Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Lance Armstrong is a “Creep”

January 30, 2013Humor, Miscellaneous, MusicCreep, doping, Lance Armstrong, Radiohead, Tour de FranceJay Pinho

The curious case of Ivan Vaclavik

January 27, 2013Miscellaneous, PoliticsCzech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Deportation, illegal immigration, Ivan Vaclavik, U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementJay Pinho

Ivan Vaclavik arrived in the United States on a temporary visa from Czechoslovakia in 1974 and never left. In the meantime, he has been charged with over 100 crimes in the state of Massachusetts but has yet to be deported:

US immigration officials reject Vaclavik’s claim that he can’t be deported, but the Czech Republic that replaced Czechoslovakia in 1993 certainly has not appeared eager to have him back. Czech officials say they’re still verifying whether he is really a citizen, though Immigration and Customs Enforcement has contacted them repeatedly about deporting him over the past 12 years.

But rather than clash openly with the Czechs over Vaclavik, US immigration officials did what they have done with more than 8,500 other convicted criminals here illegally since 2008 — they let him go. Each time Vaclavik sued to get out of detention, immigration officials let him go before a judge could even rule on his claim that he cannot be deported because his homeland no longer exists.

Mesmerizing commercial of the day

January 24, 2013Miscellaneousadvertising, Red Bull, Sufjan StevensJay Pinho

Props to Red Bull:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti2Lm4hb2ZY]

In which I (utterly fail to) conquer my flying anxiety

January 22, 2013Humor, MiscellaneousBridesmaids, fear of flying, flying anxiety, Kristen Wiig, The WireJay Pinho

My latest post for Full Stop is now online. An excerpt here:

It is probably most accurate to characterize my flying preparations as a mutual fund of sorts, constituted of various types of investments all designed to hedge against utter desolation (a fiery nosedive into a mountainside) and achieve modest returns (a safe landing). Recently, for example, I put off watching The Wire mid-flight in favor of lighter fare to calm my frayed nerves, and I swear Sebastian Edwards’ book on Latin American populists spawned vicious air pockets every time I opened its pages.

Small decisions, too, attain cosmic significance when followed seconds later by a slight shudder of the cabin. Was the weather better when I’d paused Bridesmaids, or is the only way to ensure smooth sailing to watch the entire film at 4x speed? These are not questions to be taken lightly, for upon their successful resolution rests the fate of hundreds of passengers, as well as the ability to understand a damn thing Kristen Wiig is saying at that rate. And no matter which airline I fly, I continue to cringe at the deliberately ominous abstraction of the announcement, “We’ll be on the ground shortly.”

Back from Internet hell

January 21, 2013Miscellaneousblogging, Internet censorship, longform journalism, longform writing, The First CasualtyJay Pinho

Courtesy of Colossal (http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/01/brooding-cityscapes-painted-with-oil-by-jeremy-mann). — Courtesy of Jeremy Mann and Colossal (http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/01/brooding-cityscapes-painted-with-oil-by-jeremy-mann).

For an Internet addict like myself, the last couple weeks have been difficult. Access to foreign sites in mainland China is frustrating at best and infuriating at worst. Specifically, aside from the usual litany of blocked social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for example), even the New York Times is blocked, and virtually every other foreign site (including Google) takes five times as long to load as it does in the States. Baidu, meanwhile, appears instantly. Ergh.

I just got back to New York yesterday. But during my winter vacation, I’ve been doing some thinking about how to make The First Casualty a better and funner (yes, I have decided that is a word) blog and Internet destination in 2013. Within the next few weeks and months I’m planning to roll out some new — and, hopefully, interesting — ideas for the blog: new contributors, additional features, and so on. Of course, I’ll be continuing the current features and contributors (depending on their availability) as well.

Additionally, I hope to introduce more original content this year. Much of what I posted last year were links to, and excerpts of, other pieces I found illuminating or provocative. I’ll continue to do so this year, but with an added emphasis on producing more original writing — including longform essays and posts — to provide what is hopefully a useful and unique variant to the cacophony of voices on the Web.

Anyway, I’m open to suggestions. Please comment and question liberally. And thank you for continuing to read.