Lincolnite

Apologies to those who are bored by the topic, but I think it's too late to stop providing updates now. The latest:

It has now emerged that Mr de Menezes:

• was never properly identified because a police officer was relieving himself at the very moment he was leaving his home;
• was unaware he was being followed;
• was not wearing a heavy padded jacket or belt as reports at the time suggested;
• never ran from the police;
• and did not jump the ticket barrier.

But the revelation that will prove most uncomfortable for Scotland Yard was that the 27-year-old electrician had already been restrained by a surveillance officer before being shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. ... A man sitting opposite him is quoted as saying: "Within a few seconds I saw a man coming into the double doors to my left. He was pointing a small black handgun towards a person sitting opposite me. He pointed the gun at the right hand side of the man's head. The gun was within 12 inches of the man's head when the first shot was fired."

I will be playing with several different pieces of the website over the next couple days. You may have already noticed that the blog archives are now available (Hint: look in the column on the right). Other changes will be coming as well. My apologies for any hiccups as I play around with a few things.

Yesterday I blogged about the shooting of Jean Charles Menezes, and the questions surrounding his death. Today I came across an article with information I hadn't seen before. Specifically:

By 10am that morning, elite firearms officers were provided with what they describe as "positive identification"... [Mr. Menezes] started running when we saw a tube at the platform. Police HAD [sic] agreed they would shoot a suspect if he ran.

That information is nowhere near enough to exonerate the cops who murdered him, but it is the only bit of information I've seen so far that gives even the tiniest bit of justification for killing an innocent man.

Go ahead, admit it. You're planning to watch Tommy Lee Goes to College tonight at 8:00pm. Oh sure, you claim that you're just watching it to see if you see somebody you know. But I know the truth. You want to watch it. It's ok; it doesn't make you a bad person. Unless you order the DVD version of the show. That would be pretty weird.

Researchers are working on a way to grow meat in a laboratory, hoping to eventually develop an alternative to farm-raised meat. The hope is that the lab-grown meat -- frankenmeat, if you will -- will be healthier (because its nutrition characteristics can be controlled), safer (no mad cow), more consistent, cheaper, less offensive to ethical vegetarians, and so on. Many people say "Eww! That's gross! I would never eat 'fake' meat!" Yeah, but you'll eat meat that's crawling with bacteria and was once attached to an animal's ass, where it was covered in crap for years. Anyway, I would love to give frankenmeat a try. I think it's an awesome idea, in principle, and I can't wait to see how it works out. Imagine the possibilities for feeding poverty-stricken populations. The first time they have a taste test at my local Hy-Vee, I'm there.

Illinois Man Says Rabbit Saved His Wife

Murphy's obstetrician, Dr. Anita Pinc, credits the rabbit with telling Ed Murphy "Wake up, wake up. Something is wrong with your wife."

This is all so familiar...

Yet again, the Lincoln City Council has come up with a new way to top itself. The Lincoln Journal Star reports this morning that the Council was "distracted" and "failed to ask the right questions" when it approved pay raises last December for M class employees. My major complaints:

• This stuff happens all the time. The Lincoln City Council is notorious for not thinking things through. Councilman Jon Camp said he wants "to resolve any doubt and make sure the information is accurate." Why weren't doubts resolved and information checked in the first place?
• The City refused to give salary study information to the Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA). When LIBA conducted its own study, LIBA could not confirm many of the City's numbers. Governments should not be in the habit of hiding public information from the public.

Even if it turns out that the City did everything right in this situation, they will have done it in spite of themselves. Any time Council members admit incompetence and the City refuses to divulge information (which is contradicted by other sources), the public rightly wonder what the heck is going on. This is yet another example of why Lincolnites ought to be ashamed of our leadership. We should do better.

I have never been to the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. I have thought about going to a couple shows there, but not being an "artsy film" kind of guy, I have stayed away. Now I'm thinking about going sometime between September 16 and September 29. The film I want to see? The Aristocrats. I think the fact that I really want to see that film officially makes me a twisted SOB. Anybody want to make a wager on what proportion of the moviegoers walk out before the end?

