Tuesday, May 31, 2022
"Uvalde school district police chief...identified as the incident commander during the Robb Elementary school shooting, was sworn in as a city council member on Tuesday"
CNN:
"Out of respect for the families who buried their children today, and who are planning to bury their children in the next few days, no ceremony was held," Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a statement.
Cleveland's "Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86" was "both crazier and more tragic than anyone could have imagined"
Here's a lengthy Fox News write-up from last year.
On Sept. 27. 1986, more than 100,000 people filled Public Square in downtown Cleveland for the charitable event.
Balloonfest ’86 was a fundraising event sponsored by the United Way and included [a] legendary balloon artist ... from California.
“The United Way and they’re going to put Cleveland back on the map. They’re gonna have a giant balloon launch,” said FOX 8’s [reporter], who also covered the event.
It took months of planning and thousands of volunteers to inflate the 1.5 million balloons that were to be released. They were held in place by a specially constructed netting structure.
Here's a short documentary by the Atlantic, (appropriately) cut like a found footage horror movie. It was directed by Nathan Truesdell, art director on "You're Next."
Knights of Sidonia Type 20 Guard Yukimori model available for preorder
"That New York is increasingly overrun by rats is something generally agreed upon"
In 2021, complaints of rat sightings were up more than two-thirds compared to the same period in 2019. That trend has continued this year: last month saw the highest number of rat complaints of any April in at least a decade, according to city data.
Meanwhile, more than two years after pest control inspections were halted in the early days of the pandemic, the city’s Health Department still hasn’t ramped back up to full strength. During the first four months of this year, the agency conducted 20% fewer inspections than during the same period in 2019, according to data shared with Gothamist.
"On Stranger Tides" is $1.99 right now
Nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards, On Stranger Tides is the book that inspired the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Painting a heavily-damaged Gundam shield; Gundam bursting out of water
@takaramodel Rx-78-2 Gundam GTO shield battle damage effect. #gundam #gunpla #mecha #foryou #takaramodel ♬ Sport Trap Background(781699) - TimTaj
@takaramodel Strike Gundam bursts out of the sea 🔥🔥#gundam #gunpla #foryou #mecha #takaramodel ♬ Pacific Rim (feat. Tom Morello) - Ramin Djawadi
*see more miniatures.
Monday, May 30, 2022
Three interviews with Stefani Robinson about the unbelievable season three finale of "Atlanta"
This interview touches on season three in general. I'd like to see who else was on this list:
You guys have had a lot of really fun, insane cameos this season, but I think [famous actor in the finale] might take the cake. Was that on the page or did you just slot in ”cool celebrity” and then look to see who was available?
First of all, he's amazing. Every time I see the episode, I think he's so funny and weird and did everything right. I'm sure he was on a short list that we had.
(This is one of those times where you really should avoid spoilers for everything about that episode to fully enjoy the surreality. A+)
Lupin III-themed soccer supporters
https://t.co/6HVJE8los6 Holy SHIT it's like, an Anonymous group, but with Lupin III
— TabbieWolf (タッビ) (@tabbiewolf) May 28, 2022
From the SportingKC team page:
Fountain City Ultras (FCU) was formed in 2012 by a small group of like-minded friends from the local punk/skin music scene, FCU has grown, with members composed of all races, genders, creeds, and affiliations. Inspired by anti-racist/anti-fascist Ultras Groups from all over the world, FCU looks to incorporate those principles and values while also bringing their own traditions and culture to Sporting KC.
"The merging of Comixology and Kindle has created a hell I'd like to escape"
Apparently, if you let one company acquire a near-monopoly in the digital books and comics spaces, it will do terrible things that make the experience worse.
It remains so bad in so many ways, it's as if they're trying to destroy the comics market. Or, as if some weird AI with no human oversight was allowed to consume Comixology and blend it into the Amazon blob.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
They set up a "Stranger Things" season four airbnb room in a prison where Nazis held Jews?
Now streaming on Netflix: scenes from inside a notorious Lithuanian prison whose inmates have included Jews en route to being murdered by Nazis
...
Part of season four of “Stranger Things,” the teen hero sci-fi series, was filmed inside Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius, according to promotional materials distributed by the Lithuanian capital’s tourism board. The prison was used for a century before closing in 2019; it has now been converted into cultural center where guests can stay in a “Stranger Things”-themed cell for 107 Euros ($114) a night.
