Patterico's Pontifications

11/11/2011

Evening in Rancho Palos Verdes

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:35 pm



Taken at the Forrestal Nature Preserve tonight, with an iPhone.

Occupy Portland Protester Discusses Strategy, Goals, Tactics Getting High

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:36 pm



Warning: profanity, racially bigoted words, and general idiocy . . . all courtesy of the Occupy Portland crowd:

Via Verum Serum.

Atlas Shrugged: A Timeless Novel of Self-Sacrifice . . .

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:04 pm



. . . at least, so says the DVD cover:

Atlas Productions LLC announced today its plan to replace more than 100,000 title sheets appearing on the Atlas Shrugged Part 1 DVD and Blu-ray versions sold through major retail outlets. These retail versions were packaged with an inaccurate synopsis of Atlas Shrugged. Not affected were the “Special Edition” versions sold online at AtlasShruggedMovie.com.

The 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, is known in philosophical and political circles for presenting a cogent argument advocating a society driven by rational self-interest. On the back of the film’s retail DVD and Blu-ray however, the movie’s synopsis contradictorily states “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…”

I wonder if it was simply a mistake, or a practical joke by the copy writer. If it was the latter, then it was a joke showing courage and self-sacrifice — in this case, the willingness to sacrifice one’s job.

Hooray for Realignment: Conrad Murray Could Be Released Early Thanks to Jerry Brown’s Pet Law

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:36 am



I thought about writing about this the second I heard about the conviction, but due to the sensitivity of the topic I have waited until it was brought up by Big Media.

Now it’s fair game:

Cooley used the conviction of Michael Jackson’s personal physician for involuntary manslaughter to highlight the risks realignment brings.

Conrad Murray faces up to four years in prison. But under the realignment law, he would spend that sentence in a county jail rather than a state prison. That’s because under the law, involuntary manslaughter as well as crimes such as drug offenses and identity theft no longer require state prison time.

Cooley said that if the County Jail system reaches capacity, Murray could be a candidate for early release.

“There is going to be a tremendous number of people that should be in jail and will not be incarcerated,” he said. “This is the kind of story that will play out over and over again.”

I warned you about realignment in this post. Now you have a man found criminally responsible for Michael Jackson’s death, and he may go free years before his prescribed punishment is served.

Thanks, Jerry!

11:11:11 on 11/11/11

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:17 am



Just happened.

I was thinking about it minutes beforehand. Then, at 11:14, I said: Dang! I missed it!

I could pay attention again tonight, I suppose — but really, that’s 23:11. It just won’t be the same.

From the “You Just Can’t Make This Crap Up” File… (Update: McQueary on Paid Suspension)

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 10:29 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing. Follow me by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

Update: John Scalzi says everything that has to be said about the Penn State scandal.  Read the whole thing.

Update (II): McQueary, who witnessed one of the alleged assaults (and did nothing, except to report it the next day to Paterno), is on paid leave following unspecified threats.  It makes me wonder is he being threatened because he did nothing about the sexual abuse of a child, or because he caused the downfall of Paterno?  You can read all about it, here.

Okay so Jerry Sandusky has been accused of sexually abusing young boys which has led to firings and riots up at Penn State and as a person who loves that institution, many facepalms by myself. Get ready for another one folks, apparently Sandusky wrote a biography in 2001 and its getting a bit of attention right now…

Jerry Sandusky’s rose-colored 2001 autobiography languished in obscurity on Amazon’s website until the revelations of child sexual abuse charges against the former Penn State defensive coordinator became public. Now, some Amazon users are asking that it be taken off the site.

“Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story,” co-written with Kip Richael, a Penn State grad and former student equipment manager with the team, traces Mr. Sandusky’s life from childhood through his coaching career, ending with his years with The Second Mile, the nonprofit he founded that works with at-risk kids.

The book paints an inspirational portrait of a dedicated humanitarian and a big-hearted advocate for troubled kids — a far cry from the image that is emerging now of a predator who prosecutors said used his access to kids through The Second Mile to find victims. Mr. Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing minors, which he has denied.

