Category: Crime

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Okay, I’m officially bored

I know, how is that possible with all the turmoil, yet here I am.

I’m completely over the constant diet of fear, tragedy, destruction, and protests.

I killed the Twitter account, don’t have FaceBook, hell I’ don’t even use Google. I’m not paying for Apple News or Apple TV+. I avoid the CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and ABC free streaming services. Having long since cut the Cable. 

Scanning the various online newspapers around the country is monolithic, they all say the same thing. Riots, Burning, Looting, Police bad, police defunded, White people racist, Orange Man Bad, Corona gonna get ya, social Distancing, wear a mask as a symbol of solidarity, blah, blah, blah.

At this point it’s all so bad it’s depressing as shit.

For the first time in many years, I’m glad I don’t live closer to cities. I’m 2.5 hours away from San Diego, 90 minutes from Orange County, 90 minutes from LA and that’s just fine with me. The only thing cities give me is a place to work, drink or shop. Since all that is in the shitter… Burn it all down,  or don’t, I honestly don’t give a shit anymore. 

Our nation has become something that could have been in the pages of a prequel to Orwell’s 1984, or Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

I’ve had quite enough.

I feel bad for the Police, I feel bad for those few friends that may be in the middle of it all. But my empathy is running dry. 

It’s all become noise, I choose not to listen. Come up to my house wanting to cause trouble and we’ll see how that goes. If I win, you go home in an ambulance or a body bag, If I lose then I’m dead and none of this matters to me anymore either.

I’m tired of the battle.

Go do whatever you want to do just don’t drag me into your dramatic bullshit.

One thing that does astound me is that I’ve always attempted to be egalitarian. What’s good for me is generally good for you and vice versa.

Obviously I missed the memo telling me that it was okay to be a complete asshole. Gee, I could have had all kinds of fun, had it not been for my damn moral compass.

You know the compass that was set with basic principals? The one based in the biblical 10 commandments, the one that assumed the founding principals and subsequent amendments to the principals of this country were sound ideas. Things like inalienable rights and freedom to pursue happiness, little concepts like that.

Add into that basic mix the concept put fourth by the poem “The Hangman” by Maurice Ogden, and I’ve taken action throughout my life to step in, and step up, against wrongs when I encounter them. Mix in a little classical Greek literature and some SciFi wherein the writers imagined how wrong things could go as cautionary tales and you end up with someone like me.

Someone who believes in a basic premise of; do no harm, make few enemies, be loyal and true, be honorable, treat everyone equally but with a hint of suspicion (because not everyone is honorable,) live well by the sweat of your own labor, ask for little, be helpful, honest, and kind.

And yet, after living my life to those standards and being a law abiding (Okay, I speed), do right kind of guy, now suddenly I’m a bad guy for no other reason than I’ve worked my ass off to have nice things.

Obviously I’m a fucking moron!

Hindsight being 20/20 I should have literally, and figuratively FUCKED everyone I encountered, pressed every advantage and made no choices based on morality, kindness, or ethics.

God knows, had I done that, I’d be a lot better off financially than I am. My dick would have seen a lot more action to boot. I wouldn’t have much soul left, but I could be eating $40 bowls of ice cream not worrying about how I would pay my bills for the month.

When confronted with someone like me, the highly educated elite academics say that I still had white male privilege I’m therefore automatically guilty, even if I didn’t use that privilege.

Yeah, you get no credit for not using something, you’re damned because you had it from the get go.

I guess it’s like the concept of Original Sin. You just have to take it on faith because someone in authority says it’s so. Don’t forget, you’re not allowed to call into question the source of someone’s authority.

It’s against this backdrop that not only am I bored as shit of all this, I’m actively avoiding technology of almost any kind.

Voice messages, texts, emails, all accumulate on various devices and I’m simply not interested.

I find myself reading books if I’m not outside doing something, (or trying to do something,) constructive. 

The latest of these is The AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide by Walt Kuleck with Clint McKee. No, I’m not going all survivalist. I couldn’t buy ammo anyway, as I have zero patience to navigate asinine gun laws living as I do, in California. I’m surprised I could even buy the book here.

I figure if I need one, I’ll go buy one in South Central LA, or San Diego near the border from one of the cartels. I can probably pick up a couple thousand rounds of ammo too. Oh, don’t get your panties in a knot. I use that example, as a way to highlight just how stupid the California gun laws are. 

