Just Wow

[JFW657]

54 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

This is a horrible straw man you are building there.

Police are certainly necessary and no one is saying they aren't. But they have massively over-funded budgets that could be much better allocated in the communities to help people.

I've had two robberies in our shop this year that we called the cops for. The first one they didn't show for over an hour and told me good luck call us if you see the guy. Second time they did show up rather quickly but after realizing they would have to review security footage they just told me to work with my insurance company because its not worth finding them. Their solve rates are hilariously low, we pay for very little results and people would not keep any other job that you succeeded in 18% of the time.

 

Beyond the poor budgeting it is to keep over-funding them we're not even getting into the history of white supremacy built into policing.

Talk about a horrible strawman... 

One thing you seem to be forgetting is that  there is something called The Constitution that police are required to strictly adhere to.  Meaning that they can't just go around rousting any suspects they feel like until they hopefully find the right one. People have rights and, as we have been seeing more and more of in the past few years, let the cops violate one of these rights and the next thing you know there will be protest marchers blocking the streets and big lawsuits against the city or county. 

As for the response time.... if you had a robbery occur at the same time there were shootings, serious vehicle accidents, domestic violence events, car jackings, aggravated assaults with deadly weapons, etc, etc, etc.... you can hardly blame them for prioritizing.  I think hospital ER's call that triage. 

And by the same token, if it's already difficult to get police service for incidents like yours that get lower priority, how is cutting police budgets so that they can afford to hire even fewer officers going to make it better? 

You made a perfect case for giving them MORE funding!!!!

As for the white supremacy comment, I'm not even going to bother addressing that. 

[Uncommon]

52 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Talk about a horrible strawman... 

One thing you seem to be forgetting is that  there is something called The Constitution that police are required to strictly adhere to.  Meaning that they can't just go around rousting any suspects they feel like until they hopefully find the right one. People have rights and, as we have been seeing more and more of in the past few years, let the cops violate one of these rights and the next thing you know there will be protest marchers blocking the streets and big lawsuits against the city or county. 

As for the response time.... if you had a robbery occur at the same time there were shootings, serious vehicle accidents, domestic violence events, car jackings, aggravated assaults with deadly weapons, etc, etc, etc.... you can hardly blame them for prioritizing.  I think hospital ER's call that triage. 

And by the same token, if it's already difficult to get police service for incidents like yours that get lower priority, how is cutting police budgets so that they can afford to hire even fewer officers going to make it better? 

You made a perfect case for giving them MORE funding!!!!

As for the white supremacy comment, I'm not even going to bother addressing that. 

EDIT: Not worth it.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Uncommon

[JFW657]

17 hours ago, Uncommon said:

EDIT: Not worth it.

Right back atcha there, bub.  

Have a nice day.   

[aent]

20 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Talk about a horrible strawman... 

 

Honestly I think if you spoke to business owners, you'd see his experience is far from unique. I'm currently dealing with a vandalism incident with more then $10k damage, and I can't even get an officer to respond to take the report. They apparently got a call with the tag of the vehicle, matching up with security camera footage, and all I can get is its not a priority for them to come out to take a report, somebody should call me back in the next day or two.... and thats been going on for a week now. Unfortunately the police in this area really don't like crimes that have victims... only the victimless ones.

And I'm not a "defund the police" guy, I'm generally small government, but recognize what they do is difficult or impossible to privatize or otherwise outsource. Its just the priorities are wrong. End the war on drugs, and start putting all of the focus on crimes with real victims, whether they're small businesses, individuals, or whoever.

[JFW657]

24 minutes ago, aent said:

Honestly I think if you spoke to business owners, you'd see his experience is far from unique. I'm currently dealing with a vandalism incident with more then $10k damage, and I can't even get an officer to respond to take the report. They apparently got a call with the tag of the vehicle, matching up with security camera footage, and all I can get is its not a priority for them to come out to take a report, somebody should call me back in the next day or two.... and thats been going on for a week now. Unfortunately the police in this area really don't like crimes that have victims... only the victimless ones.

And I'm not a "defund the police" guy, I'm generally small government, but recognize what they do is difficult or impossible to privatize or otherwise outsource. Its just the priorities are wrong. End the war on drugs, and start putting all of the focus on crimes with real victims, whether they're small businesses, individuals, or whoever.

