Mattsapundit

The west side’s homeless people will have to find somewhere else to bathe:

A new Kendall Library will be built on a 3.5-acre city-owned site on North Eldridge Parkway near Harris County’s Terry Hershey Park.

The existing Kendall Library, 14330 Memorial Drive, will be closed when the new library opens, city officials said.

Doris Harris, who raised her family in Wilchester subdivision near the Kendall Library, said she was surprised and shocked to hear the library was moving.

“I am very sorry to see it go,” said Harris, who now lives in Memorial Drive townhomes near Town & Country.

“But if it has to go, I’d like to see the building turned into a community center with meeting rooms that could be used by groups, like my bridge club.”

As tempting as municipally-subsidized geriatric loitering sounds, I like this next guy’s idea a lot better:

Diane Swan, a Nottingham Forest resident, said a Houston Police Department substation or storefront could be a good fit for that building.

I like that idea. The closest police station that I know of is the Westside Command Station. It’s a very large facility, but it covers a huge swath of territory with a rapidly growing population. That’s why HPD might divide the command, allowing for more local policing, and that’s a good thing:

Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Tim Oettmeier told about 150 west Houston residents at the Aug. 2 community meeting on crime that HPD has been “toying with the idea” of dividing the Westside Command, possibly at the Galleria area, as an answer to handling crime in the district.

“We’re looking at that,” he said. “I don’t want you to walk out of here thinking it’s a done deal.”

“We’re trying to compensate for that by using overtime,” Oettmeier said, adding that Westside is also getting more officers from graduating academy classes. Eleven of 49 new officers that finished in late July were assigned to Westside.

More officers is always a good thing, but I’d like to think we’d get some experienced officers to help the rookies. Unfortunately, it sounds like that’s not going to happen:

“But in terms of uprooting officers from permanent assignments, the decision has been made that we are not going to do that,” he said. “We have taken a tremendous loss across the city. Everybody is suffering, including Westside.”

Matt Bramanti | August 3, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Posted to Crime, Houston

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Last night, I found myself in the middle of a police chase.

I was heading east on the Katy Freeway from Barker Cypress, when I saw distant police lights in my rear-view mirror. Next thing I knew, a white El Camino was flying by. I figure he was going about 100. Then the cops came. At least a half-dozen HPD cars, several Harris County Sheriff’s cars and Suburbans and a couple of state troopers.

No choppers, though, from either the police department or the TV stations, so I think the chase had just gotten started. I hope they got the guy.

Matt Bramanti | August 2, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Posted to Crime, Houston, Out and About

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So much for the marketplace of ideas. This morning, web hosting company Hosting Matters was struck with a major denial-of-service attack, knocking several high-profile conservative blogs offline.

In the past, Hosting Matters has demonstrated its ability to prevent and respond to DoS attacks. Accordingly, it’s become home to a large concentration of right-thinking, high-traffic blogs, including our beloved Lone Star Times.
My RSS reader is spattered with red text, indicating sites that are unavailable. Here’s a list:

• Lone Star Times
• blogHOUSTON
• Captain’s Quarters
• Power Line
• Instapundit
• BuzzMachine
• Cox & Forkum
• IMAO
• Thinklings
• Dhimmi Watch
• Jihad Watch
• The Counterterrorism Blog

It looks like these attacks are the work of overseas hackers. So says Hosting Matters:

Well, we know who the target is, and we know where the likely source of the attack originates…and I sincerely doubt that country’s leadership has the least bit of concern for extraditing over something like this.

Michelle Malkin has more.

UPDATE (11:35 a.m.): The sites are back up. According to the Hosting Matters support forums, it looks like the attack originated from Saudi Arabia. HM personnel won’t release the name of the site targeted by the Islamofascist hackers, but Michelle says it’s Aaron’s CC, which is still down.

UPDATE (11:52 a.m.): Here’s my response at LST.

Matt Bramanti | April 28, 2006 at 10:30 am
Posted to Blogging, Crime, International, Politics

3 comments

I was up at Notre Dame this weekend, where I saw the following flyer in Lewis Hall:

The statistic wasn’t attributed to any source — how could it be? The very definition of the statistic makes it unknowable. Whoever wrote that statistic just made it up.

