Live from Austin!

I got my desk today. I’m starting to hate ready-to-assemble furniture, but really, who can afford any other kind? Plus, my desk is from Anthro, who are the Rolls-Royce of RTA.

I think the first time I saw an Anthro desk was in MacWorld Expo Boston back in 1997. It was a split-surface desk, with the Mac on the back surface, slightly higher than the front keyboard and mouse area. The guy demonstrating the desk pulled a small lever under the front surface, and lifted it higher with one hand. He started to show me the tilt control too, but I was already convinced.

The desk surfaces are extra-thick particleboard with the an industrial-grade wipe-clean coating. The legs are wide steel tubes, and the other metal parts are laser-cut steel. The carts move on rubber-wheeled castors, so as not to scratch the floor–no corner-cutting here. Their primary market seems to be the world of big business, where things like radiology workstations and industrial benches are expected to be able to stand up to years of abuse. The Anthro people like to demonstrate the strength of the furniture by having three people stand on a small computer cart without breaking it. Everything is made in Oregon, shipped in recyclable brown cardboard with all the necessary tools, and has a lifetime warranty. There’s just one snag: it’s kinda expensive.

I know that in business $800 for a desk is not a big deal, but it’s still about 4× what I’m used to paying. That’s for the smallest Adjusta cart; to be fair, the entry level cart without the fancy height adjust lever comes in at $300. But I really wanted that lever.

And then, a miracle happened. I’d been watching the special offers at the Anthro web site for a few weeks, when they announced an April Fool’s Day Special: 35% off almost anything.

So I’m writing this to say: if you’ve always lusted after a really ergonomic desk, go order an Anthro now before the prices go back up on the 30th.

Then when your credit card has recovered, you can order the extras–like the CPU rack and the industrial-grade coffee cup holder.

Think you’re registered to vote? Better check, if you still have time…

An employee of a private voter registration firm alleges that his bosses trashed registration forms filled out by Democratic voters because they only wanted to sign up Republican voters.

[...]

Russell worked for a company called Voters Outreach of America, along with 300 other people. He says he got into a beef with the company over a pay dispute, and witnessed his bosses ripping up registration forms that had been filed by democrats.

“They were thrown away in the trash. I grabbed them out,” said Eric Russell. One of those forms belonged to Daren Gray, who was shocked to learn that the re-registration form he filled out was never turned in.

“I’m pretty mad, upset. I’m still gonna vote,” said Daren Gray. Russell doesn’t know how many democratic registrations were tossed in the trash but guesses the number could be very high since Voters Outreach of America operated in Las Vegas for more than two months.

[...]

The Republican National Committee acknowledges that it hired Voters Outreach of America to register voters, but in a statement said it had zero tolerance for any kind of fraud.

Local party officials said there is no way the GOP would instruct the company to trash democratic registrations. However, similar problems have been alleged elsewhere. In Washoe County, the registrar says he too has turned over information to the FBI about Republican backed registration efforts.

In Oregon, the same company that was operating here has been criticized for its tactics in signing up voters. There, it used the name America Votes, which is actually the name of a Democratic organization.

—KLAS-TV

(1) A person commits the crime of terrorism if the person knowingly plans, participates in or carries out any act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt:

(a) The free and orderly assembly of the inhabitants of the State of Oregon;

(b) Commerce or the transportation systems of the State of Oregon; or

(c) The educational or governmental institutions of the State of Oregon or its inhabitants.

[…]

(4)(a) A person convicted of terrorism shall be punished by imprisonment for life.

(b) When a person is convicted of terrorism under this section, the court shall order that the person be confined for a minimum of 25 years without possibility of parole, release to post-prison supervision, release on work release or any form of temporary leave or employment at a forest or work camp.

—Oregon Senate Bill SB742

It wasn’t passed at the first attempt, but they’re trying again.

The following are extracts from transcripts of two tape-recorded conversations between undercover investigators from the Office of Special Investigations at the US General Accounting Office and two gun dealers in Nebraska and Oregon, respectively. The calls were part of an investigation by the House Committee on Government Reform into the availability of long-range .50-caliber sniper rifles and armor-piercing ammunition. With an effective range of four miles an the ability to pierce several inches of steel, .50-caliber rifles are among the most powerful and destructive firearms legally available in the United States. The rifles were widely used by US infantrymen in the Gulf War to penetrate armored personnel carriers and concrete bunkers. Convited felons and children under eighteen are not allowed to buy the ammunition or new rifles, though secondhand sales of the rifles are not regulated.

Agent:

Yes, I’m looking to see if you carry .50-caliber BMG armor-piercing incendiary.

Dealer:

A guy just bought the last thousand rounds about twenty minutes ago. I will have more back in here Monday or Tuesday.

Agent:

Okay. How much is it a round?

Dealer:

Two hundred and forty dollars a hundred.

Agent:

This ammo will go through, say, metal, won’t it?

Dealer:

Uh, yeah, it’ll go through metal.

Agent:

Okay. Do you think it would go through, like, an armored limousine?

Dealer:

Well, I think it would. [Laughing]

Agent:

How ’bout bulletproof glass?

Dealer:

Oh, yeah, it’ll go through that.

Agent:

Even if it’s ballistic glass, it’ll still go through?

Dealer:

Right.

Agent:

With the first round, probably?

Dealer:

Right.

Agent:

Okay. Now, I live on the East oast — can you send it to me?

Dealer:

Uh, whereabouts do you live?

