Cool and damp until it’s hot and damp. Some chance of rain. Like yesterday only moreso.
Did my stuff on Friday. Even hit Micheals and JoAnnes to get just the right gold rope for D2’s costume. Of course, she didn’t want it when I got home. joy.
Had a fun evening at elementary school, see comments last night if you’re interested. Most of the people were un-masked, as we were outdoors. Two school district police officers assigned to us over the course of the evening. That’s down from similar events in the past.
Today, well, I’ll tell you about today later. Then I don’t have a bunch of predictions that are wrong… 😉
Get out into your community this weekend and participate in the secondary economy. Buy something from a street vendor/yard sale/flea market for cash. Start making regular withdrawals of cash for “pocket money” to build up what you’ve got on hand in order to loosen the surveillance net around you. You can use the money to buy your spouse a gift s/he doesn’t know about from a card purchase, for example. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
Most of all, figure out where your gaps are and fill them. I’ve never been much of a “put it aside for barter” prepper, but think about that. Small durable items that people would value far beyond their cost today. Something most people would run out to get at the last minute. Share your thoughts…
Stack it high.
nick
With VW, the pain is felt in the US with replacement parts, and the gas cars are Hecho en Mexico, which results in a lot of quality issues long term.
The “Dieselgate” scandal was the direct result of the US certification process being so onerous.
The EVs sold here will be built in a new plant in Tennessee in an attempt to appease the government.
In the US, the degree is Management Information Systems, more commonly identified by the initials MIS, but, at a lot of mid-large size companies, if a job doesn't directly involve solving technical problems, any degree is accepted if the candidate ticks at least one protected hiring category promoting a "diverse" workforce or can talk a good game in the interview.
Engine and cabin air filter for late model cars.
New cars are crazy sensitive about the filters in the name of efficiency, and more than one can exist for a given model/year as the manufacturers work out problems over the course of production, particularly with a new model.
Engine air filters are still kinda-sorta fudge things, but the obsession with HEPA in the US makes changing the cabin air filter once a year necessary to keep air flowing through the system properly and keep the AC system coils clean.
Check your owners manual. Cabin air filter isn't just a dealer gimmie anymore … but the dealer will be happy to replace your vehicle’s filter for $50.
And most people aren't going to clean/oil K&N properly so get disposable spares.
The sad fall of Penn Jillette:
And a Child Shall Mislead Them
I had no idea he has gone so far down the ProgLibTurd rabbit hole.
Anything to keep packing them in at the Rio.
I'd speculate that Jillette is yet another comedian bowing and scraping to get the next late night network gig opening, but he's pushing 70. OTOH, that's clearly Howard Stern's goal with his schtick over the last year, apologizing for the material that made him famous … and rich.
Someone here was talking gas prices. On the Calif central coast last Saturday
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15mb5X9cey0WkG-vvb6mxt2G8hm8Z-Mr_/view?usp=sharing
there are three gas stations here. The Chevron was probably higher
Highest gas I’ve seen in CA this year was in Bridgeport, a $1.50 more than elsewhere.
Seattle (ugh) gets a new NHL team with a great name – Kracken.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/_/name/sea/seattle-kraken
Will play at Climate Pledge Arena – no comment.
How many fossil fuels were involved in rebuilding that arena while painstakingly preserving the original shell, originally built for the Seattle World's Fair?
Hasn't Seattle been through a couple of NBA franchises going broke playing in that building?
I know they were up for expansion … again.
Tehachapi CA invites In-n-Out to come to this stop on SR58 between Bakersfield and Mojave.
https://californianewstimes.com/tehachapi-city-officials-to-in-n-out-come-here-for-business-friendly-climate-in-wake-of-shutdown-in-san-francisco-news/567566/
Great little mountain community where I once worked my summers. Okay, it's bigger now but it would be a good spot.
Up and awake. 82F and only 83%RH. Part sun. Bit of a breeze.
HUNGRY.
n
Good morning all, at least it was until I read the latest from Comisar sInslee and his lapdog Patty Murray. Once again, they will "study" blasting away four major dams on the Snake River. If it were not for these dams, CA and OR would be dark, the aristrocraps would not have quality Salmon along with their quality Sturgeon Caviar, and millions of acres of productive farmland would go to waste.
These fools continually promise public meetings that are never announced East of the Cascades.
Did anyone ever hear of a Judas Goat? Most have no idea what it means.
Enjoy today; for tomorrow, it will probably be dark.
p.s. I upgraded one of my laptops to Windows 11. It was smoother than any previous version upgrades. Be warned, however, you may not like the way things work and look now. So, I do not recommend you go to Windows 11 on a machine you rely on for your life or work. Your mileage may vary.
My last rant of the day – I've work to do. Washington state is not alone.
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/newsom-administration-announces-new-ban-regulations-on-oil-and-gas-facilities/
oil bad – effing clueless
Slowly getting the software installed on the new system. The installation is fast, that is not the issue. It is getting the software to register, get to the existing files, and configure the necessary options. Screw you Adobe for making the process much more difficult than is needed.
System is very quiet. You have to remove a panel to hear any noise and that is just air movement. Two fans blowing air into the case, one fan blowing out. The CPU water cooler fans blow out as does the power supply. CPU temperature is running 35 celcius, never got about 45 celcius when doing heavy work with lightroom and the fans never sped up.
My Dell 27" monitor should be here November 11. I will move the current 24" to the side for a secondary and the Dell will become the primary monitor. Video card supports four monitors and I have the necessary outputs on the card to support two monitors.
ANY spot is a good spot for an In-N-Out.
Fresh Market has a sale on 10oz NY Strip steaks today – $8.99 each. I picked up 15. I love having a freezer!
Those have egg proteins in them from the manufacturing process. The COVID vaccines don't.
The rule on movie sets is different. The armorer checks the weapon, hands it to the actor, and yells "Hot gun" if it has a live round in it, "Cold gun" if it doesn't. If anyone checks the loads, the armorer is supposed to take it back and repeat the process.