Think about it, in order to exercise my Constitutionally protected right to own a firearm, the easiest way to get one, is the same way criminals get one. Illegally! Cash & Carry, who knows, I might be able to buy one from the Fast and Furious exercise in stupidity.

Anyhoo, I just was curious about these “mysterious, scary” machines. How better to learn about them, than by reading about how they’re assembled? It’s better than the daily newsfeed and remarkably less violent or depressing. Another advantage is that it’s a physical book with pages and diagrams.

There are folks who’d say, “You’re just not reacting well to change,” They might be right, if this was change. Increasingly, this is feeling more like we’re all in a bad movie trailer. 

When the statistics for Covid from multiple sources don’t line up. When some college students demand easier grading for persons of color, (Which by the way is racist as hell,) and no-one calls them out on their hypocrisy, when the statistics about who the police are more likely to kill during apprehension don’t fit the narratives, when average police feel the need to lay down on the ground, or kneel, out of some sense… of what? Guilt?

Well then folks, I’m not interested in playing anymore.

I, like a lot of Americans am voting in November a straight Law & Order ballot. 

I’m sick of the bullshit! All these people think times were tough the past few years, wait till they get a load of what things look like when the pendulum swings conservative.

I’m gonna take a little break. If you don’t see anything here, or I don’t answer your email or text or call instantly, don’t worry I’m just fine. I’m on a break and the tech is turned off.

 

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Protests, Riots, Looting, Ever consider the police?

Dr KingProtests are people speaking out to demand redress of grievances.

A protest is folks holding signs, marching, demanding to be heard.

Dr. Martin Luther King showed us how to protest. He did it very well. Yes there were scuffles and even some riots but these were fairly contained. Civil Rights protests were demanding equality. A totally justified and reasonable demand.

Protests demanding accountability of Police Officers are also legitimate. I think that “Bad” cops should be punished and they shouldn’t be cops.

Growing up in the time and place that I did. The police were neighbors, family friends, and trusted to be the person you could get help from.

As a child, if I got lost, I looked for a blue uniform. I knew they’d help me find my parents and even knew that I could get a ride home from an officer if I was hurt. (As happened after a particularly nasty tumble on my bicycle.)

That’s the role i think most police officers would prefer to have. The role of trusted protector. And yes, there are some officers that become officers for the wrong reasons. Just as there are some doctors who become doctors for money, not to help their patients.

A riot is a protest gone wrong. Riots can be spontaneous and often appear to be an upwelling of rage that finding no other outlet leads to destruction.

As a youngster, I remember riots on the national news. I remember seeing broken windows, and damaged police cars. I remember seeing the perpetrators of the damage being hustled into police vans and being told by my elders that those people were going to jail not for protesting, but for rioting and looting.

There was a line, and those few people crossed that line. It was an easy logic. Free Speech and Freedom to Assemble were protected rights. Rioting, looting and wanton destruction were crimes and would be punished as such.

The role of the police in protest situations was to make sure there was some order and to protect the protesters. Even if the police didn’t agree with the beliefs of those protesters.

What we’ve seen over the past few days has generally been that same stance. In this case, I think the police are in a tougher situation.

I’d bet that the vast majority of the police agree with the protesters marching against police brutality and many of the officers may even be feeling shame that one of their own was so blatantly brutal.

Equally, I’d bet that officers are facing intense internal conflicts. On the one hand during the day they’re providing support to the legitimate protesters. But at night, everything changes.

Imagine briefly, what being an officer on the line might be like.

DerekChauvinYou’re ashamed of what you saw. You know that officer Chauvin was wrong.

You know that the other officers present were wrong in that they saw something that shouldn’t have been happening and they chose not to act.LA1

Even worse, there were people standing there filming the whole thing.

Those people could have stepped in too. They should have stepped in.

They could have made a difference when it counted, they could have saved a life.

But they didn’t. The question you ask yourself is why?

Those people knew what was happening was wrong. The knew it in their heart and yet were so involved in filming they did nothing. It’s obvious something was wrong with Chauvin, What the hell was wrong with those other people?

MN2And then you have to go out to protect the protesters who are rightfully angry, and you’re angry about the same thing for the same reasons.

The difference is you’re being pelted with bottles, and rocks, and spat upon, threatened, and called names.

You’re unable to speak out or to be heard when you say you’re as angry as they are. Even if you spoke out, you wouldn’t be heard because the protesters see you as the enemy.

MN1As an officer, you know that Derek Chauvin is being investigated and will face justice.

You also know that justice isn’t instant. You know that all the details will have to be investigated, written down, and the specifics of the entire event must be written formally for the court to try the case.

