Keeping Us Safe

See the blue lights atop the police cruiser? These are not flashing, but are solid on. They're called "cruise lights" and are often used so that people, particularly drivers, are aware of a police presence as this tends to discourage the kinds of illegal on-the-road activities that plague Dunwoody. 

You Will Notice This Is NOT Dunwoody PD

As the caption indicates, this is not Dunwoody Police, for a couple of reasons. First, Dunwoody Police never, never, no not ever, do traffic patrols anywhere in or near the village. The second is, they also never use cruise lights. They are not going to patrol. They are not going to stop traffic offenders. They're not even, on the rare occasion it would apply, make their presence known so folks might behave.

They leave that to outsiders. If you see a patrol vehicle with cruise lights on, rest assured it is DeKalb Police, Sandy Springs Police or Brookhaven Police. It sure as hell is not Dunwoody PD. 

Where Do You Get Yours?

Disinformation that is. The most reliable source seems to be the Federal Government, with their most recent dissemination regarding added jobs. Turns out the Labor Department (that is in the executive branch, right?) boosted the actual numbers reported between 4/23 to 3/24 by over 64%. 

How could that happen? Do they consider that "margin of error?" Or, are they just making these numbers up? For some particular reason?

Could it be that these inflated numbers were blowing up the tube man known as Bidenomics, and now that the baton is passed, different economic pressures are blowing the new flag a different direction? Who knows? But one thing is certain, if you're in the market for disinformation, you can look beyond random blogs, commercial sources, and non-profits, because your Uncle Sam is in the business. In a big way.

It's Common Sense

In a recent AJC op ed, columnist Bill Torpy took on Georgia's State Election Board, criticizing their rules that honestly seem to do exactly the opposite of what they say they will. This is the way politicians play politics. Always have. Always will. But that's not his nugget of wisdom. This is:

'I've been around long enough to know if someone keeps telling you it's "common sense," then you're about to get screwed.'

Truer words were never writ.

Then it gets really good. See, our boy Torpy hails from the Windy City, currently hosting a bevy of Democrats. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Chicago has given us "Hey Jackass," an amazing analysis of dysfunction in ChicagoLand. And this analysis centers around the dysfunction of people shooting people. With guns. 

Here's where the Democrats factor in. Whilst Torpy noted that the Election Board used the term "common sense" two, count 'em, two times, Democrats use it almost non-stop in their crusade against the Second Amendment. As in "common sense gun laws." 

Let's hope that the AJC, and Torpy, call out the Democrats on their "common sense," and how we're about to get screwed, the next time they propose to infringe the Second Amendment.

UPDATE: that very Friday the AJC ran a front-page article highlighting Lucy McBath and giving her ink for her "commonsense gun laws" chant. Torpy has not commented on how this aligns with "you're about to get screwed."

Dunwoody PD Is Hiring

You may have noticed. You know, the sidewalk signs they rolled out. Well as it so happens this advert showed up in some dark corner of the interweb. 

The Police Department of the City of Dunwoody is hiring for various positions. We are seeking qualified public safety professionals across a range of experience and we offer competitive compensation and benefits. Applicants should supply a résumé, three professional references, and several unfiltered photographs of genitalia with sufficient context for proper identification. Preference is given to candidates with prior content on OnlyFans. 

Seems like this would have top notch candidates flooding their inbox. After all, how hard can it get?

Why Make Things So Difficult?

What, you ask, is so difficult? Well, that would be apologizing, and this city has well over a million reasons to apologize. And really, how can you NOT apologize. You ran an organization with systemic sexual harassment and to make up for it you not only spend millions of dollars to lose court cases, you allow the person who was supposed to keep this from happening to run his own investigation. Of himself. This would be laughable if it were some banana republic, but it isn't. To make matters worse, neither of the top dogs, the city managers, did anything other that fight against what is right, because they seemingly think "wrong" looks so much better. And for them, appearances are everything. 

Wouldn't it have been easier to acknowledge that a superior officer demanding porno pics from subordinates is unacceptable and will not be tolerated? Hard stop. Then you apologize to those victims in the police department, to the whistle blowers you punished, and to the citizens who expect better. You do this by explaining exactly, in precise detail, what went wrong, who failed in diligence and action, and what measures you have taken and will continue to take to ensure this never happens again.

Instead, you've pissed away OUR money defending a predator and fighting whistleblower complaints. You look like idiots and are an embarrassment to the community. And this goes not only for the unelected bureaucrats running this shitshow, but for the elected mayor and council who sit idly by, or worse yet rise up in support of this atrocious display of moral rot. When this first came to light, the mayor and council should have insisted on an independent, outside investigation and if the city manager refused he should have been fired for insubordination. Once the truth, which is now seeing the light of day, was revealed, mayor and council should have called for the firing of the police chief, and again, failure of the city manager to act would be fireable insubordination. 

