Service With A Snarl
Another candidate for our not-entirely-suited-to-the-job file:
The elderly couple ordered a “carefully budgeted” $50 of groceries to be delivered to their home last Sunday… Nothing was amiss until they went outside to meet the driver, Tara, for fear that she might struggle with her vehicle in their snow-covered driveway. When they opened the front door, Tara yelled at them… while rocking her vehicle back and forth in the driveway.
It turned out the issue wasn’t snow.
The ostensible cause of Tara’s mental crisis can be viewed here.
Update, via the comments:
The individual in question, the one swollen with righteousness, is no longer employed.
Via I, Hypocrite, via Darleen. Also, open thread.
If the point of the Clarkson metaphor was to iterate that he is a rich prick that does rich prick things…well that’s pretty unassailable. An often entertaining rich prick, Clarkson, but alas.
Not at all a cult…
“…he is a rich prick that does rich prick things…”
Presumably he was a prick before he got rich.
Power game.
Not at all a cult…
Brings to mind when Obama/Kerry sent James Taylor to France as a diplomatic gesture.
Presumably he was a prick before he got rich.
I saw a great t-shirt the other day. It said:
Doesn’t the word “prize” when referring to a ship mean a captured enemy vessel?
Doesn’t the word “prize” when referring to a ship mean a captured enemy vessel?
Yes.
Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
“This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area…”
“This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area…”
Grumble.
Try this.
“This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area…”
B-b-but…Brexit? K…don’t tell anyone that I told you but…the People’s’ Republic of California has decided that chilluns shouldn’t has to get no grades no worse than C’s. Because fair or some shit.
Try this.
Thanks.
Because fair or some shit.
It’s all part of the mentality that *if we don’t report X, did X really happen?*
They do this for crime stats, why not school graduation stats or even teacher-student sex crimes?
Yep, about right.
The Directrix is correct. Very broadly, French warships were bigger – especially longer – shallower draft and more lightly built than British equivalents, which made them faster in favourable winds. British ships, conversely, were sturdier, more capable in unfavourable winds, and had greater endurance. Neither approach was wrong – both navies were usually successful in building ships that suited their strategy and circumstances. Because straight-line speed is something that any sea officer could easily quantify, French ships often had a good reputation, which is reflected in modern opinion; for an Admiralty tracking fleet serviceability rates and lifetime costs, the picture was more complicated. As a rule-of-thumb, though, the official Navy liked French frigates and disliked French battleships – the bigger the ship, the more fragile.
Spanish ships tended to be large for their rates and very well built, as well as being under-armed by British and French standards, which lessened wear-and-tear prior to capture. Thus the rule-of-thumb was reversed – Spanish battleships were more appreciated by the Admiralty than Spanish frigates, which were often too well built, and thus inferior sailors. No-one liked Dutch ships, which for both political and geographical reasons had fallen behind the times – small, indifferent construction quality, shallow draft. Danish ships, on the other hand, were considered excellent, with only their shallow draft being an issue. (The Brits made off with most of the Danish navy in 1807, so more examples of Danish ship-building to assess than one might guess.)
See also the much maligned SA80 family. Originally designed for the Cold War turning hot across central Europe, but actually used in anger in various deserts… The various mods down the years delt with many of the problems.
Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
“Bad report cards could soon be a thing of the past in California as some of the state’s largest school districts are dropping “D” and “F” grades…High schoolers who fail a test or homework assignment can get a do-over or more time to complete the work.
Students who don’t ever finish the assignments or who fail the final exam would earn an “incomplete,” according to EdSource.
The move is called competency-based learning. Advocates argue that assessment should be based on mastery of learning — what students have learned instead of how they test.”
Competency-based learning? Just more Orwellian bullshit from the left.
The real reason for such policies is the embarrassing failure of so many black kids to even demonstrate minimal competency. Instead of demanding that kids behave (and expel those who will not) and study hard, the left prefers to cover up failure. Everyone gets a prize.
Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.