The reason there are laws is so that we don’t have “Frontier Justice”, As a good officer, you know that lynchings don’t lead to a stable society, they lead to anarchy.

You’re tired, you’ve been catching an hour of sleep here and there and you dread sundown.

At sundown you know that the legitimate protesters will go home, they’ll have dinner, and talk about the good work their protest did to bring attention to the problem.

You’ll still be on the line.

You’ll see the movements of the protesters for whom marching and chanting isn’t enough.

You’re there when twilight falls. The fist embers of fires blossom. Bottles shatter around you, thrown from the gathering dark. Rocks hit you, again from the dark. Nearby firecrackers sound, are they a prank, or cover for gunshots?

You check your colleagues, everyone is still standing, you exhale a sigh of relief.

The crashing of glass sounds down the block, a brick lands at your feet thrown from the top of a building. More fires, more windows breaking, you can see looters running in and out of the shops.

There are a lot of people dropping items as they run away. Your group is ordered to move forward to protect the businesses and as you start moving, more bricks, rocks, and bottles rain down in your path.

You smell gasoline in front of you, it registers that Molotov cocktails are being thrown at you.

Twilight gives way to night. Laughter and excited shouts echo from the darkened alleyways. You keep moving forward to the looters.

LootingYou know, by the time you get there, the shops will be empty, trashed, and the police will be blamed for failing to protect these businesses.

You tell yourself it’s not your fault but you feel that somehow it is.

Buildings burning in the distance now. You hear that the firefighters aren’t coming because the area isn’t secure. The buildings will continue to burn and the losses to local business owners will continue to rack up.

Finally the order comes from on high that you can fire teargas to herd the looters out of the area. Large fireworks go off in front of you. Some of your colleagues fire teargas in response.

You think, “large fireworks are essentially bombs, without the shrapnel,” as another concussion wave compresses your chest.

Other officers are firing rubber bullets in the direction that last firework came from.

This is no longer a protest, or even a riot. This is now an urban battlefield and you can’t really defend yourself as if it was Fallujah. You’re essentially unarmed.

One of your friends goes down, stumbling from a brick to the head. You stop to help them up and start scanning for the source, you see a target and fire your rubber bullets but aren’t sure that’s even the person throwing the bricks.

You think of your children and are grateful to know they’re safe. A large rock hits your helmet, followed by bottles from multiple directions. You stumble, hear laughter and taunting.

A woman comes out of the darkness screaming obscenities and spitting at you. She runs away into the dark.

“It’s not worth it,” you think. “I don’t want to do this anymore, not here.”

The night continues, in a wash, rinse, repeat, cycle of violence. Dawn reveals a scene of destruction. A testament to failure.

You tell yourself you didn’t fail, the system failed, the citizens failed, the elected officials failed, but you still feel like you personally failed.

Looking out the window of the squad car on the way back to the station you come to a decision. Typing up your report for the night you take a break and call home.

“Honey, I’m done. Call the Realtor and start packing. I’ve been at this for five years and I’ve not made any difference at all. Lets leave this city, let it burn. I don’t care anymore. If I’d wanted to be fighting urban war, I’d have stayed in the Marines. At least there I could adequately defend myself. ”

Your spouse says you’re just tired. They’re right, you are, but the tiredness you feel isn’t due to the past four days.

It’s a tiredness of the soul, a tiredness that comes from pointlessness, there will always be poor people, there will always be bad people, there will always be shitty politicians, and nothing you do will change that.

It’s pointless to keep trying because the people you help, forget in a second that you helped them. Those people will, based on the latest Twitter, News, or Facebook post, turn on you without a moment’s thought.

You turn in your report, then head to the Captain’s office to hand in your resignation. Unsurprisingly, you’re not the first one to hand in your badge, there are many others on his desk. The Captain accepts the document, your badge, and service weapon.

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in talking about this,” he asks.

You shake your head, “No”

“I can’t blame you, I’m working on my resignation too. I’ve got my twenty in. What are you planning to do?”

You shrug, “Anything, anywhere, but here.”

The Captain nods, stands, extending his hand, “It’s been a pleasure working with you. Good luck.”

“Thank you sir,” You turn and leave the office. At the door is a rookie. He’s got that same hollowed out look that you wear. He’s carrying a letter too…

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Just some food for thought…

JROppenheimer LosAlamos

I wasn’t planning on another piece about Apple v. The FBI. But here goes…

For all those pundits, wags, celebrities, politicians, and now Rabbis speaking out and telling Apple that they should decrypt the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, I submit this.