I haven't seen an apology or withdrawal, but links to the listing seem to have been removed:
Сцены советской тюрьмы в Stranger Things снимали в недействующей Лукишкской тюрьме в Вильнюсе. С 2021-го она свободна для посещения, а сейчас одну из камер переделали в алтарь сериала! Её можно снять на Airbnb, провести там ночь и поесть фирменных вафель. https://t.co/dttrItWguO pic.twitter.com/OGdTqDvw7y
— Alexander Kulikov (@Cooleach) May 29, 2022
Mace Windu Force Ghost cosplay; Dancing Max Rebo cosplay; Ahch-To Wildlife Conservator cosplay
Okay but did you also see the Mace that was with that group?? The purple was PERFECT. 😆😆 pic.twitter.com/GUK62xdOLy
— Rachel Williams (@RachelKenobi) May 28, 2022
Today's funny posts
imagine being buried and then seeing a rat with a backpack suddenly arrive. it would be all i was even capable of talking about ever again https://t.co/LvlQBl0Vu2
— (wannabe) Ƀreaker of (the Bad) Loops (@generativist) May 27, 2022
The backpack will have 2-way audio so we can speak to survivors through the rat (pretty much exactly like start trek), and, yes, some form of location transmitter so that we can find them quickly!
— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) May 26, 2022
Saturday, May 28, 2022
A baseball player attacked another player on the field over a fantasy football dispute, and also bragged about how much he gambled
ESPN:
While the Giants warmed up in the outfield, Pham confronted Pederson and smacked him in the cheek before the pair was separated.
"It was a surprise," Pederson told reporters. "There was no real argument. He kind of came up and said, 'Like, I don't know if you remember from last year.' And I was like, 'Fantasy football.' He was like, 'Yeah.'"
...
Pham threatened violence to settle an on-field score with San Diego's Luke Voit in April, challenging the slugger to a fight after Voit injured Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson with a hard, ugly slide into home.
Regarding the fantasy league, Pham said Pederson broke “a code.”
“I’m a big dog in Vegas. I’m a high-roller at many casinos. You can look at my credit line. We were playing big money,” Pham said. “I don’t have to get into the details of how much, but I look at it like if you lost, you had to pay double. If you came in last place, you had to pay double. So I looked at it like he was f—ing with my money along with the disrespect.”
Pederson and Pham exchanged those texts last September. A few weeks later, Pham dropped out the league. And on Friday, he confronted Pederson in the outfield and slapped him across the face.
Tommy Pham is finally revealing what his back looked like the night he was stabbed at a strip club in San Diego ... and it's GRUESOME.
...
As we previously reported, Pham was stabbed after he got into an altercation with several people in the parking lot at Pacers Showgirls International on Oct. 11, 2020
Pham said his perspective hasn’t changed since the stabbing.
“I still look at everything almost the same. If anything, I probably would just spend more money and stop saving as much, because if I died I would feel like I had too much money in the bank and I didn’t live enough.”
Two scandals related to a Southern California councilman
NBC (today):
A civil court judge Friday found that four illegal votes were cast for [a] Councilman ... in the June 2021 municipal election in Compton that he won with a single vote, and a court filing said that [his] opponent in the race for Compton's Second Council District was, in fact, the true winner.
...
[He] was already facing criminal charges of conspiracy to commit election fraud and one count of bribery with the intent to influence an election for alleged events surrounding the same 2021 election.
NBC (yesterday):
The son of noted LA rapper DJ Quik who works as a liaison to [that same] embattled Compton City Councilman ... has been arrested by Downey Police Department detectives and booked on suspicion of murder, authorities confirmed Friday.
"A large sneaker reseller in [Oregon] has collapsed owing millions of dollars to customers"
Zadeh Kicks’ founder ... called the Eugene Police Department asking for police protection. [He] was apparently afraid for the safety of his family after a number of furious customers showed up at the Zadeh Kicks warehouse in an industrial section of West Eugene demanding their money back.
...
the FBI has launched a criminal investigation, trying to figure out what happened to the enormous sum of customers’ money that has gone missing.
Zadeh Kicks was established in 2013 as a sneaker resale company. Over the years, it became known for offering preorders for hyped sneakers far in advance of their official release date. The price points for the sneakers were often considerably lower than their expected market values, creating an enticing model for both resellers looking to stock up on product for lower-than-normal and average customers who wanted to avoid paying the high-end value.
