Self-selection for Darwin awards

The LA Times is a regular stop for me, in large part for the peek into the bizarro state of life on the goofy coast. My latest little jewel is a story about a cholo who, in effect, had tattooed on his chest a confession to a murder.

Inked on the pudgy chest of a young Pico Rivera gangster who had been picked up and released on a minor offense was the scene of a 2004 liquor store slaying that had stumped Lloyd for more than four years.

Read it all here. The tat was executed in such detail that the laws could establish that the cholo had committed the murder in question. If the mexicano imports are taking the criminal jobs that Americans didn't want, they need to study the Sicilian traditions about silence. La Eme, the Mexican Mafia, had its constitution posted on line, in effect admitting to conspiracy to commit crimes. Never catch the real Mafia in such arrant stupidity.

Campaigns already

His Oliness recently announced his candidacy for re-election to the office of president, sparking on a blog I like a really funny bunch of suggestions for a campaign slogans. Some examples:

Give Me a Second Chance, And I'll Prove You Are Worthy of Me

O'12: Able to manage 50% more simultaneous wars than anyone else.

Change we can bereave in

Confident Smugness For An Uncertain World

No Matter What Crisis I Cause, I Will Remain Serenely Above It

And a nice one from a disappointed lefty: 'Nowhere Man 2012: Because Everyone Else Is Worse.'

J-school at U of Colorado shutting down

A steal from the Facebook page of an old editor of mine tells us that the University of Colorado is dismantling, sorta, its school of journalism. Story reads, "The University of Colorado's journalism school will close June 30, making it the first -- but perhaps not the last -- college to be shut down in the university's history."
Read the whole thing here in the Boulder Daily Camera. It appears that the school is vexed in various ways that make closing it down a reasonable thing to do. Fact is, two-thirds of the J-schools in the country need to close down. It's a shameful thing to take high education fees from kids who think they have a future doing journalism in anything like the old way.
I remember reading somewhere that the U.S. has an 8,000-year supply of anthropologists at the current rate of job availability. People have been sold a bogus idea that a college diploma is a guarantee of a secure life, but about half or more of college diplomas are a waste of time and money. The credentialism of modern America is a sad travesty. The Calhoun County schools are dropping auto tech and cosmetology courses in a budget move, thus depriving students of an opportunity to learn something that translates into real job opportunities, while the Vicad sponsors a professor in print journalism and Hispanic or Latino or Chicano or Whatever studies. Neither field looks promising for employment in the world we live in.

Odd punctuation

I don't much bother with picking at the Vicad these days. It's kinda like stomping on a puppy or maybe beating a dead horse, as they seem so generally debilitated as to offer no satisfaction from little jabs. That notwithstanding, I had to puzzle over this sentence from CC's blog:

As far as I can tell, this is the first time, any big media outlet outside of Victoria has covered this story.

Seems to an assiduous sort that there is a needless comma in that sentence. Problem with blogging is that, save for yourself, you don't have an editor, and some editors need editing.
Usually reliable sources tell me that one of the hospitals has canceled subscriptions for the Vicad, relying instead on the miserable USA Today for papers for their patients. Reliable subscription stats are a little hard to find; the paper claims as readers anyone who walks past a paper rack, but actual subscriptions appear to be below 20K these days. Tsk, tsk.

Arkie eccentricity

Friend of mine's on the road a lot and sends me odd stuff from wherever. He's even visited the rancho in Kansas. He sends this fine example of Arkansas eccentricity. There is something in the Ozarks that seems to encourage certain forms of entertaining peculiarity. You'll need to move your cursor over the pix to see the progress of construction. It's really cool.

Okie earthquake

My newest playpretty from the Internet is this interactive earthquake map. There was recently a 3.4 east of Oklahoma City. Those who say things say that the fault we should fear is the New Madrid along the Mississippi River. That part of the country is apparently unprepared for quakes.
On the same topic, I'd guess that Edith Ann hasn't seen the latest Texas Monthly, as there is no indication of massive tremors centered in Victoria.

Amzing penguin documentary

From BBC:

The BBC announced that camera crews filming near the Antarctic for its natural history series Miracles of Evolution had captured footage of Adélie penguins taking to the air. ..

.






Check your calendars.
April 2 – And for pilón-lagniappe-boot, this classic: