Author: DOuG pRATt

The ‘internal affairs’ of ‘RENtOn 911!’

I first saw this story on the Daily Cartoonist, but it’s so strange that by now it’s probably getting wider coverage. In Renton, Washington, somebody has used Xtranormal animation to make parody videos of the police department. It’s apparently the work of an insider, and the chief isn’t amused. TV station KIRO7 broke the story. (Argh! The reporter says, “sign off on this,” an expression that drives me nuts. It should simply be “sign this.”)

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2011/AUG/CriticizeRentonPolice.flv 512 288]

Today, the police chief defended his use of the courts for what seems to be a personal vendetta. This story has all the ingredients of a real-life Reno 911!

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2011/AUG/RentonPoliceRespond.flv 512 288]

Battle of the dead economists

The economist Paul Krugman is a Keynesian. He says government stimulus is the way to get the economy moving again, even if it means going deeper in debt. The prevailing policy in England, and now in America, favors Friedrich Hayek, who would recommend cutting back and riding out the downturn until the economy corrects itself. BBC Radio 4 sponsored an interesting debate on the merits and weaknesses of Keynes vs. Hayek

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2011/Aug/bbc4.mp3|titles=BBC Radio 4 debate: Keynes vs. Hayek]

Thunderbirds are still go, Go, GO!

One of the smashing British birds of the Sixties that is too often overlooked is Lady Penelope, a woman whose life has many strings attached. Lady Penelope was ably assisted by Parker, her faithful servant.

http://youtu.be/dwKLgTUb-EQ

One of Penelope’s most famous encounters was with British music legend Cliff Richard…
http://youtu.be/0hnGPCme0wk?t=4m43s

… and Lady Penelope had a hit song of her own, ably assisted by Parker, of course.

FCC confirms FiOS delivers as promised

Ars Technica reports that the FCC has studied internet service provider speeds and, no surprise to me, found Verizon FiOS to be the best in America. Not only does it have the fastest throughput, the speed is consistent throughout the day.

Speaking of FiOS, a few weeks ago I talked about trouble with the battery that keeps the FiOS landline phone working during a power failure. We lost power for a few hours this past Sunday, due to “animal contact with equipment” according to the power company, and the battery was OK during the entire outage.

High concepts

I haven’t seen Cowboys and Aliens yet, but I’m already thinking about sequels:

  • Indians and Aliens (too obvious?)
  • Nazis and Aliens (the aliens are good guys)
  • Apes and Aliens (Planet of the Apes crossover)
  • Palins and Aliens (Sarah shooting from a helicopter)

So many possible combinations, and that’s just with the aliens!