When reports and rumors of new sneaker releases would leak, Zadeh Kicks would offer them for preorder almost instantaneously. This meant that there were sometimes cases where the shoes would never materialize as a retail release (e.g. Futura x Off-White x Nike Dunk Lows) or would be exclusively offered from one source (e.g. Fragment Design x Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Highs on SNKRS). In these cases, Zadeh Kicks would be unable to provide the sneakers and would instead offer buyers store credit or heavily taxed refunds, terms that were clearly stated on the website.
...
One of the elements that made Zadeh Kicks so appealing to flippers and wearers alike was that despite their “low” ticket price, all signs pointed to the shoes being real.
"The Other Wind (The Earthsea Cycle Series Book 6)" Is $1.99 today
Today's funny posts
My mother shielding the robot lawn mower from the rain. Somebody please make a sitcom about my family. pic.twitter.com/4FYntd2Dd5
— Frances Watkins (@FrancesW96) May 18, 2022
This week's best Warhammer 40k miniatures and other hobby creations
Deathwatch Watch Master! #paintingwarhammer #GreyKnights #warhammer #warhammer40k #warhammer40000 #gamesworkshop #minipainting #wh40k #WarhammerCommunity #paint40k #tabletopminiatures #modeling #deathwatch #master pic.twitter.com/AEx2uxl6Uv
— Den of Imagination (@doiStudio) May 6, 2022
Friday, May 27, 2022
"Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized two Greek oil tankers Friday in helicopter-launched raids in the Persian Gulf"
WaPo:
The action appeared to be retaliation for Athens’ assistance in the U.S. seizure of crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker this week in the Mediterranean Sea
...
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency warned in a tweet: “There are still 17 other Greek ships in the Persian Gulf that could be seized.”
Meanwhile, the Guard is building a massive new support ship near the Strait of Hormuz as it tries to expand its naval presence in waters vital to international energy supplies and beyond, according to satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press.
The Iranian defence ministry reported an “accident” at its high-security Parchin complex on Wednesday, which killed an engineer and injured another. The New York Times reported on Friday that it was an attack using quadcopter suicide drones, that fitted a pattern of Israeli operations against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure. The report said the drone strike was aimed at a facility where Iran is developing its own drone technology.
According to the Times, Israel has also informed the US that it was behind the assassination of an IRGC colonel, Sayyad Khodai, who was shot by gunmen on motorbikes as he was getting out of his car outside his home in Tehran on Sunday. An unnamed intelligence official was quoted as saying Israel intended the killing to serve as a warning to Tehran to stop targeting Israeli citizens abroad.
Today's funny posts
#UnitedKingdom
— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) May 27, 2022
A fanged crowd of 1,369 broke the Guinness World Record for vampire gatherings in celebration of Bram Stoker’s classic novel in Whitby Abbey
📷 @oliscarff #AFP pic.twitter.com/k2INMPjjo6
StarSpeeder 1000 cosplay; Jedi Starfighter bed; Trade Federation drink dispenser
I want one… @starwars #StarWarsCelebration #disneyland #StarTours pic.twitter.com/ng6Xsk6R9M
— Jerrod Maruyama (@jmaruyama) May 26, 2022
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Washington, D.C. is contemplating charging residents much more to register trucks and SUVs
The proposal is meant to discourage D.C. city residents from using big, heavy trucks and SUVs to get around, according to Bloomberg. If passed into law, the annual cost of registration for these giant trucks and SUVs would go from $155 to $500.
...
If passed, this would be the first proposal of its kind in the U.S.
The Republicans on Michigan's Board of State Canvassers voted to let the Republican candidates remain on the ballot despite the apparent fraud
Michigan's Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 Thursday, keeping, for now, five GOP candidates for governor who were entangled in an alleged wave of petition forgeries off the August primary ballot....[One] Republican canvasser ... said fraudulent petition circulators should go to prison. But [he] said he wasn't prepared to shift the blame to candidates by blocking their ability to get on the ballot.The other GOP canvasser...drew a connection to unproven claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. It would have been unjust to deprive voters of their choice for a particular office based on "assumptions"...Bureau of Elections staff checked about 7,000 signatures among about 68,000 from the allegedly fraudulent circulators against the qualified voter file, which contains records about voters and their signatures...“We did not find a single registered voter with a matching signature for any of those circulators for any candidate of the ones we looked at”
"Trump E.P.A. Chief 'Endangered Public Safety' by Ordering His Drivers to Speed"
NYT:
Scott Pruitt, while in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration, repeatedly pressured his federal security officers to drive at excessive and sometimes dangerous speeds on routine trips, with sirens and emergency lights on, because he had a habit of running late, according to a federal report released on Thursday.
