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The Millionaire’s Wife: The True Story of a Real Estate Tycoon, his Beautiful Mistress, and a Marriage that Ended in Murder

Jun 18, 2012 - by Cathy Scott

June 18, 2012 Special to Crime Magazine

The Millionaire’s Wife: The True Story of a Real Estate Tycoon, his Beautiful Mistress, and a Marriage that Ended in Murder by Cathy Scott

An excerpt from The Millionaire’s Wife: The True Story of a Real Estate Tycoon, his Beautiful Mistress, and a Marriage that Ended in Murder by Cathy Scott. (St. Martin’s Press True Crime Library, March, 2012.)

by Cathy Scott

Chapter 1: A Cool Manhattan Morning

A light rain fell over Manhattan on a weekday morning like any other. But life can change on a dime, and that’s exactly what happened as middle-aged business tycoon George Kogan hurried back to his ultra-chic Upper East Side apartment with a bag of groceries on each arm in anticipation of breakfasting at home with his young lover. The late morning of Tuesday, October 23, 1990, turned out to be anything but a typical day in the city.

On the busy sidewalk, George, who’d recently celebrated his 49th birthday, turned the corner onto East Sixty-ninth Street and headed toward his mid-block building, between Second and Third. As he hurried down the tree-lined street, he didn't notice anything unusual other than the cool morning temperature.

He continued walking toward the canopied entrance to the co-op where he’d lived for the last two years with Mary-Louise Hawkins, a 28-year-old rising star in the public relations world. Across the street, carpenters noisily worked on the new Trump Palace high-rise apartment building. A few blocks away, Central Park was alive with pedestrians, bicyclists, and joggers as they coursed through the park's major arteries to their destinations in New York City, where the drone of urban traffic awaited them. George enjoyed walking the neighborhood. He’d lose himself in the bustling sights and sounds of the city. And this day was no different.

Walking from the neighborhood Food Emporium, he looked forward to spending the late morning with Mary-Louise. Quiet breakfasts were how their relationship had moved from platonic to romantic, and they especially appreciated those moments. Plus, George was anxious to prepare for an afternoon meeting with his son, William, who was acting as mediator to nail down an agreeable divorce settlement with George’s estranged wife, Barbara, and bring to a conclusion the marriage that in essence had ended two years earlier.

As George headed home that morning, William telephoned his father’s apartment to confirm their afternoon appointment. Mary-Louise told him she'd have George return the call when he arrived home from the store. George was optimistic about the settlement and finally getting the lengthy divorce behind him, so he and Mary-Louise could move on with their life together. Also uppermost in George’s mind was settling the divorce to help repair the damaged relationship he’d had with William, who sided with his mother after his parents’ separation.

As George continued his walk home, the usual cast of characters was out and about: nannies pushing babies in strollers, residents leaving their high-rises to walk their dogs, business people hurrying to the subway entrance just steps away. George, distracted with the nagging thought of the afternoon meeting, quickened his pace when his limestone building came into view.

He lived in the heartbeat of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, once called the Silk Stocking District, so named for the attire worn by the rich people who had once lived there. Long gone was the 19th-century farmland, as well as market and garden districts that once peppered the area. Left were skyscrapers, rows of stylish townhouses, mansions, and the occasional walk-up apartment building.

For a millionaire antiques and art dealer who once had interests in a casino and several properties in Puerto Rico and New York, George lived a surprisingly modest life on New York’s well-to-do Upper East Side, broadly defined as the area from Fifty-ninth to Ninety-sixth streets, east of Central Park. His living quarters with Mary-Louise Hawkins were definitely nice, although small, with just one bedroom and a marbled-bath washroom. And while the apartment had a prestigious address with the coveted 10021 zip code in a luxurious high-rise complex, it was not quite up to elite level of Fifth Avenue, which serves as the symbol of wealthy New York, and where George once lived with his now-estranged wife Barbara. Still, he admired the high-end building that housed his current apartment.

The Upper East Side has a legacy of outstanding eclectic architectures, including George’s pre-war apartment. The façade of his co-op, a mix of limestone and beige brick, created a grand entrance with its surround and above-the-door stone molding, with tall arched relief details and shallow columns on either side and carved Renaissance-style capitals. Above that was a heavy, stately ornamental stone molding. The variety of styles added a touch of grace and grandeur of a bygone era. As a connoisseur of fine antiques, George appreciated the artistry that went into the face of the building and enjoyed walking through the double-glass doorway, framed in oak, with its etched Art Deco design. What George could not know was that he would never again walk through that entryway, and the anticipated meeting with his son and his soon-to-be ex-wife to finalize the divorce, was not to be. What happened next, he never saw coming.

As he neared the entrance to his Sixty-ninth Street apartment, his face flushed from the damp morning air, what he heard next was startling. It sounded "What the-‐-‐?" George cried out a nanosecond later, when it dawned on him what the noise really was. It was the distinct sound of gunfire.

No, no, no! he said to himself, then, Mary-Louise!

The force of the bullets entering George’s back thrust him into a forward dive and catapulted him into the air; he landed in a skid on the rain-soaked concrete. He was face down just yards from his apartment. Seconds felt like minutes.

Coins, bills, and groceries – a carton of eggs, a slab of kosher cheese, a bottle of milk, pieces of fresh fruit – tumbled to the ground, along with George. Sprawled on the sidewalk next to the wall, with his arms stretched out in front of him amidst scattered groceries and money, George lifted his head and cried out, "Help me!"

The gunman stood a few feet from George. Out of the corner of his eye, the shooter, who showed no emotion, saw someone move. He quickly turned his attention from George toward a woman stepping out of a car parked at the curb. The two locked eyes, and then the assailant, with a cold, determined confidence, turned and hurried away on foot. He looked down and returned the black revolver, still in his left hand, to his waistband, hiding it under his jacket. Then he hurried up the sidewalk.

The shooter fled the scene as quickly as he had entered it. He headed a half-block west on East Sixty-ninth Street to Third Avenue before rounding the corner, turning right, and disappearing into a stream of pedestrians on the crowded sidewalk as he headed north. When the gunman was a safe distance away, he stepped toward the next pay phone he came across and placed a local call.

"It's done," the assassin said into the receiver. He hung up the phone and again disappeared into the morning pedestrian traffic.

Back at Sixty-ninth, lying flat on the concrete, his face ashen and his body alarmingly still, George called out once more. He tried to get up, but it felt as if an undeniable force held him down. He tried shifting his weight, but that didn't work either. Immobilized except for his head, George Kogan rested the side of his face on the cold, wet sidewalk. He felt the light wind against his forehead.

Dark water stains below the air conditioners at each apartment window in George’s building marred the exterior marble walls and portions of the concrete sidewalk below, where George lay bleeding.

He was alone. But not for long.

He tried once again to lift his head when he heard footsteps approach. Bystanders stood over him. He was confused. Just then, George heard a familiar voice.

"George! What is it? What happened? Why are you –“ trailed Moses Crespo’s voice as he viewed with horror the gunshot wounds on George’s back and the blood seeping through his red T-shirt. Moses, who worked as a door attendant at George’s building, knelt next to him, stretched out on the damp concrete. He asked what had happened.

"I've been shot," George said. To Moses, George seemed calm. Almost too calm. He was in obvious shock. “Who did this?” Moses asked. “I don’t-- I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone.”

“Relax. Don’t worry, George. I’ll be right back,” Moses said, adding, “Is there anything else?”

“Can you get Mary-Louise? I want – I want to speak to her.” George told him. “Okay,” Moses said, then, “You will be all right. We are going to get help.”

"I'm dying," George uttered as Moses hurried away, first to call 911 and then to summon George’s girlfriend, Mary-Louise Hawkins.

Within a few long minutes, Mary-Louise walked through the lobby door expecting, per Moses’ request, to talk to George. Instead, she found her boyfriend lying on the damp sidewalk in a pool of blood. As she stood under the canopy taking in the scene a few feet from her, Mary-Louise became unglued.

“She went hysterical, screaming and jumping,” Moses said. “People had to restrain her.” That awful sight, George lying helpless, was what would stay with Mary-Louise, plus the fact that she and George did not get to say goodbye to each other. In the short time that had elapsed since Moses found him, her boyfriend of two years was already slipping in and out of unconsciousness.

Moses would be the last person to speak with George. At that moment, Moses’s mind was racing. He did not know what to think. He remembered George, a few months earlier, asking him not to accept any deliveries for him and not to confirm with anyone that he lived at the building.

