From News of the Weird:

Angelo Trujillo, 20, became the latest, in March, to attempt to rob someone who was pumping gas (at a Smith’s store in Santa Fe, N.Mex.). The customer, Ms. Bernie Garcia, 83, calmly sprayed Trujillo with gasoline, sending him fleeing (but he was soon arrested). [KOB-TV (Albuquerque), 3-13-08]

From the News of the Weird weekly digest:

Least Competent Criminals: Rudy Aguas, 25, running from a Reno, Nev., police officer in November after a failed carjacking, ducked into a building but got stuck in a freshly-poured concrete floor.

Taking a break from being trapped in a web of grading papers and I’m feeling grouchy.

The best headline about baseball steroids this week was, “Fans greet report with a shrug.” We all knew those millionaires were doing things to their bodies, yet we fans keep hitting the turnstiles and tuning in at record numbers. If we really cared for the players as people, we would have been more vocal or stayed away but we didn’t.  We wanted the excitement that comes with high-scoring games, including those monster home runs, so we’ve no valid foundation to complain or point fingers. My only heartburn with the report is there was no public due process; named players, staff, and owners are permanently smeared, innocent or not.

I stand by my earlier statement: players who are decisively proven to have used performance enhancing drugs (steroids, HGH, etc.) should be permanently banned upon retirement from their playing careers. It probably won’t make a difference since the drug users have shown through their actions that they only care about the here-and-now, but there should be some long-term ramification…other than balloon-sized heads and pea-sized testicles.

Last word on the subject (maybe): Keith Olbermann is probably right in saying that baseball’s all-time hits leader (Pete Rose) and current all-time home run king (Barry Bonds) will probably miss out on the Hall of Fame, and now it ain’t looking so good for baseball’s former poster children Maguire and Clemens.

Mike Vick was sentenced to a couple of years in jail for financing a dogfighting ring and, more importantly, for lying about his role in the entire mess. The State of Virginia is going to file charges any day now and the NFL will probably suspend him upon release, but I wonder if the sentence fit the crime. This is the part where I say I love dogs and I do: they’re some of the most awesome things on four legs and I wished I owned half a dozen. That said, Mr. Vick lost his entire livelihood and ability to support himself and family because of this and, in my opinion, that’s extreme. Convicts often serve less time for more heinous crimes and can go back to their professions after serving their sentences. Football is all Michael knows and he was a special, special player. Do I excuse his actions? Hell no. Should he serve time? Hell yes. Should he be given the chance to rehabilitate his public image and be allowed back on the football field? You bet. Will the NFL allow it to happen? Not a chance. They ain’t got the testicles (pea-sized or otherwise). Between this and the above paragraphs, a pretty sad snapshot of modern American sports.

The State of Nevada budget crisis took a deep breath yesterday when the Governor announced he was now including formerly-excluded state agencies from the fiscal ax and only asking for 4.5% cuts instead of devastating 8% cut previously planned. As a double state employee working for two separate agencies, I sense from co-workers some exhalating and a sense of relaxation. Layoffs were a certainty before; now it seems less so. For me, I’ve been through this before and experience tells me the bad economic news is not over because the real estate disaster has not ended and people are not spending money like before. For the short-term, though, it’ll be a merrier holiday season for many people. Enjoy it while you can.

There should probably be some noise here about the commercialism that used to be known as the Season of Giving, but it’d be like holding back the tide with my bare hands. Ah, what the heck. If you want to learn about human nature, park yourself a few yards from a Salvation Army bell-ringer. The kids are beautiful but there’s a bunch of ass****s who should be visited by Christmas Ghosts every stinking night of their lives. Open your purse and wallet and throw in a buck and I’ll stop sticking pins in my voodoo doll. Maybe.

The last Madison Wolverines update: we fought hard and valiantly, but key injuries killed a promising season and we ended up with another losing season. After four or five years of mediocrity, I’ve hung up my ownership shoes and am riding off into the sunset after the playoffs end. It was fun.

Finally, Ike Turner kicked the bucket this week. Tina Turner’s rep said, “”Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.” Perfectly said.

While we wait for the bouncing Yahoo server to bounce upward and keep my stinking web site on-line for more than five minutes…

I spoke too soon with the “baseball plays the damn game” line. Team general managers recommended that instant reply be used to resolve disputed home runs to avoid problems such as Jeffrey Maier. The proposal has a tough going because it has to be approved by players, umpires, and owners, too, but when everyone realizes that MLB will be selling more commercial time, look for replay to be used for disputed calls at the plate and first base and balking and so on. Can scratching and adjusting be too far behind?

