July 2011 – Page 2 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Just Assume All Photographers Are Pervs

I’m pretty sure that’s the mindset we’re headed towards with stories about fathers and grandfathers being run off of public areas or reported to the police for taking pictures of their own family members. When a raving lunatic woman gets in a man’s face screaming at him for no other reason than he’s taking pictures of his grandchild in his care at the park, where is the media report about a crazed woman attacking men with families?

I love how the local media jumped on the lynch mob bandwagon without actually asking police for more details about the incident that may have given them a clue there’s no probable cause or actual reason for suspicion.

But what really caught my attention was from the related stories. I somehow missed that NJ has a bill that would ban anyone from taking pictures if minors were in it and their parents didn’t feel like it was a situation where their child should be photographed. The punishment? Three to five years in prison and/or a fine up to $15K.

The bill’s sponsors freely admit that it’s completely unconstitutional, but they just want to do something about those perverts who take pictures in public places where minors run around freely. Like this person. Or this one. Or this one.

When it gets the point where I can go through the galleries of scrapbooking sites to find moms who have pictures of their children posted with other minors in the background and declare that in New Jersey, they could face five years in prison if lawmakers get their way, something has gone terribly wrong in our society.

I think what also bothers me is that if the mother in the initial story who screamed at the grandfather truly believed he was a threat, she handled the situation in the wrong way. There’s such a thing as asking questions – questions like “Which one is yours?” – that would give you ammunition if you really did need to call the cops. If you can tell them that a man is truly behaving suspiciously – running from polite contact, admitting that he has no children on site, and he actually does something creepy to or around one of the children, then there’s room for them to investigate. That might actually lead to a situation where a potentially dangerous person is removed from the park, and possibly put behind bars if they discover illegal activities. If I were a mother, I would think that is a far better solution than running around a park screaming at men for no other crime than they have a penis and are caring for their own children or grandchildren. But then again, that might be my sanity getting in the way.

Is This the Hope?

Or the change? Maybe Apple needs to develop an iGovernment app. Couldn’t be worse than Congress, could it?

Another Low Ice Cream Day

Sorry about the light posting today. It’s been an up and down day, and being mentally drained from the roller coaster ride, I just didn’t have the energy to pour some more batter in the free ice cream machine.

I had one solid lead evaporate this morning (or perhaps a solid lead should more accurately sublimate?). I had another develop, then evaporate, then turn into a weak lead. Then I heard back from dream job number two, and they want a phone interview. I hadn’t heard from them so figured they weren’t interested. Guess not!Â I’ve managed to get some call backs from some very prestigious places, so I’m pleased with that, but until there’s cash on the table, I’m not going to relax.

The first two weeks of unemployment weren’t too bad. The last two have been difficult. Money is not an issue, as I’ve projected that my severance easily gets me into next year at my current burn rate, which still has me paying the mortgage, other bills, and eating better than soup and ramen. I do miss going out to eat, which we did at least once a week when until in May I found out the company was closing, but that sacrifice hasn’t been nearly as bad as I would have expected. We like to cook, and now we have time. Â I’m more worried about the stigma of being out of work for a long time. I’m approaching the end of the fourth week since we shut down, and while I’ve had plenty of hits, and a few leads, it’s just taking a while to progress them.

Canton Video: Round Two

Seems this isn’t the first time this cop lost his cool. Follow the link, as the video is not embeddable. This suspect had an illegal gun, but this guy still really needs to find another line of work. Police work is not something he’s cut out for.

â€œDonâ€™t (expletive) move. Let me see your (expletive) hands,â€ Harless shouted. â€œIâ€™ll kill every one of you (expletive). Thereâ€™s a (expletive) gun in this car. You (expletive) move, Iâ€™ll shoot you in the head.â€

Harless also threatened to send the suspects â€œto the graveâ€ if they moved, adding, â€œI will shoot you in the face and Iâ€™ll go to sleep tonight.â€

If this officer ever does have to shoot someone, even if it’s legitimately self-defense, the statements appearing in these videos are going to greatly complicate his life unless it’s a cut-and-dry clean shoot, which is not often the case.

I also suggest this guy isn’t too good about controlling the situation. In what universe does a guy have a gun in a car illegally, and you don’t pull him out of the car and cuff him as soon as you realize it? Wouldn’t you at least want to remove the gun? Does he maybe want the suspect to pick up the gun, so he has an excuse? You really have to wonder.

