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Do you ever read Police Blotters, or Law Enforcement sites?

I do. I suppose some would say it’s morbid curiosity. Others might infer that I’m “Looking for trouble”.

I don’t look at it that way. I use this information to keep myself informed about the myriad ways that criminals work.

I’ve been interested in carjackings, follow home robberies, and street crime that I’m likely to encounter in cities.

Living near a large metropolitan area like Los Angeles, and knowing that we’re going to have a lot of Winter tourists in the small town I live in from that area, I just want to have a slightly heightened awareness of the possibilities.

After all criminals like to play in the snow too, don’t they? Some criminals might prefer to operate in an area full of visitors taking advantage of the chaos and confusion to steal from the unwary.

Some of the things that have caught my interest are “Bump & Rob”, “Follow Home Robberies”, and the clever ways criminals are inciting altercations as cover for theft.

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There’s an article in Law Enforcement Today about a rise in Bump & Rob/Carjack accidents in MN. The article is here It’s interesting. The criminals bump into a victims car, then get out while the victim driver is collecting their wits. In the momentary confusion, the criminals point a gun at the victim and then steal his or her car with all the contents.

There have been similar incidents in Los Angeles. The MN police have gone so far as to issue public warnings. I doubt that Los Angelino’s will see warnings. The LAPD and City council seem to be far more interested in sweeping rising crime under the carpet.

“Follow Home Robberies have been reported in LA and the surrounding communities. Some of the more high profile follow home robberies have involved celebrities and people in wealthier neighborhoods around Los Angeles.

Recently, there was a rather shocking smash and grab in Cucamonga. That one got my attention because it was relatively close to my home. 

Reading about the methods of both, and some of the precursor behavior I feel, makes me a little better equipped to avoid the situation before I become a victim. That’s not a guarantee but at least I’m more aware of shady behaviors that might be leading up to something.

A follow home situation is unlikely given where I live. I doubt criminals will want to follow me to where Jesus lot his other sandal, and given the rural nature of my community, criminals might think twice, assuming that rural people would be well armed and more likely to give them lead poisoning. (Generally True!)

Smash and grab might also be less likely even during the Winter because avenues of escape are few and choked with traffic. Home robberies on the other hand might become more of an issue. It’s not uncommon to see strange vehicles in my neighborhood because of lost people looking for snow play areas or the ski resort. 

In Winter there are so many strange vehicles and people occupying rental properties it’s become difficult to determine who belongs where.

The point I’m making is be aware, keep an eye on your surroundings, and report shady stuff to the police. Depending on where you live, you might have quick response or as in my case, the police are at minimum 15 minutes away. If you know or suspect your’e being followed, don’t go home. Find a police station. In the case of bump & rob, keep your eye on the occupants of the other car until you determine they’re not armed. If you see a weapon and your vehicle is drivable, I’d say  leave. You other choice it to comply (as the MN officer suggested).

I’m gonna leave! I’ll call 911 as I’m exiting and ask where the nearest police station is. Yeah my car is covered by insurance, but lets face it, the insurance company is gonna try to put you in a roughly used gardening truck with what they pay out if your car is totaled.

If I didn’t live in California, I’d be more likely to greet a carjacker with a weapon of my own. Oh, to live in a constitutional carry state!

That’s another story…

This holiday season, keep your head on a swivel and be very careful out there.

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What’s with all the hand wringing about Twitter? OH! Right…

I admit that I’m still on the fence about Twitter personally. I did enjoy it and participated in some great discussions with people, in its early days.

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That being said, I’m “Meh” about it going the way of MySpace. Nobody ran in tight circles or lit their hair on fire when MySpace wound down to whatever it is now. (Is MySpace even still around?)

Celebrities, Pundits, Wags, and all kinds of other people appear to be having a melt down over Twitter “Melting Down”.

Elon Musk probably went too far with his email asking for, (or demanding) fealty to the company long work hours and whatever else he asked for. Clearly he pushed too hard too fast resulting in a lot of his staff resigning.

This makes me wonder though if he’s “souring the milk” just to get rid of self important dead weight.

