Open Outcry Trading

I worked at the CBOE as a clerk in the S&P 500 options pit before I went to law school. There's nothing like working in an open outcry trading pit. It's amazing. The floor is full of guys who are all working hard, yelling, screaming, and physically pushing. It's an alpha male dominated society. I loved it.

It's the beating heart of capitalism. Watch these videos.

h/t Insty

Abortion Clinics are Now "Choice Providers"

I have some breaking news for all you wordsmiths out there. Abortion clinics are now to be referred to as "Choice Providers". Wow, talk about some Orwellian doublespeak.

Who would advocate for this wording? An abortion advocate?

Actually no. Good guess, though. Give up?

A television news anchor wants to rename abortion clinics as "choice providers". You know, the guy who's supposed to just present facts in an objective way?

Hey, maybe I'll name one of my pistols "Choice Provider".

Euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant; also : the expression so substituted.

Since I like to come up with lists, and since we're renaming abortion clinics, I have a proposed list of some other names we could give to abortion clinics:

1. Gosnell Chapels
2. Murderholes
3. Infanticide by Dismemberment 'R Us
4. Kid Killers Express
5.  Suction Centers

 I guess the problem is that there's really no way to put a happy face on killing a person. It's going to kind of be ugly. So I get why they don't want to talk about it.

h/t to the Zip.

Sinking of the USS Indianapolis

I intended to write about this on July 30 (yesterday). Yesterday was the actual date of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis after it successfully delivered the atomic bomb to Tinian.

It was one of the worst naval disasters in US Naval history.

At 14 minutes past midnight, on 30 July 1945, midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, she was hit by two torpedoes out of six fired by the I-58, a Japanese submarine. The first blew away the bow, the second struck near midship on the starboard side adjacent to a fuel tank and a powder magazine. The resulting explosion split the ship to the keel, knocking out all electric power. Within minutes she went down rapidly by the bow, rolling to starboard. 

Can you imagine?

Of the 1,196 aboard, about 900 made it into the water in the twelve minutes before she sank. Few life rafts were released. Most survivors wore the standard kapok life jacket. Shark attacks began with sunrise of the first day and continued until the men were physically removed from the water, almost five days later.

The whole ship went down in only twelve minutes. That's real terror. And then you're in the ocean for five days. I can't begin to understand that kind of fear.

Here's how most people (myself included) first heard the story of the USS Indianapolis. Although it's not entirely inaccurate, it still remains one of the best scenes of the movie. 

God bless those men and all who served. I can't imagine a more hellish fate. I know that the attrition rate for infantry units was high in certain land battles, but when Navy ships go down, there aren't usually many survivors. I have a ton of respect for the men who go out to sea in defense of our nation.

Give me an M-1 rifle and a foxhole any day.

Farewell and adieu to ye fair Spanish ladies...

9/11 Museum Curator Wanted To Exclude This Photo

Because it's too "Rah-Rah America". Seriously.

Finally, a version of this picture was included against his wishes. I don't even have words for this curator's mindset. I do know that I won't be going to his museum.

Real Life Kevin Costner-esqe "Waterworld" People

Check out these pictures from Wired magazine of people who are (I guess) acting out the Waterworld lifestyle of living on junky boats. Here's a taste:

I guess that's cool and all, but I want to see what happens when the smokers attack them.

When You Carry - Mindset

On CWP, from Andrew Branca:

I’d say the biggest misconception is that if you’re carrying a gun you get to take shit from fewer people. The reality is exactly opposite. When you’re carrying a gun you have to take shit from everybody. Except, of course, the guy actually trying to kill you. You can shoot him. That’s the tradeoff. The gun gives you the practical means to end the life of anybody in your immediate vicinity. In exchange for that power it is your moral and legal responsibility to conduct yourself in such a way as to make that outcome as unlikely as possible. The last thing you want to do if you’re carrying is to be the one who even inadvertently escalates a non-deadly encounter to a deadly one. Confronting the drunk loudmouth who’s making a scene at the table next to you in a restaurant, for example, may be seen as a potentially very bad idea if you think a few steps down the line. Best to just let it go, and just go, leave. One of my primary tactical rules of self-defense is to vacate the area at the first sign of a red flag. Let the bad stuff go down while you’re safely somewhere else.