Moses also wracked his brain trying to figure out why he had not heard the shots. Even though he had been in the lobby at the time of the shooting, he had not heard the gunfire. He had not known anything was amiss until a housekeeper ran to the door, pounding on it to be let in. Then Moses realized why he hadn’t immediately noticed the shots: Across the street, at 200 East Sixty-ninth Street, construction workers pounded away, literally, on the Trump Plaza, a luxury condominium complex that, at 55 stories, would be the tallest building at the time in Upper Manhattan. Each weekday during construction, workers used air-powered nail guns to build the high-rise.

But the pop, pop, pop Moses thought was from the construction site was in reality the sound of gunfire as an executioner opened fire on George Kogan’s back.

Chapter 7: The Hospital

At the sidewalk, an ambulance arrived with three paramedics, who knelt down to help George Kogan. Just a few minutes had passed since George had been gunned down, yet the street was already bedlam.

Paramedics, to get to the victim, had to break through the crowd and clear a path so they could begin their work on George. They immediately checked the 49-year-old for vital signs. They then covered him with a blanket to keep him warm. Within minutes, they called the physician on duty at New York Hospital’s emergency room.

“He’s breathing and semi-conscious,” a medic said. They put an oxygen mask on his face, which covered George’s nose and mouth, as they prepared him for the short trip to the hospital. They didn’t see any slugs on the sidewalk. While medics could not fully assess the damage of the gunshot wounds because of all the blood, they assumed they were massive, especially since the bullets and fragments no doubt remained in his body. They knew they needed to get him to the hospital, and stat. Paramedics prepared to transport George to the hospital, where a team headed by a surgeon would spend the next six hours trying to save him.

While Kogan wasn’t completely unconscious, he could no longer speak, and his skin was ashen. He was slipping into a coma, making Moses Crespo the last person to speak with George. “The ambulance medics picked him up on a gurney and took him away,” Crespo said. “That was the end of it.”

At least that was the end of it at 205 East 69th Street. Meanwhile, one medic carried the oxygen tank while the other wheeled George on a gurney to the rear of the ambulance. One stayed by George’s side inside the ambulance as the door closed. The driver flipped on the sirens and lights and rushed the five-block, two-minute route to New York Hospital at 525 East 68th Street. The driver pulled up next to the curb, and waiting emergency personnel rushed outside to the ambulance as the medics rolled George Kogan’s gurney into the emergency room. George had remained unconscious throughout the short ride to the hospital.

Once they assessed him, a team of attendants and a physician prepared him for surgery. Dr. Michael Marano needed to stop the bleeding and see if he could remove the bullets and fragments. George’s wounds were life-threatening, and he was placed on the critical list.

For the next six hours, Marano and the medical team worked on George. One of the high-caliber slugs had gone straight through his body, entering Kogan’s back and exiting his chest. Doctors were able to remove one of the bullets lodged in his chest. But one remained. He suffered from penetrating injuries and ballistic trauma with massive blood loss. Once they went into surgery, which lasted four hours, they discovered that one of the bullets had punched a hole in George’s heart.

As word of the shooting spread, friends and family gathered at the hospital. A woman at the scene, in the apartment lobby, asked Mary-Louise for her parents’ phone number and then called her mom for her.

While George was taken to the hospital, Mary-Louise returned to her apartment and called George’s sister, Myrna Borus. “She was hysterical, screaming, and I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, and I had to slow her down, because I didn’t know what she was talking about,” Borus would say. But she did pick out from that conversation that Mary-Louise was about to leave for the hospital. “She told me which hospital, and I ran over,” Borus noted.

Mary-Louise acknowledged, after seeing George on the sidewalk, that she “panicked, screamed, ran. I was grabbed back into the building because everybody was sort of unsure what was happening and didn’t know if I was going to be next, or what, so I just panicked.” Mary-Louise had no recollection of what she’d said that morning. “There were people sort of gawking, and there were a couple of people who worked in the building, but I don’t remember anything else,” she said.

Mary-Louise, accompanied by a doorman, took a cab to the hospital. Once there, she called Billy, then Scott. She told police she also called George’s lawyers. One by one, family arrived to at the hospital and sat visit, including Myrna and her daughter, along with Mary-Louise’s parents and George and Barbara’s son Billy.

Once at the hospital, Billy called his mother. But Barbara didn’t pick up the phone in her Fifth Avenue apartment.

“Mom, Dad’s been shot. He’s in the hospital. They’re going to operate,” said a tearful William in his voice message to his mother. Then he assured her he would keep her informed. But he also asked her to meet him at the hospital. He also told her that Mary-Louise was there too.

Billy, beside himself, tried calling his mother again, but her answering machine picked up. Barbara eventually returned his call, but she still remained at home. “She never came to the hospital,” Billy’s aunt, Myrna Borus, said, “but she kept calling.”

“Mom, maybe you should come,” Billy told her.

“I don’t think I should go, what with Mary-Louise there, Billy,” she said. “It might be uncomfortable.”

The decision not to visit her dying husband would come back to haunt Barbara and be used against her. She would later reveal to a newspaper that she’d been at home distressed and “screaming.” Her divorce attorney, George Golub, when reached by a newspaper, said Barbara couldn’t go to the hospital because she was in fear for her life because a gunman was still on the loose and she too could be a target. “She wanted to be there at the end. Just because you are divorcing someone doesn’t mean you don’t still have feelings for them,” the attorney told the Post. When police wouldn’t provide Barbara armed protection at the hospital, “So I told her she shouldn’t leave the apartment,” Golub said. “She was very upset that she couldn’t be there. I’m very worried about her safety and the safety of the family. We don’t know who did this or where they could be.”

Hospital officials would later say they’d contacted Barbara several times, pleading with her to visit the hospital, because George wasn’t doing well and it could be the last time she’d be able to see him. Despite their pleas, Barbara stayed home.

Thus, prominently missing from George’s hospital bed was his estranged wife, who lived in the Olympic Tower at 641 Fifth Avenue, just a mile-and-three-quarters from the hospital in Midtown Center. She could have easily caught a cab and been there in a matter of minutes. Still, Barbara stayed in her apartment.

At 11:38 a.m., about an hour and a half after the shooting, Barbara called her parents, Rose and Emanuel Siegel, at their home in Puerto Rico. The phone records showed it was a short conversation.

Barbara also called an unnamed friend who visited her at her apartment. Barbara had asked her friend to comb out her hair, in preparation for a trip to the hospital, just in case Barbara decided to go. The friend, it turned out, was a hairdresser.

A couple hours after arriving, Mary-Louise left the hospital briefly to go home, take a shower, change her clothes, and return to the waiting-room vigil, waiting with George’s family for word from doctors about George’s condition.

Then, Barbara in the late afternoon received a final call from the hospital. The news was grave. Her husband had passed away, just after 4 p.m., a hospital official told her. Doctors tried to revive him, but they were unsuccessful. They did what they could, but with injuries and damage to his liver, lungs, and heart, George had been bleeding internally and they could not stop the hemorrhaging.

Six hours after the shooting, at about 4 p.m., October 23, after two surgeries and the efforts of a medical team that tried to save him, doctors officially pronounced George H. Kogan as dead in the ICU’s recovery room. Once Kogan had died, his case instantly became a homicide investigation instead of an attempted murder.

But those at the hospital had not yet been told he’d passed away, and waited for word. His sister, Myrna, remembered it in detail. “They told us to sit somewhere and wait and that they would tell us,” she said. “And by the time I went screaming to ask what was going on, it had been an hour that he had passed away and they didn’t tell me anything.”

Instead, Barbara, still officially George’s wife and the immediate next of kin, was the first to be told. The news would drift out to George’s other family members, as well as to Mary-Louise, but only after it was obvious, from the doctors’ and nurses’ demeanor toward the family, that George’s status had changed. His family members and Mary-Louise Hawkins, at the hospital together in the waiting room, were stunned not only that he’d been shot, but, now, that he was dead. They tried to console each other.

In the meantime, about an hour and a half later, at 5:30 p.m., Barbara dialed her good friend Dawna Cole, who at the time lived in Norwich, New York. Barbara, Dawna said, was hysterical and wasn’t making sense. Dawna was surprised when Barbara asked if she knew the name of the attorney who had represented their mutual friend, Luann Fratt, after Fratt killed her husband and was prosecuted for the crime. Fratt, with her attorney using a self-defense strategy, was later acquitted.

“Do you know who her lawyer was,” Barbara asked Dawna, “in case I need one?”