I dunno.

The Orlando metro area has over 2.5 million people.

OPD has about 25.7 sworn officers per 10k population

If 10% of those 10k people are engaged in some incident or activity (either as victim or perpetrator) that merits police attention or involvement, that is still 1,000 people to deal with per 25.7 officers on any given day. If it's only 5%, that is still roughly 500 people per 25.7 officers.

Etc, etc.

People who want to be protected from criminals but hate or resent the police because it's politically correct and popular nowadays to broad brush them as evil racists, are just not rational. 

I'm all for increasing the size of the police departments and giving them a bit more leeway in how they deal with combative suspects.

And I'm willing to pay any resulting increase in taxes.

Don't want your a** kicked by a cop? 

Stop doing stuff that causes them to detain you in the first place and if they do detain you, treat them with respect and cooperation.

Problem solved.

[AmIReal]

In case you want to send a belated bday card... The City of Orlando celebrated its 146th birthday on July 31.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/07/31/from-1875-to-now-orlando-marks-its-146th-birthday/

My invitation was probably lost in the mail.

[spenser1058]

Meanwhile, in Miami Beach:

Florida police officers arrested after videos showed them kicking handcuffed suspect, punching the person recording it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/03/five-miami-beach-officers-arrested/

From The Washington Post

[spenser1058]

Also from South Florida, sanity triumphs at the 4th District Court of Appeals:

Woman had right to videotape police without being arrested, court rules. Now you do too.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/fl-ne-police-videorecording-opinion-20210804-pbqbqgusjjdb3gtloioqn6ivlm-story.html

From The Sentinel 

Edited August 4, 2021 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

CVS starting wage to $13 by September; $15 by next July:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-cvs-minimum-wage-rise-orlando-20210804-4hl5ca2xbnebjirl3dzebgh7le-story.html

From The Sentinel 

[spenser1058]

One important way to fix inequality in America - “If You’ve Paid Your Debt To Society, You Should Be Allowed To Work”. If you’ve ever dealt with all the obstacles thrown in the way of those returning to society, you’d be baffled that anyone ever gets out of the crime and punishment loop. I sure was when I was working to help folks in those situations.

And it’s by no means just a liberal thing. This great essay on how to fix this is by Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of Chase Bank:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/opinion/clean-slate-incarceration-work.html?referringSource=articleShare

From The New York Times

 

 

[spenser1058]

I confess it’s amazing to be living through the latest version of the tap water fluoridation brouhaha that gave us the John Birch Society, among other things. 

Growing up, we laughed about such things (thanks in no small part to the Smothers Brothers and Archie Bunker’s arrival on network TV) and assumed the country had progressed and moved on. How wrong we apparently were.
 

[spenser1058]

For first time, average pay for supermarket and restaurant workers tops $15 an hour

$15 an hour is suddenly the rule, not the exception, for U.S. workers. It’s a major shift from pre-pandemic.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/08/fifteen-dollar-wage/

FromThe Washington Post

 

 

[spenser1058]

Orlando places 8th in the country in wage- income gap:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-ne-orlando-ranks-eight-for-largest-renter-wage-gap-study-says-20210806-n6h2sxti65bl7fg7x7evpwj2mi-story.html
 

From The Sentinel 

It takes an average wage of $23/hr to afford a 1-bedroom apartment here.

 

[spenser1058]

A war erupts in Queens - who owns the street? the people or the vehicles? 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/nyregion/open-streets-jackson-heights.html?referringSource=articleShare

From The New York Times 

[spenser1058]

The folks at FOX News will be shocked but there are areas of the country where immigrants are welcome. What even progressives don’t know is that includes places like Northwest Arkansas.

It’s been good for immigrants and also awesome for the communities:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/immigration-arkansas-population.html?referringSource=articleShare
 

From The New York Times 

 

[orange87]

The Senate passed the bipartisan $1.2 trillion physical infrastructure bill. It now heads to the House. Unfortunately I don't think it goes nearly far enough given the substandard shape of the U.S.'s aging infrastructure. I read somewhere that China spends around $8 trillion on infrastructure a year. Granted they have a substantially larger population than we do and the U.S. has had real infrastructure in place for 100+ years, but still.  I do like the amendment that allows states to use unused COVID relief state funds on physical infrastructure too.

