And it is by the press. The Blue Bag Rag, the official organ of Dunwoody, has run yet another front page article about how this city is not raising the property tax rate. And this one comes with a byline.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why are they yammering and hammering this point? We all know they maxed out the legally allowable tax rate years ago. Without going to the voters they cannot raise the millage rate. This is about the only time, and the only issue where they actually respect the electorate. So what's up? Is this prepping for some tax finagling like setting up some special tax allocation district so they can raise taxes without our approval? Are they trying to rebuild trust credibility after their disastrous attempt to sneak through Shining PATH taxes claiming these were for parks?
We only know this: if they could have raised the millage rate, they would have, and then we'd not get flooded with these repeat articles.
This isn't about the blue stain on city hall fueling unlimited spending and it isn't about the blue hysteria around Biden reverting to the 2020 campaign tactic of hidin'.
Nope. This is about the Blue Screen of Death.
Remember those? Thought that was cured didn't you? Well, you'd be wrong. Not much, maybe nothing, has changed with regards to the robustness and stability of the Windows platform, except maybe that the scope has expanded in breadth and severity. The story, accepted for god knows what reason, is that with adequate add-ons Windows can be made just as reliable as any other platform. Or so it was sold to enterprises, enterprises who also adopted remote management of software including updates. Once again we've proven: to err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer. A computer [system] was used for massive, rapid, unstaged, and apparently untested, rollouts of CrowdStrike FalCon updates. In the dead of the night. And sometimes, like this time, you wake up to dead systems. Millions of them. Maybe more.
And that is what just happened. And while some remote updates can be rolled back, when you get a Blue Screen of Death, you have a bricked computer, a doorstop. And keep in mind, this is a Windows platform, where all too many software updates require a reboot, and when that reboot hits the Blue wall, your computers are automagically Out Of Service. Return To Service requires organic intervention. That's right, manual recovery. One. Computer. At. A. Time. So while the rollback image may be available in short order, actually getting back to normal is going to take a long, long time, or an army of techs, or both. This is gonna make Y2K look like a joke (it kinda was).
This will not only cost billions of dollars in lost revenue, it will actually cost lives. In the UK, doctors are triaging, taking only the most serious patients, leaving the others without care. Globally, hospitals are cancelling elective surgeries, prioritizing the most urgent. Care deferred is lives lost, and the corporate decision makers have blood on their hands. Think of that when you cannot buy that latte.
But thinking locally, are we really impacted? After all, aren't our voting systems running atop Windows? Yes, yes they are. And here's where irony kicks in. The version of Windows in these devices is no longer supported, as in no updates, automatic or otherwise. Furthermore, they are not likely to run the CrowdStrike package, and it seems that while source code control is somewhat lacking, actual updates to the system are treated seriously, almost fearfully. Not that this happy circumstance is a result diligence or foresight, but this is Georgia and we'll take what we can get.
There was a recent incident at Perimeter Mall that made the Blue Bag Rag's Police Blotter involving two masked yoots carrying sometimes concealed, sometimes not so much, pistols. The mall's cops were first to spot them, and you gotta wonder if they don't really stand out wearing masks as these masks were not described as the pandemic variety. The mall cops escalated to DPD who came and confronted the yoots.
This is where it gets hinky. Upon approach, one yoot revealed his pistol and placed his hand on the grip. Now, before George Floyd that probably would have reduced the yoot count from two to one, requiring a Weapon Discharge Report, but not in this case. In this case, the yoots were detained and juvenile detention was contacted and the police were informed that this situation did not rise to the level of detaining these yoots. Instead these yoots were charged, including gun charges, and delivered unto their grandmother and mother, respectively. No mention of a male biological contributor being involved.
So. You gotta wonder. Just what would these yoots have to do in order to warrant being detained? Keep in mind the firearms were possessed illegally as these yoots were not old enough to have them in their possession. Maybe if they'd actually discharged a firearm? Or, would they have to hit someone? Not enough? Well, what if they killed someone?
