« Brownstein on McCain | Main | The Fox Factor » Some Advice02 May 2008 09:21 pm If you're going to use a gun in a crime, try to stay away from custom-made Belgian guns. The question becomes, how does this impact the Indiana primary? Is a custom-made Belgian gun beer-track because it's a gun, or wine-track because it's Belgian? And, yes, I'm trying to avoid talking about the Wizards game. UPDATE: Hawks! Comments (62)
Why can't I just eat my Belgian waffle? 
Hey, LeBron is LeBron. It would have been a miracle for the Wiz to pull this off. And dare I say tonight, the way the second half went, it would have been the game to have Agent Zero, scoring at will to catch up. Or maybe I am projecting and just hoped the Celts would face the Wiz (despite season evidence to the contrary).
Watching the Hawks lose to the Celtics.
So... is the Hawks home-court advantage that huge? Or is the Celtics? Really, why do the Celtics struggle so much here seemingly, when they did fine regular season?
Hundt--maybe my favorite TPM guy; I wish he would run for something--is just killing Arenas over there.
It's been years since they've been able to get people into the arena - back when Rivers was a player. The place is packed, the fans are excited and the Hawks are making a game of it.
Shit, MNF just announced another soldier killed today.
the whole "lebron's a WATB" thing looks rather foolish now, doesn't it? oh and while I'm here, THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR HILLARY!!!
I was at the verizon center. Awesome atmosphere, poor performance. Horrible defence, worse rebounding, and would have been nice if Caron decided to start playing before the end of the 3rd quarter. At least that guy hit the three pointer for the papa john's promotion so we all get a free pizza. Better luck next year.
Apparently Marvin didn't learn the lesson from Bird from the first season of "The Wire" - stay away from exotic, easily identifiable handguns produced in foreign countries, champ.
Is it just me, or does KG go into wuss mode at crunchtime? Shouldn't he have been in the post much more, instead of always passing back out to the perimeter?
HAWKS!
So how much of Matt's blogging cash did he plunk down on the Celtics when he was claiming they were undervalued by the betting markets?
I love my Hawks.
Please Celtics, don't be the second Boston team to lose to an underdog. At least make it to the Finals, or hey, next round.
Zaza!
"Is it just me, or does KG go into wuss mode at crunchtime?" I hesitate to say yes, despite the fact evidence is mounting...after all, Allen took the worst shot of the night at the end. Also, it was Pierce that f**ked up and fouled out. End of the day, they're gonna win Sunday. In seven. Ugh.
"Is a custom-made Belgian gun beer-track because it's a gun, or wine-track because it's Belgian?" I think Belgium is better-known for its beer. I was about to say it's yuppie/hipster beer, but actually it isn't, because it's good beer, and hipsters like to pose with crappy lagers like PBR.
Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face with an Italian-made 28-gauge Perazzi. USA! USA!
I don't know, the disparity between the Patriots and Giants- who were on fire going into the Super Bowl- looks magnitudes smaller than the one between the Celtics, considered by most to be one of the best eastern conference teams of the decade, and the sub-.500 Hawks. The Super Bowl was 1 v. 2, this is 1 v. 16. It'd be huge.
Although it was clearly an upset, there were more than a few people picking the Giants in the Super Bowl over New England. But there was nobody--NOBODY--who thought Hawks-Celtics would be going 7. I can't imagine anyone thought it would go more than 5 at the most.
Shit, MNF just announced another soldier killed today. Like you honestly cared, or cared when 6 soldiers a day were dying in Carter's Administration... Shit! With 2.3 million Americans dying every year, why aren't the 6,000 deaths a day announced on MNF and mourned?
Haggai, Yes, but I think we can all agree that, while the degree is different, the fact that two underdogs will have beaten Boston teams is a definite if the Hawks win in Boston. Also, what type of game plan was that for the final shot? Dribble around and shoot at the buzzer? Really Doc, that's the best you can think up?
Chris Ford is of course comparing apples and oranges, or to be charitable, apples and all fruit, apples included. This is either basic statistical ignorance, or basic mendacity. It could be both. The notorious leftie rag Army Times on the argument: Here.
