Tag: Justice

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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.

Dead Twitter Bird

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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The FBI did something right for a change

FBI Forensics confirmed what most people already knew.

Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger.

ABC News reports the gun had no malfunction per the FBI Forensic report.

Alec is in big trouble. Though I doubt that he’s going to see the inside of a prison. He should, but we all know that if you have enough fame, fortune, and appear often enough denying that you did something wrong you’ll get away with it.

Halyna Hutchins’ family will perhaps finally see some justice.

Baldwin showed up on CNN still denying that he was negligent, careless, and stupid. He makes it sound like somehow Trump is involved, in that he feared for his life after Trump’s comments on the matter.

Baldwin seems to be counting on people who hate Trump to lose any objectivity at the mere mention of the name and therefore believe his lies.

He goes on to whine about losing jobs.

Big Deal Alec! At least you have the capacity to lose jobs over this, unlike Hutchins who is dead by your hand.

I’ve written about this before, here, and here.

I still haven’t changed my mind. Alec Baldwin was careless, probably didn’t follow the safety protocol for guns on set, and deserves to become persona non grata in Hollywood.

I hope that he’s tried somewhere where the jury pool has a working knowledge of guns, and that the judge in the case throws the book at him.

Poor little Alec may finally learn that guns don’t kill people. Ignorant people handling guns improperly without due respect, kill people.

I think that Alec should be left destitute, or forced to make appearances as the poster boy for gun safety training at the NRA.

Unfortunately, I suspect that his scum bag attorney will spin it so that the poor Armorer takes the rap. It’s likely that will be the direction this goes she doesn’t have the wealth to mount a really good defense and Alec desperately needs to blame someone else.

Even if he destroys that person in the process.

I can’t watch The Hunt for Red October, or Betelgeuse, anymore without focusing on Alec Baldwin. It’s drained the enjoyment out of these movies for me.

His whining about his victimhood hasn’t done anything to help his image either.

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Oh Brittney!

Brittney Griner has been sentenced to 9 years in a Russian jail.

OMG! The Horror!

Yeah, right!

The story is here

Griner, had a prescription from a US doctor for medical Cannabis. However what she was carrying was a vape pen with hash oil cartridges.

Yeah, Hash Oil is cannabis so technically she was carrying what the doctor’s note said she should have been carrying.

That being said, Cannabis is illegal in Russia. She must have known that. Her excuse was essentially, “I forgot that was in my bag.”

I’m sure everyone in the Russian court rolled their eyes when she said that. I know I would have.

Every country that you travel to has different laws.

It pays to make sure that you aren’t prescribed or carrying anything in your bags or on your person that is illegal in a country you plan to visit.

I checked that my BP medication was in fact legal when I went to the Netherland Antilles a few years back. It was entirely likely that the medication was legal, checking to be sure took exactly 1 minute and I did that 4 weeks before my departure. The Netherlands Consulate was very kind and helpful. At the same time I also made sure that I’d been vaccinated against any diseases endemic to that area of the Caribbean.

If you’re traveling internationally you must adhere to the local laws and regulations. Most countries make zero exceptions for Americans. I suspect this in part, because so many Americans are so poorly behaved when they visit other countries.

Helpful hint my fellow Americans. We’re guests, we should act like it. We should not act like we’re above the law, because uhh we’re not!

Anyway. This lady was carrying an illegal substance into the country. It doesn’t matter what the quantity was, or the form it took, or anything else. The questions are:

  1. Is the substance illegal?
  2. Did the person bring the substance into the country.

Item 1 is true. Brittney Griner admitted that item 2 was true. Therefore she’s guilty of breaking Russian law, and she has been sentenced according to that law.

Seems like a pretty cut & dried case. I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about.

I’m sure that Brittney thought since she was a basketball “Star” she didn’t have to obey silly Russian laws. “What to they know anyway?”

It must be hard for her to deal with the fact that in Russia she’s not accorded special privileges.