When you get a minute, check out Very Short Lists. I’ve been on their email list for a couple of weeks now and am getting some pretty fun links.

The headline that writes itself: “Clooney and Fabio Get Physical At Vegas Restaurant.”

Douglas County gets one and now Carson gets one for their freeway. Gonna suck for the out-of-control motorcyclist in northwestern Nevada.

Governor Gibbons met with legislative and local government leaders to outline the need for the 5% budget cut that’s most like likely coming in January. In an amazing piece of investigative reporting, the Appeal contacted Gibbons’ predecessors and each said they had to wrestle the same bear during their tenure in office. One of them, Bob List, probably lost his job because of the extreme measures his administration had to implement in order to keep the state solvent. I may complain about the Guv does his business but I wouldn’t want the job.

Note to Andy Reid: work didn’t help your family before your sons became addicted to numerous legal and illegal drugs. Do the right thing, sir. Become a freelance consultant and redirect that personal energy and devotion you give the Eagles over to what counts: your boys.

Look like the President will get himself a new attorney general in Michael Mukasey, even though the nominee was evasive on the waterboarding issue, stating that it wasn’t exactly illegal. Folks, torture may not be illegal (and why the hell not?), but it is immoral. When we give up the high road, we lose whatever justification and motivation behind starting the war in Iraq. Despite years of experience, looks like we learned nothing from Vietnam. Except how to leave our allies high and dry.

One hundred members of the 72nd Military Police Company of the Nevada National Guard from Henderson leave Saturday for their third deployment to Iraq. Go with God.

Here we go, another week of thrills, chills and excitement…and that’s just if you work at McDonalds in Reno (see below). Here’s wishing you a great Oktoberfest and Halloween. And nobody’s too old to trick-or-treat as long as they’ve got the right costume.

Last week, ICE (the renamed INS) and their caffeine-powered agents swooped down upon several McDonalds restaurants in the local area and carted away alleged illegals to an undisclosed location. This set off a community debate and firestorm over the motivations behind Immigration’s shutdown of the Golden Arches, with some other businesses closing their doors in response (because they thought they were next) and a few protest marches. It doesn’t help matters that immigration law reform didn’t happen, so it’s still pretty hard for immigrants (legal or otherwise) to get needed papers if you believe their lawyers. It’d be easy to jump into this debate starting with our responsibilities as adults and not picking/choosing the laws we must obey, but methinks it’ll be a cold day in Hell before ICE walks into a major casino’s kitchen with the same objectives in mind. Money talks in this state, folks.

And was it a coincidence that immigration lawyers were holding a national law conference at Lake Tahoe at the same time the raids were occurring in Washoe County, just a few miles down the hill?

UNR only has to win one game a year, IMHO, for it to have a successful season…and they did it. The Fremont Cannon stays Blue and stays in Reno.

And Carson High won Homecoming? Get out of here. I don’t think they won it once in the four years I was sentenced there. Now if they can beat Douglas, it’ll be a perfect sports winter for western Nevada.

Being the first Monday in October, the Supreme Courts kicks off today with a full slate of impending decisions before it. Here’s some of the cases that the Roberts’ conservative majority agreed to take on, with my predictions (for what they’re worth):
- Local handgun bans: no chance of surviving.
- Whether lethal injections are a humane form of execution: the majority will say, “Yes.”
- Trying prisoners before military commissions: the Bush administration will lose on a close one.

Keeping it in the Courts, it’s been nearly sixteen months since Washoe County (Reno) Judge Weller was wounded with a high-powered rifle and the body of Charla Mack was discovered stabbed to death in her house. The chief and only suspect, her husband Darren, finally goes on trial for these crimes. If an impartial jury cannot be seated in Reno, the Las Vegan judge overseeing the whole mess will move it to Clark County, delaying proceedings several more weeks. This is a speedy trial system?

Bummer. Lois Maxwell of 007 fame passed away. She gave a face to a legion of women pining away for a man they’ll never have. Darn shame that being called Miss Moneypenny is an insult because she was a classy lady in her day.

As a Cubs fan, I’m used to the heartache of losing the close and not-so-close ones and spending October watching other teams, but in this flip-flop season, the Cubs are still in it and the Mets are going home? Willie Randolph is a good baseball dude, but he’s gotta be thinking about cleaning out his office today. I bet smart baseball managers and coaches probably can fit their personal office stuff in a shoebox because they know they’re hired to be fired. What a strange business.