And to reinforce that point, blacks spend only about one third as much time reading as do whites:
Avg hrs per day – Reading for personal interest, 2019:
White: 0.30
Black: 0.12
Regarding the soviet equipment supplied to the egyptians; their lack of battlefield success was more likely due to lack of, or inferior training in comparison to their opponents. Soviet export T-72’s /62s were roughly equivalent in firepower, fire control systems, mobility, protection, etc to the American made M60/M48 series of tanks.
In the ME wars, there was actually quite a mix of equipment on both sides, some of it dating back to WWII. The deciding factors in the various conflicts were not usually found in the equipment.
Regarding the soviet equipment supplied to the egyptians; their lack of battlefield success was more likely due to lack of, or inferior training in comparison to their opponents.
Why Arabs Lose Wars
@Pooklord
The Soviets also tended to strip a lot of the more interesting bits off the export versions of their vehicles. Electronics especially, but the policy extended to stuff like downgrading the contents of composite armor packages.
Soviet MBTs in particular were pretty optimized to work only within the larger apparatus of the Red Army supply and maintenance apparatus, and for a pretty specific concept of employment, which I think has caused a lot of confusion over the years.
That said, most Middle Eastern armies would fail even if provided with Platonically ideal equipment. As you say, people, training, doctrine, and institutional culture are far greater influences on effectiveness than hardware.
“Students who don’t ever finish the assignments or who fail the final exam would earn an “incomplete,” according to EdSource.
The move is called competency-based learning.”
Using their own logic, shouldn’t the little darlings get an “incompetent” rather than an “incomplete?”
Why Arabs Lose Wars
I get an “error 404” for that link.
“Why Arabs Lose Wars”
404
Well, that didn’t take long.
I think this is it:
https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars
404
New link via UNC.
The Brits seem to have a penchant for adding superfluous letters and syllables to words.
404
Sorry. I just copied and pasted the link from my archives without verifying that it still worked.
New link via UNC.
I hate it when people reorganize their websites with no provision for redirecting old links to the new locations.
LA public schools takes a dim view of requiring black students to stand still in line or raise their hands in class because these are not black norms. Also not black norms: refraining from assaulting people. Treating others with respect. Shunning gangster culture. Not being a racist POS.
LA public schools takes a dim view of requiring black students…
Apparently also any students from being, well, students.
What could possibly go wrong?
What could possibly go wrong?
They will count it a win if we are all equal but all starving to death. Except for them and other members of the Inner Party.
Real estate website Redfin abandons publishing neighborhood crime data because it “reinforces racial bias against blacks“.
Found via “VDare because the corporate news media will not report this.
Crime data also removed from real estate websites Realtor.com and Zillow. We must allow ourselves to be mugged or murdered in the name of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. To refuse to do so would be racist.
Soviet MBTs in particular were pretty optimized to work only within the larger apparatus of the Red Army supply and maintenance apparatus
Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.
Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.
Indeed. But “Why Arabs Lose Wars” is a reminder that one must also study cultures.
Fortnite cited in five percent of divorce cases. I admit that this is from 2018, and has more sensationalism value than anything else, but it gets us close to breaking 200 comments–and that’s what really matters.
Cultural Enrichment in New York City: “3 out of every 5 subway trips I’ve taken in the last year have featured some kind of disconcerting disorder.“
“3 out of every 5 subway trips I’ve taken in the last year have featured some kind of disconcerting disorder.”
The NYC subway system has always been ever thus. A subway cop in New York has a higher chance of being assaulted than a New York cop. My wife and I took our kids (6 and 10 at the time) to NYC in 2008 to see the final subway series between the Mets and the Yankees (it was the final season in Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium) and we saw this kind of stuff on the subway going to and coming from the games and it wasn’t caused by people who were going to or coming from the games. Not to mention that the subway was almost unrideable in the late seventies and early eighties.
The NYC subway system has always been ever thus
But there have been periods that were better and periods that were worse. We are currently in a particularly bad period.
However, there is a simple, straightforward solution: lock up the criminals until they are too old and feeble to harm anyone. Pity that liberals are so wedding to being nice to criminals.
We are currently in a particularly bad period
Come back, Bernhard Goetz, all is forgiven.