The security officers said they knew this was a violation of federal policies and “endangered public safety,” the report said. Among the incidents cited in the report was a 2017 trip in which a special agent drove Mr. Pruitt with the lights and sirens going, in the wrong direction into oncoming traffic, to pick up Mr. Pruitt’s dry cleaning
...
an agency supervisor told the members of Mr. Pruitt’s security detail “to disable/unplug the lights and sirens so they wouldn’t use them because the administrator will still instruct they be used, but the agent can say they don’t work,”
...
now running as a Republican for the United States Senate in Oklahoma
Third Sister figure available for preorder
Also, here's new photos of the Saw Gererra and updated Shae Visla figures, which are still available:
Closeup of the new Shae Vizla & Axe Woves #StarWars Vintage Collection #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/iyCJytc0w6
— Imperial Holocron at Celebration Anaheim (@ImpHolocron) May 26, 2022
Closeup looks at #StarWars Blasck Series Cantina Band, Saw Gerrera & Princess Leia ##Hasbro #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/FP8oGsAYor
— Imperial Holocron at Celebration Anaheim (@ImpHolocron) May 26, 2022
Today's funny posts
guy donating his body: promise that you won't make me look silly
— atrophy wife 🎀 (@zuza_real) May 18, 2022
scientists: uhh yeah sure thing pic.twitter.com/yIaWaOPRV9
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
"The Anaheim City Council voted unanimously late Tuesday night to kill the sale of Angel Stadium and the surrounding property"
LAT:
the Angels remain under a lease that binds the team to Angel Stadium through at least 2029.
...
Under the terms of the sale agreement, if Anaheim kills the deal, the city could refund the $50 million [the Angels owner] already has put into escrow, plus up to $5 million in his “transaction costs” and potential legal fees. However, the city’s preliminary legal position is that the alleged fraud might relieve the city of that burden – and could trigger a court to order [the Angels owner]’s company to pay the city’s legal costs.
...
[Anaheim] Councilmen ... all but dared [the Angels owner to sue].
The article makes this assertion without qualification:
The city had agreed to a $320-million sale of the 150-acre site, which would have blossomed from an aging stadium surrounded by a sea of parking lots into a modern ballpark anchored amid a residential and retail village, where fans could come early to dine and avoid traffic or live within walking distance of baseball games and other entertainment options.
A quarterback at Tennessee-Martin university endorsed a candidate for district attorney as part of an NIL agreement
Believed to be the first political endorsement NIL deal.
The Texas state bar filed a professional misconduct lawsuit against Texas's attorney general "for attempt to overturn 2020 presidential elections"
It seeks a sanction against [the attorney general], which will be determined by a judge, that could range from a private reprimand to disbarment.
In its filing, the commission said [the attorney general] had misrepresented that he had uncovered substantial evidence that "raises serious doubts as to the integrity of the election process in the defendant states."
...
[The attorney general] has faced securities fraud charges for seven years now, and more recently has come under FBI investigation after eight former top deputies accused him of bribery and abuse of office.
New Yorker interview says Russia is preparing for a long expanded conflict in Ukraine
Issac Chotiner interviewed Andrei Soldatov:
For many years, the Russian military believed that they had a chance to win a conflict with the West, not because they have better technology—they knew that the West always would have better technology—but because the West, and specifically the United States, would never sustain heavy casualties like the Russian Army can sustain, because, to the leadership, the cost of life is different. But in this war, in Ukraine, all the casualties are not by nato or by the American Army but by the Ukrainian Army. So even this cannot be played by the Russian Army. And that is why they think that they picked up a fight with nato in the wrong place.
...
The thinking is that, look, we are sustaining heavy casualties and suffering a lot, so the goal of occupying the Donbas cannot be the objective of such a war. We need something a bit more ambitious, and some pro-military channels on Telegram have just conducted polls and asked their subscribers, “What do you think? When will the objective for this war be achieved?” And only six per cent of people said that it would be achieved with the “liberation” of the Donbas, while thirty-three per cent said it would be when the whole of Ukraine capitulates unconditionally. People in the military and people close to the military want something much more ambitious than what Putin is saying.