In the meantime…

We’re all getting closer to the weekend where we do the work we choose versus the work we’re told to do. Myself, I’ll be buried in the usual school stuff and trying to talk myself into exercise. It ain’t so bad, considering the ongoing wars, freedom demonstrations, and such. Life could be a lot less boring.

The Nobel Peace Prize is coming out next month and rumor is the winner will be a prominent American politician. Not unheard of since Jimmy Carter won in our lifetime and two sitting presidents received it for their roles in international diplomacy (T. Roosevelt and Wilson). Will winning the prize bring Al Gore into the 2008 presidential race? And will it really make a difference? I predict he’ll stay out of it because Al does not want to be remembered as the guy that lost two heartbreaking presidential races.

Since we’re on the Slate truck, they recently published an article for Hillary’s rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. The author came up with some ideas to derail her “March to the Sea” that include focusing on her relationships to lobbyists, prove that she’s divisive versus inclusive, and mentioning that 250-pound monkey on her back known as Bill. The most realistic of these, barring last-minute pictures of her canoodling with Osama bin Laden (ew), is the first bullet: Give In and start working on gaining a cabinet post now, Mr. Secretary.

Here’s a duh: more people are riding bicycles (except yours truly :(). Biking manufacturers are creating urban versions that can carry more baggage, have less gears, and made for urban travel. The first brands will probably cost two or three thousand, then the companies will get clued in and start offering much cheaper models. Maybe then I’ll get back on it.

Here’s one for The Bride: Happy Birthday to her favorite Hardy Boy. Shaun Cassidy is 49 today.

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article over the weekend talking about the Doolittle Raid over Japan in 1942 and they interviewed Frank Kappeler, one of the eight survivors of the original 80 flyers. Since you’re probably too busy to read the article, here it is in a nutshell: the volunteers were told they had a 50-50 chance of surviving a “very dangerous mission.” They flew Army bombers off Navy aircraft carriers and bombed parts of Japan, and those who survived that had to bail out over China. Some of those who crashed in Japan were executed and some were lost at sea. Most of those who made it back to America got back in the war, including Frank. He flew 50 more combat missions and served in the Korean War. We talk of the “Greatest Generation” that helped create the best country in history, but sometimes the individual stories get lost in this day of information overflow. (Coincidentally, the leader of the flight, Jimmy Doolittle, died fourteen years ago today.)

Another story showing how naive I am about some things: I always believed the child’s safety and health was supposed to be a family court judge’s first consideration when placing a child. Wrong. Nevada judges used to have wide discretion on the issue and could, given circumstances, return a child to a dangerous situation if he/she felt adequate steps were in place to oversee the family. This happened in Las Vegas a few years ago. After he was placed in his father’s house, the young child found a gun and accidentally killed himself. This happened after the judge told the father to get rid of the weapons. The Nevada Supreme Court told judges this week to get over themselves and laid down the law: “The district court’s primary focus should remain on the child’s best interest.” Why did it take them this long to get it on paper?

The Patriot Act continues its slow trip to the Supreme Court (I’m guessing 2009ish, after the current administration is gone) and parts of it continues to fail the test of precedence. A federal judge in Portland said it’s okay for the government to wiretap to ferret out bad guys by means of intelligence gathering, but they can’t use it as a means to gather criminal evidence. I’m slow on these things but if there’s a radical bombmaker in the U.S. planning to blow up something, isn’t that illegal? Or is that the kind of thinking the FBI was using to justify their actions? It’s a tough balance between safety and security of the country versus individual personal freedoms, but that’s why we pay the judges to make the tough calls. Given the fact the FBI is being continuously criticized for its actions and overzealousness, it seems to me warrentless wiretapping is sanctioned lawlessness and should end now.

Thinking about adding a new category for my views on the relationships between Women and Men. Trying to come up with a catchy phrase, and “Venus and Mars” has been played into the ground. Ideas welcomed.

Got to mulling at lunch…

Y’all know that I teach at medium- and minimum-level security prisons here in beautiful Carson City.

If O.J. Simpson is convicted of this latest series of felonies and is sentenced appropriately, he’ll probably get a short sentence behind bars (probably time served) and extended probation. If he’s incarcerated any longer, I’d get a good chuckle if he did time in Carson. Double the punishment, you know.

Photo Source: The Smoking Gun

On the other hand, he’s got a good record of evading felony convictions, doesn’t he? And he’s taking better mug shots nowadays.

Time to add a new blog category: Crime.