Yesterday morning we had an unusual end to a usual crime here in Tucson. Sometime around 7:30 AM, a pickup truck pulled into the Circle K at 22nd & Prudence, and one man and two women got out. The driver remained behind, presumably to keep the motor running while the three went in.
Those three quickly emerged with four cases of Bud Light. It was a beer theft. My cousin Todd and I witnessed one once at a convenience store.....the driver parks where the clerk can't see the car (and license plate) and the next thing you know someone is wildly running out with a 12 pack. We saw some young punk make off with a 12 pack, whereupon the car quickly sped away once the goods (and thief) were in the car.
Anyway, yesterday morning's was a little more brazen. Three thieves walked in, and between the three of them there were four cases of Bud Light. Why they went for Bud Light instead of Moosehead is one of the several parameters of this incident that doesn't make sense, but that's of little consequence to the big picture. A brazen act of petty theft was committed, and these three quickly deposited their stolen goods into the bed of the pickup, after which they joined the driver. The driver then took off heading west on 22nd Street.
At that point, it is believed that a witness gave chase to this truck. We do know that the truck with its payload of both booty and thieves were in flight, and heading for the intersection of 22nd & Kolb, which is an intersection that's among the top ten when it comes to accidents.
The truck turned north on Kolb. Shortly after this turn, the driver hit another vehicle, and continued northbound. I am going to presume that this truck was traveling at a high rate of speed, as it approached the turnoff to Langley, which would have been in the left lane. The truck made the turn at Langley, and it can only be presumed that the driver of the truck was suffering from some sort of adrenaline rush, like the kind I got as a teenager when I was running from a car that my friends and I had pelted with snowballs, where I vaulted a fence to evade capture (this was back in 1975, when we were living in Manassas, Virginia). I'm sure though that the driver was having a bigger one than I had had. He was a major participant in a beer theft, and it was time to get the royal hell out of there so that they could then go off somewhere and laugh about what they pulled off while getting drunk in the process.
After the truck entered Langley, the driver lost control. What happened then, in a quick succession of milliseconds, was that the truck overturned, ejecting the contents of the truck bed and the driver. The cargo itself separated into several dozen individual bottles of Bud Light which ended up being strewn over a good section of Kolb Road. The truck came to rest in a ditch, pinning the driver. His three passengers quickly got out and fled on foot. The rollover was reported at 7:37 AM, and in short order the Tucson Police Department secured the scene. The Pima County Sheriff's Posse came out to assist in the search of the suspects, bringing bloodhounds. At least one of the passengers was injured as that blood belonging to one of them was observed.
The driver ended up dying at the scene. The passengers ended up at large. Kolb Road was closed to traffic for several hours between 22nd and Broadway. In the afternoon, the passengers were still at large, and the Tucson Police identified the fatality as 37 year old Henry T. Dennison.
Being the somewhat curious person that I am, I found myself doing some research on this Henry T. Dennison. Online court records showed that he had several traffic offenses, including running a red light and a DUI. He also was criminally charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Last month, on the 9th of May to be exact, a criminal complaint of shoplifting was filed against him, with a pending court action on this. For reasons known only to Henry T. Dennison and his "friends" who quickly abandoned him, he wasn't ready to quit shoplifting, only this time he wasn't going to do the actual dirty work of it himself.
What I read in the court records didn't surprise me, but it still made little sense. Like those gangbangers in last month's robbery of the auto stereo installer, he had a criminal record, and like that 18 year old gangbanger who was killed in the course of the robbery, Henry T. Dennison met his end in the commission of crime. Even though I found myself wondering why he didn't learn from last month's shoplifting bust, I decided to do a little more research on Henry T. Dennison.
Henry T. Dennison showed up in the records of the Arizona Corporation Commission. He was listed as a Director of Henden Corporation, a firm here in Tucson that excavates sites for construction purposes. He lived in an upscale neighborhood, and although he wasn't listed as the President of Henden (someone else has that title) I think it's possible that he was a principal owner. The latest filing with the Commission showed that this corporation employed fewer than 25, and that annual sales were between $750,000 and $1.2 million.
After collecting all of this and digesting this, I'm left with the following questions.