Rape statistics are often inflated in order to add urgency to the situation — particularly on college campuses. Unfortunately, this kind of ploy is destined to backfire if people do their homework.

Yes, rape is awful. Rape victims should come forward, and we should put rapists away for a long, long time. But artificially inflating the number only discredits women and may lead to a “cry wolf” situation in which legitimate rape accusations are doubted.

Matt Bramanti | April 23, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Posted to Crime, Notre Dame, Out and About, Photos

3 comments

From SportsPickle’s “breaking news” ticker:

Duke lacrosse attorney: DNA shows accuser is a lying whore

Heh.

Matt Bramanti | April 12, 2006 at 4:55 am
Posted to Crime, Humor, Sports

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I was just in the drive-through lane at the absurdly-named Amegy Bank of Texas, when an HPD cruiser rolled up, blocking the exit of the truck in the next lane. Within about a minute, all three occupants of that truck were handcuffed and frisked. I finished my business and was driving away when I saw a bank employee leaving for the day. I asked her if those guys were trying to rob the bank. She told me, “No, they were trying to pass a fraudulent check.” I guess the teller got wise and called the police.

This means one of two things:

• Criminals these days are getting really dumb if they can be stalled long enough for HPD to arrive, or
• HPD’s response time is improving.

I’m not sure which one it is, but either development is most welcome.

Matt Bramanti | March 16, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Posted to Business, Crime, Houston, Out and About

1 comment

In July of 2005, I hired Rachel Doyle of Web-Divas to redesign my blog, which at that time was being hosted on Blogger. She came highly recommended by Ree-C, of Rightmom and Lone Star Times fame. Stupidly, I paid about $160 bucks, all in advance. You can guess what happened next: weeks and then months rolled by with little apparent progress. More than a dozen polite, but increasingly frustrated, emails and telephone calls went unreturned.

She ripped me off.

Today, I happened across this little gem on the Web-Divas site:

Web-Divas is closing its doors after almost 3 years. We are thankful for each and every Client who made us what we became. At this time the health and well-being of our families needs to come first. We just want to say thank you for everything!

Love Rachel & Cherry

Good riddance, scumbag.

Matt Bramanti | March 13, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Posted to Blogging, Business, Crime, Scumbags

4 comments

I’m downloading a viewer so I can display CAD files for work. Apparently this software has government restrictions on it, preventing it from being exported to hostile nations. Before I can download it, I’m asked to reply affirmatively with the following statements:

I am not a citizen, national or resident of, and am not under the control of, the government of any country to which the United States has prohibited export of technical information, such as (as of 6/15/01): Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to the above-prohibited countries nor to citizens, national or residents of those countries.

I am not listed on the United States Department of Treasury list of Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, and Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, nor am I listed on the United States Department of Commerce Table of Denial Orders.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to persons on the above-mentioned lists.

I will not use the software for, and will not allow the software to be used for, any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, for the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction.

Uh, okay. I know the company is just legally covering its ass on this one, but this step is just stupid, insofar as it’s intended to stop nefarious activities. I cant imagine that Mohammed al-Nutcase is getting ready to work on some nuke blueprints, when he reads this warning and gives up.

It’s also a pain in the ass for me, Law Abiding Citizen, because in order to answer affirmatively and honestly, I have to look at the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list. And good luck finding the other lists.

Dumbasses.

Matt Bramanti | February 21, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Posted to Crime, Stupidity, Tech, Terrorism

4 comments

I was at Subway yesterday, and the woman in line ahead of me ordered a couple sandwiches and a drink. While I was paying, she came back to the register and asked for another cup, saying she dropped the first one. Then she went to the drink machine five feet from the register, in front of God and everyone, and filled both cups.

And she had a kid with her. Nice example, lady.

Matt Bramanti | February 14, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Posted to Crime, Out and About

1 comment

I got robbed last night. I had some car trouble and was waiting for AAA to arrive when I was approached by three youths. The subsequent exchange went like this:

Punk: Let me see that phone.
Me: No

Then the punk slugged me over the head with something hard, and I dropped like a sack of hammers. When I came to, I was missing my cell phone, PDA and wallet. The wallet was found this morning near a Dumpster at a nearby apartment complex.