NB: In movie terms "live round" means either real ammo or a blank, i.e. anything with a charge in it.
What appears to have happened here is that the 1st AD took the weapon off the armorer cart and handed it off. Which seems to be a safety violation. The armorer was relatively new, but her dad is a well known trick shot artist and she's been around guns for her entire life.
The Covid vaccines do have ingredients which are redacted from published information, however.
At this point, it isn't an allergy concern as much as I'm waiting to see what my employer does with the mandate. One thing I've learned in the last year is that a lot of the people in the HR offices are cowards, and I think Biden's handlers know enforcement will be limited to situations where someone snitches like with a lot of OSHA cases.
Maybe they'll raid Dave Ramsey proactively.
Here's a new conspiracy theory for you:
Got any other silly conspiracy theories?
Never ascribe to conspiracy that which can be easily explained by a Baldwin brother being involved.
I'll give Alec Baldwin credit for being a better Jack Ryan than any of his successors.
And a decent Sean Connery impersonator.
Jack Donaghy in "30 Rock" was Tina Fey's writing a character stolen from Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown”, also, conveniently, portrayed by Alec Baldwin.
The date of the file itself doesn't mean much – what you want is the date of the material.
–yep and I want to be able to discriminate between recent and older. That alone would filter out all the new 'jump on the bandwagon' stuff, if I was looking for something recently in the news, or if I'm looking for current info, it would cut out all the 'in win7 these are the steps' articles.
As the web gets older there will have to be a mechanism for differentiating because the old and out of date or superseded doesn't go away.
n
n
“That’s A Spicy Meatball!”
So, as suspected, there's a whole sequence of failures. At a minimum, five:
1. Someone brought live ammo onto the set.
2. Someone put live ammo into a gun – even though the difference is obvious.
3. The armorer put a loaded gun onto the tray without checking it.
4. The assistant director declared the gun "cold" without checking it.
5. Alec Baldwin used the gun in a scene, without checking it.
None of those failures should happen.
6. Nobody put up shields protecting the camera operator or converted the camera to remote operation as is apparently done in Hollywood
7. Alec Baldwin pointed a gun and fired it in two peoples direction
Pearls Before Swine: The Stranger Sneezed
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2021/10/23
There is a little bit of Rat in all of us.
"Biden’s Message to Americans Concerned About Rising Gas Prices: Lower Your Expectations (VIDEO)"
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/bidens-message-americans-concerned-rising-gas-prices-lower-expectations-video/
Uncle Joe ain't my favorite uncle.
You want conspiracy theories, hold my beer.
Lifted from a comment at Aesop's.
n
Above comment is, btw, typical of why I don't actively seek to expand readership here.
n
Linux computer update.
Well, thinking back to Jerry Pournelle;s and RBT's recommendations, dusted, then pulled the RAM from the Linux box and put it back.
Now it works…posting from there for this.
It *SAYS* Crucial on the sticks, but I wonder.
@Rich H:
Firstly, thanks for keeping things up and running!
Secondly: Still getting two privacy log-in popups, one a blue banner across the top, the other a black square near the lower left.
Not a super urgent thing to fix, an extra click a day…
Forgot about that one. I don't see it, since it only pops up once. I have to remember to clear cookies in order to test that.
And, although I have a good memory, it is short.
Fixed the issue. Thanks. Always appreciate comments about the site functionality and appearance.
Ahhhhh, my eyes just sighed when I hit reload.
n
Overcast moved in and there is the rumble of not too distant thunder. Dammit.
n
@ech
"The rule on movie sets is different. The armorer checks the weapon, hands it to the actor, and yells "Hot gun" if it has a live round in it, "Cold gun" if it doesn't. If anyone checks the loads, the armorer is supposed to take it back and repeat the process.
NB: In movie terms "live round" means either real ammo or a blank, i.e. anything with a charge in it.
What appears to have happened here is that the 1st AD took the weapon off the armorer cart and handed it off. Which seems to be a safety violation. The armorer was relatively new, but her dad is a well known trick shot artist and she's been around guns for her entire life."
Good information, and note that I am not arguing with you personally.
I'm aware that the "rules" on a movie set are different. So how did that work out here? Somebody made that rule, and it's defective on the face of it. The person pulling the trigger has the ultimate responsibility for the result. <—-that's a period
A lot of theories being put out. One is that the union guys walked off and left a little present. It's difficult to come up with an innocent explanation if an actual round was fired–it smells highly of malice.
Blanks, even with half a powder charge, can do a lot of damage.
Just found this. Information is trickling out:
https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2021/10/23/report-gun-handled-by-alec-baldwins-stunt-double-accidentally-fired-twice-n424399
Note the anecdote about shutting down an entire set when live rounds were brought in. That's the guy I want to hire.
Lockout/tagout procedures in industry are designed so that everyone has to be satisfied. This device:
https://www.jjkeller.com/shop/Product/Lockout-Hasp
is designed to prevent a circuit breaker from being engaged. Note that it has six places for individual workers to place their locks. They make them with more holes, but when the need arises you just use a second hasp through a hole on the first one, and it leaves eleven holes for padlocks.
A chain fails at the weakest link. Parallel safety procedures usually prevent single-point failures.
>> Sadly, I note again that the US prices are a *lot* cheaper than European prices. That's annoying, but what can you do?
And those prices don't account for the $7,500 US tax credit.
@brad, anything similar available on your side of the pond?
Unfortunately I don't have enough taxable income to get the credit, one of the primary reasons I bought my Leaf used.
Testing: is the BOLD (not in a blockquote) issue fixed?
ADDED: @Rick, seems not for me. Bold was shown in the RTE but not in the posted comment.
Here is the comment source with GT and LT changed to brackets. Browser is current Chrome on Win 11.
Testing: is the [strong]BOLD[/strong] (not in a blockquote) issue fixed?
LMK if you want a screen grab.