Apple is apparently applying the thought Robert Oppenheimer had after he helped create the atomic bomb.

When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.
– J. Robert Oppenheimer

I believe this quote is often paraphrased to;

Just because you CAN do a thing, doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD do a thing.

I’ve lived my life using that paraphrase as a test for certain actions. I look at it as a cautionary signpost for all scientists and researchers.

Project t virus by linkin368 d3gt57g

Just because you can modify the DNA of influenza to deliver a genetic update to all the people of the world… should you? What about murphy’s law? Can you really limit the unintended consequences? 

OR is it simply better to recognize that never creating the technology is the best course of action?

Thumb01m

All these people saying Apple should crack the phone, have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s not an easy task, even for Apple. Cracking encryption isn’t what you see in the movies. 

You don’t just plug a widget into a port, have some dialog about how cool you are and then hear a beep as the NSA computers start spilling all their information onto your impossibly small storage device.

At this point it’s unclear if the iPhone in question is using something as simple as a 4 digit code. It’s likely, but depending on the IOS version being used, the phone could be locked using a phrase.

If there’s a passphrase the odds of success hacking it with a brute force attack drop precipitously with each character added to the passphrase length.

James comey fbi

The brute force attack that the FBI is describing is crude and there is no guarantee that if they win in court, forcing Apple to be their bitch, that when they finally get into the phone there won’t be a nasty little application that has encrypted all the files the FBI wants using an entirely different algorithm, from another manufacturer.  If that’s the case, is the FBI going to get another court order? Probably not, because this is about the FBI making an example. Apple just happens to be the biggest target. 

It’s just as likely, this Jihadi fucker was using a messaging application that wiped the messages 5 minutes after they were read.

Federal and state fbi agent

If the guy was at all concerned about security, He probably turned off all the Apple Tracking software, I know I did right after Edward Snowden blew the whistle.

I’m not a criminal, but I value my privacy and am willing to forego my phone being able to tell me where the nearest Häagen-Dazs is, to maintain my privacy.

This means that Apple providing a custom operating system to disables the automatic wipe on the phone and allow unlimited access to the phone’s password system is likely not going to get the FBI anything more than they already have based on cell tower records.

By the way, because of the number of towers in the San Bernardino area, cell tower data can pinpoint the movements of this Jihadi asshole to within a couple hundred feet or less.

The NSA Actually Has A Program Called SKYNET

So the FBI is lying right from the get-go, when they say they want access to the phone so they can figure out where this Jihadi and his diseased rancid whore of a wife, were before, during the shooting, and after. 

The cell tower records would already provide that information and if the guy turned off his phone while visiting some nefarious underworld figure. Or dropped it in a Faraday bag or cage…

LOKSAK SHIELDSAK Flexible Fabric Faraday Cage Anti RF Protective Bag RF Fortress Radio Frequency Camouflage NDIA SOFIC 2014 David Crane DefenseReview com DR 10

Then the FBI would still get nothing from the phone because at that point the phone would have been cut off from the cell tower or any GPS information and likewise wouldn’t have been able to transmit any of that information.

But we know that the FBI has nine OTHER phones they want to force Apple to help them unlock. 

Apple icon apple

The problem here is that Apple has never created the software to unlock or hack their devices.

Why should they?

Apple tells you, “don’t lose your password, we cant help you if you do.”

So they have a secure device, and they can insure the device’s security because they’ve never created any software to undo their encryption or their locking mechanism.

Just because you CAN do a thing, doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD do a thing.

Achmed

Dear Apple customer… “If you loose your password, you can wipe the phone and start over. We strongly recommend you have the data backed up. Apple provides the iCloud service for this purpose.“

It’s recently come to light, that the FBI ordered the San Bernardino County IT department to change the password on the iCloud account and therefore broke a link that could, with Apple’s help, have gained access to the phone.

Now the FBI wants to use a court order to force Apple to UNFUCK their fuckup. But that’s not the end game.

The end game is that the FBI wants to force manufacturers to build government backdoors into all devices. 

BMZ9g3ZCMAAvZN2

The FBI is using “terrifying terrorists” and criminals, to spook congress and the courts into passing legislation that mandates government access be built into all machines. They and their supporters are using the time honored B.S. line;

“For the safety and security of the public…” or that old favorite “We do this for THE CHILDREN”

I’m not sure I believe in the slippery slope argument but I do think it’s a very short walk to losing rights that we’ll never get back.