 Couldn't have said it better myself.

President Held Hostage By Environmentalists

Obama doesn't want to build the Keystone pipeline because he's an environmentalist. That's fine, I guess. Everyone's entitled to their preferences and priorities.

I guess that he's got global warming (oops, I mean climate change) as a higher priority than creating jobs. Just don't tell me that he's focused on creating jobs. Because he's not.

You know what his real focus is? He's focused on doing everything he can to get a Democrat controlled House next year, and pleasing the environmentalists is his way of shoring up his base. If he allows this pipeline to be built, they'll stay home on election day.

Here's the other thing. The President says that he doesn't want to build the pipeline because it will lead to carbon emissions. Fine, assuming arguendo that everything he says is true, and that carbon emissions will result from the pipeline, and that the world will die a fiery death because of the pipeline. So what?

Canada has a bunch of oil that they want to refine. Do you think if we say no, that they'll just stop? Maybe the Canadians will just build some more refineries in Canada. Also, you don't think the Chinese (or some other country) would be happy to refine the oil? The Canadians could just build a pipeline to British Columbia, and Chinese supertankers get the oil, take it over to China, and then refine it. The oil is going to get to market. That's a guarantee.  And the carbon emissions in the hypothetical that I've described are more than if we just send it down to Louisiana. The only question is whether the USA will be involved.

I just want the President who doesn't think many jobs will be created by this pipeline tell me about all the solar and wind jobs that he's created.

Walking Dead Season 4 Trailer

Season 4 of The Walking Dead looks like it might be the best one yet, although I think they're starting to drastically diverge from the original graphic novels. The first episode will air on October 13. Here's the trailer:

I like that they got D'Angelo Barksdale from The Wire, and I'm glad they're finally starting to fortify the prison.

Hopefully, they won't waste time with having to "save" people who wander off. It looks like the main issue will be how long they can stay in the prison. Looks like they’re going to burn up a lot of screen time with “do we leave, or do we stay” discussions.

Rep. Sanford on House Floor in T-Shirt and Shorts

Hey, at least he wasn't taking pictures of his junk and sending it around to random strangers.

How To Turn $2.16 Million into $0.84 Million

Phil Mickelson can show you how to do this really easily.

Step 1: Live in California.
Step 2: Play golf in Scotland.
Step 3: Win British Open
Step 4: Pay lots of taxes.

I owe how much in taxes?

Seriously, that's a boatload of taxes, and he ends up with $842,700 before paying his caddy! A couple of million bucks ain't what it used to be.

Try Some Puerto Rican BBQ

Our neighbors to the south call it "lechon". We call it BBQ.

It looks pretty good.

New Proper Form Tackling - What Not to Do

EDSBS helps you out. As a good example of not leading with the crown of your head, I believe this form of tackling will also be disallowed:

Gov. Haley Tours FN Plant and Fires Guns

I took the same tour about a year ago, but they didn't let me fire anything. Also, FN came to a Columbia Rotary club meeting awhile back, and they put on a nice presentation. That was the one of the very few Rotary meetings I've ever been to.

It's really great that FN Manufacturing is located here in the midlands. It's clear that Governor Haley is doing good work in getting companies to come to SC. The demand for firearms right now has to be at an all-time high, and certain states (Colorado) seem ready to push gun companies out for political reasons.

Did you know that Connecticut based rifle manufacturer decided to relocate to SC? $20 Million in economic impact per year sounds pretty nice to me.

These are good, high-skilled, highly technical jobs, and because of the nature of the product, they're less likely to be outsourced to a foreign country. Looks like South Carolina isn't screwing everything up.