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/10/23/release-of-jfk-assassination-records-delayed-again-n424308
I'm aware that the "rules" on a movie set are different. So how did that work out here?
–someone broke the rules. All discussion must have the caveat that this assumes the absence of malice and a bad actor. No pun intended.
Hollywood, and a film set in particular is a very different workplace than a manufacturing plant. If you are going to make a lockout/tagout comparison (which wasn't even a thing when I started working, and similarly, arc flash precautions weren't even a thing when I LEFT working, but people act like they always existed…) the better comparison is when electricians work on live systems.
They have special training. They have special rules. They have their own equipment. And they go ahead and do a job that most people think is insanely dangerous if they have the least bit of understanding of the risks.
Normal people and (modern, up to date) electricians don't work with live electrical systems. They are presented with a whole series of rules to follow to try to ensure that they don't hurt themselves working on electrical systems. LO/TO is only one of them.
A film set with guns or pyro, or other stunts, is a very specialized work place with a DIFFERENT set of rules, because they are going to INTENTIONALLY BREAK THE NORMAL RULES just like the electrician that works 'hot'.
Unfortunately, in both cases it comes down to the people who are there to follow the special cases and special rules. People fail. Someone on the set, likely more than one person, failed. Baldwin MAY have been one of them, if his actions were OUTSIDE of his role as dancing monkey.
But if he was rehearsing (which can happen while other activities are happening) he had every right to expect that the [nominally, theoretically] responsible, professional, skilled, experienced, and diligent people paid to do their special jobs did so. The actors HAVE to trust the people around them are doing everything right. They aren't experts and shouldn't ever be thought of as such. As Aesop says, they are not generally even necessarily particularly bright or competent people. He's more dismissive of them than I am, but it's partly his style, and he has a much broader exposure than I have.
Actors are taught from the beginning of their careers, and reinforced at every opportunity to trust the work of those around them. Baldwin (again, if he wasn't doing something outside of his tasks as an actor) had every right to expect that the gun was as safe as a banana.
n
nb- generally you don't WANT the actor messing with anything, not a gun, not a mic pack, not the pyro, or a camera or lighting or ANYTHING. They are much more likely to mess it up than help in any way simply thru lack of training if nothing else. (Actor removes mag to check load, ejects round, reinserts mag, director calls "action", 4 cameras, three stunt drivers, dozens of stuntmen, a couple hundred crew all start moving in a carefully planned, very expensive shot, that they can do only TWICE because something is destroyed during the shoot and they only paid for one backup, and when it's time to fire the gun, it doesn't fire because the actor never chambered a round. Now ALL THOSE OTHER RISKS have to be repeated because the actor fucked with the gun.
This is not what you want. That the rules work is proved by the safety record. FAR better than that for electricians, fwiw.
n
Attorney Andrew F. Branca has a very preliminary analysis of the Badwin mishap, showing what questions need to be asked:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/legal-analysis-does-alec-baldwin-have-criminal-exposure-after-shooting-woman-dead-in-apparent-mistake/
Dr. Pournelle also used to recommend Stabilant enhancer on the contact points.
I've had Crucial go bad, but it is rare. The last time was in the Northwest where our landlords had an awful wool blend carpet that gave me a lot of static problems.
When the house sold last year, the wool carpet was still there in the pictures on Zillow. In fact, the house looked exactly the way it did when we left six years prior.
Hah, Aesop and I cross posted on the subject.
And anyone who hasn't figured it out, the same Aesop I link for medical stuff moonlights as on set medic in Hollywood.
So, medical and Hollywood production, yep. Gonna trust most of what he says.
I worked in ACTUAL Hollywood for a number of years, downtown Hollywood before the rioters tried to burn it down, doing set construction for movies, TV, commercials, theme parks, themed entertainment (shopping, casinos, etc). I walked off a movie of the week over safety issues. I've got on-screen credits for a Fox TV special, and more than one MTV show. I worked in the entertainment industry (and it is an industry) for most of my life in one capacity or another. Nothing Aesop has said so colorfully is anything I could object to based on my first hand experience and industry knowledge.
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/
LOTS of discussion about the shooting over there.
n
Banana? Cue Monty Python …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4PZXuk3TsM
The facial tic makes the sketch.
Isn't there always a Really Good Reason that the elites are not like us?
I know "Hollywood" has its own "rules", because Hollywood is filled with morally superior elites.
("Roman Polaski" ends any argument otherwise)
But there isn't anything in the law that says that Hollywood "rules" are exceptions. That's the "responsibility" part.
And as to the "morally" part, let's see. I've no doubt that the morally superior "expert on everything" Alec Baldwin will not hesitate to hold forth again about gun control for the rest of us, but I doubt that any crowd in attendance will put up with it.
>> Actors are taught from the beginning of their careers, and reinforced at every opportunity to trust the work of those around them. Baldwin (again, if he wasn't doing something outside of his tasks as an actor) had every right to expect that the gun was as safe as a banana.
Has anyone read/heard why Baldwin had the gun pointed in the direction that he did? Was that where he was supposed to be pointing it?
Also, was he rehearsing the next scene or was this 'live' with the cameras rolling?
Our office phone system was upgraded by our phone system guy to ignore all 10-10 phone calls through the switch. Or so we thought. So Friday night I did not turn off the office phone switch.
Saturday morning, somebody called Macedonia and Vietnam through our office phone switch using 10-10 service and Verizon. AT&T Fraud called the office manager Saturday afternoon.
For now, I am back to turning off the office phone system when I leave. I have bought a timer that need to figure out.
Looks like long term, we will probably move to some sort of VOIP system.
How many pharmacists were held liable for dispensing thalidomide? or Fen/Phen? How many Drs for prescribing it?
They were told it was safe. They trusted that but bad things happened. They didn't have the experience or expertise to evaluate the claim, and neither did Baldwin. To use OSHA parlance, he was not a 'responsible person' in his role as actor. (again, no pun intended Jeez, John Wilder isn't going to be able to write a single word about this.)