That walk begins with statements that start out, “It’s worth losing a little privacy, or freedom, or changing the laws, or, or, or,  for safety.” see; The Patriot Act

 When I see our government behaving this way, and I hear people saying, “it’s just a little invasion,” I can’t help but think of the poem The Hangman.

I could see a time in the future when it’s illegal for you not to have your phone on your person.

After all, the government would only want to keep track of your movements and communications to insure your safety… Right?

Back doors in our devices are, I think just a stepping stone to full surveillance.

“You have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide.”

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Obviously I’m missing something.

La me ln apple san bernardino security 2016021 001

The FBI went to a judge and apparently whined they couldn’t access the data in one of the San Bernardino Terrorist’s phones. 

A Judge ordered Apple to assist the FBI.

Apple responded that the programming doesn’t exist (by design) which would allow even them (Apple) to break into the phone.

Then Trump gets in on the action and says we need to get the information on that phone.

To which I say;

NO WE DON’T

I’d like to tell Trump to be quiet and let the adults talk.

Just because the information happens to exist on a phone, doesn’t mean that we have to access it. If the data were written on paper that had been burned, the FBI wouldn’t have access to it would they? Data locked on a phone is essentially the same.

The FBI does have other phones belonging to the San Bernardino Terrorists. They have access to all the bills and phone records of calls made to and from each of the phones in question.

Along with that information the FBI no doubt has access to all the text messages, or at least the source and destination phone numbers associated with those text messages. Just as I have that information for SMS messages printed on my cell phone bill every month.

What the FBI doesn’t have is information that may have been sent from that iPhone 5C to other iPhones, iPads, or Macs. This is because the information was sent via data channels instead of via SMS.

To quote another famous phrase, “What does it matter at this point anyway?”

The FBI has the terrorist’s computers, the odds are damn high that any communications carried out on the phone were replicated on the computers.  These terrorists are dead on the pavement, they’ve been disavowed by ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. 

This strikes me as nothing more than an end run around the issues of encryption by the FBI. 

Apple doesn’t have the software to break into the phone, because creation of that software would eventually mean that the software would get out. After all we all know how secure Data at the Office of Personnel Management was. How about the IRS data? Or the Healthcare.GOV data? Or, Or, Or…

Once a program capable of cracking the encryption on an iPhone or Samsung phone is out in the world, no-one has privacy.

This is the fundamental argument Tim Cook of Apple has been making all along.

Apple is very explicit in their encryption warnings on their computers. If you loose this password and you don’t have a recovery key we can’t help you. My computer’s drive is encrypted, I have the key stored and I know the password. But I don’t expect Apple to be able to decrypt my drive, or my iPhone, or my iPad. Even if I was stupid enough to loose or forget the passwords…

I don’t want Apple to be able to decrypt my stuff ever!

Beyond that is this point.

MIT recently reported there were something like 586 different encryption programs freely available from a variety of sources. So even if Apple compromises it’s principals (I hope to God they don’t) Criminals will simply choose an alternative encryption technique.

When that happens, what’s the FBI going to do? Bitch, piss, and moan their way into making a manufacturer in Switzerland, for example build them a backdoor?  If that day comes I’d be curious to see the response the FBI gets.

According to the LA Times article Farook disabled the icloud backup 6 weeks prior to the attack. It’s entirely likely that Farook disabled the GPS function and deleted messages as well. So even if the FBI gains access, it’s questionable if there will be any useful data recovered.

Regardless, the damage done to American privacy will be done.

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At the Neighborhood watch meeting the other night…

Shooter

There was a very informative “Active Shooter” presentation by the Sheriff’s department, complete with a pump shotgun being fired outside the building.

I’d never heard what one of those sounds like if it was outside and I was inside. The sound was far different from what I’d have expected. It was more of a thump-pop and the volume was low enough that if I’d been further away I might not have even paid it any attention.

And that’s the point of training isn’t it? It’s one thing to hear the sound of a rifle, shotgun, or handgun when you’re the one firing it with ear and eye protection. It’s quite a different thing to be inside a building, hearing the shots outside or coming from another building.

runhidefight

The officers were professional and awesome. I generally like our police, I just wish they’d re-open the substation here in town.  Right now they’re 30 minutes away, so often by the time they get here whatever was going on is already done. The big difference is when the snow players are up then we’ve got a pretty good police presence.

active-shooter-hoodieActive shooters aren’t like average criminals. They’re out to hurt as many people as possible and they’re usually very young. I was shocked that the average age is 16.