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Post  Soteria Hunter on Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:56 am

A female trainer, in her teens, entered the Lab. She had long brown hair, which was in a low ponytail at the moment, and bright blue eyes that was filled with excitement. She was finally able to begin her journey as a Ranger/Breeder. She had to think for a while, on the way to the Lab, on what she will like to do and those two stick to her mind. She smiled when she saw her choice of Pokemon and decided to start with Snivy. A male that she named Apollo. She also hope that he had a brave nature and she wondered if she will get a female to help her on her quest at becoming a breeder. Once she made her choice she went over to where she saw Professor Crimson and said, "Hey Professor Crimson I would like to start with male Snivy with a brave nature and I'm going to call him Apollo, also, I'm going to be a Ranger/Breeder." She didn't want to ask if she could have a female to go with Apollo because she didn't want to sound greedy. She will let the Professor decide if she will give her another Pokemon that is female to help her along with her breeding quest.
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Monday, October 3, 2011

Monday Blues

(Shirt: American Eagle, Jeans and Boots: Target, Scarf: Ross)

After such a great and busy weekend, it always stuck to have to come back to work on a Monday. I sometimes wish I could have an extra day every week to just catch up on things. But no such luck. Today though I am excited to participate again in the Two Birds Inspiration Monday. I planned this outfit this weekend got cool enough weather to wear it on Friday. It's based off Audrina's look and it was casual and comfy at the same time.

  1. HAppy monday! Yes, this look is so you too, shirt and boots thing. I like your addition of the purple scarf. So chic! You're very good at scarfs, looks really effortless!

  2. i agree with mongs, you are great with scarves. i always feel like mine look a little off when i wear one. this outfit is great. comfy and casual, yet still put together. my favorite type of look to try and pull off. and you did!

  3. cute boots you have on! very casual and chic outfit!

  4. great outfit on you, i love the contrast of your shirt and scarf

  5. GlamKitten88October 03, 2011

    I love the scarf!! It's such a cute addition. I do this all the time.
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

  6. Tammy @ silverstyleOctober 03, 2011

    Hi and nice to meet you. Your scarf is beautiful! If you have time stop by. I have a link up and it's all about boots!

  7. That striped scarf is adorable and I love the purple scarf!


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Friday, January 20, 2012

The "It" List 1/20/12

Happy Friday!
Take some time to warm up this weekend and check out these awesome links!

  • gs lillian says "yes" to the sweater skirt.  She seriously rocks this look and has me wanting a sweater skirt for myself! (find gs lillian on twitter!)
  • rachael, really makes "four eyes" look impossibly chic. Go check out her new glasses and fabulous  red shoes! (find rachael, really on twitter!)
  • the tiemann girls are crushing on Essie's new spring nail colors!  And because they are loving them so much they are giving some away!  Check out their little giveaway.
  • suze wears clothes is winter-chic, which is a common theme here today! I love her cozy winter look! (find suze wears clothes on twitter!)
  • fabulously average is rocking one of my favorite dresses (which happens to be on super sale right now!) while in Florida.  This look is gorgeous on her! (find fabulously average on twitter!)
  • free to be stacia lee is keeping warm in bright pink! I love bold colors like this for winter, it makes the grey days bearable!
  • my soul is the sky found the perfect red lipstick!  Find out where she bought it and see how it looks on her (hint: very pretty!). (find my soul is the sky on twitter!)
  • the capital barbie is crushing on grape-hues.  And how fabulous is this handbag in purple? You will love the price too! (find the capital barbie on twitter!)
  • what the frock has a fun celebrity copycat look featuring Kristen Bell. I love this outfit for Valentines or a fun date night! (find what the frock on twitter!)
  • live a lot has another fun winter look - she went without tights, but if it's cooler where you are, just add tights!  Check out her look.
  • here and now is sporting winter white! I absolutely love this look if you have the guts to pull it off - I'm glad here and now reminded me how fun this is! (find here and now on twitter!)
  • behind the dressing room door takes us into the dressing room again for another fun "try on" session. I am loving this unique top that is long in the back and short in the front! Cute! (find behind the dressing room door on twitter!)
  • sweetie pie style found these super fun crocheted flats from The Sak that are so bright and fun for spring!  Check out more styles on her blog as well. (find sweetie pie style on twitter!)
  • a fashion fixation is rocking one of my favorite trends that was here and then gone and is now back! Boyfriend jeans.  Check out how she styles them! (find a fashion fixation on twitter!)
the IT list is produced weekly by jill of good life, for information on how you can be involved - click here!

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Monday, December 9, 2013

The Buddy System

A long, long, long time ago, a very wise young man gave you a very valuable life lesson: Make friends with your server. What that dashing, slightly tipsy gent didn't do is give you a long list of steps to take to make that happen. Thankfully, the folks at Thrillist are here to pick up where that other guy left off.

How to Become Your Bartender's Favorite Customer
Order simple when things get hectic
Even if the bartender designed the cocktail menu, he’ll be grateful if you ask for a beer or whiskey instead of an 8-ingredient masterpiece.

Handle your people when they get out of hand
If someone you brought in starts instigating fights, grabbing asses, etc, get them to stop, or get them to leave. Don’t wait for the bartender or bouncer to step in. Their first move’s gonna be to ask you to handle it, because you’re in a better position to calm your boy with words instead of judo.

Offer your bartender the right shot, for the right reasons
The right attitude’s “I know you’re working, but it’d be awesome if you joined us”, not “Screw your job, hop on our party train!”. Also, offer them their preferred shot, not yours; and remember that a shot is never a substitute for a tip.
Check out the full list, as it's full of great do's and don'ts, the latter of which I see less-practiced bargoers exhibit time and time again.

Oh, and while we're at it; the fourth tip on the list?

That aforementioned dashing gent invented this back in 2005. Where are my his damn royalties?

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Monday, January 20, 2014

Social Drinking Excellence: Michelle Rodriguez

This being a Rummy post is purely due to TJ's laziness.

He found this first. He could write, if he bothered to try anymore (#shotsfired). And he absolutely loves M-Rod, meaning this was meant to be a "Wifey Material" post if ever he was to post one.

But instead he's left it to me. I don't really care one way or the other about Rodriguez (she seems cool, but never wowed me physically). Which means she's getting straight clowned in this post. (Just remember it's your own fault, TJ.)

From Deadspin:
The Knicks' 89-85 victory over the Pistons last night was less a basketball game than a war of attrition waged by two armies that can't shoot straight. So what's a celebrity like Michelle Rodriguez supposed to do while sitting courtside at such a miserable sporting event? Get shitfaced, obviously.

The New York Post, which has its own gallery of photos of Rodriguez, reports that the actress spent most of the night boozing and vapin' on an e-cig, which is never a bad way to spend an evening.
Start the clock...
  1. Even though I may not be as big a fan of M-Rod as TJ, I obviously still consider her an attractive woman. But her an ugly drunk. Madonne. She looks like a homeless man. A homeless man taking a shit. A homeless man taking a shit on all you love and cherish.
  2. I've been badly drunk when in the presence of a ladyfriend before, but those ladyfriends were never Victoria's Secret models. All I'm saying is, if Michelle still holds any traction with Cara, her tongue game must be exquisite.
  3. ...Respect.
  4. If you're a cop giving her a breathalyzer test, does the device read "point-ohhh yeahhhhh"...
  5. There may not be a celeb who's built up more of a "Fuck you, I do what I want" persona on a smaller resume. Rodriguez has had some good roles, but anymore she's really just another Fast & the Furious cartoon character. The whole "rebel without a cause" shtick works better when the person invoking it has the star power for it all not to matter. To put it in perspective, Rodriguez's I'm-drunk-and-fuck-you behavior is like Geno Smith smacking Giselle Bundchen's ass in front of Tom Brady at a Pro Bowl presser.
  6. Not that I'm a fan of Brady. Or Giselle. Or the Pro Bowl.
  7. The e-cigs kind of undercut that whole gangsta demeanor, don't they? You're basically saying you're as tough as Stephen Dorff.
  8. You know, looking back, I'm really off base here. Obviously Michelle uses a strap-on, not her tongue.
  9. ...Respect.
  10. Based on the fact that she seems so nonplussed throughout all of the photos from this night, can we assume that Cara Delevingne might be the more likely sexual deviant here? It's easy to picture Michelle as a "top," but given her state and Cara seemingly being okay with it, is it possible that Rodriguez awoke in the middle of the night with her, uh...ahem...face being used as a hippity-hop?
M-Rod, here's your Rummy. There's a recent picture of TJ included, so your personal security and the local police can be properly prepared.

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Mike's Blog Round Up

CQPolitics: You don't forget that your mother sued your ex-wife--unless your mind is going.

uggabugga: WaPo B.S.

GOPnot4me: Nebraska rethugs follow the playbook.