Tough Aspects of Job Searching

One thing I can say, I’m tired of writing either formal cover letters, or formal e-mails that serve the purpose of a cover letter. It takes me minutes to bang out most medium length blog posts, because I do little proofreading and refining. Cover letters have to be as close to perfect as possible, and I go over them with a fine tooth comb, then have Bitter go over them with a fine tooth comb.

The one aspect I find very difficult is balancing possible offers. Right now I have no offers on the table, but several leads. One lead I have an interview scheduled for, and am very optimistic about. It’s going to be a pay cut because I’d be moving to an academic environment. The job is a step up in title, however. The other lead, which I developed just this morning, is well within my skills, but it’s a gig with a consulting company. It is also a pay cut, but seems to be coming in about the same level as the academic position, is not a step up in title, but well within my set of skills. The third lead is a long shot, but a dream job with a very well known and well respected company. I had a fourth lead, but found out today, after a phone interview, they didn’t think I had the skills they needed.

The quandary is, do you just try to go as fast as possible to an offer, any offer, or do you hold out for the job you think you really want? This is an easy answer when you already have a job; you hold out for the job you really want. When you’re unemployed, that’s a much harder decision. I’m doing my best to try to synchronize the process as much as possible. I think it comes down to this: I won’t turn down an offer on the table, that I’m mostly satisfied with, for a long shot at an offer I’d be very happy with. But I may turn down an offer I’m only mostly satisfied with for a pretty good chance at an offer I’m happy with.

Salary negotiation for the unemployed is tough, though. I expected any job not with my previous employer was going to be a salary cut. Our company was unstable for several years, and they could not afford to lose me. I was paid a pretty good risk premium for sticking it out. It’s looking increasingly likely I will not be able to make that back in a new job. Everything I’ve been looking at, except the jobs in New York City, are a 20% cut in my previous salary. Jobs in New York City pay better, but it’s about a 20% premium that needs to be added to those jobs to cover commuting and New York State taxes, which are, to put it mildly, insane.

I have little doubt I’ll find something by the end of the summer, it’s just going to be a question of whether I get something I really enjoy, or have to settle. Salary cut is already largely a given, and that’s painful, but I’d hate to get paid less for a job I hate.

UPDATE: Just got word the lead I developed today evaporated just as quickly. It was short term contract work that would not result in full time employment. I’m still turning down contract work right now, but that could change in a few weeks.

New Shooter

Shooting Illustrated takes a new shooter to the range. It’s someone you might know.

Debt Ceiling Negotiations

The big problem, as best I can see, is that the President and the Democrats are acting like they didn’t lose the 2010 midterms big time, and the Republicans are acting like they won the Senate and the White House. There are two fundamental truths here, that is the debt ceiling needs to be raised, and to accomplish that, there’s going to need to be compromise. There was no universe where the GOP taking the House in 2010 was going to eliminate the deficit. Those cuts will need to happen over a period of years, and it’ll require a GOP Senate, and a responsible adult in the White House. Note I don’t say Republican in the White House. We tried that formula for six years, and it only resulted in spending that was only mostly out of control, rather than spending that was completely out of control.

Kahr Settles Suit for $600,000

Kahr Arms has settled a suit brought by the family of a shooting victim, with help from the Brady Campaign. I’m going to bet for a company the size of Kahr, this is a serious chunk of change. They had motioned to have the case dismissed under the PLCAA, but the judge never ruled on the motion because settlement talks were proceeding. I don’t think PLCAA would have preempted this kind of suit. Kahr probably realized that too, which is why they settled.

The case came about because a drug-addicted employee of Kahr pilfered a few pistols from the assembly line before they were stamped with serial numbers. Most manufacturers have security systems in place to prevent guns from walking out of the plant, but Kahr apparently did not. Because this was a negligence suit, there’s a strong argument PLCAA would not apply.

Glad That’s Settled

There’s no First Amendment right to bark at a police dog. Ironic, since I think there probably is a constitutional right to bark at a police officer.

Shelley on Concealing

Shelley at Gun Nuts says:

A lot of people are quick to observe how a gun would not work for concealed carry but seem hesitant to think about how it could. Â With the right holster and the right outfit it is much easier than most people expect to conceal carry full size firearms, much less a compact or smaller.

I’ve carried a Glock 19 pretty much since I’ve been carrying. It’s concealable in Winter, easily. Summer concealment is doable too, but does pretty much rule out the khakis and polo common in offices during summer months. I’ve been able to conceal it with an untucked t-shirt by moving to the 2:00 position (not practical if you’re going to spend any time sitting). I’ve also found looking down, you’re in a much better position to see printing than someone looking at your head on. Always ask someone else if you print. You might think you are when you really aren’t.