It’s long been a tactic of employers to make a place a tough work environment that forces employees out the door rather than have a mass layoff. Especially with the WARN Act and all of its constraints, having a mass voluntary exodus works for Elon and the company.

Now he can hire employees to replace those that have quit, and not have to pay unemployment either. This is financially better for the company rather than have to keep those employees around for 60 days and pay them to screw him.

I’d imagine that he’s looking very hard at the H1B1 workers who remain, and considering simply not renewing their H1B1 Status. I don’t know all the ins and out of the visa system but I do know that without sponsorship the H1B1 Visa expires. At that point, the individual is supposed to return to their country of origin unless they’ve become citizens of the US.

Elon may be trailblazing in showing how H1B1 and other visas can be cancelled while limiting liability. I don’t know.

I know that there are a lot of American software engineers that can certainly do the job, who’d be willing to take on the challenge of working at Twitter. I’d guess that American software engineers would be willing to ensure freedom of speech as long as they were from outside the Silicon Valley bubble.

That so many people not involved directly with the company are commenting and wailing about the changes at Twitter is interesting to me.

Journalists specifically seem to be making a lot of noise, and I couldn’t figure that out.

I began to wonder if these journalists are realizing that they’re actually going to have to research what they say instead of relying on “Tweets” to write a story. That could explain why they’re so up in arms.

Are these people saying, “My God, I’m going to have to actually do research!”

Once that realization sinks in, I’m guessing they’re going to be pretty pissed off that they’re going to have to pick up the phone and speak to someone, vet their sources, and at least partially verify their facts before running off to write a one sided hit piece on someone or some event.

Social media is hearsay not fact. It’s always been hearsay, rumor, innuendo, and in some cases complete bullshit.

When so called journalists began using platforms designed for social media and conversation as their journalistic sources we got Journalism that looked like social media, instead of fact.

Funny how that works isn’t it?

So journalists… Get to fucking work!

I’m going to be waiting for the want ads to come out to see if there’s a position for me at the new Twitter.

If I could work from home, or in an office outside California I’d work pretty damn cheap. If I have to move to San Francisco, well the job is going to have to be really “Cherry” and the pay will have to be significantly more.

That’s because I don’t see the need to live in a Studio Apartment for 5K a month, to be in a place where I have to step over shit in the streets to go to work.

I absolutely love the thought of all the rainbow colored hair social justice warrior types finding that their “playpen for pay” is being taken away. I’m half tempted to drive up to near San Francisco, take BART to Twitter headquarters and ask for a job application.

I’d fill out the application in the lobby and laugh my ass off watching the tearful goodbyes as the children left the building.

It would be very hard for me not to say to them, “Welcome to the real world, parasites!”

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Ding Dong The Witch is gone…

I couldn’t help myself! 

Nancy Pelosi is stepping down. 

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This fossil has been banging around Congress for 35 years it’s about damn time that she stepped aside. I can only hope that she retires completely soon.

She said something that as humiliating as it is to admit, I agree with. 

It was something like, it’s time to pass the torch to younger politicians.

I agree wholeheartedly.

It’s time to move the old fossils out of Congress.

I also think it’s time to remove the lobbyists as well. Our leaders shouldn’t be listening to specialized well funded lobbying organizations. The leaders should be listening to the people of their states and making decisions that are in the best interests of the people, not special interest groups.

I’m not holding my breath about the lobbyists being done away with, but Nancy getting the hell out of the way is a good start!

I’ll try not to dance when Nancy hands the gavel to someone else.

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Please Don’t

I wish I could speak directly to Donald Trump.

If I could, I’d tell him the following:

Please don’t run for President again. It’s nothing personal. The last two, maybe three, years of your presidency I did feel hopeful, I felt that the country was on the right track. I loved your “Mean Tweets” and almost always enjoyed hearing you smack down the media.

I felt that finally someone was at least half way concerned about the American People in Washington and waited with gleeful anticipation for Nancy Pelosi’s head to explode when you pissed her off. That woman literally hates your guts!

That being said, I don’t think you should be president in 2024. Had you won in 2020 I’d have a different opinion and be looking forward to maybe a DeSantis presidency in 2024.