First New London, Connecticut, convinces the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize the theft of private property. Now, New London wants the plaintiffs in Kelo v. New London to pay back rent on the land the city claimed back in 2000. Plus, New London only plans to pay the landowners the "fair market value" -- a scam in itself, since New London only plans to pay what its assessors determine to be the "fair market value," not what the market determines to be the fair market value -- of the property as it was in 2000. Some victims could lose tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Two questions: First, if the city is demanding back rent, aren't the victims entitled to interest on the payments the city has not yet made? Second, if the land is worth so much -- one landowner may have to pay approximately $6,100 per month in back rent -- how could it have been considered "blighted," and thus subject to government sanctioned property theft eminent domain in the first place?

Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by London police shortly after the second (botched) tube bombings last month. The police say it was a reasonable mistake. de Menezes was wearing a light jacket, not the heavy, weather-inappropriate jacket initially claimed by witnesses; he didn't jump the turnstile, he entered the tube legally and calmly; he wasn't wearing a belt with wires protruding, he didn't have his electrician's belt with him that day; he was shot in the head, seven times, after having been pinned to the ground; and none of this was caught on any of the several cameras in the area because, by freak coincidence, they were all out of order. The Observer asks many relevant questions including, why did plainclothes officers shoot young Jean Charles de Menezes seven times in the head, thinking he posed a terror threat? Somebody has some 'splainin' to do.

I have a not-so-hypothetical question for you all. Gas prices are climbing, that's no secret. How high will they have to climb before you make substantial changes to your lifestyle, either by force or by choice? What will those changes entail? I don't plan to make many changes, regardless of the price of gas. Being a Star Tran user I hardly drive my own vehicle, which can go well over a month on a single tank of gas. Driving around the region to officiate soccer and baseball games could get pricey. Colleges pay mileage, so their games aren't a problem. For games at other levels I would just need to decide how far I'm willing to drive before demanding a raise. The Missus drives about 70 miles each weekday, so we'll take a hit there. But fortunately her car gets reasonable gas mileage. Beyond that, well, I suppose we'll take vacations closer to home. But we don't take very many vacations, so that is hardly an issue. Flights to the in-laws' place in Albuquerque will likely become more expensive, but the in-laws pay for or subsidize The Missus's tickets and I only go once per year (or less). In short, we are situated pretty well. For now. Knock on wood. Update: Prices could be worse!

The Missus had to report to work today for the first day of school. With class sizes hovering around 30 (and likely to increase) and a crop of new students described as "the class from hell," she has her work cut out for her. On the plus side, at least she'll get a raise this fall since she has completed a certain number of graduate credits (15?) on her way to her Masters.

Turn up the volume, sit back, and pray that you don't see yourself in this montage.

The LJS apparently loves hybrid vehicles so much they decided to print an article about them twice in Sunday's paper. I shouldn't be surprised. The Sunday paper is quickly approaching 0% content/100% advertisements. That the LJS would print the same article twice on the same day is pretty consistent with the overall quality of the Sunday rag.

There was an interesting article in the LJS today about the rivalry between the "Gourmet Grill" and "Ali Baba's" on the corner of 14th and O. It was nice to get some comprehensive history on these two joints so kudos to the LJS for this one. I should add, I can chime in a bit on a few of the issues/observations raised in the article: 1) It is also my observation that Naqib isn't exactly the friendliest guy in the world. He could learn a lot from George in this respect (or for that matter George's main helper - the guy who always looks like he just rolled out of bed). 2) Although Naqib may not be so personable, his brother and nephew are actually really nice guys. And 3) - you heard it here folks: not sure if this is provable or not - but it is rumored that the GG uses Kronos gyro meat products (ie known for that ubiquitous "smiling woman" poster) whereas Ali Baba's uses Grecian Delight. Having known others in the fast food greek/mideast grill type industry, it is well known in that community that Grecian Delight is the superior (and more expensive) gyro meat than Kronos, and the distinguishing diner can tell. Which is why I go to Ali Baba's regularly and prefer it to the Gourmet Grill. But beyond gyros - the grilled chicken kabobs are the best - and ask them to use tandoori seasoning as well on it.