So I spent a very fun morning on the phone with my bank, and at the Houston Police Department’s Westside Command Station. The officers there were friendly and courteous, and very thorough in documenting my report.

It’s a shame that good cops are hamstrung by an administration that cares more about jaywalking-ticket revenue than they do about the knot on my head.

UPDATE: On the off chance that the Boys in Blue ever catch these guys, it’s nice to know they’ll be stamping out license plates in Huntsville for a long while. Texas isn’t very kind to robbers. Robbery is a second-degree felony, punishable by 2-20 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Aggravated robbery is a first-degree felony, which will earn you 5 years to life, and a $10,000 fine.

Matt Bramanti | December 28, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Posted to Crime, Houston, Out and About

2 comments

This just might be the most screwed-up story of the day:

Thai police are warning tourists of a new scam.Members of a Thai transvestite gang have confessed to hiding strong sedatives in their mouths and spitting them down the throats of victims during deep kissing. Then they rob the drugged tourists.

The confession came from three attractive transvestites arrested in Bangkok last week. Police say they’d robbed a Bangladeshi businessman of more than $7,300 in cash and valuables.

Police say the victim told investigators he met the transvestites in a bar and invited them all back to his apartment.

After kissing one, he said he felt dizzy and passed out. When he woke up, his cash, watch, mobile phone and notebook computer were gone.

I know I say this all the time, but apparently some people don’t listen, so I’ll say it again: DO NOT KISS YOUR THAI TRANSVESTITE HOOKER ON THE MOUTH.

BENZION ADDS– You will recall that those very words are printed at the top of Page 2 in the LoneStarTimes.com employee manual. Which is one of the many reasons we’ve been able to keep our health-care costs so low.

Matt Bramanti | November 14, 2005 at 12:38 pm
Posted to Bizarre, Crime, International

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ESCAPED.

Sorry I haven’t gotten to this before now, but there’s an escaped murderer on the streets, and he has nothing to lose:

Authorities continued to scour downtown Houston and the surrounding areas late Thursday for a death row convict who used a fake badge and a change of clothes to walk out of the Harris County Jail’s Baker Street facility.

Charles Victor Thompson, 35, convicted in the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend in 1998, escaped about 3:30 p.m. while being held inside the high-security J Pod unit at the County Jail at 1200 Baker, officials said.

Thompson, described as 5′ 11″ and weighing approximately 230 pounds, was last seen wearing a dark blue shirt, khaki pants and white tennis shoes.

Sheriff’s officials said Thompson may be in a gray-colored 2003 Nissan Frontier truck with Texas license plate 8WLX62. The truck is listed in an online database of motor vehicle records as belonging to his father, Stephen R. Thompson III, 59, of Tomball.

He’s also got a hit list. On a completely unrelated note, I found a sweet “intelligent bullet” the other day.

Matt Bramanti | November 4, 2005 at 3:22 pm
Posted to Crime, Houston

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This is what they do to 8-year-olds who steal bread in Iran. [WARNING: Disturbing photos.]

[Hat-tip: Lou Minatti]

Matt Bramanti | November 1, 2005 at 11:50 am
Posted to Crime, International, Islamofascism

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We don’t have poop-encrusted baked goods.

A Dallas cab driver is in big trouble for getting caught on tape sprinkling dried feces on pastries.49-year-old Behrouz Nahidmobarekeh is on trial for allegedly throwing fecal matter on pastries at a Fiesta grocery store.

Police said they found a pile of human feces by his bed.

He would dry it, either by microwave or just letting it sit out and grate it up with a cheese grater and then sprinkle it at the store, officials said.

What would Pepe the Parrot think?

Matt Bramanti | October 26, 2005 at 12:58 pm
Posted to Bizarre, Crime, Texas

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Yesterday, I told you about London’s $8,000 traffic tickets. In North Worcestershire, they’re going to the other extreme:

As part of a recruitment drive, North Worcestershire, UK police are handing out chocolates and balloons to speeders instead of tickets in the Wyre Forest district. 

“We hope it will encourage people to think not only about speed and road safety related issues but also about becoming a Special,” North Worcestershire Specials Commandant Chris Cookson told the Express and Star. Specials are part-time volunteers who wear a uniform and carry full police powers while doing support work for paid police officers.