Baldwin was told the gun was safe to use in any way. "COLD GUN". It's an inert lump of metal.
Again, assuming this happened during 'normal' events.
Moral? between him and God, or god, or Satan. If he was f'ing around, not doing the normal activities of an actor, then he's got some responsibility, but again… told by trusted experts that it was safe to do anything with it. It's a piece of pipe with a handle as far as he's concerned, and his only responsibility is to manipulate it in the way he's told.
n
Also, was he rehearsing the next scene or was this 'live' with the cameras rolling?
— reports do not sound like it was during shooting, but during setup for the shot. [ F'me it's impossible not to have puns on this subject. Shows how pervasive the industry is in our culture and language I guess.]
Presumably they would have made the gun "hot" for the actual shot. Speculation, but if someone else (AD) picked it up from a cart, and handed it to him, they could have picked up the "hot" gun instead of the "cold" gun IF the armorer had prepared them that way to save time. Identical looking guns, one hot, one not, only the armorer knows the difference, but the armorer didn't hand him the gun, or issue the "cold gun" warning according to early reports.
n
n
The contact finish of the memory must match the contact finish of the memory sockets. If the memory slot has tin plated contacts (some do) you must use tin plated memory modules. Ditto gold plating.
The dissimilar metals will cause the modules to fail. Reseating will make them work for a while, but it is a long term reliability problem.
I'm not sure if that is the issue here, but it is something to be aware of.
CNN
n
Engine and cabin air filter for late model cars.
New cars are crazy sensitive about the filters in the name of efficiency, and more than one can exist for a given model/year as the manufacturers work out problems over the course of production, particularly with a new model.
Frack me. I have no idea if I have an cabin air filter and getting there is a pain in the rump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5JjX-hGFHA
I had Straight Talk for my phone. They decreed that everyone needs to replace their phone by the end of 2019 because of "calling over wi-fi". So click here and buy a phone for $120 plus tax and shipping and get something that's not as nice as your current phone.
I went one better. I bought an LG V20 on eBay for $109. A so called refurb but it was spotless. Smelled new. Did not get the fancy B&O earphones. I found them on eBay for 30 or 40 bucks and passed. Then I trotted my happy donkey to the Verizon store. Less money per month and I can tether my PC when the ISP has problems. I can hot spot my Kindle, too. Saving about $20 a month is pretty nice, too.
Ok. Blackberry is pretty much dead. Facebook is saying something like "unsupported device". The BlackBerry software on his PC refuses to work. Uh, thanks guys for killing your method to back up the phone.
He's sort of ok with it. "Let's get modern!". I found a V20 on eBay for $147, sealed in the factory box.
Guess who's getting the foo-foo fancy B&O earphones?
New phone is on charge. I'm going to install my sim card so I complete set-up and upgrade the OS. Then he can go to Verizon on Monday. Hopefully they have the magic to import his contacts.
Once he figures how to answer and end calls, I think his biggest complaint will be missing the Hub. A neat BlackBerry thing that presents e-mail and txt messages in one interface. With his eyes, I know he will like the larger screen.
For a bonus, I already have an Otterbox for him. I tried it but nope, not toting my phone tucked in my waistband like a pistol.
An extra bonus is I'll learn if I can put my sim card into another phone and it works.
"How many pharmacists were held liable for dispensing thalidomide? or Fen/Phen? How many Drs for prescribing it?"
The first big difference is that neither the pharmacists nor the doctors are substituting their rules–both have to work within the framework of the law.
I was about eight years old when I was taught to always check a weapon: Somebody hands you a weapon, you check it. If you can't or don't know how, hand it back and ask for help.
At the same time, I was taught to never point a weapon at anything that I didn't intend to kill.
Personal responsibility.
The Hollywood "rules" could be argued to be equally effective, but in the present case any such argument is obviously false.
And those rules have the effect of diffusing responsibility and hence, accountability.
Cabin filters are an unknown. The stupid van has one. The new to me truck has one… handily located behind the glove box and you have to squeeze the sides of the glove box in to get it out of it's hole and then mess with the filters by feel. Nice design.
Anyway. Rock Auto for filters.
That's all good except that the FOUR RULES aren't law. They are rules that can be endlessly argued in their interpretation, presentation, and wording but they are nothing more than 'good advice' and 'if you follow these you'll be less likely to injure or kill someone.' Not guaranteed, but LESS. They are the collective wisdom of the gun culture, nothing more. NO ONE has any legal obligation to follow them. No liability automatically accrues if one doesn't follow them.
In the normal world, it’s possible to argue that someone who KNEW the ‘rules’ and knowingly violated them, then becomes negligent. An actor doing what they are told to do isn’t negligent.
Pointing a loaded gun at someone isn't a crime if there aren't other factors present. Being directed to point a gun at someone or something isn't a crime.
In NORMAL places and times, those are not smart things to do and we've hammered the four rules into people because of that. In the world of the movie set, those things might be well within the bounds, and are done safely thousands of times. Since gun people tend to end up in the relevant positions on movie hiring sheets, they've brought aspects of the gun culture with them, but their rules are ALSO not law, and they KNOW that they'll be breaking the "four rules" in the course of their work. Their rules are meant to make that as safe as possible. PEOPLE are again the weak link. The AD f'd up. The armorer sure seems to have F'd up, although she's keeping quiet. Baldwin might or might not have F'd up. He might have done exactly as he was told.
n
The first time I changed the cabin air filter in my wife's Exploder was a pain in the butt. YouTube is your friend.
Most vehicles have the cabin air filters because the newer AC systems' coils are sensitive to dust accumulation.
BTW, tell your son that I saw at least three different engine air filters at two stores for my 2018 Camry. Fortunately one of them fit. The 2018s are going to be interesting long term.
I had the Toyota fuel pump recall fixed this week. Of course the techs had to mess with the settings for collision avoidance sensitivity and lane assist, which I ususally keep to minimum and off, respectively.