[h/t to @AndyShain for the video link]

Man Drinks $100k Worth of Whiskey

DRINKING THE GOOD STUFF. A Pennsylvania man will soon stand trial for raiding a secret stash of historic hooch, a100-proof-plus cache of pre-Prohibition whiskey valued by one expert at more than $100,000.

Detroit Is Bankrupt

Detroit filed for bankruptcy. Here's the filing if your interested. Maybe Obama can get the Olympics into Detroit for 2016. He's good at that kind of thing. Incidentally, I have a letter for the people who have been running Detroit for the last 50 years.

The grasshoppers should have been saving for winter.

Sincerely,

The Ants 

Bull Street Developer Reveals Hints

The Greenville, SC based developer behind the Bull Street project has started revealing what the project will look like.

Bob Hughes - The man we are all counting on.

I'm not wild about a baseball stadium, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the project as a whole. This is the developer who is responsible for downtown Greenville being what it is today, as opposed to what it looked like in 1956.

If he can do something similar for Columbia, that would certainly be a welcome relief. What do you think?

NY In the 60's vs. SC in the 50's

Here are photos from NYC in the 1960s.

For contrast, here's some photos of Greenville, SC in 1956. Yes, it's a few years earlier, but it might as well be a different planet.

I'm Sick - So Are Others

I wasn't feeling good yesterday, and now I feel really bad. In any event, I'm swiping this post from Brad's blog since I don't have the energy to do my own post.

I was going to say something about Jahar being on the cover of Rolling Stone, but he beat me to it. Why reinvent the wheel, right? Apparently, there is a "Free Jahar" movement, and it' mostly made up of women.

I guess there's the old stereotype of women who like a "bad boy" type, but does that really go all the way to terrorism?

Yes, he's a monster, but what dreamy eyes! /sigh

Maybe it's because he's in jail, and he's unattainable. Who knows? I kind of thought that stopped at the guy who cut class in high school, or the guy who was in a band rather than working in an office job. Either way, I don't think there's a male analog to this. I can't remember any attractive female criminals with a male following.

Then there's the whole other issue of Rolling Stone glorifying the guy. Terrorist as a rock/culture icon? That's pretty sick. I would expect this from some Al-Quaeda magazine that is trying to glorify his violence and recruit more terrorists, not Rolling Stone. Maybe they're trying to come up with a new, modern version of Che.  I hear he killed people and had soulful eyes as well.

It reminds me of the Tom Wolfe piece about "Radical Chic".

Whatever the reason, if you're part of the "Free Jahar" movement, you're stupid.

Zimmerman Verdict Reaction

The Zimmerman verdict came out late on Saturday, while I was doing important things like drinking bourbon on my porch.

Overall, I wasn't surprised that he was found not guilty. The State didn't have a very good case from the start, and the case presented reflected that. As a litigator, I have this thing about not losing. Accordingly, I would have never brought this case because I didn't consider it winnable on the evidence. In our criminal justice system, the benefit of the doubt goes to the defendant. That's what we had here.

In any event, feel free to put all your reactions in this thread. I probably won't do another post on this topic.

In more interesting news, SEC Media Days gets cranked up this week. Gird your loins.

Friday Happy Hour

I don't know about y'all, but this has been a hell of a week. I worked all day Saturday and Sunday leading up to this week to prepare for a trial on Monday. I had multiple hearings on every other day, so I'm pretty wiped out.

It's almost beer-o'clock, so don't come looking for any deep content from me. My legal advice is to enjoy your weekend.

I suggest grilling something while drinking something cold. A gin and tonic with a splash of Cheerwine? I'm game.

Enjoy your weekend.

Asiana Pilot Was "Blinded by the Light"

Or so he claims.

No word yet if go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside.

SC Supreme Court Leaves Questions Unanswered

For all you lawgeeks, the Palmetto Financial Services Forum has a good breakdown of the Supreme Court's most recent decision regarding lenders who do not use lawyers to close mortgage loans.