Those wacky limeys.

Matt Bramanti | October 25, 2005 at 1:11 pm
Posted to Bizarre, Crime, International

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You think we’ve got some radar-gun-happy cops eager to line the coffers of small towns in Texas? Check this out:

Automated cameras will begin snapping photographs and mailing tickets worth £5000 (US $8870) to any motorist that accidentally strays into new “Olympic” lanes to be set aside for the 2012 Olympics in London, UK. Department for Transport officials will take traffic lanes away from general use so that 55,000 people designated as special can use them. Their numbers will include athletes, the media, government officials, corporate sponsors and their guests.

“The last thing we are after is people’s money — we simply want to get everyone to their venues on time,” a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport told the London Times.

Yikes.

Matt Bramanti | October 24, 2005 at 11:13 am
Posted to Crime, International

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In an event that likely sent newsgasms rippling through the Chron newsroom, former House Majority Leader (NOT Speaker of the House, as the Chron reported) Tom DeLay was booked today. Here’s his mugshot:

I like it. I like the idea of smiling to spite your politically motivated enemies. He might as well have been holding a sign that read, “Kiss my ass, Ronnie Earle.”

This line from the Chron story is also pretty funny:

DeGuerin said the Harris County site was selected in part because his own offices are based in downtown Houston. But the surrender in Harris County allowed DeLay to avoid news media coverage. Journalists had been staking out the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office since Wednesday.

Translation: “Tom DeLay’s lawyer is smarter than us, and we’re pissed about that.”

One quick question for the Chron writers and editors. Can you be consistent? DeLay’s photograph is called a “mug,” a “mugshot” and a “mug-shot.” Just flip open the AP Stylebook. There has to be one around there somewhere.

BENZION ADDS– The shot looks great; nicely done. My only regret is that DeLay’s press office declined the (unsolicited) advice I offered them this morning– namely, that he show up for the booking wearing a “Houston Astros 2005 National League Champions” t-shirt.

BENZION UPDATES– Let’s just go ahead and make it official.

Matt Bramanti | October 20, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Posted to Crime, Houston, Media, Politics

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Heh:

If a presidential election were held this year, George Bush would either lose to an anonymous Democrat or win and be jailed for violating the term-limit provision found in the 22nd amendment to the Constitution, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup/Nabisco/Toys R Us Poll released Tuesday.In the hypothetical matchup between the increasingly-unpopular two-term president and an unnamed Democrat, 75 percent of respondents said they liked the views, character and personal hygiene habits of the unnamed opponent better than those of the illegally-incumbent president.

Matt Bramanti | October 16, 2005 at 11:13 am
Posted to Crime, Humor, National, Politics

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Oh, this is rich:

Patty Hearst has a message for folks who are worried about terrorist attacks: Stop wringing your hands, people! 

“I was kidnapped by terrorists. It’s not like I’m numb to this and think it can’t happen. But get real!” Hearst admonished. “There’s so much weeping and wailing and memorializing, my feeling is it’d be a lot healthier if people didn’t externalize so much and kind of bucked up a little bit.”

“What good is our government if they can’t keep our level of fear at a point where we can think about what’s really going on?” she told Lowdown. “We are a nation with the most frightened people on the planet. People who come over here just laugh at us.”

Forgive me if I can’t stomach being lectured about fear by a convicted bank robber and former member of a murderous terrorist organization.

Matt Bramanti | October 10, 2005 at 12:50 pm
Posted to Crime, Scumbags, Terrorism

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Sandy Berger, the guy who thought he could get away with jamming classified documents in his pants, was busted. Again:

Two days after he was placed on probation last month for taking classified documents, former national security adviser Sandy Berger was accused of reckless driving in Virginia by police who said he was traveling 88 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone.

He was stopped on Sept. 10, and two days later he informed the probation office of the U.S. District Court that he had been speeding because he was late to a meeting and was unaware of how fast he was traveling.

Why even try to explain yourself, Sandy? Do you really think the judge who sentenced you for stealing government secrets is gonna buy your excuse for going 33 mph over the limit?

Matt Bramanti | October 5, 2005 at 4:26 pm
Posted to Crime, National, Politics, Scumbags

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