Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385
David Leonhardt [NYT]: “Crashes — and deaths — began surging in the summer of 2020, surprising traffic experts who had hoped that relatively empty roads would cause accidents to decline. Instead, an increase in aggressive driving more than made up for the decline in driving. And crashes continued to increase when people returned to the roads, later in the pandemic.”
“Per capita vehicle deaths rose 17.5 percent from the summer of 2019 to last summer… It is the largest two-year increase since just after World War II.”
“This grim trend is another way that two years of isolation and disruption have damaged life. . . People are frustrated and angry, and those feelings are fueling increases in violent crime, customer abuse of workers, student misbehavior in school and vehicle crashes.”
This is just down the road from us. Happening now. It could be a prank, but bomb threats are not funny. When I was in high school the boy who sat next to me in home room died when the car he was riding home in crashed. He would have been taking the bus had it not been for the bomb scare. There are often unintended consequences to such actions.
I was glad to see they brought the students to a secure location, and didn't simply release them from school.
Nothing was found in the building, so they let the students go back to classes.
I always feel uneasy about such a move. They're sure they checked every square inch of the building in under an hour?
I don't know how they'll catch the perpetrator(s). It was a robocall made to the police station one town away. (Our town doesn't have a police station.). It would be great if they do, though.
Oh how the world has changed in 52 years. We were so naive then that the school officials first had us all stand just outside the building while it was searched. The parents complained about our proximity, so when it happened the next time they simply sent us all home. Mind you, we had no buses waiting for us, and as I had no money for the town bus, I walked the 7 miles home. There were a total of 14 bomb scares that year. Eventually the school had the buses return early to take us home when it happened.
Cloudy and cool here this morning, but no rain in the forecast for at least ten days out, and tomorrow it is supposed to be significantly warmer. My sweetie suggested that I skip gardening today, and I accepted with alacrity.
In re the Sandy Hook families vs. Remington, by way of Mother Jones:
[Remington] filed for bankruptcy twice, in 2018 and 2020, and the $73 million will be paid by four of the company's insurers. As part of the settlement, Remington also agreed to release thousands of pages of internal documents, which could include its plans for how to market the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle. Needless to say, the gun industry isn't happy.
I find myself wondering if Prince Andrew will raffle off his 18 megabuck Swiss ski chalet and use part of the proceeds in the settlement of the civil suit against him--or just hand over the whole thing. And how dare he continue using the title Duke of York?
...Then the Greek god Bicycles was seized upon by the fierce god Obstacles. Great was his wrath and suffered Bicycles much injury...
ReplyDeleteCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60383385
A wandering star passed through the outer solar system [the Oort Cloud] about 50-70 thousand years ago [Click] and evidently that happens every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteCar crashes have increased too. [Click]
ReplyDeleteDavid Leonhardt [NYT]: “Crashes — and deaths — began surging in the summer of 2020, surprising traffic experts who had hoped that relatively empty roads would cause accidents to decline. Instead, an increase in aggressive driving more than made up for the decline in driving. And crashes continued to increase when people returned to the roads, later in the pandemic.”
“Per capita vehicle deaths rose 17.5 percent from the summer of 2019 to last summer… It is the largest two-year increase since just after World War II.”
“This grim trend is another way that two years of isolation and disruption have damaged life. . . People are frustrated and angry, and those feelings are fueling increases in violent crime, customer abuse of workers, student misbehavior in school and vehicle crashes.”
Reuters: School Boards get death threats amid rage over race, gender, mask policies [Click]
And let’s not forget election officials.
Local newspaper headline: "Fresno County COVID-19 deaths hit highest point for a weekend in last 10 months" Story behind paywall.
ReplyDeletePrince Andrew settles US civil sex assault case [Click]
ReplyDeleteFamilies of Sandy Hook victims settle with Remington [Click]
LA could fire unvaxxed officers. This California county is welcoming them [Click] As memory serves me, Kern County is a leader in “officer involved” shootings.
ReplyDelete‘Every year it astounds us’: the Orkney dig uncovering Britain’s stone age culture [Click]
ReplyDeleteBomb threat forces evacuations at Mount Mansfield Union High School
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wcax.com/2022/02/15/bomb-threat-forces-evacuations-mount-mansfield-union-high-school/?fbclid=IwAR2Qadiv0W89l6fWDBA1kXLv-EJ4U9Z7ldtGY0kj23IB95N1tmamCeQt9UU
This is just down the road from us. Happening now.
It could be a prank, but bomb threats are not funny.
When I was in high school the boy who sat next to me in home room died when the car he was riding home in crashed. He would have been taking the bus had it not been for the bomb scare. There are often unintended consequences to such actions.
I was glad to see they brought the students to a secure location, and didn't simply release them from school.
I hope they find the perpetrator(s), and expect that they will.
DeleteNothing was found in the building, so they let the students go back to classes.
DeleteI always feel uneasy about such a move. They're sure they checked every square inch of the building in under an hour?
I don't know how they'll catch the perpetrator(s). It was a robocall made to the police station one town away. (Our town doesn't have a police station.). It would be great if they do, though.
Oh how the world has changed in 52 years. We were so naive then that the school officials first had us all stand just outside the building while it was searched. The parents complained about our proximity, so when it happened the next time they simply sent us all home. Mind you, we had no buses waiting for us, and as I had no money for the town bus, I walked the 7 miles home. There were a total of 14 bomb scares that year. Eventually the school had the buses return early to take us home when it happened.
DeleteCloudy and cool here this morning, but no rain in the forecast for at least ten days out, and tomorrow it is supposed to be significantly warmer. My sweetie suggested that I skip gardening today, and I accepted with alacrity.
ReplyDeleteCool here too, yet we're looking at a warming trend as well.
DeleteMade it done to 0ºF last night and up to 10ºF today. Yet it's supposed to be 40ºF tomorrow and 53ºF on Thursday!
I'm ready to leave the minus temps behind for this season, though I would like more snow.
In re the Sandy Hook families vs. Remington, by way of Mother Jones:
ReplyDelete[Remington] filed for bankruptcy twice, in 2018 and 2020, and the $73 million will be paid by four of the company's insurers.
As part of the settlement, Remington also agreed to release thousands of pages of internal documents, which could include its plans for how to market the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle. Needless to say, the gun industry isn't happy.
I find myself wondering if Prince Andrew will raffle off his 18 megabuck Swiss ski chalet and use part of the proceeds in the settlement of the civil suit against him--or just hand over the whole thing. And how dare he continue using the title Duke of York?
ReplyDelete