American Torture: Physicians, Psychologists and "The Dark Side"

The Opinion Mill's Sunday Bookchat asks: Will the credibility of a major publishing house be the last casualty of the Bush administration? Will a list of books make you a better citizen? Will Hanif Kureishi finally get the recognition he deserves? Will Ron Suskind be the reporter who finally gets the impeachment ball rolling?

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: moose & squirrel, one good move, Walled-In Pond, The Whole American Hog

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service (revised 3/17/2016) for information on our posting policy.


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NFL's New Tougher Stance On Domestic Abuse After Ray Rice Debacle

After being caught with their pants down and egg all over their faces after their most lenient penalty towards Ray Rice knocking his girlfriend out cold in an elevator, the NFL has revised it's domestic abuse policy and apologized for their actions. After refusing vociferously that his decision to only suspend Ray Rice was just, Roger Goodell turned around and took full responsibility for his actions. Let's face it, if we didn't raise holy hell about it, Goodell would have went about his business as if nothing had happened.

NY Times:

In a rare mea culpa, N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday that he had mishandled the Ray Rice case, in which the Baltimore Ravens running back was suspended for two games after being accused of assaulting his fiancée.

The suspension was announced late last monthto an instant and furious uproar from women’s groups, organizations supporting victims of domestic violence and league players who felt the penalty was too light and inconsistent with punishments for other offenses.

“My disciplinary decision led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families,” Goodell said in a letter to team owners. “I take responsibility both for the decision and for ensuring that our actions in the future properly reflect our values. I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better and we will.

Goodell said that effective immediately any N.F.L. employee — not only a player — who is found to have engaged in assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involved physical force will be suspended without pay for six games for a first offense. Second-time offenders will be banished from the league for at least one year.

Goodell said that second-time offenders could petition to be reinstated after one year, but that “there will be no presumption or assurance that the petition will be granted.”

Since ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is on vacation, let's hope he keeps his mouth shut on this issue when he returns.

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service (revised 3/17/2016) for information on our posting policy.


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Music, When It Hits You Feel No Pain

WOD 4/28/10

Carey Kepler - Top Finisher at 2008 CF Games

As Fast As Possible:
30 Handstand Push-Ups
40 Pull-Ups
50 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
60 Sit-Ups
70 Burpees

Road to the games. Chris Kepler.

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Showing 13 comments
  • jdcornett

    This workout looks very fun. Sadly due to lack
    of sleep and the fact I can hardly walk today, I’ll have to miss it. Post times so I can destroy them Sunday.

  • Clayton

    On the mean streets of big money today, so I’m out too. But I’ll be there right next to Jd Sunday!!

  • Michutka

    I will have to make this one up next week. Or a two a dayer tomorrow.

  • JeremyWF

    This was a tough workout after yesterday. I had to pace myself very slow.

    30 hspu w/ 2 ab mats
    40 rx pull ups
    10 x 53# kb & 40 x 35# kb
    60 situps
    70 burpees

  • JGrant

    I suck @ burpees…guess i’ll be there at 6!

  • Cherry

    All I have is a 30# kettle bell
    other than that
    as RX’d 12:36

    Really nice workout. Left me on the ground for a little while after completion.

  • JeremyWF

    That is impressive Cherry. That is better than some of the times posted on the front of

  • JGrant

    I did -10 on all reps w/ pike pushups and 35#Kb. 14:48
    36 reps on Kb C&P cool down w/26#Kb
    60 burpees are killer. you guys rock for doing 70.

  • Jaywes23

    20 HS PU (2 mats) 10 Pike
    Blue band pullups—–NEED to work on Kip
    35# KB
    50 Burpees—-thanks Jon Franks for the motivation

  • JGrant

    Jon’s a beast motivator!!

  • Clay

    ouch! That was a rough one after Chelsea yesterday!
    Piked pushups otherwise as Rx’d 17:28

  • jbfranks

    I dont even wont to post my times. Jeremy would be too embarrased he got dominated by his little brother. I feel bad for the guy.

  • shannon

    That was killer!!!
    15# db for hspu
    green band
    26# kb
    Special thanks to Jon for pushing me! I wouldn’t have made the 20 minutes without him!!

Leave a Comment


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WOD for August 28th:

Full Potential Endurance WOD

Thought for the Day:

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”
– Henry David Thoreau

Dish of the Day:

Barbacoa Meatballs and Guacamole

We will be trashing the Lost and Found at the end of the week

If you are missing anything now is the time to claim it

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Monday, April 04, 2011

Sea Day/Navigation Bridge Tour On the first or second day of the cruise we got a note saying that we’d been invited to do a navigation bridge tour on a sea day and that we’d be provided with the details soon. The first sea day came and went with nothing so I finally called and was told that they had forgotten to send the follow up invites but we’d go the next sea day. Sure enough our invitation arrived. I was super excited because I’d always wanted to see what the navigation bridge looked like. On this particular ship, it seemed that they only offered the tour to about 250-300 people –about 10% of the passengers onboard.

There wasn’t too much to it. The whole thing lasted about 20 mins. But, it was neat to go up there and see where the ship is captained. I was surprised by how empty the navigation bridge was. The view from up there was fantastic!!!

The rest of the day was spent packing and getting things together to disembark the following morning. Packing up to go home is always my least favorite part of traveling. I generally despise packing and I never really want to go home so it’s a double whammy.

We did more eating on the last day than any other. We did a super small breakfast then snacked off and on the rest of the day. We tried a few things we hadn’t gotten to like the sushi. It was good not great but the miso soup was awesome! Dinner was interesting. I had a lobster ravioli served with spinach and a spicy crayfish sauce (I guess that’s how they use all the leftover lobster!) then Argentinean steak churrasco. Bobby didn’t care for it but I thought it was tasty. Desert was warm chocolate melting cake. Celebrity definitely stole the idea from Carnival but didn’t do it as well.

After that we went to the show which was a combination of the last three performers: the comedian (again funny and this time shorter so G just drew in her book), a magician/comedian (very entertaining although I didn’t always get the magic part) and a musical group called Kimiko which was a fantastic guitarist and a singer from England who did covers from the Eagles, Tina Turner, etc combined with some very weak comedy. Overall a very nice evening!

This is our official "bridge tour" photo I was surprised by how empty it was. I guess they need a good view. My little cutie! Not a great pic of G of course but you get a sense of how pretty the view was from up thereG with the crew member who did our tour. I think he was a second engineer or something. He was greek I think and had gone to school specifically to obtain a degree in nautical engineering. I've never heard of that type of educational program in the US other than at a military school. G loved those stairs! Eating sushi! Again, the buffet dining room area was completely empty. I never could figure out where everyone was??? Mostly she just eats the rice but she loves miso soup Tomorrow: home :-(

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Monday, July 06, 2015

Warning: I journaled during the trip so these posts will be wordy. I won't blame anyone if they go straight to the pix and skip my blah, blah, blah

We've been back since Thursday night and I'm just feeling capable of posting some pix and updates on our trip. I'll start off by saying we had a wonderful time! Fantastic really with hardly a hiccup. Things went smoothly, all enjoyed themselves and nobody got sick! Even though it was awesome it was also EXHAU...STING!!!

21 days of travel which included 9 commercial flights, daily bus, taxi and shuttle rides, a train, dozens of subway trips, a ferry, two cable cars, a toboggan, and a rickshaw can definitely take its toll. Per my iPhone we also walked an average of 6 miles per day... that's right, we logged about 120 miles over 3 weeks!!

The Los Angeles to Beijing time change is pretty brutal to the body. Georgie was completely crashed out by 7 PM but wide-awake at 3 o'clock in the morning. We managed to lay around and try to sleep until about 530. After that it was time for breakfast.

We started out the day with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel buffet. I always find it interesting the broad assortment of options available at the Chinese hotel buffets. Everything from congee and scrambled eggs to vegetables and braised beef.

Hoping to reset our internal time clocks, we went for a walk to check out the area around hotel. Walking through a large city in the US is interesting but walking through a large city in China is more like an adventure. We've gotten pretty good at human Frogger which is what I call the activity of dodging cars, bicycles, scooters, and buses while attempting to cross the street.

We got a lot of stares but it's fun to stare back. Georgie doesn't seem to notice or if she does she hasn't said anything.

After a quick nap we caught a cab to the days activity; a Peking Opera makeover with a photo session for Georgie. It was something I happened upon a few months ago and once G saw the pix she was sold. We arrived to find that none of the employees spoke a word of English. There was much laughing while we made good use of our phone translators and made up sign language but were exceptionally fortunate that, about an hour in, an English-speaking Beijing native came in with her daughter and provided translation services. Lucky! The make up/hair application and costuming took two hours, the photo shoot about another hr.

