Welcome to my little Nerdery on the Net! :)

A couple of recent events in the news make me really wonder if the law really ought to have some mechanism for dealing with unintended consequences in less idiotic and hurtful ways. First up was the revelation that as a result of the ongoing appeal of Aaron Hernandez's original murder conviction of Odin Lloyd, Hernandez's suicide means that the conviction will automatically be set aside by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under the doctrine of "abatement".…

This morning's unfortunate encounter with a very rude and inconsiderate individual who was smoking at the petrol station whilst they were fueling their vehicle (and as he was downwind was blowing the smoke directly in my face!) got me wondering what actual legal authority and enforcement stands behind the non-smoking signs posted conspicuously about the petrol pumps. After much searching, it turns out that the answer isn't particularly straightforward because it is left to the…

I'm not sure which bit of hypocrisy is more astounding…that Trump would effectively condone Bill O'Reilly's behaviour or that he would declare April 2017 as "National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month" with the idea that his administration "will do everything in its power to protect women, children, and men from sexual violence." If there was ever a time that Melania would be justified in insisting that Donald sleep on the couch, I'd think this…

My goodness...that was certainly a lot more exciting than it needed to be with way too many missed free throws and open shots that were missed on both sides. Full marks to Gonzaga for one heck of a run and really pushing the Heels to the limit...I don't think this will be the last time we see them or Mark Few in a title game! 2017 National Champion UNC Tarheels! I like the sound of…

When you get a chance, kindly spare a thought for the family of PC Keith Palmer and the other victims of the attack upon the Palace of Westminster earlier today. Were it not for his actions to stop the advance of the attacker until armed reinforcements could arrive on scene at the breached fence…the death toll could have been much higher. Prime Minister May described the attack as "sick" and "depraved"…an example of British understatement…

When I learned of the horrific desecration to a Jewish cemetery near St Louis, I'll confess that the first reaction I had was anger that anyone could commit such an atrocity in anyone's sacred ground but that this Jewish cemetery had been targeted was even more outrageous. And I'll confess I had some rather unpleasant thoughts for the individuals responsible for this act of hatred. But there's a reason one ought to lay angry thoughts…

A French chap is suing Uber for 45m euro because of an alleged bug in the app that allowed his now ex-wife to discover that he was using Uber's services to carry on with an affair. My favourite quote in the article comes from his lawyer who should really consider doing standup comedy: "The lawyer did not comment on a report in Le Figaro newspaper that the lawsuit was worth up to €45m, saying only…

Transcripts of the debate leading up to the DeVos confirmation vote: https://www.c-span.org/video/?423606-1/us-senate-democrats-continue-hold-floor-devos-vote-looms Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio's comments really stood out to me as a parent of three children that run the entire spectrum of the kids that IDEA is meant to protect: "I can't support Betsy DeVos because I can't look Ohio parents in the eye and tell them she won't put profits ahead of their children's education. Our children deserve to be --…

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dusted off a seldom-used and selectively enforced Section 2 of Rule 19 to stop Senator Elizabeth Warren from speaking in opposition to the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions to be the next Attorney General. "2. No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator." What prompted the Majority Leader…

If you find maths a bit of a struggle to figure out how to calculate inflation over that long period, Senators Tillis and Burr of North Carolina have made it much easier for you with their vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education despite having absolutely zero qualifications or any actual experience with public schools. Senator Tillis is joint-second on her bribe list to the tune of $72,900 and Senator Burr joint-ninth on…

"US President Donald Trump has vowed to overturn a legal ruling which suspended his ban on travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries. He described federal judge James Robart as a "so-called" justice whose "ridiculous" opinion "essentially takes law-enforcement away from" the US." As opposed to a so-called President who apparently doesn't have the first clue about what the Constitution actually says and means nor does he seem to be all that concerned about the RULE…

**** WARNING: This one's a bit long… **** It's funny how all this started with a seemingly innocuous question from out of the blue from my sister…"you like playing around with your camera, right?" She had started working at this theatre in downtown Fayetteville near the Market House that I had honestly never heard of…and no, it wasn't the one I remembered up the hill in Haymount! Anyway, they were really in need of someone…