How old is the BlackBerry? My 2nd generation Kindle no longer connects to WhisperNet because AT&T killed their 2G GSM service.
3G is next.
Thalidomide never really went away. I went to a drug rep briefing on one of the brand name formulations about 20 years ago, back when researchers figured out it was beneficial to patients with certain kinds of cancer.
Up until that point, it was a Leprosy drug going back to the 60s overseas.
@Greg: It's a very environment dry here, but I do run the swamp cooler a lot in the summer months, so it's the worst of two worlds I suppose. I remembered JP had a small tube of something that he recommended, couldn't remember the name. Stabilant.
@Clayton W: Good Call. I re-opened the case and looked: gold plated contacts on the Ram, tin colored contacts on the slots. Hmmm.
Well, it's not mission critical…
>> "cold gun"
Should the cold gun have had any cartridges in it? If so, then I assume they would be dummies (no powder, no primer). IIRC this was a western being filmed, so probably the guns were revolvers? And if so, were the dummies required for continuity?
>> reports do not sound like it was during shooting, but during setup for the shot.
So if during the setup, if you're a person of reasonable intelligence, even a 2nd amendment foe, don't you know better than to point any gun at someone, even if you think it's "cold"?
@Nick
I didn't argue that the "four rules" are law, and I didn't quote them. I quoted two closely related rules that I was taught and able to comprehend when I was eight years old.
Those two rules are demonstrably superior to the Holly wood "rules" in both intent and effect. And in placing clear responsibility on the person in control of a dangerous weapon.
You posted the link:
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/
and I quoted from it as above.
Absent the excess larding of profanity and the numerous attempts to obscure the situation with false equivalencies, the arguments of Raconteur boil down to this:
It's to expensive to do it right, so we'll muddy up the waters by diluting responsibility and claim that no one is responsible.
Bullshirt.
(Or maybe we should just make the whole chain responsible and hear wails of unfair!)
And, btw, I did look at the photo reposted from Proof Positive of the type of weapon allegedly in use.
–You don't check it by looking at it.
–Yes, I believe I could check it, but if I couldn't, I would hand it back as I was taught at the age of eight.
–If it were loaded, it wouldn't be cold, now, would it? So that part of the question is irrelevant and just another piece of misdirection.
To a large extent, I think all of these arguments are moot in this particular case. First, Alec Baldwin was not just an actor, he has been reported to be producer as well. Second, There were also reported disagreements about safety on the set, some related to misfiring weapons, and the union had walked out the day before.
I felt some sympathy for Alec Baldwin after the first report of the death. Now it's clear that he had much more authority and responsibility than an actor being handed a weapon. Both as producer and actor he had reason to make sure that filming proceeded safely.
Or shut the motherpocker down.
@Nick
Is that good or bad?
@Alan – Re: bold in editor and after posting: I have seen the bold rendered properly on FF and Chrome. Your comment (way above there) that had Bold in it, was rendered with bold on my FF/laptop/Win10. I just checked with Chrome Version 94.0.4606.81 (Official Build) (64-bit) and the bold was there. Chrome updated to Version 95.0.4638.54 (Official Build) (64-bit) and the bold was still there.
Note that I used the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+B to bold/unbold as typing, and after typing by highlighting then Ctrl+B.
So, @Alan, looks like an issue with your configuration. It works/looks just fine on my FF and Chrome in Win10.
So they catch a perv with a pen camera in his shoe laces:
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/10/23/another-man-in-dress-and-wig-arrested-filming-young-girls-in-bathrooms-n424320
The idiot author gives free advertising:
I made a bet with myself and clicked.
I won.
Price was up to $41.99. And it's "back in stock soon".
Hooray.
Here's hoping that this story gets some legs, makes people more aware, and leads to a rash of emergency room visits, record keywords: %rectum %spycam
@drwilliams – this one https://amzn.to/3m6fN1s is only $29.00. Slightly larger than a thumbnail. 1 1/2 hour recording time; 1080p, loop recording, USB connection rechargeable, supports up to 64GB memory card. Mixed reviews.
@drwilliams, neither I nor Aesop is arguing that no one is responsible. We're both arguing that it isn't the actor. They are an empty vessel in almost every case I've ever met or dealt with. Which is not to say they can't or aren't doing a job, and it's one that most people can't do, at that. What they are not is the 'responsible party' when it comes to the firearm. Ask any manufacturer or supervisor that has been sued because of improper guarding or use of guarding on a dangerous machine. There is a lot of legal precedent that says the operator isn't the responsible party unless they circumvent the processes put in place. The AD told the actor that the "gun" was a piece of pipe with a handle, perfectly and completely safe.
The responsible party is the armorer, and also the person (AD) who handed the weapon to the actor and told him it was safe, and any assistant or supervisor who is supposed to be just standing there as a safety marshal (may or may not have been present, ditto the armorer's assistant ) double checking the other people's work. There are procedures and rules for that, which are clear and work to five nines or more reliability.
If the actor was doing something other than what is required of them as part of their job, ie. screwing around or threatening, or joking, then they begin to assume some responsibility.
It's not that it's too hard, or too expensive (although there are always costs associated with those words and this production seems to have been trying to avoid costs — in which case Alec Baldwin the Producer will have some explaining to do in court) it's that the accepted industry practices have been shown to work when followed.
If you hire Joe from down the street, who's cut down a few trees, to cut down YOUR tree and he drops it on your house, you bear some of the responsibility. So Alec the Producer will have to explain why they thought hiring a relative newbie was a good idea, and why there wasn't budget for the assistant, and the Director or UPM or someone will have to explain why the AD was handling guns on set.
At this point we don't even know if the projectile was part of a live round, or if there was a mistake made in some other way, or if part of the gun failed (least likely).