G enjoyed every second and she was thrilled with her photos!

For dinner, we managed to venture out and find some yummy and exceptionally authentic Chinese food. Three plates, more than even our starving selves could eat, for 65 yuan. Or, about 10 bucks!! What is it about the veggies in China? They are absolutely delicious.

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Effective Dealing With Rioters

The recent mob actions in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Londonistan lead to the question of how to deal with rioters as individuals and groups. The "stuck in the 1960s" social theories and resultant actions do NOT do so.

AS INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL GROUPS: The police appear usually too few or too late OR too politically afraid to take such EFFECTIVE actions as will protect innocents from death or great bodily injury or life-destroying property damage by such individuals or small groups.

However, citizens in some places can assist the police my marking such rioters as evidence. The most effective way of doing so is by putting 0.32-inch (The size of "OO" buckshot) or 9mm or .38/.45/.30-inch holes in the bodies of such thugs.

Thereafter and when danger is past, the police can take out their little note-books and record the evidence left for them. (Please Note: A hard touch of a triangular file to the lands of a gun barrel and light touch to the tip of a firing-pin and extractor will neutralize the usual forensic evidence.)

(OH YES---The same "marking" can be utilized as to home-invaders, robbers, rapists, threatening drug dealers & gang-bangers, those followers of Mohammed who attack others who criticize them or their ideology or even include then in general photos in public places) Etc.

IN LARGE GROUPS: The proven best tactic is to have them (By their own actions or by external force) gathered together in one place (eg. A stadium as in the "Nike Riots" in Constantinople, for which see) and use it as a "surrender or die killing zone".

Friday, August 05, 2011

Black Mob Attack On Whites At State Fair

On the evening of August 4, 2011 a very large mob of Black youths attacked Whites on and near the Wisconsin State Fair grounds.

Mr. "Rick" Frenette (CEO, Wisconsin State Fair) totally avoided the fact that the mob who attacked fair goers, inside and outside of the fair grounds, was made up of Black youths. The fair's police spokesman avoided, as much as was possible, that fact.

Mr. Frenette's "solution" to that Black mob action was to order that no youths (White, Black or Green) would be admitted to the fair park, after 5:00pm unless accompanied by adults. This action punishes, without "due process", all non-Black youths and ignores the realities of Black thugs selecting persons of other races as crime victims at a rate many, many, times the reverse.

Although I am somewhat interested in what excuses some (eg Those "Professional Blacks", NOT Black professionals, who make excuses for such misconduct) will make as to this event, I do know that any attack on me or mine at the fair would have such scum requiring major medical treatment---OR, that of the special attention of the Medical Examiner.

I also know that the police were, as usual, too few and too late (And, perhaps, too politically afraid) to protect my fellow citizens. Those free Americans should be prepared to do so in the future as an exercise of their legal right to self-defense and without regard to any laws or rules depriving them of the means to instantly do so


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Traditional Beds.

Traditional beds ....... treat to your eyes.....and design idea's. If you'r working on traditional designing for some client or project..they may help you scooping out few idea's for your work.

The famous..... "indian ghaat" ... mostly found in Indian Villages or towns. Very comfortable.. light weighted and flexible.

The royal touch..for the royal decor's... and atmosphere.

Different sort of Beds.. but all traditional ... with their own qualities ..looks ..designing and comfort.

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UCSD Baker Home Page
Introduction Lab Members Courses Images Publications Computer Programs Procedures Access Scope Facilities

Electron Microscopy Programs

Software To-Do List (password protected)

Production Code of the EM System (purdueEM_v2.20.tar.gz - Feb. 6, 2006)

Documentation for Programs Currently in Use

Last Update

Cuts a 3D MAP based on input of a radius, row, column or section numbers 11-13-03
EM3DR Produces a 3D MAP from a set of particle images 08-24-04
EMCORORG Uses cross-correlation procedures to determine the location of the origin of particles which appear circular in projection 11-14-03
EMICOFV This is a "brute force"program that determines orientations of icosahedral particles. This is the original common lines program at Purdue University that was developed from the MRC FINDVIEW program. 11-14-03
EMICOGRAD Refines the orientation of up to 200 icosahedral particles against each other. EMICOGRAD is usually used following EMICOFV and EMICOORG (origin determination program). 09-15-94
EMMAP3DT Calculates 3D structure factors from a 3D MAP 11-14-03
EMMAPZOOM Magnifies or demagnifies a 3D MAP or a portion of a 3D MAP 11-14-03
EMPFTPRJ Calculate a database of projection and polar Fourier transform data 11-14-03
EMPRJ Produce a series of projection images from a 3D MAP 11-14-03
EMRESOL(html) Calculate the resolution of the EM reconstruction. The function is similar to the EMSF program 11-13-03
EMROTAVG Form aligned average of rotationally symmetric images 11-14-03
EMROTFLT Rotational filtering and power spectrum 11-14-03
EMSF Multipurpose structure factor manipulation program 11-14-03
EMSF3DBT Inverse 3D FFT of 3D structure factor data; produce 3D MAP file 11-14-03
EMSFREF All purpose 2D crystal structure factor data manipulations 7-31-86
FFT(html) Reads 3D Maps and 2D images in the Pif format and calculates FFTs 11-13-03
OOR Determines orientations and origin values for particle images based on a comparison with model data. OOR performs the refinement over a limited search window. 08-18-04
PFTSEARCH Determines orientations and origin values for particle images based on a comparison with model data. PFTSEARCH performs a global search over the entire asymmetric unit. 08-18-04

From High to Low
From High to Low contains information on how you can compute low-resolution density from an atomic model.

ROBEM README(txt file)
How do I get ROBEM to run?

ONED is useful for illustrating in one-dimension the principles of diffraction theory

Procedure for using the Zeiss scanner on electron microscopy data.

System Information

Last Update

EMICO_SYS Contains lists of programs and available documentation, common variables and parameters used in emico programs, and a reference list 1-31-97
EMPROGS Contains a listing and brief description of current and older EM programs, descriptions of file structures, descriptions and declarations of common variables, and other general program information  12-22-97
EMSYSTEM Provides basic information concerning the use and setup of the set of electron micrograph image analysis programs 9-8-89
PIF Contains information regarding the Portable Image Format (PIF) for electron microscopy data 10-29-98

  Older Documentation Archives

Baker Home Page Contact Site Map Search Baker Site Baker Group Calendar


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Top Social

Quiet 21

Friday, January 8, 2016

Thankful for all the personal msg, especially those that makes me want to grab the nearest box of tissue. Thankful and grateful to have Honwee waiting outside my house for close to an hour just so he can be the first person to kiss and cheeks and wish me a happy birthday. He makes me feel like I am so goddamn special, I am so happy for this day because if I was never born, or born to a different family/time I wouldn't have met Honwee and receive so many good things in my life. I really do feel like a princess, having a live band to sing to me and have so many cakes to finish!!

Also very thankful that I am able to hold my 21st birthday celebration at Lloyd's inn next week, with so many people RSVP-ing. It's a happy problem, but I am genuinely concern about the space limitation. Thankful for my poly mates to bring down a balloon pug (!!!!) I don't really fancy big helium balloons with "21st" or "happy birthday!" they have definitely done it right with the floating puppy balloon because its so cute. Sadly I have to hang it up on my clothes rack because Cocoa is terribly paranoid with another floating dog around.

So grateful for all the right people in my life, people whom I know I can love and trust without them disliking me for my sharp tongue and playful nature. I love you all the most and I feel extremely blessed and honoured when you all choose to seek solace in me, because you all don't know just how important you all are to me. I have always wanted close friends, but couldn't find any. I blame it on speaking without thinking. Years later I have my own close friends who I can carry with me through my life and are equally sharp tongued. Thanks for being real with me.

So grateful that my mum bought me out for dinner because this is a special day for her too.. to think that she had to endure the pure tearing pain of child birth because she took too long to consider whether she wants to the jab or not. It was a struggle, it must have been a struggle. And poof, I am 21 already. A woman on my own, with a lovingly boyfriend. I like to think that some part of her is proud that I am who I am. Although she always, always pick on me for the littlest thing. I strongly think that, that has nothing to do with our mother-daughter r/s.


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Avengers of the New World — Laurent Dubois | Harvard University Press

By | May 31st, 2016|Categories: Diversity, Research, Writing|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

The first and only successful slave revolution in the Americas began in 1791 when thousands of brutally exploited slaves rose up against their masters on Saint-Domingue. Laurent Dubois weaves the stories of slaves, free people of African descent, wealthy whites, and French administrators into an unforgettable tale of insurrection, war, heroism, and victory. He establishes the [...]