For what it's worth, one thread trying to describe current state of battle.
And a monument:
Spring in Kyiv. 🚜 Весна у Києві. Недалеко від метро Політехнічний інститут. Дякую Ірині Юрченко за фото. 💪🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine️ pic.twitter.com/DPvEQK1guc
— Уляна Супрун (@usuprun) May 20, 2022
New Humble Bundle features Cities: Skylines for $1
Today's funny posts
Quite enjoyed Iron Mike the other day pic.twitter.com/mk3ID7gWsR
— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) May 24, 2022
#Afghanistan is another magic wonderland of energy drinks. pic.twitter.com/Jtt5VgAviy
— TiGu (@TiloGummel) May 24, 2022
Dense comic book covers by Filya Bratukhin
Deathstroke Inc. #10 and Batman #124 covers by Filya Bratukhin. A few more from his own upcoming comic:
The FOC for AGENT OF WORLDE #1 is coming up on monday the 23rd.
— Filya Bratukhin (@FilayKenoby) May 20, 2022
Hop on this train. pic.twitter.com/qZtUoWQNLp
And speaking of dense comic art:
Where’s Ralph? By Sergio Aragones
— Reuben Willmott (@MrBitterwitter) May 23, 2022
To be clear that’s Ralph from The Simpsons and not the Ralph you know in prison pic.twitter.com/xWmcr3s0el
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Germany's elections administrator says there should be a rerun of the 2021 election because of irregularities
On election day, September 26, 2021, electoral chaos engulfed parts of Berlin: Some of the city’s 12 constituencies were ill-prepared to hold a general election on the same day that the German capital was also holding its marathon. Severe traffic disruption and delayed ballot deliveries ensued, leading some people to go home without voting rather than wait in long queues. Polling stations also remained open beyond 6 p.m., even after preliminary results were announced.
At least six female swimmers at Cal allegedly "made plans to kill themselves or obsessed about suicide" because of the head coach's behavior
She is the most well known and most successful female coach in the sport’s history. [She] was the first and only woman head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, leading a squad that included six future, current or former Cal swimmers who earned a combined 13 medals at the London Games.
...
Cal swimmers told [the coach a team member contemplated killing herself] and the coach confronted [the swimmer] the next morning at practice, pulling her out the pool.
“Did you try and kill yourself last night?” [the coach] asked her...
“Yeah,” [the swimmer] responded. “I don’t want to live.
“[Coach] literally laughed in my face and said, ‘Do you know how pathetic that is? How stupid that is? How selfish that is?’”
A federal law signed by President George W. Bush "protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products"
the National Rifle Association thanked President Bush for signing the Act, for which it had lobbied, describing it as "... the most significant piece of pro-gun legislation in twenty years into law"
Guarantee there is a drippingly evil conference call happening right now with GOP leadership
— Joe Quinones (@Joe_Quinones) May 24, 2022
Today's funny posts
More pictures of Lady Gaga at the #TopGunMaverick premiere in San Diego pic.twitter.com/MgFAXcFY6r
— ً (@vvhiteferrari) May 4, 2022
Attack on Titan Lego creations
Founding Titan
— Calcium Cavalryman (@Sir_Tumbleweed) May 22, 2022
Made for an AOT collab, I took some creative liberties#LEGO #レゴ #Bionicle #shingeki pic.twitter.com/IL93CtwCKg
Mysterious technology washes up on the beach; Turning a Rubik's Cube into a party invitation; Ancient temple on a farm
Wikipedia.A SOSUS sensor washed up on the beach of Husavik Iceland. #Submarines pic.twitter.com/9mbqcuk1RM
— Eric Moreno (@KingNeptune767) May 21, 2022
Monday, May 23, 2022
Majority of the petition signatures submitted for the top republican candidate for governor of Michigan are believed to be fraudulent
two of the top candidates for the Republican nomination for governor, didn't submit enough valid petition signatures to make the ballot, according to findings from the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
...
the bureau said it had tracked 36 petition circulators "who submitted fraudulent petition sheets consisting entirely of invalid signatures."
The bureau found that [the former Detroit police Chief]'s campaign had turned in 11,113 invalid signatures, including 9,879 signatures from "fraudulent petition circulators." Only 10,192 of the 21,305 signatures [he] submitted were "facially valid," leaving him short of the 15,000 signature threshold, according to the bureau.
