Wed. May 1, 2019 – big day for commies

By on May 1st, 2019 in Random Stuff

75F and humid. We did finally get some light sprinkles at the end of the day yesterday. It was gray and threatening most of the afternoon. I never amounted to anything though.

Big day for commies and socialists around the world.   Avoid crowds, eyes open, ear tuned to the news if out and about….

Financial crime class was interesting. It seems that there is a tremendous amount of fraud centered on checks, still. The takeaway was – don’t mail checks by leaving them in your mailbox for later pickup, go to the Post Office and mail them, directly with the counter person if possible. The problem is people raiding the mailboxes, “washing” the checks (altering the payee or amount), and then cashing them.

The most horrifying thing from the Narcotics class was more info about a cultural phenomenon in Houston, linked to a whole style of music- cough syrup in soda or ‘purple drank’. It’s what Trayvon Martin was putting together for his night out. The syrup goes into the drink, usually sprite here, and if it’s not sweet enough, you dissolve candy in it. They had pix of tables set up at a party, looking just like a traditional punch bowl, with rows of sprite, cups, and the syrup. Many communities here think there is nothing wrong with using it, despite it being very addictive. The horrifying part is I have no trouble seeing an older kid handing my daughter a cup at a party and her drinking it. I picture all the social engineering that can be brought to bear, and I’m sure thousands of kids start an addictive narcotics habit just like that.

I also got some intel about what I was hearing on the scanner, and learned more about the “opioid crisis”, and met some of the people in the trenches.

Once again, I recommend takig advantage of any local programs. Local local local.

Meatspace!

Also have my lunch meeting today.

But now, roust the family and start the day.

n

41 Comments and discussion on "Wed. May 1, 2019 – big day for commies"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Big day for commies and socialists around the world. Avoid crowds, eyes open, ear tuned to the news if out and about….

    When I worked in the Bank of America building in Downtown Seattle, management encouraged us to leave the area in the early afternoon.

    Shift change at Starbucks is not entirely a joke.

  2. Nick Flandrey says:

    Not justice as the woman is still dead, but at least the scumbag didn’t get away with it.

    MN Police Officer Mohamed Noor Found Guilty of Murder of Justine Damond While Responding to her 911 Call”

    As predicted, the border searches have expanded. Worth remembering that the warrantless zone extends far enough from the border or point of entry to encompass something like 80% of the population.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6978159/US-searches-phones-laptops-airports-rising-suit-says.html

    “The government has vigorously defended the searches, which rose to 33,295 in fiscal 2018 compared to 18,400 in 2016 – a rise of over 80 per cent.”

    “But the newly filed documents claim the scope of the warrantless searches has expanded to assist in enforcement of tax, bankruptcy, environmental and consumer protection laws, gather intelligence and advance criminal investigations.

    Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement consider requests from other government agencies in determining whether to search travelers’ electronic devices, the court papers said.

    They added that agents are searching the electronic devices of not only targeted individuals but their associates, friends and relatives.

    The new information about the searches was included in a motion the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.

    ‘The evidence we have presented the court shows that the scope of ICE and CBP border searches is unconstitutionally broad,’ said Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney for the EFF, based in San Francisco.

    ‘ICE and CBP policies and practices allow unfettered, warrantless searches of travelers’ digital devices and empower officers to dodge the Fourth Amendment when rifling through highly personal information contained on laptops and phones,’ he said.

    –school shooter looks like andre the giant, something def wrong in the genome….

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6978497/At-three-injured-UNC-Charlotte-SWAT-respond-students-shelter-place.html

    –further efforts to normalize what used to be deviant behaviour–

    Couple who fell in love with the same woman they met at a business event now plan to start a family as a ‘thruple’ after he proposed to them BOTH with a diamond cut in two

    Jimmy Silva, 34, and ChaCha Sahagun, 31, have been dating for ten years
    The couple both fell for Summer Pelletier, 25, after meeting her in summer 2012
    They formed a triad but kept an open relationship until settling down last year
    Now they plan to start a family after Jimmy proposed to them both this month

    –nice photo, no disfunction in those girls’ lives…

    –instant karma gonna getcha

    “Motorcyclist is left fighting for his life after flipping off a driver then crashing head first on a Texas highway

    The unidentified man was driving a Harley-Davidson on North Eldridge Parkway
    He passed a woman and her child in a Chevy Suburban about 8:20pm on Sunday
    The man made an obscene gesture before driving in front of the mother’s vehicle
    He lost control and crashed, authorities said, and is now fighting for his life”

    –this is what a street assault really looks like

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6980355/Horrifying-moment-French-student-stabbed-neck-robber-South-Africa.html

    n

  3. ITGuy1998 says:

    Saw Avengers Endgame yesterday. I could have waited, but the wife is the big comic book movie fan, and she didn’t want to be spoiled. It was ok. I liked Infinity War better. The plot was what I had generally predicted (I was unspoiled too). It was entertaining, but not great.

