“Community Standards Violation”

You know, this BS of pointing out bad behavior in public violating “Community Standards” on social media sites is getting old. Or pointing out behavior that would actually go against community standards that is deemed “Acceptable”. FascistBook is the most egregious abuser of this. I hear Twitter is just as bad, but that’s a service I don’t use so don’t know first hand. I once reported an image of a girl sucking a guy’s dick to FB and was told it didn’t violate their standards. Dafuque?????? Actual porn is OK? But posting that Eric Ciaramella is the likely “whistleblower” for the Trump Shampeachment, as reported by news outlets across the country, and even by Schiff himself. Oy vey!

 

Anyway, what prompted this post was an email I got when I logged into my yahoo account this morning from the Nextdoor Team regarding a comment I made on a post of someone driving around a neighborhood taking pictures of kids:

I mean, it’s not like he hasn’t had his name posted all over the internet, including various news sites, like here, here, and here. I’ve posted about him before on this blog.

And while I don’t have any evidence that it is him this time, his past behavior makes him a prime, and known, suspect. Merely pointing out that fact and asking if anyone knows where he is currently and what he’s driving should, under no circumstances, be considered a violation of any community standard.

And while there is no expectation of privacy when out in public, I still maintain that you shouldn’t go around acting like a douche just because you can. Taking pictures of other people’s kids raises a lot of suspicion about your motives. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s moral or ethical.

Surviving the Wu-Flu

Oh. My. Gosh! We’re all going to die!

Well maybe not. Over on Watts Up With That is a reflection on the closest thing we have to clinical lab experiment with Covid-19 (or whatever you want to call it today, seems like it changes hourly) that would indicate that things maybe aren’t quite as dire as the mainstream media tells us. If you’re in a risk group, things could be bad. Everyone else should be fine.

That doesn’t mean don’t take precautions. Great Googily-Moogily, people that are otherwise intelligent are losing their minds and twisting peoples’ words so they can continue their freak out. Yes, more positive tests are going to be showing up. It’s going to be exponential in growth as ever more people are tested. In ND, we jumped from 1 positive test to 5 overnight, right now it’s up to 6. But, take a closer look at the number of actual tests. 268 tests and only 6 positive cases. Even Jayne Cobb can do the math here.

It’s not quite that bad. But 6 divided by 268 potential cases is…2.2%

Huh, that seems awfully low for such a wild response.

People are panic buying TP. Schools and businesses are closing. A bunch of these small businesses may never recover.

That’s where my concern lies right now. We are going to kill our economy over this and it’s going to hurt even more people than the virus would have.

On a personal note, I finished reading Nick Cole’s CNTRL ALT Revolt! It was OUTSTANDING! Best book I’ve read in awhile. The action was exhilarating, both in the game world and the ‘real’ world. The snarky jabs at SJWs and Cancel Culture were hilarious. I asked Mr. Cole about whether those jabs were always in there, or if he had re-edited it after his publisher had dropped him. He said “…it got about 25% more bitter.” It turned out awesome. If you’re wondering about the backstory of his being dropped by his publisher, you can see it here on his blog. If you get a chance, check out one of his books. He’s a pretty talented and entertaining writer.

For my next book I decided to pick something by John Ringo. Because, John Ringo can also write an exhilarating story. Heck, if he, Sarah Hoyt or Larry Correia were to publish their shopping lists I’d buy them. They can make anything into a page turner.

But, back to the book I chose The Last Centurion. I think I may have possibly made a mistake. 20 pages in he’s describing the major catastrophes of 2019 being 1) the sun putting out less energy so we end up with a cold spell and 2) an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu. Because, why not? Oh well, at least I’ll be entertained as we all die.

My recommendations? Don’t panic, grab a good book and a towel. Someone check to see if the dolphins have left.

TDS…It Lives!

Trump Derangement Syndrome not only lives, it’s unstoppable. It’s the Posleen of current politics. My friends on the left, you are simply looking for validation of your fears. You’ve let Trump live rent free in your heads so long, you seem certain that everything bad in the world is because of him, regardless of facts or reality. You don’t want a discussion of what is going on, nor the ways in which it might be changed (legally). You want someone who doesn’t agree with your politics to follow your preferred solutions, even if they aren’t legal. You want everyone to praise your noble thoughts, no dissent allowed.

Case 1:

I’m actually not aware of any ways that Trump is like Hitler on a real and rational level, but I tried my best to point out things that I think Trump has done well. I didn’t vote for the man in ’16, but his policies are turning me into a fan and I’ll probably vote for him in ’20 if he keeps this up.

