Watercooler 8/9 Open Thread: Weird Homes and Dumb Crooks

Welcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got…

Weird News

Once upon a time I used to be an architecture student, and while I never went pro (nor, to be honest, wanted to) the bug stuck, so these first stories about property management and building construction struck me as particularly interesting…

Rich SFO liberals don’t pay property taxes. Property sold. New owners start looking to monetize. Liberals Get Teh Butthurtz like typical Snowflakes. Property in question? The private road and “shared spaces” of their little gated cul-de-sac.
If you have $10,000 and an Allen wrench, a Chinese architect has a home you can throw together all by yourself, no skills required*. Supposedly, goes together just like Ikea furniture. *Of course, you will need an electrician and a plumber…
Low-cost, prefabricated housing made out of… CARDBOARD?! Between the “Shipping Container House” crowd, the Chinese and now the French and Dutch, private industry may put Habitat for Humanity out of business soon…
Fugitive Dead Guy? Yup, a corpse escaped from the Thurston County, WA M.E.’s van–a friend of mine was there and saw it.
While sane people make plans to survive a nuke strike… here in Washington, thanks to a bunch of Democrat retards it’s actually ILLEGAL.
Dumbass Criminal of the Week, Contestant One: Meth dealer tries to deposit “million dollar bill” at Iowa bank. Guess what? No such denomination exists. Perp caught by baggie of meth falling out of his pocket while cops are interviewing him about the fake cash.
Dumbass Criminal of the Week, Contestant Two: Pro Tip, if you’re gonna burglarize someone’s house and ya Gotta Go… FLUSH THE JOHN. This guy got caught because of DNA in his un-flushed #2.

This Week In History

Sunday, 8/6: Battle of Oriskany, 1777; ironclad CSS Arkansas scuttled, 1862; Hiroshima bombed, 1945
Monday, 8/7: Whiskey Rebellion suppressed, 1794; Marines land on Guadalcanal, 1942; Lincoln Memorial penny enters circulation, 1959
Tuesday, 8/8: Lee resigns (refused on receipt), 1863; B-36 Peacemaker first flies, 1946; CSS Hunley raised, 2000
Wednesday, 8/9: Thoreau’s Walden published, 1854; Smokey Bear debuts in US Forest Service ads, 1944; Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki, 1945
Thursday, 8/10: Smithsonian chartered, 1846; U.S. Steel strike begins, 1901; Candid Camera debuts on TV, 1948
Friday, 8/11: Babe Ruth’s 500th homer, 1929; Alcatraz prison opens, 1934; actress Hedy Lamarr patents frequency-hopping radio, 1942
Saturday, 8/12: North Korean mass-murder of POW’s, 1950; Space Shuttle Enterprise’s first free flight, 1977; IBM PC released, 1981

Today’s Birthdays: Actors Robert Shaw, 1927, and Sam Elliott, 1944; author Jonathan Kellerman, 1949; actresses Melanie Griffith, 1957, and Gillian Anderson, 1968

Holidays Around the World: It’s National Day in Singapore, National Women’s Day in South Africa and Battle of Gangut Day in Russia. (Cue #NeverTrumpDerangementSyndrome flying-monkeys screaming “COLLUSION!” in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… )

This Week In History is compiled with assistance from History.com and Wikipedia. Something interesting not listed here? Please share in the Comments section–this is an Audience Participation Encouraged featurette.

Gratuitous Gun Giveaways

*American Handgunner magazine, for a Coonan Arms .357 Magnum 1911 pistol or Taurus Air-Lite .38 revolver: http://americanhandgunner.com/giveaway/
*Guns Magazine, for an EAA Tanfoglio pistol, BlackSword Scythe AR15 or Honor Guard HG9SC 9mm pistol package: http://gunsmagazine.com/giveaway/
Davidson’s Gallery of Guns, for a Beretta APX or 92FS Inox Italian 9mm pistol: https://ggg.galleryofguns.com/
GrabAGun, for a SIG-Sauer P220 .45ACP pistol: http://grabagun.com/giveaway
OpticsPlanet, for a Burris Fastfire AR-F3 red-dot sight with AR15 mount: http://www.opticsplanet.com/gearexpert/2017/08/burris-ar-f3-flattop-fastfire-sight-giveaway.html

*Note: FMG Publishing giveaways require you to provide an FFL dealer’s info at entry. Aero Precision and Primary Arms giveaways give me one entry each per person who uses my referral link.