Why did he feel the need to steal four cases of Bud Light? Surely as a major player in a local business he could have well afforded to pay for this, but he must have figured that he could get it out of that Circle K without having to pay for it. And he was right. He got out of there and had the same amount of money on him (and in his checking account, if he would have used debit otherwise) that he did when he pulled into the parking lot. He knew that he was going to have to make a quick getaway. For all we know, he may have engineered beer thefts before.
The next question is, what of his three fair weather friends? At least one of them was injured to the point of bleeding. They may have suffered broken bones. Whatever their condition, they were all well enough to flee on foot. They have undoubtedly read about themselves in the local paper and/or seen the reports about what they did on the news. Are these three hiding out together, or separately? Did they feel the need for some more beer now that their stash was destroyed? Did they actually pay for some beer later on that afternoon? Do they plan on attending the funeral of Henry T. Dennison?
Either way you slice this, this is a strange story. The more research I did into this, the more bizarre it became.
One criminal career came to an abrubt end yesterday morning.
What remains to be seen is if three other criminal careers will continue.
LINK
VIDEO REPORT
AND ONE MORE LINK
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
I, Robot
I, Robot is the title of a "book" by science fiction master Isaac Asimov. Although not written as a "book", it is a collection of short stories that he wrote from 1941 to 1950. It was tied together as a "book" with the short stories being told in the form of recollections from Dr. Susan Calvin, a robot psychologist with the fictional U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., who is narrating stories about her career to an interviewer.
As you have correctly surmised, these stories are about robots. In writing about robots, Dr. Asimov made it clear that they are subject to The Three Laws of Robotics. These Laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such order would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These Three Laws of Robotics start out the novel, so that the reader instantly knows that he's not going to be reading about where a bunch of mechanical Frankenstein monsters end up taking over the earth. What happens instead is a series of situations as the robots progressively develop from non-speaking models to those that speak, to those that have reasoning capabilities, and there's even one robot that has the ability to read minds.
As the robots are progressing into newer and better models, mankind itself is progressing. We see the human race begin their conquest of space. Two characters, Greg Powell and Mike Donovan, are field testing the newer models as they work on the planet Mercury, later on a space station, and Dr. Calvin herself travels to Hyper Base, which we deduce is on an asteroid where scientists and engineers are developing the hyperatomic drive so that mankind's dream of interstellar travel can be realized. Later on, the hyperspace barrier is broken, and travel to distant star systems is made possible faster than the speed of light.
As the end of the book draws near, there is the suggestion that a robot who looks exactly like a human being has been constructed and runs for political office. This character goes on to play a key role in the final chapter, a story called "The Evitable Conflict". At this time, super machines have been created to help with the administration of Earth's resources. The Three Laws, which were put into place to prevent the robots from taking over, have prevented them from taking over........or have they?
I first read I, Robot back in 1976, during my senior year of high school. It was one of the required reading novels assigned to me in an English class. I enjoyed reading this back then, I enjoyed it again last year, and even though I know the stories I know that I would find this book to be good reading if I were to pick it up again today.
As for why I read this fairly recently, it's due to a renewed interest in the books that Isaac Asimov wrote. He's known for his "Foundation" series of novels, which I read in my first year in college, and I recently decided that I wanted to re-read them. Having lost my copies of these books in one of my moves, it was necessary to re-purchase them, but while at the bookstore I learned then that he wrote more "Foundation" novels. I picked up Prelude to Foundation, found it to be a good read, and learned thru the book (and thru some online research) that Dr. Asimov decided to tie the "Robot" novels, the "Galactic Empire" novels and the "Foundation" novels into the same "universe". After reading Prelude to Foundation, I realized that I could have several hours of entertainment by reading the whole shebang of novels......of which the starting point is I, Robot.
By the way, more robot stories, including those found in I, Robot can be found in Robot Visions. Robot Visions also includes several essays by Dr. Asimov in which he explained why he felt it necessary to include The Three Laws.
Two weekends from now Lynette and I will be in Wisconsin. We are making a side trip to Iowa so that I can visit with Marge and Tony.