Lots of jobs require pointing loaded guns at people and most of the time that doesn't result in people dying. Hollywood has been pointing guns at people and pulling the trigger and NOT killing people for decades because they've been doing the right things. Something went wrong in this case, and it will be a number of 'cases' before we find out what. And if it was something that can be guarded against, it will be written in blood in the rules and procedures that responsible productions will use.
n
Let's not forget that the 'four rules' were put together by the gun culture to keep MEMBERS OF THE GUN CULTURE from doing stupid things with firearms. People who should be better educated and better trained, or at least more aware of the safety issues are still having NDs and ADs with depressing regularity. "Highly trained" officers and LEOs do it far too often.
Having a person like the armorer (and delegates) take sole responsibility for gun safety on set, when that person is the right person for the job!, is far safer than relying on self policing and the four rules. This is easily seen by the number of accidents on set vs the number of just LEO ADs and NDs, never mind ADs and NDs by ordinary people.
How many times have you heard or read a member of the gun culture tell people to quit messing with their guns, to 'keep their booger hooks off the bang switch', or to 'quit finger fukcing their pistol'. Every time an actor,or anyone, manipulates a firearm, they are risking an AD. You want the empty vessel handling the gun as little as possible while still meeting the needs of the shot.
Someone f'd this up. The investigation will find out who and how.
In the meantime, statistically, since this story broke, about 30 ordinary people have died from workplace accidents, almost all of which could have been prevented, in the US alone.
Where's the call for reform? Where's the outrage? Where's the "I was taught from the age of 15 how to safely operate a motor vehicle, and if I didn't know how, I got additional instruction."
Hollywood as an industry is far safer than most.
n
@rick, Is that good or bad?
–good, I like the more muted colors and the changes to the color scheme.
n
Gun Mishaps Occurred on Baldwin Film Before Shooting, Workers Say.
"There were at least two accidental gun discharges on the set of an Alec Baldwin movie being filmed in New Mexico days before he fatally shot the cinematographer, according to three former members of the film’s crew."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/us/alec-baldwin-rust-shooting.html
And in bit of a spooky coincidence, the movie being filmed is about a 19th-century accidental killing and its aftermath.
And if Baldwin wasn't taught those things before picking up a weapon on set, then all the rules, regulations and guidelines in the world aren't going to prevent that from happening again.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=udS6losK7Ts&t=16
EDIT: Come to think of it I was younger than 8 when my dad first took me to a shooting range. And I learned not to point my little bow and arrow at anyone before that, I’m sure.
Is this the baldwin with the wife who pretended she was spanish? how come none of the news reports mention that?
n
"Perry Rhodan #10 : The Ghosts of Gol " by Kurt Mahr, translated by Wendayne Ackerman
https://www.amazon.com/Perry-Rhodan-10-Ghosts-Gol/dp/2441659790/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />
Book number ten of a series of one hundred and twenty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands. The English books started with two translated German stories per book and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1971 that I had to be very careful with due to age. My copy is a third edition from 1974. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #101.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500.
The quest for the race of beings who "live longer than the sun" has led Perry Rhodan and his crew to a huge gas giant in the Vega star system. They descend the former Arkenide 800 meter spherical battlecruiser onto the frozen methane surface with over 500 gravities following the clues.
One has to remember that this book was written in German in 1961 and translated to English in 1971. Many items that came about in the 1970s and beyond such as cell phones are not reflected in the book. However, commercial aircraft commonly traveling at Mach 3 are not available to the public as talked about in the book. Niels Bohr's saying "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future" comes to mind.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (3 reviews)
@Nick
I find the portrayal of Alec Baldwin as an "empty vessel" grin-worthy.
I don't find absolution of responsibility by Hollywood "rules", convincing, and the "just following" orders" thing was dispensed with a long time ago.
I also don't find a legal argument that allows Hollywood "rules" to trump ones personal responsibility in discharging a firearm. In Branca's analysis:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/10/legal-analysis-does-alec-baldwin-have-criminal-exposure-after-shooting-woman-dead-in-apparent-mistake/
he quotes an element of New Mexico's involuntary manslaughter as "without due caution and circumspection".
If a vessel is too empty to understand the dangers of a firearm, then they also have no business being issued a driver's license. Probably shouldn't be out in public without a keeper and a governor on their mouth, too.
>> Is this the baldwin with the wife who pretended she was spanish? how come none of the news reports mention that?
Yup…
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hilaria-baldwin-spanish-heritage-controversy-apology_n_601dc471c5b689330e2f3ccc
Previously married to Kim Basinger btw.
Why not mentioned? Nobody in the MSM found it relevant?
Amusing yesterday to see the various talking heads mangling the details of the Brandon Lee tragedy.
This one is interesting:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/minneapolis-man-arrested-charged-straw-purchasing-firearm-used-west-seventh-street
(Note: had wrong link initially–fixed it)
https://kstp.com/news/gun-store-surveillance-video-shows-suspected-straw-purchase-by-man-now-linked-to-deadly-mass-shooting-st-paul-bar/6276947/
From the tv news report, Horton bought two guns in Sept and the staff at Frontiersman had enough suspicion that they reported the possible straw purchase. Or should have reported it. The tv story is not clear on that point.
So in Sept, at least ten days before the murder, a simple computer search should have motivated the feds and local police to immediate action, if they had a reason to be suspicious.
If there was a report. And if they acted on it.
So a reasonable question would be: Were there any such reports on Horton over any of these purchases?
Have you ever had an instant reaction of laughter to an ad photo that was supposed to be serious?
Just had one over a custom closet photo with a pajama-clad model standing in front.
Open closet about 12-ft wide. Grand total of 22 hangers. I counted them and laughed. Then I thought about the high-maintenance young lady in the pj's, and realized that this would be one of at least 5-6 closets she needed for her essential clothing. I laughed again.
Then I realized that the closet had barn doors off to each side, looking like single-stack. So the 12-foot closet needs twice that, a minimum 24-ft straight wall. I laughed yet again.
"Jimbo Fisher dismisses talk of LSU job, plans on 'fulfilling this contract' as Texas A&M coach"
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32425050/jimbo-fisher-dismisses-talk-lsu-job-plans-fulfilling-contract-texas-coach
Hey, you LSU guys keep your hands off our coach !