Whilst thinking of my friend Sally Brown who noted the crickets one hears when speaking of terrorism committed by people of pale complexion and prompted a good discusion, we can now add Alexandre Bissonnette who is the nasty blagger who took it upon himself to kill at least six people worshipping in their mosque in Quebec City. There really isn't any way to spin that other than he was taking a page out of Dylann…

Knowing how bought by special interests it takes someone to get elected, Member of Congress will probably never be one of those jobs where the officeholder and honesty would be considered in the same sentence without some sort of punch line. But gutting the one organisation that is supposed to at least pretend to enforce some sort of ethics standards on Congress as one of the first acts would seem to send the message loud…

Dick Clark's on the TV behind me, Grandpa's piano and a Cuba Libre is in front of me... Hou'oli makahiki hou! Happy New Years 2017...we can't see the back of 2016 soon enough if you ask me!

According to the BBC and confirmed through other sources, Nico Rosberg retires from F1 with immediate effect after winning his maiden World Driver's Championship. Wow! Did. Not. See. That. Coming. At. All. You've got to give him mad respect for making the best of having better reliability this past season and pushing himself and Lewis to a thrilling conclusion of the season. And then being willing to bin it after winning the trophy to concentrate…

Katie, Nick, and I just watched a very brightly lit International Space Station pass right over my house! Hope they enjoyed the sunset…it was a pretty nice one this evening! :) Roscosmos had a Progress cargo ship failure today after launch from Baikonur…premature separation and third stage failure at about 120 miles altitude destroying the spacecraft completely. It's mission was to resupply the ISS…next supply ship launches from Japan on 09 Dec and the stores…

Mr President-Elect, Your favourite late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia actually voted the correct way on Texas v Johnson which struck down criminal penalties for flag burning as protected speech/protest under the First Amendment. May I kindly point out that you might want to consider making it a habit of engaging your brain well before you decide to speak or tweet? Especially before looking like a complete doofus completely incapable of grasping irony (the polite…

Cats - Canes at the PNC ended up 3-2 in favour of the good guys with three goals in about 3:30 in the second period. Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant gives his usual post-game presser and then after that bit of business is done is informed by the team that he and his assistant have been relieved of their duties and their current GM and former Canes assistant Tom Rowe is taking over behind the…

I've not heard this nomination floated yet but I'm thinking Jared Kushner's purge might be missing a golden opportunity…NJ Governor Chris Christie for Secretary of Transportation. ;) Not only would it show a bit of wit, the Right Honourable Jim Hacker MP showed us over 30 years ago that a national integrated transport policy is in the political interest of everyone but the poor bastard that has to propose and defend it against the rail/air/ground…

I am very thankful every day for the men and women of our Armed Forces who voluntarily stand on the wall to protect our country and Constitution against any who would do them harm even knowing that the price for freedom for us all may be their very life. This year, that message is even more poignant than usual. Normally, later in the day, the kids and I would be ringing a certain phone in…

After seeing Nicholas get awarded his certificate, I needed a bit of airplane therapy at RDU to get in the right frame of mind after last night. What a nice surprise for my family in Illinois...Southwest's "Illinois One" Boeing 737-700 logojet. I haven't forgotten the family in the STL...here is a couple of the last remaining TWA McDonnell-Douglas MD-80s in the classic silver scheme!

Thank goodness for Peter Mansbridge of the CBC...a very refreshing voice of calm and reason on this frenetic night of elections. CBC being simulcast on CSPAN2... Update 15 Feb 2021 - After the past few tumultuous years, I think I might need to explain what my state of mind was when I wrote this pretty pithy Facebook post. I had voted that morning with Katie and Alex serving as my bodyguards before dropping them off…

Has Coach Peters ever won a coach's challenge? Every game I've seen this season has ended with the call on the ice standing! In the words of Inigo Montoya..."you keep using this coach's challenge...I don't think it works the way you think it works!" ;)