Because they’re out to hurt a lot of people, the police are going to engage quickly and will likely not be taking the shooter into custody.  The reason is, Active Shooters often kill themselves or do something that forces the police to shoot them.

If you get an opportunity to attend an Active Shooter presentation I highly recommend it.

Escaping is bestThe main take-aways for me were confirmation that what I’d already been doing, was in fact prudent not paranoid.

1) Note exits (In fire, attack, flood, earthquake, etc. it’s a good idea to know which direction is likely to get you out of harms way.)

2) Plan (Run a quick scenario of how you’d get to an exit in an emergency. Don’t dwell on it, just note obstacles, and realize the closest exit may not be the “Best” exit.)

3) In an Active Shooter situation you’ve got three options. a) Exit / Escape, b) Hide / Shelter in place, c) Fight.

The thing I liked about the presentation was that the officers covered all three of the options in a pragmatic realistic way. They didn’t dwell on Islam, or Schools, or allow the training be taken off into the merits of concealed carry.

They simply discussed what is known about Active Shooters. And gave some tips that may be helpful in surviving an event if you were to ever find yourself in a shitty situation.

EvacuateThey talked about how to behave if you’ve been able to evacuate and come face to face with a group of armed officers entering the building. Easy answer… HANDS UP! Fingers spread, and do exactly what the officers tell you to do.

Don’t fight, argue, or bitch about it. These folks have no freaking idea what they’re walking into and have no idea if you’re the good guys or bad guys.  That was useful to me because I’d be worried about running out of a building and spooking an officer then getting shot because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

Baracade

If you’re hiding / sheltering in place, get into a space that can be locked. Turn off the lights and your phone sound makers, and be quiet. It seems that Active Shooters get into a predatory mode. So don’t attract their attention in any way.

Shooters will typically pass by locked or barricaded doors because their goal is to hurt a lot of people. If a space looks empty and the door isn’t easily opened they’re not going to waste time, they’re going to look for obvious and easy targets.

Runhidefight

If you’ve got no choice FIGHT!  And when fighting your aim is to KILL you are fighting for your life and possible the life of your loved ones. All bets are off, there are no Queensbury rules.

Curb stomp the fucker if you can, severely fuck him up if you have the opportunity.  This person is no longer a person. Something inside them is horribly broken and there is no reasoning with them. Don’t try talking, don’t negotiate, they’re not going to hear you.

Dylan ThomasRemember almost anything in the local environment can be used as a weapon. A heavy object swung with intent and force can do enough blunt force damage that the threat is neutralized.

The police were very clear, leaving is the first, best option.

Not getting into a situation is even better. If something looks strange, or someone is behaving strangely it’s not paranoid or un-politically correct to report it.

A person might be acting strangely because they’re having a medical event. Think about this, the sooner that person gets medical help, the less likely whatever is happening will kill them. If on the other hand someone is acting strangely because they’re about to snap, then police intervention sooner rather than later may well stop a massacre.

02-053625-active_shooter_reported_in_san_bernardino_caEither way, the right people get on scene to handle a situation.

The thing they left unsaid and that I inferred is after you’ve reported the issue, either person or unattended bag, purse, backpack, package, etc. Leave the area.

This ties into my “Time to leave the party” instinct.

There are times when things are starting to get out of hand, at a party, or event, and I’ll just head to the exit. It’s not that I’m chicken (I do have a well honed sense of self preservation), I just don’t want to be involved in someone else’s drama. I may stick around if the drama involves someone I genuinely like or care about.

Generally if someone has issues, those issues aren’t my concern and I have zero desire to be sucked into the insanity.

So if I’m at a shopping center, or company party, or restaurant, and some craziness walks in the front door, I’m walking out the back, before the crazy spreads or the shooting starts.

The point is not to live in fear, and not to be paranoid.

The point is, be actively aware of what’s going on around you. Have an awareness of your surroundings and have a sketched out plan of what to do if, God Forbid, there is some kind of emergency.

In view of all the information the police were presenting, I suddenly flashed on the whole New Years Eve debacle.  On the one hand I was glad to have the police verify that my normal operating behavior wasn’t insane or paranoid.

On the other hand, I’d have loved to have the dumbass that kept repeatedly telling me I was a fearful paranoid dumbshit, duct-taped to a chair being forced to listen to this presentation. I’d like to do that only because I wonder how long it would take before his head exploded.

Then again, people like him would serve as distraction while I make like Elvis and… leave the building.