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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Lambert Strether: The Obama Enablers' Big Lie

Over at Naked Capitalism, Lambert Strether has written a strong rebuttal to one of the central excuses for the Obama Administration's and the Democrats' failure to do what we sent them to do back in 2009:

The bottom line is that “Republican obstructionism” is entirely of the Democrat’s making. What Reid (and Obama) want — or say they want — to do in 2013, and butchered doing in 2010, could and should have done in 2009, immediately after Obama’s inauguration. Republicans would have had no ability to obstruct had Obama and the Democrats not deliberately given them the power to do so. The gridlock is a gridlock of choice.

The Obama Enabler’s Big Lie: “We Never Had the Votes”

As Lambert notes, anyone who remembers the "nuclear option" back in 2005, when then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened to use Senate procedures to eliminate the filibuster if the Bush Administration's Supreme Court nominees were blocked by filibuster, knows that there are ways around filibusters for politicians willing to employ them. Yet this remains a big lie of Democratic politics - that it was those nasty Republicans who spoiled it all. The truth is that things were much better for Harry Reid and President Obama if the insurance companies and other masters of the universe got what they wanted, and we didn't.

This is why no progressive with the least bit of sense thinks that merely electing more Democrats to Congress is going to fix what ails America. They clearly aren't motivated to do what they know they can, and most progressives seem perfectly willing to let them get away with it.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Quote Of The Day

Image credit: Parody by Cujo359 (See NOTE)

Bruce A. Dixon, of the Black Agenda Report discusses the upcoming presidential election:

What with choices limited to greater and lesser evils, or more and less effective evils, it might be time to ask ourselves, how is this politics of choosing evil working out for us? Can we, and why should we hold our tongues and noses to re-elect this fracking president?

Should We Really Re-Elect This Fracking President?

From the title, it is no doubt obvious that this comes near the end of an article discussing the Obama Administration's record on energy, which is pretty terrible. To know that, I think that all you need to reflect on is that the environment isn't one of my usual beats, nor Bruce Dixon's, yet we've both written about how awful this administration has been on the subject. Obama has allowed fracking to go on, as well as allowing the construction of a pipeline to carry Canadian shale oil to the Gulf Coast, the expansion of off-shore oil drilling despite the experience of Deepwater, and he's always been really sweet on "clean coal", a misnomer if ever there was one.

My answer to Mr. Dixon's question is no, we shouldn't vote for him. When you vote for evil, you're not only going to end up with evil, you're telling politicians that it's OK.

It's not OK. We can't afford it anymore.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Quote Of The Day

From Vastleft at Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy:

Original article is here. Vastleft seldom lacks for pithy observations about the state of American political process, but I like this one particularly. It really describes the trouble with American progressivism these days.

Now I've Seen Everything: July 24, 2012 Edition

Here's some proof that there are people with way too much time on their hands:

Image credit: Dunno source

No, not the picture, actually. It's the place I found it, which apparently is a site scrape of Pharyngula, with various graphics of cats inserted. PZ Myers makes a point of being against anything feline, so apparently someone has decided to make his worst nightmare come true.

Even if the only work they put into this site is finding new graphics for the site, it's way more effort than I'd want to go to for a joke.

UPDATE: Apologies for not filling in the link. There's a time of night when I shouldn't try to publish anymore, but if I didn't disobey that rule there are weeks when I'd publish nothing at all.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Saturday Entertainment: Born In The USA

I heard this song this evening, after what seems like several years:

Along with X's "The Have Nots", it's another sign that if you were in a mainly blue collar crowd back in the 1980s, you could see the future coming. Soon, we'll all be there along with them, because if there's one thing Americans prove over and over again, it's that "freedom" means whatever your problems are, they won't affect me.

I've noted before that if you want to see the decline of the United States expressed from the point of view of everyday people, you can't do much better than to listen to the work of Bruce Springsteen. If he were the only one who had noticed it, perhaps it wouldn't be such a sad thing to relate. There were plenty of others who noticed, however, both in popular music and other art forms. What's sad is that you almost had to not want to see it in order to avoid noticing.

Friday, July 20, 2012

A Bit Of Practical Mathematics

It's one of those turns of phrase that annoys me, so I think I'll make a point about it using this handy example provided by Rep. Peter DeFazio, (OR-04) in a campaign e-mail he sent a while back:

One of the most tried and true ways to get people back to work is building and improving infrastructure. Federal investment in infrastructure generates private sector jobs in construction, engineering and design, and manufacturing and supply. Every $1 billion we invest in infrastructure we create or sustain over 34,000 private sector jobs and produces $6.2 billion in economic activity.

Campaign E-mail from Rep. Peter Dazio

The part I emphasized is what bothers me, and not so much here as generally. Every $1 billion in infrastructure investment does not result in $6.2 billion of economic activity. There's usually a multiplicative factor to infrastructure investment, and there's probably a study out there somewhere suggesting that it's about 6.2 times the money invested in infrastructure, on average. That's the point, though - it's an average. Your billion dollar infrastructure investment might yield more than my infrastructure investment, or less.

Caption: A Union Pacific railroad bridge through the Willamette National Forest, in Oregon. Did that investment yield $6.2 per dollar invested for UP?

Image credit: Cujo359

The main reason I bring this up, of course, is infrastructure projects like the infamous bridge to nowhere, former Senator Ted Steven's (R-AK) pork project intended to build a bridge to an island in Alaska that only had a few hundred residents. Now, it's quite possible that this bridge would have been a big spur to economic activity in that area, but that seems unlikely in the extreme. At least, it's unlikely given the cost involved.

I'm sure that Rep. DeFazio just used that phrase to put things in a way we can all understand. Even phrases like "on average" seem to confuse some people. And I'm all for more infrastructure investment. As DeFazio went on to write in that e-mail:

We can put millions of people to work if Congress invested adequately in a 21st century transportation system. Insisting on strong "Made in America" requirements would ensure the benefits of these federal projects reached a broad spectrum of the American economy. Our economic competitors are investing billions in state of the art infrastructure. We must do the same.

It's a win-win, if we'd just get over the idea that we can't afford it right now. Heck, the people telling us that are the same people who refused to do the investment when we could afford it. For them, it's never a good time to spend money.

Still, that statement about what $1 billion in infrastructure investment gets you is not strictly true, and I wish people would quit talking that way.

Fat chance, right?

Monday, July 16, 2012

This Is Awkward

While I was getting caught up on I Can Has Cheezburger, I was reminded of one of the reasons I don't get invited to other peoples' houses all that much:

funny pictures - I Has A Hotdog: Big Baby
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

They just don't make chairs big enough these days.

Vive Le Bastille!

While I was at the Seattle Center last Saturday, I happened to run into the local Bastille Day celebration:

Image credit: All photos by Cujo359

Apparently, Seattleites celebrate the birth of the French Revolution by driving all the French-made cars in town onto the sidewalks of the Seattle Center and gawking at them:

I can think of worse ways to spend some other country's holiday.

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Have a good rest of Monday.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday Photo(s)

Fifty years ago, the Seattle World's Fair opened in what is now the Seattle Center. To celebrate that anniversary, the Fair's most recognizable symbol, the Space Needle, was painted orange again, just as it was back in 1962:

Caption: The Space Needle as it appeared at the World's Fair, 1962.

Image credit: Jim Skinner Photograph Collection/Seattle Municipal Archives/Wikimedia

Even though I didn't live out here at the time, I attended the Fair. I don't remember much about it, since I was only six years old. I remember it being overcast or rainy most of the time we were here.

Ever since the Fair, the Space Needle has remained one of the world's most recognizable buildings. Most of the time I've lived in the Pacific Northwest, though, it has been painted like this:

Caption: The Space Needle appears above the roof of the Seattle Aquarium in July, 2010.

Image credit: Photo by Dana Hunter, cropped by Cujo359

There's just something nondescript about that paint scheme. Happily, at least for this year, that's changed. Here's how the Space Needle looks this summer:

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Saturday Entertainment: Fabric Of The Cosmos

The local PBS station has begun showing this NOVA series again:

Watch The Fabric of the Cosmos: What Is Space? on PBS. See more from NOVA.

[if the video here looks too fuzzy or indistinct, go to the video credit link and try it there.]

Based on Columbia physicist Brian Greene's The Fabric Of The Cosmos, it's an example of the way modern television presents science, for both good and ill. On the plus side, it's visually interesting, and the review of our old concepts of space is a good one. At least, anyone who already knows that story will be reminded again. Dr. Greene has a quirky sense of humor, which certainly keeps the narrative entertaining. The special effects that illustrates the various concepts are imaginative and accurately portray the ideas they're trying to get across.