All we know for certain is these yoots were set free and only a fool would believe they have not already re-armed.
Camp season is in full swing with an enormous variety of camps based on day or stay, general activities, and affiliations. Dunwoody has a unique camp, because Dunwoody is unique despite the best efforts of some to force us into banality, and our camp is:
That's right! We have "Camp Carpool!" Your children will be introduced to backseat etiquette, how to pinch a sibling without being caught, license plate bingo, I Spy (with my little eye), and all the verses to 99 Bottles. The only restriction is that you cannot walk your child to camp. You must drive.
Dunwoody Village tends to get littered with illegal signs, well, because, no enforcement. And they tend to hang around a while, sometimes literally. But there is something you may have noticed about these offensive signs polluting our community: they very often have QR codes. This is interesting because, as almost anyone without a sign knows, internet advertising is the way the world works these days. So why can't they get with the times? Plus, If you actually put up one of these illegal signs, QR code or not, you're just insulting folks who might have been customers.
Let's look at a couple of examples stinking up the Village.
Really? HOW neighborly are you?
This is an astounding display of arrogance claiming status as a "neighborly company." Well, here's a clue "neighbor": this sign is illegal and that, around these parts, isn't considered neighborly. This alone is enough reason to never do business with your company.
Look At Those Screws
This one is pole mounted, and these jerks were not just jerking around, they were screwing around. That's right, this bad boy is literally screwed to the pole. Hell, the city doesn't put up signs that securely. Once again, there are many folks who offer pressure washing services, and you're one that no one in daVille should ever consider.
This is a party game: where were you when <fill in the blank> happened? You know, like 9/11, the shuttle disaster, the Kennedy assassinations, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, or the fall of Saigon (or Kabul). But that's not today's diatribe. Today's question is put to the Fourth Estate: where were you, where the hell have you been and what have you been doing?
The AJC, given cover by the Grey Lady, is spilling ink ostensibly editorializing that Biden should step aside because of sudden onset age. Yep, he's an overnight octagenarian. To hear these two pontificate you'd think Biden went from the vim and vinegar of a mid-life crisis (he does own a Corvette) to full blown old-age senility. And the Fourth Estate? Well, they didn't see that coming. Really?
To be kind, the AJC opinion piece is filled with merde de cheval, and predictably so, as it is consistent with previous behavior. By headline this is billed as a call for Biden to step aside. For the good of the country, wink, wink. But, as they always have, they digressed into a hit piece on Trump. This harped on the only thing the debate offered: CNN fact checkers accuse Trump of thirty prevarications. Not noted by the AJC are Biden's nine lies or his long history of a strained relationship with the truth. Not that one liar is better than another, but in their partisanship it seems the editorial board would have you believe one, their one, is better. Their argument against Trump is nonsensical and arrogant. Nonsensical in that they characterize their enemy as a pathological liar yet quote him suggesting those quotes are gospel truths. Arrogant in that they believe, and expect us to believe, that they are somehow the sole arbiters of truth, when all they really have is what we all have: an opinion.
But they simply could not leave bad enough alone, they had the chutzpah to bring up George Washington's "farewell address," specifically in regards to partisanship. The AJC editorial staff is unashamedly leftist, AKA Democrat, and they are unrelenting in bashing Republicans. Exclusively. This is an Orwellian level of propaganda born of intense hubris. They claim to be our source of real news, of objective information, yet their leftward tilt leads them into biased reporting replete with misleading language and disinformation.
And if we are to believe they are so damned knowledgeable how could they be blindsided? How could it be that they were surprised? Or, maybe they weren't. Maybe they knew all along, after all, anyone watching the D-Day ceremonies witnessed this same senility on parade. If they didn't know they should have. Either way they have violated a public trust and maybe, just maybe, they are the ones who have finally stepped aside.
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