We're going to be gone for ten days. I will be bringing my laptop and checking email as time permits, and if I can, I might post some updates on what we're doing. I expect that visiting with her relatives and getting to know them will take up most of our time.
I'm not sure if there will be many opportunities to play "tourist". I do like to explore, and I'm especially fascinated with going to places that I've never gone to before. I have been to the state capitol building in Madison, and I've been to downtown Chicago. I wouldn't mind seeing the state capitol again but I can't think of a reason to see Chicago aside from visiting the eastern terminus of the old US 66 (I've been interested in highway history as of late).
It would be neat to see the circus museum in Baraboo, and I've heard about a mustard museum somewhere in southern Wisconsin, but I think that family has priority, and to be honest, I need to make the most of my opportunity in getting to know them.
That is going to be it for this evening. I'm currently reading The Stars, Like Dust, also by Isaac Asimov, and it's a hard one to put down.
As you have correctly surmised, these stories are about robots. In writing about robots, Dr. Asimov made it clear that they are subject to The Three Laws of Robotics. These Laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such order would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These Three Laws of Robotics start out the novel, so that the reader instantly knows that he's not going to be reading about where a bunch of mechanical Frankenstein monsters end up taking over the earth. What happens instead is a series of situations as the robots progressively develop from non-speaking models to those that speak, to those that have reasoning capabilities, and there's even one robot that has the ability to read minds.
As the robots are progressing into newer and better models, mankind itself is progressing. We see the human race begin their conquest of space. Two characters, Greg Powell and Mike Donovan, are field testing the newer models as they work on the planet Mercury, later on a space station, and Dr. Calvin herself travels to Hyper Base, which we deduce is on an asteroid where scientists and engineers are developing the hyperatomic drive so that mankind's dream of interstellar travel can be realized. Later on, the hyperspace barrier is broken, and travel to distant star systems is made possible faster than the speed of light.
As the end of the book draws near, there is the suggestion that a robot who looks exactly like a human being has been constructed and runs for political office. This character goes on to play a key role in the final chapter, a story called "The Evitable Conflict". At this time, super machines have been created to help with the administration of Earth's resources. The Three Laws, which were put into place to prevent the robots from taking over, have prevented them from taking over........or have they?
* * * * * * *
I first read I, Robot back in 1976, during my senior year of high school. It was one of the required reading novels assigned to me in an English class. I enjoyed reading this back then, I enjoyed it again last year, and even though I know the stories I know that I would find this book to be good reading if I were to pick it up again today.
As for why I read this fairly recently, it's due to a renewed interest in the books that Isaac Asimov wrote. He's known for his "Foundation" series of novels, which I read in my first year in college, and I recently decided that I wanted to re-read them. Having lost my copies of these books in one of my moves, it was necessary to re-purchase them, but while at the bookstore I learned then that he wrote more "Foundation" novels. I picked up Prelude to Foundation, found it to be a good read, and learned thru the book (and thru some online research) that Dr. Asimov decided to tie the "Robot" novels, the "Galactic Empire" novels and the "Foundation" novels into the same "universe". After reading Prelude to Foundation, I realized that I could have several hours of entertainment by reading the whole shebang of novels......of which the starting point is I, Robot.
* * * * * * *
By the way, more robot stories, including those found in I, Robot can be found in Robot Visions. Robot Visions also includes several essays by Dr. Asimov in which he explained why he felt it necessary to include The Three Laws.
* * * * * * *
Two weekends from now Lynette and I will be in Wisconsin. We are making a side trip to Iowa so that I can visit with Marge and Tony.
We're going to be gone for ten days. I will be bringing my laptop and checking email as time permits, and if I can, I might post some updates on what we're doing. I expect that visiting with her relatives and getting to know them will take up most of our time.
I'm not sure if there will be many opportunities to play "tourist". I do like to explore, and I'm especially fascinated with going to places that I've never gone to before. I have been to the state capitol building in Madison, and I've been to downtown Chicago. I wouldn't mind seeing the state capitol again but I can't think of a reason to see Chicago aside from visiting the eastern terminus of the old US 66 (I've been interested in highway history as of late).
