Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude,
How is it I extract strength from the beef I eat?

What is a man anyhow? what am I? what are you?

All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own,
Else it were time lost listening to me…

- Walt Whitman

{ 0 comments }

Joe Nocera writes at the New York Times about the Target / Pershing Square proxy contest that ended yesterday on Thursday:

You can’t help but suspect that Mr. Ackman’s subsequent proxy fight, one of the most expensive ever mounted, was an act of pique. His dedicated Target fund had lost, according to numerous reports, some 90 percent of its value, largely because of his own bit of financial engineering: he owned options that accelerated his losses as the stock sank. His real estate idea had been rebuffed by management. (They turned him down in part because they feared a ratings downgrade.) He had asked to go on the board and been turned down for that as well. And though the stock was down, he could hardly argue that Target was poorly run, because it isn’t. He was like a spoiled child unaccustomed to being told “no.”

Joe’s column is the best I’ve seen on the issue yet.

Disclosures: I am an employee of Target and own stock in the corporation.

{ 0 comments }

Massachusetts: More stupid firearms laws

May 30, 2009

Massachusetts is at it again with more stupid firearms laws - laws that will do nothing to impact crime at all.
While there are many things that I miss about living in New England - I am certainly not missing the idiotic “anti-crime” measures that the Massachusetts legislature attempts to pull off. I’m quite happy [...]

Read the full article →

Memorial Day 2009

May 25, 2009

I’m a third generation Boy Scout. Like my father and grandfather before me, I chose to stay the course and complete the requirements to become an Eagle Scout. Each Eagle must complete, as a part of the requirements for the rank, a project involving community service and leadership of others. While my [...]

Read the full article →

Downrange at Bill’s North

May 18, 2009

I haven’t written much lately - been involved in a project at work that has been quite involved - but my current team has been bugging me to provide them with something to read on here… so inspired by Lex’s post, here’s something new:

Kimber Ultra CDP II with Wilson Magazines at Bill’s Gun Shop & [...]

Read the full article →

Chuck loses his son

March 22, 2009

Chuck Butcher’s son took his own life this week - he has blogged about it here, written not long after the police informed he and his wife:
I choose to let the bad stuff fade and to keep alive pictures like the 4 year old lugging his toy gun throught the woods trying to sneak and [...]

Read the full article →

Dear Dad, with love

March 16, 2009

Over at Science Blogs, Abel reflects on the 12th anniversary of his father’s death:
It was out there, in the darkness between Denver and Albuquerque, that I believe we had our last discussion, maybe a year after you died. I was camping alone, without a tent, in the cool dry Western night marveling at the stars [...]

Read the full article →

Wrong

March 11, 2009

Depeche Mode - one of the bands of my youth.
When they want to bring it - Wow.. They can bring it.

Read the full article →