Branca's analysis:
Is flawed, and I agree at least partially with Aesop that he's talking out his ass.
It's one straw man after another, and he clearly doesn't understand how firearms are used on a movie set, or how a set functions. And did he invent the bit about Baldwin joking before shooting because I'm not seeing that anywhere else. If he did, the lurid sensationalism of that alone should get anything he has to say about the incident discounted.
This is a WORKPLACE accident.
Actor Baldwin was handed a tool to use in the normal course of his workday and the normal course of his work by his employer doing the normal work expected of him. He was explicitly told it was safe, inert. His experience and 'common knowledge' was that when the armorer hands you a prop gun and says it's safe, it's as safe as a freaking NERF gun. He's in the BUSINESS of safely PRETENDING to shoot things with guns that are as safe as can be for anything made by man and handled by man, to FAKE shooting things.
Branca's analysis would work for the man on the street, but this isn't a man on the street event. It was an employee provided a tool to use in the normal course of his workday. A tool he had a whole career's worth of experience to tell him that when the highly paid and experienced specialist tells you is safe to handle, it actually is safe. His common knowledge is that guns on a set are SAFE when you are told they are safe.
Even if the story about joking is true, if Baldwin had picked up a NERF gun and shot at the camera with it, but it somehow caused an injury (like the DP flinched and fell off a crane, or got hit in the eye) it would be a tragic accident because the actor Baldwin had no expectation that a NERF gun could 'reasonably' be expected to cause injury. The actor Baldwin was told the weapon was a NERF gun. He believed it. He had every reason to believe it.
None of this applies (well, some might still apply) if Baldwin acted stupidly. His comment "why would you hand me a hot gun" or "I was told the gun was cold" tells me he was aware of the difference, and believed the gun to be inert, and that it was safe to do whatever he did. He had every reason to believe it was safe.
Producer Baldwin has other considerations he may have to answer for. And because of the way Hollywood works, he may not even have been involved in any of the decisions that were made. Giving an actor that title (although it's my understanding that EXECUTIVE Producer is the more common sinecure) is a way to give them extra compensation, but it doesn't necessarily come with any real decision making authority. He may not want to admit that if it is the case, but if facing jail time, I bet he'll make the claim.
Leave the concept of "gun" out of it, think of a worker with a tool in a factory, and see if you come to the same conclusions. Because it's not really different because GUN!!!
n
Oh Christmas tree … Oh Christmas tree … What happiness befalls me …
Let's just say that I wouldn't hire the guy as a butcher's assistant and leave it at that. Knives are sharp!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=udS6losK7Ts&t=16
(When I posted that link a couple days ago the view hits were at 255k. I find it amusing that they have tripled since then)
@Nick
You missed the surrounding paragraphs:
So, as a hypothetical, Mr. Branca is talking completely within his ass.
@Nick
"This is a WORKPLACE accident."
I would typically expect a higher standard of safety.
"Actor Baldwin was handed a tool to use in the normal course of his workday and the normal course of his work by his employer doing the normal work expected of him. He was explicitly told it was safe, inert. His experience and 'common knowledge' was that when the armorer hands you a prop gun and says it's safe, it's as safe as a freaking NERF gun. He's in the BUSINESS of safely PRETENDING to shoot things with guns that are as safe as can be for anything made by man and handled by man, to FAKE shooting things."
A Nerf gun would be safer. Or a rubber gun. Or a realistically painted die-cast replica. Or a carefully engineered fake incapable of doing anything but making loud noises and producing a ball of flame, like a butane potato gun.
If a real gun is used to fake shooting someone, then the last person in the chain of responsibility is the one pulling the trigger, because it is entirely normal for that to be the case in the real world. Anything else is simply Hollywood saving money.
Fact is, with modern CGI they could use chartreuse rubber guns and yell “bang bang” and make it look real in post production.
"Branca's analysis would work for the man on the street, but this isn't a man on the street event. It was an employee provided a tool to use in the normal course of his workday. A tool he had a whole career's worth of experience to tell him that when the highly paid and experienced specialist tells you is safe to handle, it actually is safe. His common knowledge is that guns on a set are SAFE when you are told they are safe."
A death has just obviated that argument. Again.
But that's not really the case here. Reports make it clear that any reasonable person would have been aware that things were far from "normal".
"None of this applies (well, some might still apply) if Baldwin acted stupidly. His comment "why would you hand me a hot gun" or "I was told the gun was cold" tells me he was aware of the difference, and believed the gun to be inert, and that it was safe to do whatever he did. He had every reason to believe it was safe."
Not if, as reported, there were safety concerns on the set, such concerns led to a union walkout, the concerns were specifically with misfiring firearms, and even more specifically with his stunt double firing that firearm or one identical.
One comment that I read pointed out the use of remotely controlled cameras and screens to protect people where remotely controlled cameras weren't used. So, other available safety precautions weren't in use.
(note: I divided into three parts due to an ISE)
Hmm, hypothetical, also known as making up a story, or talking out one's ass… and sensationalism at that. Attention seeking behavior and bound to get him widely quoted.
I appreciate Branca's work and his TV appearances on Best Defense but he's looking at this thru his own filters and isn't seeing it in context. This is most likely not an offensive use of a firearms case, it's a workplace accident case. I wouldn't hire him for a contract dispute or a divorce (one in the same really I guess), and I wouldn't hire him if I was Baldwin for the same exact reason the defensive gun use lawyers want you to hire them instead of a criminal defense lawyer, he doesn't have the context or experience for this case.
n
@Nick
One final comment, and then we can agree to disagree until we see what else gets disclosed.
I learned those two rules when I was eight. Those rules are followed by at least four generations in my family.
There is not enough money in Hollywood, or anyone smart enough, to convince me to take a firearm from any other person, point it at a person, a dog, or anything else that I "didn't want to destroy" (in the more common formulation), and pull the trigger without checking it.
A death has just obviated that argument. Again.
