[Zhang Fei]

Fascinating account of Houston-area armored car hijackers reminiscent of the Michael Mann movie "Heat". Surveillance was conducted 50 yards away from the target.

[Beagle8U]

““Red even had the toilet paper coming out over the top of the roll,” said Tommie Albert, an older man in the neighborhood who’d known Batiste since he was a boy. “He said it looked better than toilet paper coming out from behind the roll.”

Toilet paper coming out from behind the roll is a sign of mental retardation.

[johnnygeneric]

36 yo is NOT a young man.

[SaveFerris]

He was livin' the gangsta' lifestyle!

[Berlin_Freeper]

I would put doting boyfriend way down on the list. Somewhere below col-blooded killer

[octex]

Thanks for the interesting article, ZF.

It’s a rarity when “Texas Monthly” actually has an interesting, non-biased article.

[KevinB]

Was it possible, for instance, that Batiste was seeking revenge against banks because they wouldn’t loan him money due to his criminal record (or perhaps the color of his skin), thereby derailing his real estate ambitions? “You’ll never understand the frustration that can build up in a young black man trying to make it in this society,” Albert told me. “And yes, Red had that frustration, not getting loans.”

Interesting article. Of course, at the end they had to imply it was all whitey's fault. The guy had a lengthy rap sheet, several stints in jail and no obvious source of income. Yet, his inability to get loans was due to his skin color? Idiots!

[Larry Lucido]

Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success

From the author of "Serenity Now!"

[Chainmail]

It's only fascinating if you ignore the viciousness of the crimes in which the armored car Messenger is murdered first, to allow the lowlifes to take the money.

Two things missing from the paper's narrative:

One, the vastly aberrant psychology that the perpetrators had in committing a string of murder-robberies and

Two, the vastly aberrant psychology of the people making excuses for these criminals' activities (including the author of the article).

We are dealing with brains that don't work normally and until we face that situation, more atrocities and wasted lives will happen.

[Larry Lucido]

Do You!: 12 Laws

Do you need a colon after an exclamation point? The exclamation point finishes it. 12 starts a new sentence. No colon needed. Get Mr. Lippman on the phone!

[mom aka the evil dictator]

I read the entire article yesterday, and yes I know that is not the FR way. One must never read before commenting.

My biggest take on the whole article was the excuses everyone, including his parents and girlfriend, gave to absolve him from his crimes. Just another “he was getting his life together, loving boy from a good home, never did anything wrong” bullcrap we see every time one of criminals pays the ultimate price for their crimes. These excusers/enablers really do believe that the criminal was justified in his actions. To hell with the fact that innocent people lost their lives just doing their jobs. This culture believes that they are owed and it doesn’t matter who dies in the process as long as they get theirs.

Please don’t think that I mean a certain race or ethnicity by culture. This culture does show up in certain minority groups, but it is also quite prevalent in the white community too. Biden and Hilary are just two examples. The ends justify the means, and it doesn’t matter how horrific the means might be.

[cherry]

it was a well written story up until they pulled out the race card to explain this apparently pampered and cherished only child and why he murdered innocents...