I could give a crap what Chis Ford has to say. Fucking racist asshole.
Also, what type of game plan was that for the final shot? Dribble around and shoot at the buzzer? Really Doc, that's the best you can think up? It seems like both teams blew it on that last play. The Hawks should have fouled once Boston got across midcourt. Although they did do a good job denying Allen and Posey; Rondo taking that last 3 is the ideal guy for the opposition to give the shot to.
I forget who it was, but someone here was talking about how the Celtics are the best defense of all time, how they are going to eviscerate the teams from the West (with the exception of the Spurs, whom, they'd beat, but not destroy), how Rondo was going to the Hall of Fame. The Celtics win this series, but it doesn't look like they are going to romp through the playoffs and lay claim to a "greatest team of all time" tag. Actually I like KG and Ray Allen, but there is nothing like watching over-the-top cocky Boston fans squirm, or reading a Bill Simmons post-mortem (and I kinda like Simmons). Being a White Sox, Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and a kinda Lakers fan (transplanted in LA, more of a Phil Jacckson fan than a Lakers fan), nothing sports wise this decade provided me with more joy than watching the Pats choke in the Super Bowl, excpet for the White Sox' World Series.
The Pats didn't choke in the Super Bowl; they played well but got beaten by the better team. The Pats may have gone undefeated up until that point, but they clearly peaked before the end of the regular season.
Too bad, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy were just about the only things I liked about the Colts in recent years. Why couldn't it have been the asshole Manning brothers robbing liquor stores for crystal meth money instead?
I hope the Hawks pull it off just so the 2007 Mavs are no long the biggest chokers of all time.
Yeah, hipsters like to drink Belgians (preferring dumb-ass pseudo-German lagers to the much more noble ales, to say nothing of the idiotic fixation on the Reinheitsgebot), but they never know how to pronounce the names correctly. They assume Belgium is francophone, even though the majority of its people (and its beer) are Dutch-speaking. Nee, nee, mijn vrienden. De bieren van België zijn op besten met een nederlandstalige accent. Anyway, Belgians don't play basketball and, also, aren't part of the coveted working-class whites (except, of course, that Belgium has both), so Hillary Clinton wins. Also, irony is so awesome.
If anyone choked in the Pats game, it was the O-line. And honestly, that NYG rush was MONSTROUS.
"Why couldn't it have been the asshole Manning brothers robbing liquor stores for crystal meth money instead?" Because: 1) They're not assholes. 2) They're not ghetto thugs. 3) They're not white trash. 4) They're not stupid. 5) They come from a good family, with a mother and a father. Peyton may be over-exposed, but he and Eli are both class acts. Eli especially.
Wow Fred, whenever we need someone lame to answer rhetorical questions, you're there to bring up "ghetto thugs."
I think Belgium is better-known for its beer. I was about to say it's yuppie/hipster beer, but actually it isn't, because it's good beer, and hipsters like to pose with crappy lagers like PBR. Fred, you're so wrong. Real 'mericans like watery lager. Hipsters appropriated the campiest of the bunch, PBR, but that doesn't mean that it's a hipster beer at heart. It was an orphan brand that took off without marketing. Belgian beer is (1) exotic, (2) strongly flavored, and (3)incredibly expensive when compared to domestic lagers. Belgian beer is more wine-track than beer-track. Belgium is also home of the Freedom Fry, so that might shift the balances a little bit RE: the beer/wine track.
And good job Hawks! Anybody else feel bitter about the way suspensions have been thrown around this year relative to last year?
PBR actually does a lot of marketing it's just all focused on point-of-sale and behavioral relationships, not the big dollar advertising of it's giant competitors. Hipsters practice "lifestyle as dissent" and "consumption as protest" (per Naomi Klein and the New Yorker article where I stole the content of this comment) and PBR just figured out how to market to that niche effectively. Hipsters want to get drunk on cheap beer just like the average people they loathe so they adopt an almost identical product (mass produced lager) in PBR, produced in almost identical working conditions as other massive brewers, but they get to feel good rejecting Budweiser frogs and the Coors Light Swedish Bikini team, even though PBR is using its own sophisticated marketing plan to separate Johnny Patchouli from his trust fund. Shorter me: most hipsters are not as smart as advertisers and phonier than the people they vocally reject.
