Author: Derek

Niece Birthday Outing

For her birthday, my niece asked her uncles if they would take her and her friends to a trampoline park. This was accomplished, and the day generated some observations:

  1. Trampoline parks are great for burning off the seemingly boundless energy of children.
  2. It’s amazing how much I can write in a noisy place with constant interruptions of one or more children coming back to the table to rest.
  3. It is adorable to listen to three ten-year-old girls discuss the chicken dance. Particularly if you should clap or peck at the end because “pecking is more realistic.”
  4. The black hole that is my nephew’s stomach drives him to rather insane lengths in order to satisfy it. I’m almost tempted to get him a bandolier of snack bars to get him through the day. All in all, a great time was had by all.
  5. It is still weird when I run into colleagues from work in non-work settings.

After All, It’s Not Their Money

Across the bay, the city of St. Petersburg wants to force homeowners to add solar panels anytime they put on a new roof.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/08/31/st-petersburg-wants-to-force-you-to-put

They might make an exception for existing homes, but any new buildings, the city council at wants panels. And the homeowner or building owner gets to foot the bill. For another $10K. That’s about three times what I paid to put a new roof on my house last year. It’s about double what my mom paid for her roof.

All the council wants to focus on is all the energy they think this will generate. They refuse to think about:

  1. Solar isn’t as efficient as they expect.

  2. The cost to upgrade the grid to handle all that new energy generation.

  3. It will slow down development in St. Pete due to rising costs.

  4. People will have to take on more debt to do roof replacements. This will most likely lead to an uptick in foreclosures because some people will be unable to pay.

  5. Those who have to save up the cash will forgo necessary roof replacements, which will lead to even more problems, and more drains on people’s limited resources.

Of course, it’s not their money. So why should they give a damn if their brilliant idea hurts people.

New Report on “Release Time”

From Reason comes news of a new report released by the James Madison Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute on how much taxpayer money is used by government employees to do union work.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/08/31/report-florida-unions-milk-taxpayers-for

The big news is Miami-Dade spending $9 million in salary for hours its employees were doing union work. Well, maybe. No one knows for sure because Miami-Dade doesn’t ask the union to account for those hours.

Since I live in Tampa, I took a look at this part. Almost $367,000 for FY16. Again, no accountability as to what union members were doing during those “release hours”.

So, my question is why should I be forced to pay through my tax dollars for public employees to work for the union, which definitely doesn’t have my interests as a taxpayer at heart?

Taking The Nephew To Scouts Again

Due to his father’s new job, I have been designated as the new chauffeur for my nephew to his Boy Scouts meeting. I fully intend on using the time waiting for him to either A) get caught up on comics or B) getting some writing done – both of which I can do on my tablet.

The other fun bit is that the boy is now old enough for different audiobooks than those we listened to when he went to Cub Scouts. I’ve already started him on Hardcore History’s “Ghosts of the Ostfront” series.

Why Am I An Optimist?

Because as bad as civil discourse on social media can get, there are people who prove that when the fecal matter impacts the turbine the good get going. Case in point: the Cajun Navy.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/ct-cajun-navy-hurricane-harvey-20170828-story.html

These are folks who dropped everything, hitched up their boats, and drove for hours on the chance that they can rescue people in their darkest hour. Not because someone was paying them or they were forced to at gunpoint, but because of an altruistic desire to save lives. One guy in the article reports rescuing forty people. Forty Frickin’ People.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m generally optimistic when it comes to people.

Want to Help Harvey’s Victims?

Charity Navigator put up its vetted charities working to help the victims from Hurricane Harvey.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=5239

Mine will be going to the American Red Cross, but find one that appeals to you.

Giving the Police Military Hardware

The Trump administration is reversing an Obama administration decision and opening up the spigot for police agencies to receive surplus military equipment. What could go wrong?

Well, let’s look back at SWAT team histories. Originally they were developed for dealing with very specific, low occurrence, high threat situations. In that context, it makes sense to have a group available. Except the only place where SWAT teams are regularly taking down heavily armed bad guys is on television. Instead, SWAT teams are doing drug raids. And it’s not like they’re hitting the Cocaine Cowboys of 1980’s Miami.

Giving military equipment to police encourages those police to find new and inventive ways of using them. Usually in the highly violent world of SWAT.

Derek’s Mildly Useful Reviews – The Hitman’s Bodyguard

I suck at doing reviews. Still, I feel the need to express my opinions about various things. So, for my first mildly useful review, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”.

TL;DR – Amusing as hell with a decent amount of pleasing action tropes

The Good:

1. Ryan Reynolds

2. Samuel L. Jackson

3. Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson playing off of each other

4. Lots of gunfights, chases, and explosions

5. Selma Hayek

The Bad:

1. Plot barely hangs together

2. Reynolds love story is kinda stupid

3. This is not “John Wick” with better actors

Going To Do My Civic Duty

I got something that I haven’t gotten for about fifteen years – a jury summons. It’s been even longer than that since I sat at the courthouse waiting to be called. That got me to thinking of what has changed in my thinking since the last time I sat in the pool.

1. I started carrying a gun on a regular basis. That alone has radically shifted my worldview, but then I attended trainings and started learning about the legalities of self defense – and the intricacies of the legal system.

2. I don’t have the automatic deference to police that my younger self had. Because of the powers that a police officer are granted, I’m more likely to hold them to a higher standard.

3. I don’t trust forensics as much as I used to. Some forensic tools, such as DNA testing, were developed through rigorous processes, and are generally reliable. Others, such as handwriting and hair analysis, were developed in crime labs, and are less reliable. Then there’s the small item of the numerous lab scandals.

4. I no longer expect the heroic prosecutors and scumbag defense attorneys. If anything, I don’t trust either side. Probably about as much as I trust MSNBC and Fox to present their cases.

And now I have to go through my EDC and start yanking out stuff that is not allowed at the courthouse. That may take a bit.