Rights of Man

My review of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man

 

The Founding Father’s most influential work: an impassioned defense of democracy and revolution in the name of human rights.

Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.

In Rights of Man, Founding Father of the United States Thomas Paine makes a compelling case in favor of the French Revolution. Written in response to Edmund Burke’s highly critical Reflections on the Revolution in France, its forceful rebuke of aristocratic rule and persuasive endorsement of self-government made it one of the most influential political statements in history. Paine asserts that human rights are not granted by the government but inherent to man’s nature. He goes on to argue that the purpose of government is to protect these natural rights, and if a government fails to do so, its people are duty-bound to revolution.

Originally published in two parts, in 1791 and 1792, Rights of Man was a popular sensation in the United States, while in England, its incendiary views were seen as a threat to the Crown. For its erudite prose and rigorous argumentation, it remains a classic text of political thought.

I’m Out

I had to unfollow someone on Facebook this week. Teh Burning Stoopid just got to be too much. I didn’t unfriend her, I’ll likely follow her feed again once the political crap she understands nothing about quiets down. But it’s been going on nearly a year now. I need a break.

It started with Trump’s election.

I wrote about that here. And the meltdown from the left was quite funny for a long time.

But they’re still going on about how horrible Trump is and how horrible guns are. I’ve had enough. These are the people who think Trump is the worst thing to happen EVAH! and who point out time and again that too much political power is a bad thing

Doing politics in business

Quite a few NFL players have been deciding to take a political stance during the National Anthem. There’s nothing illegal about that, it’s their right. It’s not a new thing either. A few years ago then St. Louis Rams players decided to come out of the locker room showing the ‘Hands Up’ gesture. Last year Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee during the National Anthem to protest minority rights and has now been joined by, it seems like, everyone in the NFL.

Well, there are a few that haven’t fallen into the victim mentality. Here we have Alejandro Villanueva who was the only member of his entire team to come out of the locker room for the Anthem. 

Now, the only business I’ve ever been in charge of myself was when I was a kid and mowed lawns. But I’ve observed some of my relatives as they ran their small businesses. And I’ve worked for a fair number of private companies (along with some government agencies). Customer Service is stressed quite heavily, even in government believe it or not. Rule #1 in Customer Service is Don’t Piss Off the Customer.

Training

I spent the last two and a half days in training. WooHoo! This department doesn’t have much of a training budget, at least not for us dispatchers. I came back to this department (originally worked here from January 1998 to May 2000) in January 2008. After training on departmental policy I had Active Shooter Response training in December 2008. That was the last training I had other than working the new video recorders and data logger.

Tuesday:

Clarke and Tracie Paris spoke The Pain Behind the Badge, about suicide prevention and dealing with Post Traumatic Stress. Good stuff. Emotional stuff. I cried. They listed about 30 items that are indicators of Post Traumatic Stress. I ticked off about half of them.

This didn’t surprise me. Back in May 2000 I moved from a tiny department on a college campus to a small department in an adjoining town, and got sent to APCO Basic Telecommunicator training with the other dispatcher that also got hired in May. The instructor handed out a sheet about stress and various stressor events. I think there were about 25 or so on the list and point values. And then there was a chart at the end something like this:

• 0-5 points was no real stress to worry about
• 6-10 points was light stress, you might consider counseling
• 11-15 points was moderate stress, you should contact a counselor
• 16+ points was severe stress, you need to contact a counselor

Cover Your Ass

I was talking with a coworker this afternoon about an incident that happened last night. I was relaying my frustrations about how I was sitting on the phone talking to another dispatcher at another agency, requesting assistance for my officers and she was asking questions that, if you think about them at all, are obvious.

ME: I have an officer requesting back up. Male ran from him, last seen heading southbound down ROBERTS ST TOWARD NP AVE.

DISPATCH: Is that North or South?

ME: Southbound on ROBERTS ST. (there is no ROBERTS ST south of MAIN AVE. This is your city, you should know that)

D: Where did this start at?

ME: 2 AVE/7 ST N (not that it really helps, since that isn’t where he was last seen)

OFFICER: I have one at Taser point, 1 AVE/10 ST, I need backup.

ME to Officer: 10-4, one at Taser point, 1 AVE/10 ST N.

OTHER AGENCY OFFICER: I’m out with the XXXX officer, 1 AVE/10 ST.

ME to Dispatch: He’s out with the subject 1 AVE/10 ST N.

D: OK, do you still need us to respond?

ME: Yes! He has one at Taser point. (You already have one of your officers on scene!)