You see, after watching what Congress did in the last year of your presidency and how laser focused they were on destroying you, instead of doing their job, followed by  four years of the shitty Biden administration. I think that, should you get elected in 2024 you’ll be a distraction and unable to force Congress to do the work they were elected to do.

America can’t handle another four years where nobody is at the helm. Or where there’s constant distraction for the business of the nation. I personally believe that you have the best of intentions  and that you’d be trying your level best to steer the country away from the shoals. The Biden administration has in my opinion set course directly for a large reef and lashed the wheel to that course.

Sadly, I think that if you won the election you’d be limited by the enemies you’ve made. There are far too many people throughout the government that would happily throw a monkey wrench into whatever plans you have, no matter how good or beneficial a plan might be. These people are so vile they’d happily destroy themselves just to make sure you don’t succeed. They’re also very willing to take the rest of the citizenry to whatever hell they end up in just to see you fail.

Our government is no longer for and by the people. I don’t know who, or what, our government serves, but it isn’t us. Apparently, there are an unbelievable number of frankly stupid Americans running around that want something much different than the America I grew up loving and believing in. 

Admittedly, I may have a somewhat nostalgic view.

I don’t think another Trump presidency can fix what’s wrong in America. I’m no longer believe that what’s wrong can be fixed. The fractures are too deep, the wounds too infected.

Honestly Sir, I think you’d be better off just walking away. There are times when you just have to let a dumpster fire burn. 

Spend time with your family, enjoy the grandchildren, play golf and enjoy your successes. Don’t expose yourself to the parasites and vermin. They’ll destroy themselves in due time. It’s not for either of us to try to stop the lemmings from running off a cliff into the sea.

You have the wealth and resources to go anywhere in the world. I wouldn’t blame you if you liquidated your financial holdings in America and took your family to another country entirely. Switzerland seems to be pretty free, albeit expensive.

For my part, I’m looking for a quiet corner of the country where I can live in peace, relative safety, have the ability to defend myself, and hopefully die, before the inevitable destruction of America comes.

Respectfully Mr. Trump, all the best.

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I’m still on the fence about Twitter

I was on Twitter for a number of years. I kept the twitter account long after I blew away the Facebook account.

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I don’t remember when I finally got tired of increasing censorship on Twitter, but at some point (Perhaps in 2019 or 2020?) I closed my account and walked away from social media altogether.

At first I really missed the burning bag of shit delivered to my phone all the time, but after 4 weeks or so I didn’t miss it anymore.

Thinking about it now, I didn’t miss the worry. Every time I thought about responding to a post I worried that I would be put in Twitter Jail or banned outright. 

Those of you who’ve read a number of posts in this blog and who are also on Twitter or Facebook can probably see why that would be. I may be wrong in what I post but it’s wrong in innocence, not out of malice. Twitter wasn’t making that subtle distinction so eventually I simply stopped tweeting at all.

There was no speaking out against things that The Majority agreed with, (Even if it was incorrect on its face). Mis-information seemed to become subjective. When people asked about why something was deemed mis-information often they were ignored. 

Some people like Jordan Peterson had their accounts suspended for speaking a simple truth regarding Ellen/Elliot Page. He was told that if he recanted his statement and apologized for speaking the truth, he would be permitted to return to the platform. Peterson categorically refused. He pick this hill to die on, He publicly said, “I would rather die than apologize for speaking truth.”

While I don’t always agree with Peterson, I respected his stance on this issue. Truth is truth!

Since Elon Musk has assumed control of Twitter, there have been changes. Most publicly, there have been Hollywood Types  bailing on the platform. On balance, the actual number of users of Twitter has increased.

Twitter’s moderation seems to be changing a bit. People are saying things that less than a year ago would have gotten them banned. (I’ve been skimming the Twitter website without an account,) some of what I’ve been reading is much like the dumpster fire that Twitter had become prior to Musk’s takeover. Liberals are still able to say horrific things and suffer no penalties. Conservatives are still being fact checked but they’re not being banned as they were.

For me the question is, “has Twitter changed enough?”

I don’t think the changes are sufficient for me to create a new account. 

Frankly, I don’t really want to allow every village idiot from the entire world to spill their bullshit across my phone screen.