How to cover up a lousy job.
Found this image at reddit; the work is by Lindsay Baker, who works at Niteowl Tattoo in Northampton, MA.
10 out of 10 stars.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
1945: Elm Street in Dallas
Oregon: A Lawless Waste of Fugitive Malefactors. Well, not really.
Here’s John Oliver, one of my favorite mockers-of-social-folly, taking the wind out of the Bail Bond system in the USA:
He mentioned that Oregon has a different landscape to play on, and redditor /u/ThisDerpForSale elaborated on that a bit – I thought it was worth sharing.
John Oliver makes a reference to Oregon doing things differently. I’ll expand on that a little bit.
Oregon is one of only four states that has no commercial bail bondsmen. We did away with them in the 70’s, and a 1978 Oregon Supreme Court decision actually held that bounty hunting is considered kidnapping under Oregon law. So, we’re now a lawless wasteland of fugitives running amok, right? Hardly.
In fact, very few people are held in custody pending trial. The vast majority – charged with minor misdemeanors (shoplifting, graffiti, public drunkenness, etc) or low-level felonies (drug possession, theft). are release on their own recognizance. Most jurisdictions have a pretrial services program as described in Oliver’s piece. These offices, usually part of the county sheriff’s office, assess the risk of the defendant, and, again, in the vast majority of cases, release the defendant on their own recognizance.
If the defendant is being held on a more serious crime, or if they have a history of failing to appear, or for other reasons, then the defendant is held on as statutory bail amount. Because we don’t have commercial bail bondsmen, a defendant can pay 10% of the statutory bail amount directly to the court to be released. So, if your statutory bail amount is $5000, you pay $500, and get out. The court will take 15% for costs, and if you are assessed an indigent defense cost (for a court appointed attorney), that is paid out of bail too. If you have any fines or fees when the case is concluded, that’s also paid out of the money posted. If you jump bail – if you fail to appear in court – or if you violate any of the terms of your release agreement, you may forfeit the full amount of the bail, meaning you will now owe the court the full $5000. That’s fairly rare, though.
But what if you aren’t released on recog, or if you can’t afford your bail, either because you are indigent, or because you’re charged with a crime with a high amount of statutory bail? Well then you can ask for a release hearing before a judge. And because of another Oregon Supreme Court case, the judge must assess whether the statutory bail is unconstitutional as applied to you – which means, basically, whether it is too high for you to ever have any reasonable expectation of paying it. By law, bail in Oregon cannot be set at a level calculated to keep someone in custody – they must have the ability to pay it. If you are charged with a crime or crimes that set $150,000 bail, and you couldn’t possibly put down $15,000, then the judge can reduce the bail to, say , $10,000, as you have a much more reasonable chance of scrimping, begging, and borrowing $1,000.
Bottom line is this – very few people are in jail in Oregon because they can’t pay bail. There are some. But it’s rare. And thank goodness for that.
Very well said, and very well done by Oregon.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Spam as Tabloid
Redditor /u/RamsesThePigeon cleverly took the contents of his spam box and turned it into tabloid covers. The irony is that the real thing looks just about like this.
Well-done indeed.
An .EXE file is not an invoice
Today’s scam email:
|
Hi,
we are updating our company email address so i’m sending you the outstanding balance and new lodging.
Confirm receipt.
Amy chan
Tridium, Inc.
3951 Westerre Parkway, Suite 350
Richmond, VA 23233
USA.
That “Download” is a file called “deposit copy.exe” – something you NEVER want to click on. EXE files are PROGRAMS, and they are BAD NEWS. From code that will log your keystrokes, steal your information, turn your machine into a zombie spamming device, to encrypting all your files for ransom, these malware programs will make your life a living hell. Just don’t do it.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
The Greatest Summer Homework List Ever
The dreaded summer reading list. For most kids, summer is a time when they can forget about school, but many teachers want to keep their thumbs in that glorious time of blissful forgetfulness. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing – an increasing number of voices in the education community are calling for modifications.