New Star Wars micro vehicles available for preorder (including teeny tiny Greef Karga)
"Just 12% of the state’s beaches are open to all members of the public, according to a coastal land inventory done by [Massachusetts]"
Per the last study done by the state, 30 years ago:
Beach access is also — perhaps unsurprisingly — an issue of racial inequity. The state’s urban beaches are free and easily accessible, but some of the beaches located in more racially and ethnically diverse communities such as Boston, Lynn and Quincy are also more prone to bacterial contamination that poses a health risk, sometimes forcing beach closures.
Today's funny posts
i’m at a crypto/NFT conference and… pic.twitter.com/Q8rwZCuSzF
— mia sato 佐藤みあ (@MiaRSato) May 22, 2022
Group of antiabortion activists burst into a San Francisco women’s clinic, filmed hospital staff and patients, and stalked a doctor
The woman allegedly told hospital workers she needed counseling services at the clinic, which is operated by UCSF.When a nurse went to speak with her at the door, the rest of the group “came out from hiding and ran through the door. They barged into the clinic and began filming patients and (hospital) staff. Staff reported that these protesters were attempting to barge into operating rooms”...Later that evening, members of the group allegedly posted stickers with a QR code just outside a doctor’s home, inviting the public to learn more about the “killer in your neighborhood.” The QR code led to a website with the doctor’s name and photograph.
On the cover of the latest @nymag: This Magazine Will Help You Get An Abortion. A wildly ambitious, incredibly useful, regularly updated access map and much more practical reporting from @thecut, with an introduction from me https://t.co/1BxOavyFKH pic.twitter.com/OO4pLNoC8f
— Irin Carmon (@irin) May 23, 2022
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Starting this season, every MLB rosin bag is made by one man in San Francisco
“A day after the collective bargaining agreement was reached, they called me and said, ‘How would you like to be the official rosin of Major League Baseball?’” Phillips said. “For a small business, a one-man operation in San Francisco, this was a pretty big deal for me.”
...
“Rosin has a lot of different characteristics to it,” Phillips said. “Our rosin works faster. It activates a bit quicker. I think MLB went with what I provide because it gets stickier quicker instead of having to doctor it up.”
Phillips gets his rosin from Honduras pine trees, the national tree of Honduras, where amber-colored sap is extracted in the spring by making cuts in the trees just below the lowest branches. Receptacles are wrapped below the cuts to collect the sap, a process similar to how maple syrup is harvested.
The sap then is boiled to distill out the turpentine, and what’s left is rosin that becomes hard and brittle. It’s packaged in 55-pound clumps and shipped to the East Coast, where it’s repackaged and sent to San Francisco. Phillips orders thousands of pounds at a time.
...
This all started as a hobby for Phillips, who in 2009 began playing in hardball leagues including the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball league, which reproduces the 1880s game including its uniforms, equipment and rules.
Remarkable thread about segregation in an area of Texas famous for producing top athletes
Today's funny posts
For anyone who wants to get lost in the amazing world of pimped-out ambulances -- and cars and trucks and, yes, even minivans -- it's a literal business in the Dominican Republic and that it exists makes my heart full: https://t.co/aIm4n850yz
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 21, 2022
Picked up from my wishlist, " Then We Came to the End: A Novel" is $1.99 today at Amazon
Winner of the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award
...
One of the Best Books of the Year
Boston Globe * Christian Science Monitor * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Time magazine * Salon
Shin Godzilla attraction in the rain; Disorienting views of Times Square, Hong Kong, and Macau
The giant Shin Godzilla zipline attraction during a rainy day in Japan. pic.twitter.com/lpUVuVKH1C
— Kaiju News Outlet (@KaijuNewsOutlet) May 20, 2022
Saturday, May 21, 2022
"Powerful judge in Texas' smallest county...charged with cattle theft"
NBC:
Lawmen came to remote Loving County, Texas, on Friday to arrest the county judge, a former sheriff’s deputy and two ranch hands on one of Texas’ oldest crimes — cattle theft.
...
the scion of a powerful ranching family
...
For decades, a handful of prominent families in Loving County have feuded bitterly for control of the local government, with the [judge's] finally largely coming out ahead. [He] has served as the judge for more than 15 years. His sister is the county clerk. His cousin’s husband is the county attorney. His nephew is the constable.
...
he presided over a period of unprecedented growth, as fracking boomed in the Permian Basin, feeding money into the county’s coffers