    I did make loud, snarky comments during the trailer for the next Star Wars movie. I finally understand how the older Trek fans felt when the new Trek movies came out.

  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    Lots of people in the street in France too….

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6980499/Armageddon-rioting-breaks-Paris-extremist-demonstrators-hijack-Day-protests.html

    The Daily Mail LOVES them some guns in the hands of cops, funny how they aren’t military style weapons of war when held by the cops…. also note the camera in the pix…

    A police officer points a 40-millimetre rubber defensive bullet launcher

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    Like other ‘green’ companies, and so many modern companies Tesla isn’t in the business you think they are in. (Fbook is in the business of selling ads to bigcorp, google of spying for .gov, etc)

    In this case, Tesla is in the business of selling pollution credits.

    ” Tesla had reported “earnings” on April 24, a doozie of a net loss of $702 million. But today, after the hoopla of its earnings report had died down, Tesla disclosed a slew of things that it hadn’t disclosed last week, including a record amount of sales of pollution credits.

    Without those taxpayer-funded pollution credits that Tesla gets from the government and sells to other companies, its loss as automaker and solar-panel company would have been $918 million and its negative cash flow wouldn’t have been a cash drain of $919 million but a cash sinkhole of $1.14 billion

    Tesla calls these taxpayer-funded pollution credits – part of the package of rich corporate welfare programs that Corporate America benefits from in numerous ways – “regulatory credits.”

    The sales of these regulatory credits are booked as revenue, so they increase revenues by that amount. Since there are no costs associated with them, they also inflate by that amount gross profits, income from operations, net income, and cash flow. In other words, those taxpayer-funded credits are at the core of Tesla’s business model and flow straight from the top line all the way down to the bottom line.

  6. Harold Combs says:

    RE: Financial crime & Fraud

    Our firm has been hit again (4th time in 2 years) by a common fraud. Criminals will compromise the email system of a supplier, monitor traffic with customers and send companies a notice to change bank account to make payments to. After loosing over half a million dollars in the previous frauds, we had instituted policy to require finance dept. to verify any request to change payment bank accounts by phone. They didn’t bother in this case because the “vendor” provided a notarized PDF of the new bank account #. The PDF was created from a badly photo-shopped original captured from the vendors email traffic. In this case we only lost 6000 euros. These type of attacks generally go on for months and can net millions for the criminals.

  7. ech says:

    I did make loud, snarky comments during the trailer for the next Star Wars movie.

    Did you recognize where they copied the opening scene of the trailer from?

  8. Greg Norton says:

    Like other ‘green’ companies, and so many modern companies Tesla isn’t in the business you think they are in. (Fbook is in the business of selling ads to bigcorp, google of spying for .gov, etc)

    Haven’t figured out Magic Leap. It is a boondoggle, advanced and protected by the dominant racketeers in that part of Florida, but I have nary a clue about the goal beyond a classic Ponzi.

    Toyota will make something useful out of whats left of Tesla, but it will be a high end car with no pretending otherwise.

    Facebook has some interesting open source tech which someone will find useful after it implodes and “Lean In” goes back to teaching aerobics classes — the only job she’s had for which she’s been truly qualified.

  9. MrAtoz says:

    –nice photo, no disfunction in those girls’ lives…

    Only a few tats…

  10. ITGuy1998 says:

    Did you recognize where they copied the opening scene of the trailer from?

    Nope. Where?

  11. Greg Norton says:

    As predicted, the border searches have expanded. Worth remembering that the warrantless zone extends far enough from the border or point of entry to encompass something like 80% of the population.

    Lately, I travel with a laptop that runs Linux exclusively or stays booted into Linux for the duration of the trip. Things are more challenging for them that way.

    Linux doesn’t do anything about the Intel and AMD goodies which bypass the OS, but the older the machine, the less intrusive the Management Engine toys.

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    Just a few tats…. and the hair, and the promo logos on all their clothes…

    “The 420 Nurses Get Paid To Smoke Weed And Look Good | Herb
    https://herb.co/news/culture/420-nurses/

    Sep 24, 2017 – Getting paid to smoke pot and look good sounds like a pipe dream. But believe it or not, it’s legit. Just ask the 420 Nurses.”

    I actually had to go back and look for visible piercings, and didn’t see any other than ear.. which surprised me.

    n

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    “Lately, I travel with a laptop that runs Linux exclusively or stays booted into Linux for the duration of the trip. ”

    Doesn’t mean they won’t copy your hard drive. Do you use full drive encryption?

