Archive for 2018

NOBODY’S PERFECT: U.S. Air Force Accidentally Drops Humvee on Civilian Neighborhood. “An Army spokesman said that the airdrop had been conducted by the service’s Operational Test Command as they tested a new parachute system for heavy equipment. The three parachutes designed to gently lower the Humvee to the ground worked, he said, and the test ‘went as planned—except for the early release.'”

MEGYN KELLY IS BEING FIRED BECAUSE SHE SHONE TOO MUCH LIGHT ON NBC’S #METOO PROBLEM:

But most damningly, Kelly has made it clear that she will not welcome back abusers. When asked about Matt Lauer, NBC’s lovely, $20 million anchor who had a door lock on his desk to more easily prey on female subordinates, Kelly minced as few words as she could without condemning her employers for their complicity in Lauer’s persistent harassment.

“I know too much that others don’t know,” Kelly said when asked about the allegation. Kelly interviewed his accusers on her morning show, sending a public warning shot not just to Lauer, but to his many remaining NBC loyalists, that a remorseful comeback would not be tolerated.

Hollywood gossip giants have known of the tension between Kelly and NBC News chairman Andy Lack due to her reporting for half a year. But beware of the all-too convenient narrative that Kelly’s demise would come from a since-rectified gaffe. NBC knew they bought an anchor used to Fox News prime time rather than the ease of morning shows. But Kelly also fought a president and a prime-time guru. No doubt Andy Lack underestimated her potential to doggedly cover her own company’s malpractice.

Gentlemen (and ladies), you can’t do journalism here — this is NBC News!

AMERICA’S 18 MOST DANGEROUS VOLCANOES: Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea is number one. Seattle and Portland are uncomfortably close to two others on the list, Mount Rainier and Mount Hood, respectively.

TODAY IN HISTORY: On October 27, 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers (this one written by Alexander Hamilton) was published and handed out on street corners in New York. Over the course of the next 10 months, 85 short little essays were hastily written by Hamilton, John Jay, or James Madison and distributed. Each explained some aspect of the proposed Constitution and advocated for its ratification.  They weren’t written for the ages, but a few of them nevertheless became classics of political theory. And they are worth reading as a group.

I once wrote a paper that asked whether law professors were following in the footsteps of the authors of the Federalist Papers by blogging instead of writing battleship law review articles that hardly anybody reads. But upon reflection … I must have been on drugs.