City of Columbia Approves Bull Street Deal

The City Council took a vote, and by a 4-2 margin, the City is going to sign a certain contract with a developer and move forward with the Bull Street development.

The agreement commits the city to the $31 million in public aid for water and sewer lines, streets and other utilities and possibly an additional $40 million for two parking garages and the baseball stadium that would double as a concert and civic-function venue. The deal also saves from demolition five major buildings on the nearly 200 year-old state mental health facilities campus. But the agreement leaves most the remaining 40 without any protection.

I really hope this development works out. I think the City needs a baseball stadium about as much as it needs Sherman to ride through again, but that's just my opinion.

Hopefully, it works out. I thought it was interesting that Councilwoman Devine didn't vote because she had a "prior commitment". Could that be a possible way for her to have hedged her bet?

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/07/09/2854206/new-crowd-groans-as-attempt-to.html#storylink=cpy

Farmer Quits, Citing Government Red Tape

"I can fight the bugs, I can fight the lack of rain, but when the guy comes with a clipboard what are you going to do?”

Grilling: Charcoal or Gas?

Do you prefer to grill over charcoal or gas? I use propane for convenience, but when I have plenty of time, I use charcoal.

According to Wired, charcoal is better. You could read the whole article, or you could just read this summary:

Cooking over charcoal makes your food taste like bacon. Let me repeat that: blah blah charcoal blah blah BACON.

Bacon. Case closed.

Hard Work is a Disorder?

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July. For those of you who are taking the day off, here are some links:

1. The ACA law is being ignored. Call me crazy, but when Congress passes a law, I'm pretty sure that it has to be complied with. The President can't simply ignore part of it because he wants to. If that's the case, I would like for the President to temporarily "delay enforcement" of the NFA of 1934, so I can buy a machine gun.
2. Would-Be Burglar in Oklahoma is hogtied by homeowner. Don't mess with folks in Oklahoma. My favorite part is the homeowner ties the burglar up, calls the police, and then leaves to go to work because he "doesn't have time" to deal with waiting for the police.
3. Four Things Every Man Should Be Able to Do. Pretty low bar, if you ask me.
4. Today in WWII. July 5, 1943, Germany launches their last major offensive in the East. (Pro-tip from Permanent Press: Never get involved in a land war in Asia.)

Today's post is brought to you by psychological disorders:

Open Thread - Fourth of July

Have a happy holiday. Some rare letters from John Paul Jones have been discovered in a Charleston library.

Dallas

He was a great dog.

He was a great friend. I got him the summer I was studying for the bar, living just with him as a puppy. We howled at sirens together, prowled through the woods together, and spent lots of quality time just being together.

Dogs don't know evil, jealousy, or discontent. Dogs love us completely, as only a family member can.

Cancer took him tonight.

He will be missed.

Salute From the Shore - Saved by Volunteers

The 4th annual South Carolina tradition of the Salute from the Shore will go on this year despite the sequestration that has grounded all military flyovers. Andy Folsom explains on Fox News how some great volunteers have been able to pick up the slack and continue this wonderful event.

I actually think it will be even better with the vintage WWII aircraft. They'll go a little lower and slower (like good BBQ) so the folks on the beach will get a better look at the aircraft.

Thanks to all the volunteers who took part in making the Salute from the Shore a reality this year. Here's a list of some of the aircraft that you can expect to see. The C-47 will be really cool.

This C-47 took part in WWII. You can see it fly over the SC Coast on Thursday

Monday: Time to Focus

Welcome to July, y'all.

Just because there's a holiday in the middle of the week, that's no excuse to take your eye off the target the rest of the week.

I'll be working on a few targets of my own. Deposition, trial prep, that kind of stuff.

If you're looking to grill and watch things go bang, have fun. Also, if you've got some leftover pulled pork, here's a great recipe for getting rid of it...in the most delicious way possible.