But Cesare Cata, who teaches at a secondary school in the central Le Marche region in Italy, wants his students to use their time off for less academic pursuits. I bless his name, and wish I had had a teacher like this.
Here the original Italian:
1. Al mattino, qualche volta, andate a camminare sulla riva del mare in totale solitudine: guardate come vi si riflette il sole e, pensando alle cose che più amate nella vita, sentitevi felici.
2, Cercate di usare tutti i nuovi termini imparati insieme quest’anno: più cose potete dire, più cose potete pensare; e più cose potete pensare, più siete liberi
3. Leggete, quanto più potete. Ma non perché dovete. Leggete perché l’estate vi ispira avventure e sogni, e leggendo vi sentite simili a rondini in volo. Leggete perché è la migliore forma di rivolta che avete (per consigli di lettura, chiedere a me).
4. Evitate tutte le cose, le situazioni e le persone che vi rendono negativi o vuoti: cercate situazioni stimolanti e la compagnia di amici che vi arricchiscono, vi comprendono e vi apprezzano per quello che siete.
5. Se vi sentite tristi o spaventati, non vi preoccupate: l’estate, come tutte le cose meravigliose, mette in subbuglio l’anima. Provate a scrivere un diario per raccontare il vostro stato (a settembre, se vi va, ne leggeremo insieme)
6. Ballate. Senza vergogna. In pista sotto cassa, o in camera vostra. L’estate è una danza, ed è sciocco non farne parte.
7. Almeno una volta, andate a vedere l’alba. Restate in silenzio e respirate. Chiudete gli occhi, grati.
8. Fate molto sport.
9. Se trovate una persona che vi incanta, diteglielo con tutte la sincerità e la grazia di cui siete capaci. Non importa se lui/lei capirà o meno. Se non lo farà, lui/lei non era il vostro destino; altrimenti, l’estate 2015 sarà la volta dorata sotto cui camminare insieme (se questa va male, tornate al punto 8).
10. Riguardate gli appunti delle nostre lezioni: per ogni autore e ogni concetto fatevi domande e rapportatele a quello che vi succede.
11. Siate allegri come il sole, indomabili come il mare.
12. Non dite parolacce, e siate sempre educatissimi e gentili.
13. Guardate film dai dialoghi struggenti (possibilmente in lingua inglese) per migliorare la vostra competenza linguistica e la vostra capacità di sognare. Non lasciate che il film finisca con i titoli di coda. Rivivetelo mentre vivete la vostra estate.
14.Nella luce sfavillante o nelle notti calde, sognate come dovrà e potrà essere la vostra vita: nell’estate cercate la forza per non arrendervi mai, e fate di tutto per perseguire quel sogno.
15. Fate i bravi.
And here the English translation:
- In the morning, sometime, go walk by the sea in total solitude: look at how the sun is reflected and, thinking about the things you love most in life, feel happy.
- Try to use all the new word you learned together this year: the more things you can say, the more things you can think of; and the more things you can think of, the more free you become.
- Read as much as you can. But not because you have to. Read because the summer inspires dreams and adventures, and because while you are reading you feel like swallows in flight. Read because it is the best form of revolt there is. (For suggested reading, ask me).
- Avoid all things, situations and people that make you negative or empty: Look for challenging situations and the company of friends that will enrich you, understand you, and appreciate you for who you are.
- If you feel sad or scared, do not worry: the summer, as all wonderful things do, can trouble the soul. Try to write a diary to record your feelings; (in September, if you like, we will read these together).
- Dance. Shamelessly. In line at the bank, or in your room. Summer is a dance, and it is foolish not to take part.
- At least once, go see the sunrise. Remain silent and breathe. Close your eyes, grateful.
- Play sports. A lot.
- If you find a person who enchants you, tell them with all the sincerity and grace of which you are capable. It doesn’t matter if (s)he understands or not. If (s)he does not, (s)he was not your destiny; otherwise, the summer 2015 will be the great gilded vault under which you walk together (if this goes wrong, go back to step 8).
- Review the notes of our classes: for each author and each concept, ask yourself questions and liken them to what happens to you.