Agent:

Uh, I live in Virginia, but I’d like it shipped to D.C.

Dealer:

Okay.

Agent:

How can I go about doing that?

Dealer:

I’ll put my assistant on, and she can give you all the information.

Agent:

Okay, but I’ve got a couple of technical questions first. This ammunition, does it clog up the barrel of the weapon?

Dealer:

Oh no—it’s got the soft jacket on the outside. We also have a sniper round we do for the government. What kind of gun are you shooting?

Agent:

A Barrett Model 82.

Dealer:

We’ve got a round we’ve developed for the Barrett, a solid-brass bullet with a poly coating on it—that’s our sniper round.

Agent:

And that’s what you’ve sold the government?

Dealer:

Yes.

Agent:

Now, that sniper round, does that give you higher velocity, greater distance, or what?

Dealer:

It gives you the best accuracy.

Agent:

So if I wanted to use this against a person, let’s say, the sniper round would be better?

Dealer:

Right, right, because it makes the rifle real accurate.

Agent:

If I got the sniper round instead of the armor-piercing incendiary, though, would it still go through ballistic glass?

Dealer:

Oh, I don’t know—I don’t think we’ve tested on ballistic glass. It’ll go through three-inch aircraft window.

Agent:

But, say, an armored limousine?

Dealer:

Uh, we’ve never tested it on that.

Agent:

All right. What’s the price for these sniper rounds?

Dealer:

Four dollars a round by the hundred, or fifty a round by the ten-round.

Agent:

So they’re more than the API?

Dealer

Oh yeah.

Agent:

Well, I think I’m better off with API. I’m going to be using this against, um, you know, something with an armored limousine and something with ballistic glass, and I just want to make sure I’m going to be able to penetrate. So put me on with your assistant there, and maybe I can figure out how I can get this shipped to me.

Dealer:

Okay, hold on.

Assistant:

Okay. What we’ll need is a copy of your driver’s license to prove that we’re shipping to someone over the age of twenty-one.

Agent:

Okay.

Assistant:

And a statement that you are over the age of twenty-one and that there are no federal, state, or local laws that prohibit you from receiving the ammunition. Once we have that on file, you’d never have to do it again — that’s just, you know, for the first time.

Agent:

Okay. So I just have to write a statement out and sign it, saying that I’m over twenty-one years of age and there’s no federal, state or local laws prohibiting me from –

Assistant:

Receiving the information.

Agent:

Ammunition, you mean.

Assistant:

And, uh, this can be faxed to us. Once we have it on file, we can send some stuff to you.

Agent:

Okay.

Assistant:

Can I get your name?

Agent:

My first name is Roger.

Assistant:

Okay.

Agent:

Well, actually, that’s just what they call me. My real name is Julian.

Assistant:

Okay.

Agent:

You can see why I want to be called Roger?

Assistant:

There you go. [Laughter] Okay.

Dealer:

Can I help you?

Agent:

Yes, I’m interested in ordering some .50-caliber BMG ammo. I was wondering if you have any in stock.

Dealer:

No, it’s all sold. I’m taking orders for a month from now.

Agent:

I may be interested in some API.

Dealer:

Okay.

Agent:

Now, do you know a lot about these rounds?

Dealer:

Well, um, some.

Agent:

Do you think they’ll go through bullet-proof glass?

Dealer:

Well, they’re loaded with the bullet weight the military uses now—660 or something.

Agent:

Uh-huh.

Dealer:

In the old days they used 700 grains or something. But nowadays they use 660, so they’re getting a little more velocity out of it. And I just can’t see glass standing up to that.

Agent:

How about an armored limousine?

Dealer:

You’re using that to test it?

Agent:

Well, you say testing—Yeah, I’ll be testing against armored limousines. But it’s gotta work.

Dealer:

Right.

Agent:

You know, I don’t want to have the chance of it not working.

Dealer:

Well, there’s no way that I can guarantee it. I’m not familiar with the glass they’re using nowadays.

Agent:

But you’ve never had any complaints from your customers about these being misfires or anything? These rounds are pretty good?

Dealer:

They’ll bore through a fair amount of steel.

Agent:

Okay.

Dealer:

I don’t know how strong the glass is, but the ammo will go through a fair amount of steel. [Laughing] It’ll go through the whole car.

Agent:

Okay. Would it go through a lightly armored tank, do you think?

Dealer:

It won’t go through any modern tank, because we have too much armor on them now.

Agent:

Uh-huh.

Dealer:

But it would probably go through two and a half or three inches of mild steel.

Agent:

Oh. An armored limousine definitely doesn’t have that much on it.

Dealer:

That’s what I’m saying. I think a .50 would go all the way through it.

Agent:

Okay. And then, if I theoretically wanted to use these rounds to take down an aircraft—say, a helicopter, or something like that—I should be able to do that, shouldn’t I?

Dealer:

Yeah, they’re not armored. I’ll go through any light stuff like that.

Agent:

Good. You know, I’m very happy to see that we’ll be able to do business. Here on the East Coast, when you go to buy ammunition, they ask a lot of questions.

Dealer:

Oh.

Agent:

And I don’t like people asking me questions about why I want this ammunition.

Dealer:

Well, see, out here they use it for hunting.

Agent:

Uh-huh. Well, you could say I’m going to be using this for hunting also. But just hunting of a different kind.

Dealer:

[Laughing] As long as it’s nothing illegal.

Agent:

Well, I wouldn’t consider it illegal.

Dealer:

All right.

—Found in Harper’s Magazine, March 2001