Well Brittney, not all countries are as insane as America has become.

Here’s your prize… 9 and a half years. At least they gave you 6 months off your sentence for time served!

I’m sorry that I can’t muster much concern or outrage over this lady’s punishment.

Little Brittney is going to learn something about real oppression in a Russian prison. From what I understand, the Russians don’t mess around. On the bright side, she will probably learn Russian while she’s in prison so she may have a new career as a translator at the UN when she gets out.

I have to wonder what would happen if I was returning to the United States with ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine in my bag after having traveled in Africa or South America.

Both of those drugs are available without a prescription in many areas of the world, because of their utility and commonplace usage. Would I be detained at the US border and thrown into jail for smuggling?

There was a time when I could say without hesitation that I wouldn’t be. But these days… In the age of COVID? Honestly, I’d expect to be whisked away to the gulag in Washington D.C. and placed in a small cell with the Jan 6th protesters.

After all the CDC and FDA have said these drugs are forbidden.

The Biden administration is involved trying to negotiate a prisoner trade for Brittney.

If I was her I’d be very worried about that. 9 and a half years could turn into 20 years, the way this administration bungles things.

Perhaps if we modeled our drug responses after Russia we wouldn’t be drowning in fentanyl, meth, crack, heroin, and whatever the hell else is being imported.

I know, it’s a crazy idea. Actual punishment for breaking a law???

Get outta here!

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Finally!

18 months or longer after the news broke of Hunter Biden’s laptop, the DOJ has actually done their job. They’re investigating the laptop and Hunter Biden.

One could assume that there’s now enough pressure to force the DOJ to take action.

I suspect darker motives.

We went from, “The Laptop is Russian disinformation,” and memory holing the information contained on it.

To, “The laptop appears to really be Hunter’s.”

To, “Hunter is being investigated for tax fraud.”

To actually investigating the data on the laptop that appears to implicate Joe Biden being somehow involved in Hunter’s business dealings.

In part, this investigation may have been caused by hackers busting into Hunter’s cloud accounts and then spreading the information around. But I think it’s more than that.

I think that Joe has outlived his usefulness and now the laptop serves as a convenient way to dispose of Joe.

This will allow the appearance of the Democratic Party actually doing something constructive. They’ll have the opportunity to say to the American people, “See we don’t tolerate corruption,” while elevating Kamala to the Presidency.

The timing is nice. If they pull this off before the midterms they might be able to win back some of the voters they’re losing, and pull their asses out of the fire. They’ll also be able to parlay dumping Joe over corruption charges into some legitimacy for the Jan 6th committee.

Think about it. “If we dumped Joe, and he was from our party. Of course our investigation into Trump and the insurrection is legitimate. We wouldn’t lie to you.”

Uh Huh.

It’s what I’d do. Put a woman of color into the Oval Office. You win the female voters, the pro abortion voters, and theoretically the person of color votes all at the same time.

The Republicans can still be painted as evil, and the “Red Wave” hits the rocks before it really starts. The Democratic Party retains their power while maintaining a sock puppet in office who is remarkably even less popular than Joe.

Joe gets to retire. Hunter goes to jail, then is released after a few months to house arrest. Trump is mired in court cases, a little blood is spilled to appease the American People and at least in theory, all is right with the world.

Keep telling the people via CNN and other news media that the Democratic Party is strong, and takes action running up to the mid terms and there will be voters that buy it.

It’s actually pretty clever.

That being said, given the way this administration has handled the simplest of things. I doubt they or the Democratic Party have the ability to pull it off seamlessly. So the cleverness will be lost in the cluster fuck that would define the attempt.

The enemies of our country must be rubbing their hands together with absolute joy in anticipation of Kamala Harris potentially being President given her abject failure in almost every diplomatic encounter she’s had.

Well, at this point only time will tell. In the mean time, I suspect the screwing will continue and we’re all on our backs with our legs in the air.