- Be as cheerful as the sun, as untamable as the sea.
- Do not use bad language, and always be most wise and kind.
- Watch films with poignant dialog (preferably in English) to improve your language skills and your ability to dream. Do not let the films end with the credits. Re-live them while you live your summer.
- In sparkling light or on warm nights, dream about what your like can and must be; in the summer serch for the strength never to give up, and do everything to pursue that dream.
- Be good.
The Old Wolf has nothing more to add.
Unfortunate Advertising Coincidences
I don’t have AdBlocker on my mobile device, so I see all sorts of garbage. On occasion, however, what I see is amusing enough that I’m not even mad. Below a capture from an article where Bernie Sanders proposes spending $5 Billion to provide jobs for youth instead of even more on law enforcement and incarceration:
The juxtaposition of the McDonald’s propaganda and the snippet from Sanders’ comments was enough to make me smile. But when I clicked on the ad, just to see what kind of disinformation MickeyD’s was disseminating, I had to capture the unfortunate choice of redirect URLs:
The full URL actually was longer than the full name of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch – I’ve never understood the mechanics behind these dynamically-generated addresses:
One thing is certain, though – neither the advertising concern nor McDonald’s could possibly be too happy about being labeled
BS Serving System
regardless of how true it may be.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
1935: Outside Water Supply in DC
July 1935. “Outside water supply, Washington, D.C. Only source of water supply winter and summer for many houses in slum areas. In some places drainage is so poor that surplus water backs up in huge puddles.” These municipal water taps (or pumps — they have crank handles) appear in several photos from this series. I wonder if any survive. 35mm negative by Carl Mydans
Found at Shorpy
Movie Review: Tomorrowland. The best film I’ve seen so far in 2015.
Caution: Mild spoilers ahead. I’ll try not to give too much away.
Here’s a review of “Tomorrowland” by some pretentious soul who holds himself or herself out as a film critic:
“An aggressively optimistic script admonishes the lazy and irresolute and urges humanity to end war and save the environment; the proselytizing burdens an already onerous plot.”
This is exactly the type of person that the film’s conceit addresses: nothing is wrong, all is well in Zion, and those who dare to dream are optimistic fools.
The plot of the movie revolves around a young girl who was taught by her father to feed the wolf inside her that stands for light and goodness, not darkness and evil. She is shown a vision of a future that could be, and encounters people who are dead set against allowing that future to happen. And she has to make some difficult choices along the way.
George Clooney stars, but the characters that swirl around him, notably Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Thomas Robinson, and the ever-curmudgeonly Hugh Laurie, turn in performances that carry the film along in a convincing and delightful manner.
The effects are stellar and imaginative. Not much more can be said.
And the message of the film is one that is desperately needed in the world today. We need more dreamers, people who are willing to step up to the plate and do something about the pressing issues that face our world. We need more Elon Musks, more inventive kids like the ones out there who are figuring out better ways to provide clean water and cheap power to impoverished areas, provide better lighting, clean up the plastic in the oceans, diagnosing diseases quickly and cheaply, and countless other wonderful things.
Instead, our own country is arming police departments like they were SWAT teams, killing people with abandon, taxing the poor in favor of the ultra-wealthy, allowing robber barons to get off scot-free, cutting science, arts and literacy programs in favor of standardized testing and cookie-cutter education, and generally doing everything it can to cut creativity off at the ankles.
The last movies that made me feel this good were The Peaceful Warrior and The Ultimate Gift. We need more messages like this in the world, despite what the self-appointed naysayers preach.
I recommend this movie wholeheartedly. Not a perfect show by any means, but I left the theatre with my heart singing.
Overall rating: Eight out of ten stars.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
New York, 1905
WordPress is strange; I realized I had gotten the date wrong on this photo in my previous effort; I could update the post, but the URL stayed the same and included the wrong date, so I had to trash the original post and start again.
This photo was colorized by redditor /u/kibblenbits, one of the best colorizers out there. I love historical photos of New York – this one would have been taken 4 years before my father was born.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Playing in the World Game 