive office of Michigan state government and have it be a cabinet appointment of the governor's office. The grandstanding typical of state AG's  is mostly reckless and unproductive stuff designed to keep their name in the headlines with a view toward higher office. (Remember how AG's Kelly, Granholm, and Cox all used the AG office as a stepping-stone for higher office ambitions?) Let's reform AG Bill Schuette right out of a job and let him go back to being a right-wing gadfly rather than a free lance  political hack with the weight and authority of the state of Michigan behind him suing and arresting people based on his personal agenda.

What's up with all the "flash mob" violence in American cities this summer?

Says Walter Russell Mead: "...[I]t is not unlikely that future violence in the cities would look more like flash mobs and less like the urban riots of the 1960s.  Those riots targeted Black neighborhoods, Black owned stores and much of the property destroyed in the riots belonged to Blacks; any new trouble would likely be more effective at spreading the pain beyond the inner city.  Link ups in some cases with religious radicals or foreign interests who seek to do us harm cannot be excluded."

Weblog

Man shot by Pittsfield Township police last January commits suicide (Detroit Free Press)
Devin Reddick's short, troubled life ends at 30.

Built in the 1920s.

Historical society seeking to fix up crumbling Irish Hills landmarks (Jackson Citizen-Patriot/MLive)

"The original tower was built by the Michigan Observation Co. on half of a hilltop purchased from Edward Brighton. The 50-foot structure opened amid fanfare in 1924 when U.S. 12 was still a dirt road. Admission was five cents."

The towers are landmarks but it'll cost $300K to fix them up.

ACLU of Michigan takes up causes of those jailed because they can't pay fines (Detroit Free Press)
"Can't" or "don't want to" is the real question. But fines backed up by the threat of jail is the main cudgel that the state wields to bend people to its will. Without that club who keeps the lumpen in line? Just like people that are "judgement proof" are largely immune from private torts tend to become rather feckless what will be the likely consequences if they become "jail proof" too? 

Hillbilly Handfishin' reality TV show on Animal Planet (Huffington Post)
Also known as "noodling" the sport consists of getting into the water near the shore and shoving your arm into the mouth of a big (20-70 lbs.) catfish and wrestling it to the surface. Sounds like some big fun, eh? (Hat tip: Detroit Metro-Times)

America's secret wars in 120 different countries (Tom Dispatch)
Contra the advice of the founders nowadays America does go abroad looking for monsters to destroy.

Living your life: Chicago versus rural Indiana (David Masciotra@ Front Porch Republic)
"Big money and big power cast their shadows over every deal and cloak their silence over every interaction in Chicago. Step outside on the stoop for a cigarette, and the City is with you. Wait on a train platform, and the City is with you. Sit an hour in traffic, and the City is with you. Walk down the street of a gentrified neighborhood, and the City is directing you. Pull a receipt or paycheck out of your pocket and the City is there to take its sizable Per Diem."

Weblog

Don't go away mad Dillion. Just go away.

Accused duckling killer Dillon Pearce pleads guilty to charges (Ann Arbor.com)
Sociopathic asshole.

Abundance of recall attempts in the state leave officials questioning if there should be changes to the law (Flint Journal/MLive)

On so-called "white trash" and the American experience (Fred On Everything)
"They don't fear the law because they are used to jail. You might call them pathetic from a distance, but you wouldn't do it to their faces. Not more than once."

The tragic death of pro-surfer Andy Irons (Outside)
Jut like with Kurt Cobain and now Amy Winehouse, Andy Irons had both talent and a deep seated self-destructive urge.

Weblog

Now that's progressive!

Politically progressive college town just won't face the facts about race and crime (Blaska's Blog)

Minorities make up less than 10 percent of Madison, WI's population yet they account for around half of all arrests. What does that tell us? Either there is a lot of racism up there or the minority populations are going feral.

Detroit to "ration" city services according to neighborhood's condition (CNBC)

"Detroit neighborhoods with more people and a better chance of survival will receive different levels of city services than more blighted areas under a plan unveiled Wednesday that some residents fear may pit them against each other for scarce resources." Sounds like that is exactly what they are doing.

Weblog

Ann Arbor may have a serial rapist on the loose (annarbor.com)
Five recent assaults including two rapes have people scared, angry and frustrated.

Amy Winehouse is dead at 27 (Daily Mail)
I am gonna miss her.

TSA worker stole watches, debit card from LAX bags (LA Times)
There's a story like this about every week from some airport about  a TSA employee/s effing up or stealing.

How multinational corporations weasel out of taxes they owe (iSteve)
For tax purposes Microsoft is a manufacturing enterprise located in Puerto Rico.

Weblog

An example of a typical case of metal theft (Jackson Citizen-Patriot/MLive)
"Officers were called about 3:40 p.m. to the home, which is for sale, by a real estate agent.The realtor found copper that had been cut from the plumbing of the home, and was laying on the basement floor, police said. The real estate agent called the homeowner, who in turn called 911.Police suspected the crime had taken place recently."

What makes these crimes especially damaging is that thousands of dollars in damage are done just to get a few hundred dollars worth of copper.

Detroit Tiger's ticket sales soaring as  season progresses (Lynn Henning, Detroit News)
Funny how a winning season will do that, eh?

Say goodbye to Los Angeles. Say goodbye to California. (Pat Buchanan, American Conservative)
I already have.

LSD alleviates pain and frequency of cluster headaches ( Kai Kupferschmid, Science)
Do we need to have "medical LSD" clinics now too?