Nope. The death doesn't change the fact that he had every reason to believe it was safe. The death happened after he pulled the trigger.
Producer Baldwin might have been aware of issues. Almost certainly he was aware that SOMETHING was going on. But hearing rumors that your wife is sleeping around doesn't make it true, and it doesn't mean you believe them, or that she actually is. It doesn't mean he equated problems the staff were having with problems that HE could have. It's easy to armwave complaints as whining and sour grapes, or misogyny, or an attempt to get more money….
Was the stunt double surprised by the discharges? Or was he messing around and they were expected but at the wrong time in the wrong place? Ie. did he not know he had a hot gun? Baldwin hearing that the stunt double fires shots when he wasn't supposed to is different from thinking there is a problem with the safety procedures in place. He had 40 YEARS of being told the armorer's word was good. (or weapons master in the old days)
Who knows? Maybe the armorer wasn't feeling secure enough to enforce the behavior she should have. Maybe her inexperience didn't let her identify that there was a problem with the behaviors, ie. maybe she thought this was all normal. Maybe she was clearly over her head and not competent but people that recognized it wouldn't call her out because of political reasons.
Maybe his Illuminati controllers needed a public act of shame to counter the public spectacle of his wife's little mistake about her genetic heritage…. (there you go Rick).
It's bizarre that I find myself in a position to defend Baldwin who when I think of him at all, I feel a vague contempt, but there is more here than it looks to outsiders, especially people of the gun.
n
There is not enough money in Hollywood, or anyone smart enough, to convince me to take a firearm from any other person, point it at a person, a dog, or anything else that I "didn't want to destroy" (in the more common formulation), and pull the trigger without checking it.
You are not an actor. You do not make your living pretending to competence and abilities you don't actually have. You don't depend on other people to do almost everything that needs doing in your life. You are grounded and live in the real world. You have bedrock beliefs and you know very well who you are (and you sound like you LIKE that person).
Unless it turns out that someone committed murder by 'spiking the guns' I have almost no doubt that Baldwin completely believed the gun COULDN'T harm anyone. It's a pretend gun, on his pretend western movie, shooting pretend bullets, and only pretend killing pretend characters.
I've lived in that world, at least around the edges, and they are truly not like you and me.
Jerry P used to say that readers of his blog couldn't really understand the lower IQ half of the population because they never really interacted with them. Almost everyone that read Chaosmanor was average at a minimum and usually well above. This is also true for "Hollywood types". And the best, most likely accessible thing I can point anyone toward is in the Making Off material on the Star Wars DVD for the movie with Jar Jar Binks as a character. There is a scene with Lucas and Spielburg walking across the film lot and talking. It's not a parody, it's two guys at the peak of their careers talking to each other, and it's pure Hollywood reality. They are not like you and me.
n
Try aiming a pretend gun at a cop and see how good that does ya.
I think all doc willliams and I are trying to say is that one cannot exculpate Baldwin for not checking the gun as any eight-year-old Mongoloid should have done.
Wouldn't you have done so under similar circumstances? Despite reassurances from the armorer, I would have. (and I'm not unfamiliar with film and theater production)
So where does the culpability lie? It's starting to look like one of those implied warranty of merchantability issues, not unlike the first polio vaccine.
Better still, how to prevent this from happening in future?
In reverse order…
–follow established safety protocols, hire competent staff, fire them if needed.
–culpability lies with the AD and the armorer at this point, given what's been reported.
Even the Hollywood ambulance chasers understand how it works.
Again, lawyers in LA who are familiar with the way movies work acknowledge that the actor has no responsibility or liability, those fall on the props people.
And "sources" on the set also know where the failure was and NOT with the actor…
–what I would do doesn't matter, nor what you would do. What ACTORS do is what they are told to do. Or they don't stay actors. 40 years of experience working with pros taught Baldwin he could rely on them. Protocol and procedure used throughout the industry told Baldwin he could rely on them. If he personally had a failure, it was not recognizing when they weren't pros, and couldn't be relied on. Some crew members clearly did recognize that and left.
–you certainly can excuse the actor for not checking the gun. That is not how the safety protocols work. None of the people quoted above expected him to do so and they are both familiar with the industry, and looking for a way to get paid when people with money do something wrong. In other words, they are motivated to place blame, and they don't place it on Baldwin, because that's not how it works on set, or in a factory for that matter.
–pointing a gun, real, fake, or anything in between at a cop is a bad idea and irrelevant. A movie set is a dream factory. It's 'let's pretend' for grown ups. It is in no way equivalent to being out on a street, in real life. EVERYTHING except the catering is fake. Even when "real" guns, ie. guns capable of firing deadly munitions are used, they are used in a fake way. The hits are fake. The aiming is fake. The rounds are almost always fake (except in the old days, and under extremely restricted circumstances.) The 'hot' guns are only ever supposed to have fake ammo, ie blanks, loaded. While on the set, it's pretend. Pretend food on the table, pretend weather, pretend glass in the windows, pretend danger, pretend relationships, and pretend weapons – as they are used on a set.
And yes, they are willing to put their lives in the hands of others and just 'take their word for it.' It's actually one of the things that amazes me about actors, their willingness to accept other peoples' assurances. They do it with stunts, animals, exposure to chemicals, working conditions… and guns.
n
(and apropos of my earlier comment, the main complaint of the crew was having to drive home tired, and not getting enough sleep in between shooting days, what is known in the business as a 'short turnaround.' They were technically getting their 8 hours off, but couldn't get 8 hours sleep. That's one of the things the IA was willing to strike over. They recognized the much greater and yet more mundane danger of driving while fatigued.)
added– and to my point that this isn't a criminal use of deadly force case, it's a workplace accident, is NM OSHA's involvement.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10122433/Gun-killed-filmmaker-Halyna-Hutchins-set-Rust-vintage-Colt-pistol.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10124421/The-armorer-Alec-Baldwins-film-Rust-gave-gun-11-year-old-actress-sources-say.html