Rogier van Bakel posts a bit of a horror story about trying to adopt a dog from a shelter. Oddly, the attendant don't want to let him visit the kennels, instead asking him to look through a binder and pick a dog for her to bring out. Even after he finds a dog, a big friendly Saint Bernard, the people at the shelter give him the run-around, apparently because they don't want … [Read more...] about A Strange But Familiar Logic
Making New Friends With Cell Phones
A few nights ago I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard my cellphone buzzing away in the pocket of my jacket. It does that periodically when I've missed a call, so I pulled it out to see I had missed anything important. It wasn't a missed call. It was an instant message. Who the heck would send me a message at 2 am? Curious, I opened the message and got a picture. … [Read more...] about Making New Friends With Cell Phones
Friday Catblogging
Here's a picture of Dozer doing what he does best: And here's a special guest cat, spotted on a neighbor's balcony: … [Read more...] about Friday Catblogging
Second Thoughts on Hate Crimes
(My discussion of hate crimes arises against the background of Bush's veto of a new federal hate crimes bill, but I'm not discussing that bill at all.) A few days ago I blogged about hate crime laws. These laws increase the punishment for "hate crimes," which are crimes that are motivated by bigotry. Beat a guy because he cut you off in traffic, that's an ordinary crime. Beat … [Read more...] about Second Thoughts on Hate Crimes
Meanwhile, In Other Embarassing Chicago Police News…
William Hanhardt wants a new trial. I guess if I were a 78-year-old former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives who got sent away for 12 years for running a jewelry theft ring, I'd want a new trial too. Although...I'm not sure "new trial" is the right term when you plead guilty the first time. I suspect that pleading guilty makes it hard to find grounds for a retrial so, … [Read more...] about Meanwhile, In Other Embarassing Chicago Police News…