It is time for the mayor and council to show some integrity, and character worthy of the citizens they claim to represent. It is time for them to grow a spine. If they cannot, or will not, then they should resign. 

What's With The Cops?

Dunwoody PD has been advertising with their mobile signage, the kind you and I are not allowed to have. Some have taken issue with that and this has started a real goat rodeo. When one pointed out that the cops should be obeying the laws they enforce someone else pointed out that it is not the cops that are tasked with enforcing signage codes. It isn't clear if anyone, even those who should, actually enforce these codes, but it became a point of argument. Others, rightly, pointed out that the PD has had, and shows no signs of change, serious issues with internal sexual harassment, mistreatment of whistle blowers, and an incredibly bad, and unsuccessful track record in the courts. Many others, a vast majority, think the PD walks on water when it isn't frozen so anything the PD does, including breaking the law, is OK by them. It is a real shit show, but it tells you a lot about what is wrong with this city.

Guest Post: Baby It's Hot Outside

Once again we reach out to Calinky, this time with an uncle and nephew reminiscing about the wisdom imparted by a recently departed brother and father. You'll find that you can't fix stupid, but sometimes you can avoid it.

Harry, I gotta tell ya, I was down at the fillin' station last week listening to young'uns, no offense, bitchin' 'bout their power bill and how the power company reported record earnings. Like they thought those two don't somehow go together. 

Isn't the "fillin' station" that bar down the street from the "Town Pump"?

Yep, and that Whore House has the best Italian in the tri-state area. Francesca's putane...

Back on track?

Anyway it got me to thinkin' about yer dad, brother John, and how he tried to save pops from a big mistake, and how he sure as hell saved me from one. Ya see, there was this one guy preachin' hellfire and damnation to the power company and heapin' all praise and glory on his magnificent solar system. Ya remember when, back in the late '70s I think, when pops put that solar water heatin' system on his roof? Course ya don't. Anyway that thing was trouble from day one. Hardly ever worked. Almost never stopped leaking. Finally froze up and pops paid more than it cost to rip it out. Tore up the roof somethin' fierce. John tried to tell him it was a bad idea. In fact, he told him that whenever the government "gives" you money to do something then that is most certainly something you should not do. Pops wouldn't listen. Said John was showing off that fancy book learnin' he got at that trade school over near Atlanta. What was that...

Southern Tech. He went to Southern Tech, but it's gone now. So is he.

Well, 'bout twenty years after pops learned his lesson I was fixin' to get ready to learn mine. It was the late nineties, maybe early naughties, and folks were puttin' these solar panels on their roofs to make their own electricity. My neighbor got some, and upfront they were expensive, but he was so excited about all the money he was gonna save on his power bill, while neighbors like me were gonna pay and pay. Next time I was over to John's he was grillin' steaks on pops' PK...whatever happened...

On the deck. Use it every chance I get.

Good. Pops'd be proud. He didn't talk much about Korea but he loved that PK. And John, he could make that thing singe a steak just right. Durin' dinner that night I was tellin' him 'bout everybody gettin' these solar systems and how I was thinkin' 'bout getting one too. He got that look on his face. You know the one, not smilin', not frownin', just looking atcha like you're a damn fool breathin' his air. Without permission. Well, he lit into quite the lecture. While we were eatin'.

"I got no clue what problem you're trying to solve, and I'm certain you don't either.  But whatever it may be let's look at what you're getting into. Now I understand the price of these systems can be all over the map, but it seems they run between twenty and fifty grand, and that's a lot of money. Let's say you're looking at thirty grand, but you ain't got thirty grand, you ain't getting it from me, so you're gonna have to get a loan. Let's say you drag this out for fifteen years, presuming you're going live there that long, then at today's interest rates I'd say you're probably looking at a payment of about $250. Let's use that. What the hell are you doing, running the A/C with the windows open? Yeah, yeah, you could get some money selling extra power back to the company, but they're gonna pay you what it costs them to generate, not what you pay. Outside of summer, that's pretty much what you're getting out of that system. During summer, you might run your A/C for free, during the day, but at night you're still paying out. You'll be lucky to save more than $100 per month on average."

"Then it gets worse. These things lose efficiency as they age, mostly in the first year, about ten percent. It slows down after that, but they will still lose efficiency. Time you pay off the loan, they ain't gonna be what you bought. They are also high tech electronics, and like all high tech electronics, next year's version is gonna be better, either at the same or a lower cost. Ain't quite like Moore's law and computers, but they're gonna get better and cheaper. Then there's hail. You do remember hail, don't you? Don't answer that. You get reminded every time you see those dents in the hood of your pickup. Shattered the windshield if I remember correctly. Hail will do the same thing to those panels. You probably don't have insurance to cover that. In fact, you may not be able to get it and if you can it's gonna cost."

