Flock O' Worries

Flock, of ubiquitous camera fame, is an interesting phenomenon sitting at the intersection of technology, demographics and politics. Politics of the left, especially the "defund the police" movement, dramatically improved Flock's prospects allowing them to body-surf on the wave of political virtue signalling, a poorly understood, but virulent characteristic of the left. Flock gave the DtP pols cover. They could claim they support the police, but market Orwellian surveillance as a safety measure. All for the greater good, eh? Especially when you could watch PDs waste away due to attrition. A win-win for the left. 

The market is huge, and quite concentrated, as the left who embraced and marketed the technology tend to dominate urban areas with dense populations and lots o' crime. And Flock played the collaboration card, as their technology allowed bad guys to be tracked across geo-political borders. No criminal, nor anyone else for that matter, can escape Sauron's never-blinking eye. The technology was sold as "license plate readers" simply tracking plates that the "good guys" told them to watch out for. Then it was gun shot tracking. And next? Who knows.

But all was going well until... 

...along came Trump.

The left fled their Maid Cafés, where they had been gorging on the empty calories of their word salads, to enlist-in-resist. They all did. And that is all they had...all they have. That is their dilemma and our entertainment as it is always fun to see the haughty hoisted on their own petard. Locally, the left pivoted very quickly, very anti-Flock, and suddenly anti-surveillance-state, as if the U.S. Constitution is a new-found friend. A friendship that will not long endure. Or, we would not have Flock in the first place. 

The left does have a real issue, at least in their mind, and it isn't just that they hate Trump, or that the score is Bad Orange Man two, Pant Suits zero. About the only thing they've had as a real, non-knee-jerk, policy position in the last 20 years has been "open borders." That's the real issue, and they dare not say it out loud. They gag at the current administration's enforcement of federal law, and their possible access to Flock's capabilities to do that job. The left's sanctimonious idealization of any and all who "ain't from 'round here," lawfully or not, resulted in serious atrophy in the reasoning parts of the human brain, so they cannot see the logical contradictions of their words and actions. They are also ignorant of how cartels are now into migrant trafficking and their business relationship is not transactional, it is recurring. These migrants will do the cartels' bidding lest the family they've left back home should suffer. Many are not the saints of the left's imagination---they are cartel operatives embedded in our society. But they prefer that over having this administration gain access to Flock services they somehow feel is theirs. 

It will be amusing to see if the left embraces their surveillance state or maintains their "resist" posture. 

Vigilante Wars

Now that the primaries are over, perhaps it isn't too soon to point out some silliness. A week prior, around 0630-0700 a tall, thin man with a small dog, an ankle-biter-kick-dog, was seen on Chamblee Dunwoody near the Knoll. This man, and kick dog, scurried across C-D. Why did the kick-dog cross the street? Glad you asked: so the thin man could uproot a couple of political yard signs. It gets better. Then they scurry back across so the thin man could uproot a real estate sign. This was not in the Village Overlay but one must wonder if he's a diligent vigilante there as well.

Clearly the thin man never took a course even resembling Ethics 101, for if he had, he'd know that if it isn't yours you don't touch it. Unless he is a Dunwoody Slumlord and owns these two properties, it is far from believable that all these signs were his. It is hard to speculate on what was going thru the thin man's mind, why he thought he should do this, and why he thought he could. From outside his addlepated brain it only seems that he shouldn't. Perhaps that's the real problem with vigilantes. They are enforcing a law that exists only in their mind. It is a bit funny when you know that one of the signs was for a sitting judge known for respecting the constitution (state and US) and state laws, rather than an opponent who wanted to legislate from the bench. Now that is the signs of the times.

AJC: Do Better

Really? 85 Today?

Didn't You Report His Death A Couple Weeks Ago?

Red Light District

Started on 1 May.

Is DeKalb trying to tell us something?

Cleanup After Yourself

We shouldn't have to tell you.

Student Driver

Fob Off

'Shroom On Over

Save Our Schools?

You may have noticed some yard signs calling for support to "Save Dunwoody's Schools." Consider it done! As far as public schools go, these are not Dunwoody's schools, they are DeKalb County schools. Do we want to save those? If so, we have to save the system, and that means financially. You know, "the greater good" must prevail, and all that. Or must it? Well, if your children are zoned for Vandy, then the greater good begins with "Save Vandy!" Without that, there is no greater good, or perhaps no good at all. 

Will DCSD back down? 

No, they won't, because they can't. They are a stereotypical government. Spending only grows, so funding must as well. They are over the legal limit on millage rate so jacking that up is politically unpalatable. They're addicted to special sales taxes, already planning to spend the next round though it is yet to be voted into existence. The feds seem increasingly unlikely to up funding for this dumpster fire. The state is the remaining option but they have rules. Hard, fast rules. This means that schools like Vandy will not receive maximum state funding, so to acquire more revenue, Vandy, and others schools similarly sized, must go. And they will. 

And why should these schools in Dunwoody be retained, be supported, at the expense of others, and the system at large? These are minority voices in support of preserving this "neighborhood" school, without consideration of those who pay taxes and send their kids to compliant schools, or perhaps have no kids at all, maybe even ever, in public schools. Those folks have been lectured, ad nauseam, about their social obligation to pay taxes to support others' children because that creates a better society for all. Lots of take for very little give, so maybe it is time for an evening-up. 

How about you quit fighting only for your kids' school and fight for everyone's school system. 

Fifty Five Years Ago We Were Warned

1 In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of man created him.

2 And Man gave unto God a multitude of names, that he might be Lord over all the earth when it was suited to Man. 

3 And on the seven millionth day Man rested and did lean heavily on his God and saw that it was good.

4 And Man formed Aqualung of the dust of the ground, and a host of others likened unto his kind. 

5 And these lesser men Man did cast into the void. And some were burned; and some were put apart from their kind.

6 And Man became the God that he had created and only his miracles did rule over all the earth.

7 But as all these things did come to pass, the Spirit that did cause man to create his God lived on within all men: even within Aqualung.

8 And man saw it not.

9 But for Christ's sake he'd better start looking.

Next Vandy Plan

While demanding anonymity, a source very close to the swirling DCSD planning storm has been suggesting there is a new[ish] repurposing plan for Vanderlyn, and this one is brilliant. That's what makes it seem highly unlikely to survive the next round of plan rewrites. 

So what is today's plan?

Well, it is quite a reversal for any entrenched educrat dominated school system: it is an updated version of what back in the day was called vo-tech. This would, of course, be attached to the programs at Dunwoody High School and would provide an educational option leading far away from useless college debt. This is about as radical, as much a 180, as the Yale report on Trust in Higher Education. Even if these plans are approved, they will likely fall prey to the entrenched who have brought us to the failed status quo. Who would have thought that folks who are self-professed uber-progressives would be so very conservative? 

While details are scarce, suggestions under consideration sound like a maker-space alongside more traditional education in the trades. Classes will cover not only how to do work required in the trade, but also how these businesses operate (most are really all about service), overview the business models, examine regulatory issues and constraints, and provide a roadmap to post-employment education/training opportunities. A novel suggestion, is partnering with businesses to provide practical experience: internships, much like those in white collar scenarios, which means "unpaid." This provides valuable real-world experience, and exposure to potential employers. 

Will this plan survive? Maybe not, but it would be the first reasonable action taken by DCSD in decades. 

The Answers Are NO!

State law allows you to bypass the ballot box when raising taxes. But, must you?

You can alter the city charter without approval of the electorate. But, must you?

You could enshrine founding promises in the city charter. But, will you?