The down side is that I still have no idea what the new concept of space is. Well, it's a hologram somehow. Maybe that's enough to start looking into the concept with some idea where it's going, but it just doesn't feel like I know more now than before I watched this show. Or maybe this is only because it's not entirely clear to physicists yet what they're talking about.

Maybe a little more explaining and a little less joking would have worked better. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have been our Saturday entertainment if it had.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Quote Of The Day

Paul Sunstone, who is back on the Internet at his new digs, discusses the idea that atheism could be thought of as a religion:

I'll believe organized atheists constitute a religion just as soon as I can bring myself to believe that organizing bald people into a club is a way to make their hair grow back.

News Flash: Atheists Hate Hugs! [comment by Paul Sunstone]

Medically and logically, he got it about right. Though I have to add that atheists don't hate hugs. We just don't like annoying people, even when they're atheists.

A Reminder From The Present

xkcd gets arguing with crazy people about right today:

Image credit: xkcd. Click on the image to be taken to the originating site.

No, I never feel that way. Why do you ask? Did big science send you to harass me?

A Reminder From Our Past

Caption: Frederick Douglass, around the time of the American Civil War.

Image credit: unknown/Wikimedia

Joyce Arnold reminded me yesterday of another apt quote from Frederick Douglass:

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”

Frederick Douglass quotes

Juan Cole has a poster of it up at his place. The comment there is telling. The Occupy movements identify with Douglass. I suspect that's because he figured out and articulated the way oppression works a century and a half ago.

We see this process working out all the time in our modern life. When police are allowed to brutalize protesters, when our government is OK with torturing and imprisoning people without trial, while they let the rich get away with crashing the economy. In all of these cases, these things happen because most Americans don't feel like objecting.

Sometimes, we need reminding. I can't think of anyone better to do that than a guy who knew a thing or two about what it's like when not enough people care if your rights are the ones being violated.

UPDATE/Afterword: On the subject of that closing paragraph, Joyce Arnold provides a postscript in an article today:

It’s really hard to make the case that “liberty and justice for all” actually means for “some.” An honest version might be something like, “with liberty and justice for some of the people all of the time,” but that’s kind of like being offered an apple pie made with all the apples in one slice, and it’s been taken.

Queer Talk: Romney ‘Dodges’ LGBT Question, Obama ‘Challenged’ Regarding AIDS Conference

Note that, as the title suggests, that quote is part of an article on gay rights. Even though I've written on that subject several times in the past, a glance at the keyword cloud along the side of this blog will show there's no separate keyword here for "gay rights", or anything of the sort. That's a deliberate choice. To me, gay rights, womens' rights, and minority rights are all human rights. You don't get to have them by denying them to others.

Frederick Douglass was one of the people who taught me that.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Quote Of The Day

Robert Reich, trying to describe how important the upcoming election is:

It’s not merely Republicans versus Democrats, or conservatives versus liberals. The larger battle is between regressives and progressives.

Regressives want to take this nation backward — to before Social Security, unemployment insurance, and Medicare; before civil rights and voting rights; before regulations designed to protect the environment, workers, consumers, and investors. They want to sabotage much of what this nation has achieved over the last century. And they’re out to do it by making the rich far richer, turning Americans against one another in competition for a smaller and smaller slice of the pie, substituting private morality for public morality, and opening the floodgates to big money in politics.

Progressives are determined to take this nation forward — toward equal opportunity, tolerance and openness, adequate protection against corporate and Wall Street abuses, and an economy and democracy that are working for all of us.

The Real Battle In 2012 And Beyond

Apologies to the author for the extensive quote, but it's a short article.

Unfortunately, all this quote does for me is point out what the real issue is, because in 2012 progressives don't have a party of their own, unless you count the Green Party. That's why this election will mean very little. No matter who wins, Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block. The only difference is how dull a blade Democrats will use relative to Republicans. There will be no economic progress, and certainly no progress in education, greenhouse gas reduction, reducing the security state, the defense industry, or the prison industry to manageable proportions, nor any of the other things that real progressives want for this country.

Anyone who thinks Barack Obama is interested in protecting us from Wall Street is forgetting where all his economics advisors come from, or where they'll return once they're through with their "government service".

What this election shows is how powerless progressives are, largely because we don't want to admit it and do something about it.

Cartoon Of The Day

Monday's xkcd cartoon:

Image credit: xkcd (Click on cartoon to be taken to original site). I love the shape for Washington. I'll never look at the Olympic Peninsula quite the same way again.

Of PACs And Social Welfare

Taylor Marsh has gathered up a few Internet video ads by some of those new "Super PACs", and some by so-called "issue-oriented" organizations that don't qualify as political organizations, and then asks the logical question:

If 60 Plus, along with Rove and the Koch Bros’ groups, couldn’t use the “social welfare” label they’d have to disclose their donors, making a lot of very rich Republicans, Sheldon Adelson perhaps, a lot more squeamish about forking over tens of millions of dollars, because they’d be named. Anonymity is the linchpin leading to large amounts of cash, with “social welfare” the scrim behind which Rove, the Koch Bros., 60 Plus and other groups hide while acting very much like a political committee.

SPOTLIGHT: Karl Rove, Koch Bros., 60 Plus Hide Behind ‘Social Welfare’ Label While Targeting Democrats

See if you can tell the difference. I bet you can't.

I often wonder if democracy can recover from the Citizens United decision.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Syrian General Defects

Caption: In December, 2003, Syrian soldiers carrying automatic weapons patrol a street in Damascus - not the most welcome sight in Syria these days, I suspect.

Image credit: Antonio Milena/Agencia Brasil/Wikimedia

Things may slowly be getting better in Syria. The BBC reports today:

A Syrian general close to President Assad has defected, delivering "a hard blow for the regime", French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said.

Brig Gen Manaf Tlas fled Syria via Turkey, his family confirmed.

Gen Tlas, believed to be in his mid-40s, is a commander of a unit of the elite Republican Guard. As a young man he attended military training with President Assad.

Syria Manaf Tlas defection 'hard blow' for Assad

The article goes on to quote "sources" who said that BGEN Tlas has been under house arrest for over a year. Al Jazeera reports that the reason he was in disfavor with Assad is:

According to the source with close ties to Damascus, Tlas had embarked on several unsuccessful reconciliation missions between government loyalists and rebels in Rastan and the southern province of Daraa.

A member in the elite Republican Guard, Tlas was sidelined more than a year ago, after he was deemed unreliable.

Months later he gave up his military uniform and opted for civilian clothing. He set up residence in Damascus, where he let his beard and hair grow long.

Another source in Damascus told AFP news agency that Tlas' relations with the authorities became irreconcilable after the fierce assault on the Homs district of Bab Amr in February this year.

Syrian general close to Assad defects

The AJ article goes on to provide a bit of background story, in which Tlas' father, who was Syria's defense minister at the time, was implicated in putting down a rebellion in the Hama Massacre back in the 1980s. The picture that emerges from these two articles is that the younger Tlas got the message that following your conscience is a good thing to do in such circumstances.

In any event, Tlas was, at least until the time of his house arrest, part of President Assad's inner circle - the sort of person he should have been able to rely on to support him. That Tlas has seen fit to disappoint him, and might join the rebel cause in sympathy if not in fact, looks to be a sign that Assad is losing his grip on the country.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Past, Prologue, Etc.

Caption: The Palais Bourbon in Paris, France. It performs a function similar to that of the U.S. Capitol - a place to house progressive politicians until they decide they want to do something useful with their lives.

Image credit: Elliot Brown/Flickr

France also had an election over the weekend[.]

Call me a pessimist, but I'm getting that "Democrats in 2008" feeling all over again.

Yes, the Socialists have more power than they have for a long time. Yet, I suspect we won't see much change here, either. After all, Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande's predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn was head of the IMF [International Monetary Fund], one of the organizations trying to austere Greece to death. It's hard to imagine that the Socialists in their current incarnation are going to turn around and tell the banks to go to hell.

But we'll see. I'd love to be proved wrong there, and given how little I understand French politics, it's certainly possible that I will be.

Another Month, Another Greek Election

It turns out, sometimes all you need to understand French politics is to be able to remember how American politics have gone recently, as the U.K. Guardian reports:

François Hollande, Europe's chief critic of one-size-fits-all austerity measures, is facing the headache of inescapable belt-tightening at home after a national audit confirmed that France has a gaping hole in its budget and will struggle to meet its deficit-reduction targets.