I think Belgium is better-known for its beer. I was about to say it's yuppie/hipster beer, but actually it isn't, because it's good beer, and hipsters like to pose with crappy lagers like PBR. Gimme a $2 framboise, son, and I'll pose as Flemishly as you like. [why are we still up? why are we online?]
Apparently Marvin didn't learn the lesson from Bird from the first season of "The Wire" - stay away from exotic, easily identifiable handguns produced in foreign countries, champ. And ditch the iron down a storm drain, not in a bucket in your car wash(?!).
Good thing the Wizards didn't have to the terrible burden of playing Gil, so they managed to keep the margin under 20, right Matt? Anyway, I'm loving the Bill Simmons suicide watch. If the Hawks pull this out, they'll make the Warriors upset last year look mundane. Oh, any time Tony Dungy's name is mentioned, it must be further mentioned that he is a unctuous rightwing asshole.
2) They're not ghetto thugs. You can just say "niggers," Fred. We know that's what you're thinking, so you might as well.
Don't let your distaste for Fred blind you to the fact that a lot of NFL players who put themselves in these situations are, actually, ghetto thugs.
Geesh, you mean Chris Ford isn't just a bigot he's also an ignorant dumb shit and all around indignant rube who'll fall for any paranoid, right-wing or racist tract? Color me shocked!
If you go into a totally dark room at night and say "Chris Ford" 35 times into a mirror, all of a sudden you'll feel really stupid.
All together now, Wiz fans...OVER-RATED! OVER-RATED!...huh, what's that...I can't hear you any more...
I love how Yglesias's site is the go to place for casual racism. Fred's implying that Marvin Harrison is: 1) an asshole 2) a ghetto thug 3) black trash (but we repeat ourselves) 4) stupid 5) has a horrible family Actually, looking at the whole of Harrison's life, none of those things seem to be true. Certainly they cannot be deduced from a single incident, particularly when the facts are unclear. Of course, for Fred, as for all racists, factual knowledge is unessential (I'll never forget this Fredism: we know David Paterson BOMBED his LSATs because in 1980 he attended Hofstra law, which (the clinching evidence) was ranked in the third tier in 2007). Fun fact, the Players club is a block from my place.
Y'know, if I was a conspiracy sorta guy, I'd say the Cavs laid down in game five just to punk Amish Paradise Stevenson in his own crib. Just sayin'... The Hawks are proving two things:
"Wow Fred, whenever we need someone lame to answer rhetorical questions, you're there to bring up "ghetto thugs." Sorry, Reality Man: You don't get to claim self-righteous offense at the phrase "ghetto thugs" after you paint two white NFL players as white trash, crystal meth-addict criminals. That goes for the rest of you who apparently weren't offended by Reality Man's pointless slur of the Manning brothers but deign to take offense at the phrase "ghetto thugs". Interesting, also, that none of you were similarly offended that I used the phrase "white trash". Why not?
"Interesting, also, that none of you were similarly offended that I used the phrase "white trash". Why not?" Because you used it only to imply that Marvin Harrison is black trash (but we repeat ourselves). Indeed, if I had to guess I'd say you regard "white trash" as a category error. But let's assume it's true, that all of us hold a double standard, that were willing to dehumanize entire peoples site unseen only if they're white, whereas you're willing to dehumanize without regard to race. Supposing that's true, how does it render your brand of essentialism correct?
What was it (the gun) - a *Fabrique? The bullets tumble forward - enhancing the killing power 20-fold. Sweet piece.
Doug H, I've agreed with you on the first point for awhile. I'm starting to fear the second.