It would be neat to see the circus museum in Baraboo, and I've heard about a mustard museum somewhere in southern Wisconsin, but I think that family has priority, and to be honest, I need to make the most of my opportunity in getting to know them.
* * * * * * *
That is going to be it for this evening. I'm currently reading The Stars, Like Dust, also by Isaac Asimov, and it's a hard one to put down.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
To San Jose and Back
Last Friday Lynette and I flew out to San Jose. The one in California, that is (there's one in Costa Rica too). The occasion was my niece Isabelle's #6 birthday party, but the prime motivation was to introduce Lynette to my family, and they to her. That trip had a way of sneaking up on us in the same manner that most trips do.
There you are, minding your own business, and you know that you've got a trip coming up. OK, you know it's coming, but you're still minding your own business. Eventually it hits you two days before that you need to start packing, and you'd better pack then because if you don't then you'll find out about the laundry that you need to do before you can pack your bag. I mean, most of us like to travel with clean clothes, and even if you're visiting family members it's still good form to wear clean clothes.
Yes, there was a frantic preparation period, and I was up until one in the morning on Wednesday night trying to get ready. I have class on Wednesday nights and the laundry needed doing. Even though I wasn't going to climb on board the plane until Friday morning I still needed to leave for Queen Creek on Thursday afternoon/evening. My frantic period was a little on the intense side, and I felt overwhelmed.
Anyway, when we arrived in San Jose, we were met at the airport by my parents, and I think my parents and Lynette ended up having an instant liking for each other. That's really good, because I think that whoever it is that you're contemplating marrying is going to have to "fit in", so to speak. I knew Lynette would, but there's still having to see it for yourself.
We returned yesterday, and regrettably, there wasn't time to see any tourist attractions aside from Santa Cruz. We did get to visit with Mark & Xiuwen, as well as Chip, Gabriela and Violeta.
It was good being there.
I don't miss living in San Jose one bit. I lived there for sixteen years and seven years in Santa Cruz, and I do not miss the crowds, the traffic, the high taxes, and the killer commutes.
I do miss the people there that I know, and I try to get back there from time to time.
As for meeting family members, we're not done yet.
On the 30th we get back on the plane, and this time we meet her family members in Illinois and Wisconsin. I'm looking forward to that, as that midwest food has this freshness to it that you can't get anywhere else in the country, and it's nice to see something different.
And for Lynette.......well........I'm still in awe of what a great find she is.
There you are, minding your own business, and you know that you've got a trip coming up. OK, you know it's coming, but you're still minding your own business. Eventually it hits you two days before that you need to start packing, and you'd better pack then because if you don't then you'll find out about the laundry that you need to do before you can pack your bag. I mean, most of us like to travel with clean clothes, and even if you're visiting family members it's still good form to wear clean clothes.
Yes, there was a frantic preparation period, and I was up until one in the morning on Wednesday night trying to get ready. I have class on Wednesday nights and the laundry needed doing. Even though I wasn't going to climb on board the plane until Friday morning I still needed to leave for Queen Creek on Thursday afternoon/evening. My frantic period was a little on the intense side, and I felt overwhelmed.
Anyway, when we arrived in San Jose, we were met at the airport by my parents, and I think my parents and Lynette ended up having an instant liking for each other. That's really good, because I think that whoever it is that you're contemplating marrying is going to have to "fit in", so to speak. I knew Lynette would, but there's still having to see it for yourself.
We returned yesterday, and regrettably, there wasn't time to see any tourist attractions aside from Santa Cruz. We did get to visit with Mark & Xiuwen, as well as Chip, Gabriela and Violeta.
It was good being there.
I don't miss living in San Jose one bit. I lived there for sixteen years and seven years in Santa Cruz, and I do not miss the crowds, the traffic, the high taxes, and the killer commutes.
I do miss the people there that I know, and I try to get back there from time to time.
As for meeting family members, we're not done yet.
On the 30th we get back on the plane, and this time we meet her family members in Illinois and Wisconsin. I'm looking forward to that, as that midwest food has this freshness to it that you can't get anywhere else in the country, and it's nice to see something different.
And for Lynette.......well........I'm still in awe of what a great find she is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)