    The real players (.gov/.mil contractors) won’t let employees travel with their own laptops anymore, they issue them sterile ones for any cross border travel. They used to worry about searches by foreign actors.

    Now we have to worry about our own .gov.

    I’d be thinking about a compute stick, and a rock solid vpn…

    n

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    Even the ACLU….

    https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

    “Much of U.S. Population Affected

    Many people think that border-related policies only impact people living in border towns like El Paso or San Diego. The reality is that Border Patrol’s interior enforcement operations encroach deep into and across the United States, affecting the majority of Americans.
    Roughly two-thirds of the United States’ population lives within the 100-mile zone—that is, within 100 miles of a U.S. land or coastal border. That’s about 200 million people.
    Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont lie entirely or almost entirely within this area.
    Nine of the ten largest U.S. metropolitan areas, as determined by the 2010 Census, also fall within this zone: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego and San Jose.

  15. Bruce Friend says:

    Our poor British friends won’t even be able to cut up food in the kitchen any longer. No guns and now no knives. Welcome to the British nanny state.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6069878/poundland-stop-selling-knives-london-stabbings/

  16. CowboySlim says:

    Roughly two-thirds of the United States’ population lives within the 100-mile zone—that is, within 100 miles of a U.S. land or coastal border. That’s about 200 million people.

    I’m 1 1/2 miles from the Pacific Coast, just got back from walking my dog down to water’s edge. Did have Border Patrol about 3 miles up a few months ago when a panga boat came ashore with illegal aliens, crimmigrants.

  17. Greg Norton says:

    Doesn’t mean they won’t copy your hard drive. Do you use full drive encryption?

    No, but the contents of the laptop are generally uninteresting. Pictures and whatever code I’m working on as a side task at work.

    I understand the risks. About five years ago, I saw Brian Carrier’s papers on joining Sleuth Kit with Hadoop.

  18. lynn says:

    They didn’t bother in this case because the “vendor” provided a notarized PDF of the new bank account #.

    Sounds like somebody is walking the street today.

  19. lynn says:

    Couple who fell in love with the same woman they met at a business event now plan to start a family as a ‘thruple’ after he proposed to them BOTH with a diamond cut in two

    Jimmy Silva, 34, and ChaCha Sahagun, 31, have been dating for ten years
    The couple both fell for Summer Pelletier, 25, after meeting her in summer 2012
    They formed a triad but kept an open relationship until settling down last year
    Now they plan to start a family after Jimmy proposed to them both this month

    He’d better have a good job to support all those kids. And yes, polyamory is the new thing in the USA.

    I still maintain that lots of tattoos means that someone has been abused in their life. I have none, the wife has one (surgical), and our kids have none that we know of.

  20. Greg Norton says:

    He’d better have a good job to support all those kids. And yes, polyamory is the new thing in the USA.

    I still maintain that lots of tattoos means that someone has been abused in their life. I have none, the wife has one (surgical), and our kids have none that we know of.

    Polygamous marriage is the next step now that the legal precedent was established for gay marriage.

    Tattoos don’t bother me as much as the hypocrisy of people strategically covering up depending on the audience for personal or financial gain. Honestly, I never would have accepted the Seattle job involving a demotion before my first day at work if I had known the 40 year-old manager sported thousands of dollars in “sleeve” work (hid ’em with a long sleeve shirt in the interview).

  21. lynn says:

    Polygamous marriage is the next step now that the legal precedent was established for gay marriage.

    Does polygamy cover multiple guys too ? Because these new relationships are one to many guys and one to many women. The legal system is getting ready to get totally blown out of the water. The first thing that has to be gotten rid of is the bigamy laws in all 50+ states. Then the polygamy law embedded in the Utah State constitution.

  22. JimL says:

    Okay – I have to ask (again). Where, in the Constitution of these United States, does the Federal government have ANY interest in marriage at all? Is it not a matter for the states?

  23. lynn says:

    “FERC Adopts New Approach To Greenhouse Gas Emissions”
    https://gascompressionmagazine.com/2019/04/25/ferc-adopts-new-approach-to-greenhouse-gas-emissions/

    Why the heck is FERC even considering reputed greenhouse gas emissions ? There is no law from Congress authorizing this.

  24. JimL says:

    Why the heck is FERC even considering reputed greenhouse gas emissions ? There is no law from Congress authorizing this.

    Hah! They don’t need no stinkin’ laws! Just regulations is all they need. Says so right there on that roll of toilet paper.