The new Socialist president and his government must now begin a delicate verbal juggling act to define belt-tightening measures in a country where the word "austerity" is taboo. Hollande, who declared in his presidential victory speech that "austerity can no longer be inevitable," reiterated recently in Rome that he was against austerity.

François Hollande struggles to rebrand austerity as French budget looms

So, just like in 2008 America, the voters gave the party that should have had their interests at heart the biggest majority in decades, and they have turned out to be uninterested in doing what they were sent to the capital city to do. Now they're trying to figure out how to word things "artfully" to fool at least a few of their supporters into thinking they haven't actually done what they've done.

Who would have believed it? Or, as they say in those parts, Quelle Surprise!

If there is any comfort to be taken here, it's in the knowledge that at least America is not the only Western country where progressive politicians can look on being useless as a step upward.

Greenwald Discussses Wall Street Fraud

Glenn Greenwald discusses why there continues to be fraud on Wall Street, and why the government has not done anything about it:

It's hard to think of anything to add, other than that if you've been visiting here long enough, you've read a lot of those points right here. It's clear that there is no problem understanding what's going on, provided you don't have any reasons to lie to yourself.

The basic issue of our two-tiered justice system is one you can read more about at Glenn's site, but this particular aspect of it, the massive fraud that has only resulted in generally meaningless fines for the institutions that committed it, is something that we should keep talking about. It's at the heart of what's wrong with America these days, both from an economic and legal perspective.

Speaking Of Pirates

It seems like everyone's a pirate these days - Somali warlords, German politicians, and even some bloggers, but one of the truly epic pirates, at least on the basis of name recognition and billable lawyer hours, is The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay is a sort of one-stop shopping destination just about every kind of entertainment download - records, television shows, video games, movies - you name it, they've probably got it. The problem is that they're not licensed to distribute any of this stuff. Yet, it provides the kind of access that most folks would be happy to pay for if the various license holders would just get their heads out of their asses long enough to set one up.

Over at Extreme Tech, Sebastian Anthony summed up the situation about as succinctly as I've seen:

The sad truth, though, is that it’s actually easier to persecute file sharers than to navigate the insane morass of rights holders and licensees on any given TV show, movie, game, or song. If it was easy to create an official, legal version of The Pirate Bay, then the entertainment industry would’ve done it already — they’re not that stupid. After years and years of evidence that criminalizing file sharing doesn’t improve matters, though, you think that the MPAA and co would invest their efforts elsewhere, though — such as hammering out their own Pirate Bay, or creating albums and movies that don’t suck. [ed: See NOTE 2]

BitTorrent usage increases in Europe, following the blockade of The Pirate Bay

The rest of the article is worth a read, if only to gain some familiarity with the issue. In it, Anthony explains that within days of a so-called "blockade" on The Pirate Bay by European Internet service providers, file sharing traffic (see NOTE 1) was back to its previous levels. It really would be more profitable for them to just set up their own Pirate Bay, but the content providers resolutely refuse to do this. It's as though they deliberately hire lawyers who give them bad advice.

This is an old story, of course. Apple's disputes with content providers over the iTunes site have been legendary. Despite my reservations about Apple and Steve Jobs, I'm positive that they could have done a much better job of making their site accessible to users, as well as more economical and convenient, if it had not been for the content providers fighting them every step of the way. Apple is a big company that can afford to hire its own fleet of intellectual property lawyers, yet even they were stymied.

Anyone who thinks that things like Pirate Bay are just about getting things for free is cosmically mistaken. That's the motivation many people have, especially now that it's been possible to get these things for free for so long. But plenty of people would be glad to pay for a service where they could download their favorite entertainment easily and reliably. The content providers, for whatever reasons, have refused to provide it, or even acknowledge that it's possible.

Afterword: For an interesting take on the state of intellectual property law, I suggest reading Thom Holwerda's recent rant on the World Trade Organization's effect on that state of affairs. We really do live in an age when a few people can decide how things go in many areas of our lives, whether those decisions make any sense or not.

NOTE 1: BitTorrent is a data communications protocol for file sharing. The beauty of this technology is that it spreads the burden of downloading among the downloaders themselves, lowering the bandwidth requirement for the torrent provider. It is not, as many folks like the RIAA and MPAA like to assert, a protocol intended to enable piracy. Piracy can be, and is, done with many protocols, including the Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP), the same one that provided this web page to you.

NOTE 2: Or, they could lobby for better income distribution, so that more working stiffs would have enough disposable income so they wouldn't mind wasting more of it on crappy movies and records.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

While I was watching a Fourth of July parade today in Burien, Washington, I saw acts of patriotism. One of them was by someone who identified herself as part of Occupy West Seattle, an Occupy movement in the nearby neighborhood of the city of Seattle. She was handing out flyers pointing out what her group thought were problems about the sustainability of our economy. This is the other act:

Image credit: Cujo359

I don't know if the young lady was part of Occupy West Seattle, or some other organization. For all I know, she was part of the local TEA Party. Doesn't matter.

The Fourth of July is a celebration of the signing of the seminal document of this country - the Declaration of Independence. It was a radical act that shaped not only this nation, but the world. Our country was born in rebellion, and it's been in turmoil much of the time since. Ending slavery, bringing about organized labor and the rise of the middle class, trying to bring equality to racial, gender, and religious minorities didn't happen because the leaders of the country just decided to do them one day. They were brought about because ordinary Americans made sure our leaders knew it was in their interests to get them done.

Protesting a perceived injustice is as American as it gets. The day I see an Independence Day parade that doesn't have something like this is the day I know we're no longer fit to call ourselves free.

Happy Birthday, America: 2012

It's that time of year again. Time to set off lovely little explosions:

Image credit: Cujo359

And it's time to eat far too much food that's bad for you.

If you live in the U.S., happy Fourth. If it's just another Wednesday, I hope it's a good one.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Sunday Photo(s)

Walking through the North Creek Watershed today, we happened to see this big fella as he was hanging out on a bridge:

Image credit: All photos taken and processed by Cujo359

I really wish I had more of a zoom lens on my camera. Even though I was across the street from the heron, I couldn't get any real close ups of him. This is a montage of some of the better photos:

Finally, as a crowd started to gather, the heron apparently decided he'd given us enough of a photo opportunity, and went about his business:

Click on the images to enlarge them. Have a good Sunday.


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Monday, January 26, 2015

#TripleSBites - Celebrating Romance with Spicy, Saucy, and Sexy Bites

I don't really care for Valentines' Day. There, I said it. Something about being the most stressful day of the year when I worked as a florist. Or maybe my disdain goes deeper than that. But I do love romance, particularly romance mixed with tasty food and libations.

So, when I was debating on a theme for my next blogging event, I decided to wrangle some of my favorite foodie bloggers to create and share recipes that were Triple S worthy. Triple S. That means spicy, saucy, and sexy.

And, notice the "...and Beyond." It's not just for Valentines' Day; these ideas are meant for romantic meals. All. Year. Long.

Me and these nineteen fabulous food bloggers, listed alphabetically with links to their homepages...

An online event showcasing recipes that are Triple S worthy. Triple S. That means spicy, saucy, and sexy. Plus we have a great giveaway thanks to some incredibly generous sponsors, listed alphabetically with links to their homepages...

Starting a week from today, there will be 20 bloggers sharing some spicy, saucy, and sexy bites. The event runs from Monday, February 2nd through Monday, February 9th.

Find posts on our blogs and shared across social media platforms with the hashtag #TripleSBites. We will be chatting on twitter - Thursday, February 5th from 6pm to 7pm Pacific time.

Because food and romance are awesome bedfellows. Hope we inspire you to create some fantastic, romantic meals for your sweetheart.

  1. Can't wait for #TripleSBites! Such a great group for this event. :)

  2. I'm with you on Valentines Day. I don't celebrate it at all. Don't mind a bit of romance though!! :-)

    1. I'm slowly being swayed because my kids love it and I don't want to squash their spirit of giving.

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Ana Montiel

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Visual Mantras : Agni, 2010

Colour pencils (Limited edition digital prints available), 42cm x 29.7cm

61 USD

This print is part of Ana Montiel's. latest art project "Visual Mantras" (ongoing). This research has explored repetitive drawing as a meditation itself and has developed a series of absorbing and richly coloured geometries based upon the cyclical and rhythmic flow of life.

Printed on eco-friendly 250gr high quality recycled paper.

Limited edition of 77.

Size Din A3 (297 × 420 mm or 11.7 × 16.5 inches)

Signed and numbered by the artist.

Unframed. Shipped flat inside an all-card envelope.More: http://anamontiel.bigcartel.com

Artworks by Ana Montiel

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