As for the "human infrastructure" bill; I think there are some missed opportunities with this. Lowering cannabis from a schedule I to a schedule II drug which would allow for better/easier medical cannabis research and would reduce simple possession penalties federally. They could raise the federal minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 and implement an annual automatic cost of living adjustment. Neither of those things would be controversial in the slightest and would help many Americans.

Edited August 10, 2021 by orange87

[spenser1058]

Have pathetic wages and the Tallahassee Idiots finally killed the golden goose of growth in the Sunshine State?

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/scott-maxwell-commentary/os-prem-op-florida-population-growth-slows-scott-maxwell-20210810-tpuekstnybda5f2tav5zpfvzum-story.html

From The Sentinel 

 

[spenser1058]

Beware of FRED!!!!!!!!!!!

[spenser1058]

Will you be hanging out with FRED!?!

[Uncommon]

On 8/10/2021 at 5:43 PM, spenser1058 said:

Have pathetic wages and the Tallahassee Idiots finally killed the golden goose of growth in the Sunshine State?

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/scott-maxwell-commentary/os-prem-op-florida-population-growth-slows-scott-maxwell-20210810-tpuekstnybda5f2tav5zpfvzum-story.html

From The Sentinel 

 

Then a day later, the Sentinel’s headliner was that Florida defied the odds and was one of the few states with explosive growth according to the Census lol.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Uncommon

[spenser1058]

48 minutes ago, Uncommon said:

Then a day later, the Sentinel’s headliner was that Florida defied the odds and was one of the few states with explosive growth according to the Census lol.

The Census was the last decade. Maxwell’s story is about currently. It remains to be seen which way we’re headed. If Scott’s report is true, it presents a problem. The entire underpinnings of how the state runs is based on unchecked growth. While I think that’s a helluva way to run a state, it’s going to unleash huge dislocations if it’s slowing down. In OC, for example, our economy is often described as a three-legged stool: tourism, tech and growth. The stool won’t stand if one of the three legs wobbles.

[jack]

17 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The Census was the last decade. Maxwell’s story is about currently. It remains to be seen which way we’re headed. If Scott’s report is true, it presents a problem. The entire underpinnings of how the state runs is based on unchecked growth. While I think that’s a helluva way to run a state, it’s going to unleash huge dislocations if it’s slowing down. In OC, for example, our economy is often described as a three-legged stool: tourism, tech and growth. The stool won’t stand if one of the three legs wobbles.

One, it sure does not feel like growth slowed in the past year But I am looking at the largest cities in Florida. Maybe the smaller counties have slowed down. 

Two, it is hard to look at anything too seriously over the past year and try to develop a model for it. Covid wrecked everything. 

[spenser1058]

7 minutes ago, jack said:

One, it sure does not feel like growth slowed in the past year But I am looking at the largest cities in Florida. Maybe the smaller counties have slowed down. 

Two, it is hard to look at anything too seriously over the past year and try to develop a model for it. Covid wrecked everything. 

I agree we’re going to have to wait a year or two past COVID to know for sure. What we do know is that South Florida is slowing down and states like SC are getting more aggressive about going after the retirees.

[aent]

4 hours ago, jack said:

One, it sure does not feel like growth slowed in the past year But I am looking at the largest cities in Florida. Maybe the smaller counties have slowed down. 

Two, it is hard to look at anything too seriously over the past year and try to develop a model for it. Covid wrecked everything. 

The reduction in growth in the current year is entirely a result of a lack of labor and materials. There is unmatched demand, but many of our top selling communities, liMy company's construction times are up 50% this year as a result ke Lake Nona, have said they cannot source the materials nor build fast enough for demand. Thats been my experience working in the industry as well.

[spenser1058]

I was sad to see Tom T. Hall has passed at 85. Not only did he write some amazing message songs like “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, he was one of the most down to earth stars in Nashville.

He and his longtime wife also worked to bring up young folks in performing, singing and the like at their studio on a big farm south of town.

I got to meet him once while having lunch at the Ruby Tuesday in Green Hills and he was just as polite as any Southern gentleman could be and yet had a slightly wicked sense of humor.

Condolences to his family and friends. Let’s all have a glass of watermelon wine tonight and I’ll ponder the four short years I spent in Nashville when I was almost as young and pretty as our whippersnappers here at UP.

Edited August 22, 2021 by spenser1058