Indeed. But “Why Arabs Lose Wars” is a reminder that one must also study cultures.
The moral is to the physical as three to one.
However, there is a simple, straightforward solution: lock up the criminals until they are too old and feeble to harm anyone.
I think it would help in the case you provided, but too many of the cases you encounter are caused by mental illness and/or drug/alcohol dependency. These are things we also need to come to terms with since we opened up the institutions that used to deal with these issues starting in the late sixties/early seventies.
These are things we also need to come to terms with
This is an issue that has no good solution, only less bad ones. Incarcerating people against their will without due process of law is anathema to any free society, and as we’ve seen can be easily perverted to serve the power of the state. I know two separate people who were committed against their will while in crisis and it took their family weeks to months to get them released. In the one case the husband showed up at the hospital with a lawyer and two private security contractors and made it clear he was taking his wife home now and f*ck the consequences.
On the other hand, these people can be dangerous to the community around them and waiting for them to commit a crime so they can be incarcerated with due process of law doesn’t seem like a very good option either.
I think it would help in the case you provided, but too many of the cases you encounter are caused by mental illness and/or drug/alcohol dependency.
No reason that “lock them up” cannot be applied to the mentally ill, albeit with pleasant facilities and kinder staff.
And I have heard (without corroboration) that some Asian countries have achieved some success reforming addicts with “go clean or get dead” policies. Certainly it is true that much of our trouble is due to brain-dead squishy liberal policies of infinite mercy for the incorrigible.
This is an issue that has no good solution, only less bad ones. Incarcerating people against their will without due process of law is anathema to any free society
I would never advocate throwing out due process of law.
The case you cite seems to be one where there was no prior evidence to justify institutionalizing the killer. On the other hand, I can cite a man who was was known to be very strange and who was institutionalized only after stalking my mother and colleagues. I have no idea if he spent a few years or the rest of his life in a psychiatric hospital, but he was never seen again in the neighborhood. Stalking is not murder, but the investigation of his behavior and mental state determined that he was dangerous enough to lock up.
waiting for them to commit a crime so they can be incarcerated with due process of law doesn’t seem like a very good option either.
A good summary of the challenges dealing with these problems. My brother-in-law’s brother was schizophrenic, a condition that was “controllable” with medication. He stopped taking his meds and beat his father nearly to death. Unfortunately, much of the violence done by the mentally ill is done to family. The brother was never locked up and I’m not suggesting he should have been, but the family would have fought it. Sadly, the brother who was a gentle soul when on medication stopped taking his medication again, left his supervised home and died in the streets.
There is no easy answer to these problems.
He stopped taking his meds and beat his father nearly to death.
That seems to be a very frequent problem. It seems reasonable that taking the meds should be a strictly enforced condition of freedom. And perhaps more people should be assigned by courts to facilities where this can be enforced and behavior supervised.
Certainly there are no easy answers: In the real world there are rarely nice solutions, only trade-offs.
But given the current situation, it is clearly time to force the pendulum to swing back toward restriction of liberty.
And as for gang-bangers, I continue to marvel at cases where the criminal’s vicious and depraved nature is clearly demonstrated and yet he gets a minimal sentence because he didn’t actually kill his victim.
And perhaps more people should be assigned by courts to facilities where this can be enforced and behavior supervised.
Good luck with that. These are the same sort of facilities that were going to protect the elderly from CoVid only worse. Institutions tend to meet violence with violence and I’m not sure that has ever worked. Having said that, I believe that institutions have a role to play with the mentally ill.
it is clearly time to force the pendulum to swing back toward restriction of liberty.
Oh yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan.
Have you been paying attention at all the last 18 months?
Real estate website Redfin abandons publishing neighbourhood crime data
This, we’re told, is a “troubling sign” of “racial bias.” No other possibilities exist, apparently. Say, regarding one’s expectations. And then there’s an obvious question – why would so many victims of crime lie about the race of their attacker, thereby making it much less likely that said attacker will be apprehended and face any kind of consequences?
As so often, wokeness is gaslighting.