Yes, that’s right, the alleged child molester wrote a biography called “touched.” Not much to say except to say, “what the frak?” and move on with your life.

By the way, if Paterno and others were fired for knowing about sexual assaults and reporting it to the university but not to the police… what about all those Occupy Wall Street types who do the same thing? Just wonderin’.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

A Fire Alarm in the Night: Dariano v. Morgan Hill Unified Sch. Dist.

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 9:38 am



Guest post by Aaron Worthing. Follow me by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

Update: Instalink! And I went over it again, made corrections and generally spiffed it up.

Okay, here comes another long one.

Via Volokh, I learned this morning of a case that should make your blood boil, if you are either 1) patriotic, or 2) just a believer in freedom of speech. And of course many of us are 1) patriotic precisely because this is a nation that 2) believes in free speech—the two viewpoints are not neatly segregated. In the case of Dariano v. Morgan Hill Unified Sch. Dist., the court held that if a school believes that a certain symbol will so enrage students that any person wearing it is likely to be attacked, they can ban students from wearing that symbol. This is, frankly, a fairly straightforward application of the principles set down in Tinker, where the Court said that speech could be suppressed based on “facts which might have reasonably have led school authorities to forecast substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities.” As the Dariano court correctly noted, this is a much lower standard justifying a ban in school than government could get away with in dealing with an ordinary citizen walking down the street. As it stands right now, the government cannot ban a drawing of Mohammed in a newspaper; but it probably could ban it in a student newspaper, or even just on a student’s T-shirt.

So three students decided to wear this symbol on a T-shirt to their school on May 5, 2010, and were told to turn their shirts inside out or go home. The court reasoned that the symbol was so offensive to some students that you could expect those students wearing it to be attacked, and school officials could not, or would not, effectively protect the students. And what was this symbol that is so offensive that other students can be expected to fly into a rage at the mere sight of it?

The American Flag.

Because of course it was the Fifth of May, a.k.a. Cinco de Mayo, and thus it is a great affront to some people to see an American flag that day.

There is an impression in the desk before me where I have banged my head into it. The more I think about this case, the more I think it is like Jefferson’s fire bell in the night—a sign that something has gone seriously wrong, here.
(more…)

Sockpuppet Friday — The “Whither Cain?” Edition

Filed under: 2012 Election — Karl @ 8:45 am



[Posted by Karl]

Haven’t seen Aaron around the Twitter, so here we go:

As usual, you are positively encouraged to engage in sockpuppetry on this thread. The usual rules apply.

Please be sure to switch back to your regular handle when commenting on other threads. I have made that mistake myself.

And remember, the worst sin you can commit on this thread is not being funny.

————————————–

This Friday’s frivolity is a sadder kind of frivolity, i.e., the state of the GOP presidential nomination campaign.

As Jazz Shaw notes, Herman Cain still leads nationally in the new CBS poll, but just barely edges out both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.   Although over 60% of primary voters say the sexual harassment accusations against cain aren’t affecting their decision, his support among women has dropped from 28% in October to 15% now.  And 70% say it’s too early to pick a candidate, raising the spectre of a protracted primary campaign.

Meanwhile on the Twitter, Allahpundit asks whether Cain is cratering in Iowa.  He notes two polls by Insider Advantage, taken five days apart, showing a 15-point Cain lead shrinking to a 4-point lead.  Two polls by the same firm eliminayes methodology issues, but any typical poll has a chance of being an outlier.  Insider Advantage has Cain dropping from 30% to 23%.  However, only two other polls had Cain at 30% or over in Iowa since his surge: the University of Iowa poll with a tiny 181 likely voter sample; and PPP, taken well before the sex harassment charges.  The average of other recent Iowa polls (Rasmussen, CNN, Time) would put Cain at 24% — just a point higher than the latest Insider Advantage poll.  Thus, it’s probably too early to conclude Cain is cratering in Iowa, but his surge has certainly been blunted.

Update: The new McClatchy-Marist poll has it Romney, Gingrich and Cain nationally, but the margin of error is 5.5%.  Gingrich has the most committed supporters, but — like the CBS poll — 70% are not firmly committed to a candidate.

–Karl


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