By now we're done with dinner and are sitting in the den nursing our beers. Didn't slow the lecture. Not one bit. 

"I'm gonna tell what you should spend your money on that's better than solar. Stock. Specifically stock in the power company. I know. You hate them. But you only hate them because they're making money. Always have. Always will. See, the power company is regulated and driven by government forces. Governments are handing out "incentives" to get companies to move to your state, and this seems to be working. This drives up demand for electricity, and the power company has to meet that demand. But they are also regulated by a Public Utility Commission that prohibits them from charging whatever the hell they want. I know it doesn't seem like that when you write that monthly check, but trust me, they'd charge more than that if they could. But the PUC also has to consider what the ratepayers are actually paying for, and in general, they would prefer that not be interest. They know meeting demand means capital investment that will require the power company take on debt, so the PUC wants to keep the bond rating high, and that means the power company must be in good financial standing. That's key to what I'm about to tell you."

"Let's say after loan payment, insurance premium, power savings and buyback that your net average monthly expense is $175. Now let's say that instead of spending that on keeping up with the Jones' that you invest that in power company stock. At current prices you'll pick up about 10 shares a month, and with the stock appreciating at around six percent per year you will buy fewer as you go along, but you'll average 5 shares per month ending up with around 900 shares. These will be worth more than you paid, and by my guesstimate they will also yield at least $1.75 per month in dividends. That's a little over $1500 per year."

"I'm gonna suggest you reinvest the dividends, and not just because that's what I do, but because this will drop that six percent stock price appreciation down down to one and a half, and you'll end up with well over 1500 shares. That's over $2600 per year in dividends. Now I am assuming you have $175 a month to invest in power company stock, but it seems like you're willing to commit to more than that anyway. See, the savings are speculative, the cost of those panels is set in stone."

I don't know if I wasn't expecting him to sell past the close, or if it was the beer, but I didn't see the knock out punch til it landed. 

"Here's the best thing. Let's suppose you and Nancy stay in that house until you retire, say twenty, maybe twenty five years from now. Those solar panels will be shot, if they're even still there. You may actually have to replace the roof, which means taking them off, and then will it be worth the cost to rehang clapped out panels? Don't think so. But let's assume they are there when you retire, and that when you retire you guys move. Maybe to the beach. Maybe the mountains, my choice, but wherever. You move. You ain't taking those panels with. But those dividends will follow you anywhere, and if you want you can pay the power bill wherever that might be. And if you decide to keep up the investment past the original fifteen years, maybe five or ten more, you'll easily be looking at $3500-$4000 annual dividends when you retire. Plus, the money you invested has been safe, even from inflation. You'll have a cushion. Very likely over $100K. Looks better than solar panels to me."

That was a great steak, good beer and a damn long lecture. But I took yer dad's advice. Every word of it, and it worked out better than he said it would. We retired a couple of years ago, we did move, and we don't pay any utility bills. Not electric, not gas, not water, not even internet. It's all paid by the power company. So while I was sittin' at that bar, hearin' those whiners goin' on and on about how corrupt the big bad power company is, I thought about how stupid they are, how stupid I was, and how lucky I was to have the best big brother ever. But you're luckier than I could ever be, because he was your dad.

DeKalb Water Billing...

...is still not right. Notice that the billing for August 2024 is based on a meter reading from December 2023. Are we still playing catchup? 

Isn't It Worth A Try?

Now that Wally Whirled has packed up his tents and left town maybe the Dunwoody PD can do what we were told they would do and actually start policing the neighborhoods. Now it may not rake in lots of money as the former Top Cop explained, but isn't it worth a try? If there were some patrolling going on then maybe we'd not have vehicles leaving the roadway with enough inertia to take the life of an innocent fire hydrant. 

This Was Done By A Honda

If we enforced our no-truck zones, which are often coincident with school zones, then we would not be finding road gators near a school entrance.

This Is A High Speed Event

This gator shouldn't be there because those trucks should be barreling down Roberts. Hard stop. Schools starts next week and no one at city hall seems to give a damn. 

Red Light Runner-At Least He Signaled

Now, lest you think this is the only traffic signal in daVille being violated, you should spend a little time at the intersection of Chamblee Dunwoody and Roberts, where it is all too common to see northbound vehicles heading onto Roberts treat a red light like a yield sign. One glance to the left and they just plow right through the light. It is worthy of note that these drivers do not seem to care about pedestrians. And don't fool yourself, this is not just happening at the near-dawn jogging hour, this happens in broad daylight. Lunch time. 

Why is this happening? Could it possibly be that since this city was founded there has been virtually no traffic code enforcement? And everyone, absolutely everyone, knows there never will be any. That's why.