"Sorry, Reality Man: You don't get to claim self-righteous offense at the phrase "ghetto thugs" after you paint two white NFL players as white trash, crystal meth-addict criminals. That goes for the rest of you who apparently weren't offended by Reality Man's pointless slur of the Manning brothers but deign to take offense at the phrase "ghetto thugs"." I'm guessing you're on crystal meth because you seem a bit delusional. I actually was going to use crack in the joke, but chose crystal meth because it was more topical. Also, how did I paint the Mannings as white trash, crystal-meth addicted criminals? Did I say they were? Nope. Instead, I said I wish they were cuz I hate the Mannings. I'm a Pats fan, which is partly why I'm a bit bitter against the Mannings, but that means I would have rather have seen Tom Brady win Super Bowl MVP and get another ring than Eli Manning in the last Super Bowl. You're like a retarded puppy that's fun to kick.
PBR actually does a lot of marketing it's just all focused on point-of-sale and behavioral relationships, not the big dollar advertising of it's giant competitors. Pabst does a lot of hipster-related marketing now, but that didn't drive the rise of the hipster PBR market in the first place. Here's a nice article from the NYT about the whole thing.
Trevor: "What was it (the gun) - a *Fabrique? The bullets tumble forward - enhancing the killing power 20-fold. Sweet piece." Citation please. I find that doubtful. That was the nonsense they used to say about the 5.56 M-16 round. Bullet (well, properly made bullets, anyway) don't tumble and if they did, the range would suck, as well as accuracy. See here: And here:
Richard, I'm guessing they mean that the bullets tumble once they penetrate a body.
Pretty much any bullet that isn't high velocity or reasonably heavy will to some degree. .22's are known for ricocheting off bone. 9mm's penetrate too much. Which is why .45's and similar calibers tend to be the preferred calibers for combat handgunning - they're slow, they hit hard, and they are more likely to expand rather than spall. Also, the articles point out that you can't even predict what a bullet will do on impact very well, either. They're been arguing for decades over the validity of gelatin tests. The best evidence came from Evan Marshall's examinations of stops in actual handgun combat reports from police and hospitals. Light, high velocity rounds like the 5.56 have not so great stopping power. They were adopted by military forces because the average soldier could carry more rounds and thus wouldn't need to be trained to the sufficiently high accuracy to be able to score hits with less ammo. (As Sean Connery said in "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Very American! Fire enough bullets and hope to hit the target!") Not to mention that somebody made more money out of the increased amount of ammunition being made. The Mossad carry .22's because they're trained to hit what they shoot at. But the point of the piece is right - using a custom firearm which is registered to you in a crime, then leaving it lying around to be found is brain dead. I remember Joey the Hitman, author of a book on his life in the Mafia, saying that he got rid of his guns by disassembling them, smashing the firing pin with a hammer, sawing the barrel in half with a saw, then disposing of the pieces in various storm drains around the city. Melting it down with a blow torch would probably do the trick as well.
After that final Gulfstream shot by the Celts to shit the bed last night, the schadenfreude (esp towards Simmons, considering his twat-tacular chronicling of the 'Rondo's better' chants) makes Heaven seem provincial.
Don't get me wrong -- if Atlanta wins this series it will be a monumental upset. But I'm starting to think that the Hawks are no ordinary (even by Eastern Conference standards) 8 seed. Really I thought when they got Bibby they'd be a team that could do something in the playoffs -- maybe it just took till Game 3 of this series for things to click. Joe Johnson is a helluva player. Josh Smith is capable of doing amazing things every game. Al Horford is good now, and he's going to get lots beter, and Josh Childress is as good a sixth man as there is (I don't count Ginobili and his starter's minutes for this). Bibby, despite his often horrid shooting, has playoff pedigree. This is a good team. They aren't and shouldn't be good enough to beat Boston, but if you were to seed the East based not on 2007-08 record but how good these teams are right now, I'd say Atlanta comes up fourth, ahead of Cleveland, or maybe even third, ahead of Orlando. I'm sure at the very least MY would admit that the Hawks are better than his Wizards...
Never mind my stupid Ginobili comment. Childress averaged 30 minutes this year to Manu's 31...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who posts a comment, then feels the need to doublecheck some fact.
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Heads in the Sand
If it's a Herstal they own Browning and Winchester which makes them both wine and beer or just stupid like Daimler Benz.
Posted by Linus | May 2, 2008 9:39 PM