  25. mediumwave says:

    This City Might Give Homeless People the Right to Camp Anywhere

    The bill’s authors are apparently clueless about the situation in Seattle:

    Seattle is Dying

  26. lynn says:

    “Classroom teachers can have guns. Painful debate marks final passage by Florida House.”
    https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article229906419.html

    Why not Texas ? This is long past due.

    Hat tip to:
    https://drudgereport.com/

    Wait, I just reread the article, “The bill is now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. For teachers and other staff to be armed, school districts must opt-in to the so-called “Guardian program,” which allows teachers and other staff to volunteer to carry a gun on campus after undergoing screening and training by a local sheriff’s office.”

    Texas has this already. Only 2 or 3 out of 1,000+ school districts in Texas allow their teachers to be armed. Stupid. All teachers should have the right to be armed if they wish and pass the LTC course.

  27. dkreck says:

    We had CCW in high schools here

    https://www.bakersfield.com/news/legislation-undoes-kern-high-school-district-policy-allowing-concealed-guns/article_5d4f3b84-b2b1-11e7-83d7-53a3458e0d0b.html

    for a very short time. Moonbeam and the rest of the gang immediately got the vapors and squashed it.

  28. lynn says:

    This City Might Give Homeless People the Right to Camp Anywhere

    The bill’s authors are apparently clueless about the situation in Seattle:

    Seattle is Dying

    We’ve got campers inside the primary loop (I-610) of Houston also. One spot that I see a lot is the I-69 / Hwy 59 Louisiana street entrance.

  29. paul says:

    This City Might Give Homeless People the Right to Camp Anywhere

    I suppose it is safe to assume I would get a ticket or hauled to jail for watering my yard via a sprinkler on the roof. Because rain is hateful.

  30. Greg Norton says:

    We’ve got campers inside the primary loop (I-610) of Houston also. One spot that I see a lot is the I-69 / Hwy 59 Louisiana street entrance.

    Anywhere along I35 in Downtown Austin.

  31. ech says:

    @ITGuy1998, the opening of the Star Wars IX trailer is a copy/homage to the crop duster scene from North By Northwest, one of Hitchcock’s best films.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIY7BQkbIT8

  32. lynn says:

    “A.F. Branco Cartoon – Bernie Voters”
    https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-bernie-voters/

    “The three main characters, Clapper, Brennan, and Comey, involved in spying on the Trump campaign may be worried about doing time after Barr is finished with the Spygate investigation. Political Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2019.”

    Heh.

  33. lynn says:

    We’ve got campers inside the primary loop (I-610) of Houston also. One spot that I see a lot is the I-69 / Hwy 59 Louisiana street entrance.

    Anywhere along I35 in Downtown Austin.

    Just another reason to stay off I-35 from San Antonio to Dallas.

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    Anywhere around or under 59 thru downtown and south there is a gigantic encampment. Under most overpasses you can find them either with tents, or tucked up like pigeons between the I beams.

    It’s nation wide and out of control.

    n

  35. Lynn says:

    Yeah and the weird thing is that it does not seem to be illegal immigrants. They seem to be able to get a real roof over their heads.

  36. Nick Flandrey says:

    Doing a couple of auction pickups in Austin tomorrow. Time available, I’ll go by the Surplus store, and probably the Goodwill outlet too. We’re supposed to get T storms and rain, hope not. I hate driving in that.

    n

  37. Greg Norton says:

    Doing a couple of auction pickups in Austin tomorrow. Time available, I’ll go by the Surplus store, and probably the Goodwill outlet too. We’re supposed to get T storms and rain, hope not. I hate driving in that.

    If you’re out near south Austin, we had just passable Cuban food at Cuba 512.

    We have really high standards for Cuban food. Cuba 512 was “Tampa Suburbs” good, the first place we’ve been in Texas which gets it right.

    (“Tampa Suburbs” good is not “Tampa, Columbus Ave.” good. The gold standard is “SW 8th St, Miami” good.)

    The restaurant had a La Caja China as part of the decor. I really want one of those … but not as a decoration.

  38. MrAtoz says:

    We frequent the “Cuba Cafe” in Vegas. It’s off of Tropicana just past UNLV. I don’t have anything to compare it with, but friends from the Caribe say it is great to them. There’s nothing like a hunk of slow roasted pig, plantains with garlic sauce and that root veggie the name I can’t remember. The rice in beans are mixed and stuffed into a cup then turned over to make a pyramid. They tell me it’s in the sauce that the Cubanos cook everything with. It’s mixed in with the rice and beans. Tastes great.

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    Last ‘real’ cuban food I ate was in Tampa somewhere, at a little cafe where I was the only white boy. Hamon y huevos, chunk of bread with margarine, cafe’ cubano. It was heaven and I’ve been chasing that dragon ever since. Haven’t caught it.

    n

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