Hijack This Thread

[Foggy]

For some it is. For others, it's a day of celebration of communism, wokeness, knee-jerk liberalism, and all the cool stuff. In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago.

And I like it because it means no more cold weather in my neck of the woods.

So take your pick.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

So all of us 70-year old women will be walking into the men's restrooms in Kansas.

Cool.

[Kriselda Gray]

For some it is. For others, it's a day of celebration of communism, wokeness, knee-jerk liberalism, and all the cool stuff. In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago.

And I like it because it means no more cold weather in my neck of the woods.

So take your pick.

And in some circles it's an ancient Pagan festival for the coming of spring and a fertility rite with dancing around the Maypole and random couples leaping over fires before having wanton sex out in the fields. Ok, so that last part isn't done so much anymore, but that was how it was historically celebrated

[Foggy]

I approve of wanton sex in the fields.

I'm an aging hippie, whaddya expect?


Oh, but I'm supposed to be a grownup now.


So fine, be careful of insects and other wildlife. Wear hair protection. Keep your shoes on. Hell, keep all your clothes on. Apply insect repellent generously, and clear the area of any rocks, twigs, or branches. Select an area that is flat, otherwise you may find yourself (or your wanton sex partner) rolling down a hill. Check to make sure the area isn't wet or muddy. Bring a thick blanket and a tarp to protect you from the rain. How's that wanton part looking now, Mr. or Ms. Act Like A Grownup Foggy, huh?

[neonzx]

I approve of wanton sex in the fields.

I'm an aging hippie, whaddya expect?

Well Ima aging too, but not as fast you. But I'm not looking for wanton sex in the fields. Maybe a nice bowl of wonton soup? YES!

[Foggy]

... I'm not looking for wanton sex in the fields.

Maybe you should see a doctor about that, I heard a little penicillin can work wonders.



Next hijack:



Mañana is six weeks to the day, and I am thinking about buying a nice glove for my new right hand, something a little bit protective in case anything comes close to injuring my right arm after all this trouble.



'Course, you can't just buy one glove, that would be silly.


I'll need the other one later this summer.


Oh, here's a nice pair.




RAPICCA Leather Animal Handling Gloves Bite Proof for Dog, Cat, Scratch, Bird, Falcon, Reptile, Snake


Oh yeah, these are the bomb!

[RTH10260]

Are you planning for a second career? An elected job? Like dog catcher

[Kriselda Gray]

How's that wanton part looking now, Mr. or Ms. Act Like A Grownup Foggy, huh?

[RTH10260]

‘Ready for some help?’: how a controversial technology firm courted Portland police
SoundThinking, a gunshot detection company, worked with top police officials to secure a city contract, according to emails obtained by the Guardian

by Johana Bhuiyan
Wed 3 May 2023 11.00 BST

On 5 February 2022, police in Portland, Oregon, sent out a bulletin pleading with the public for information about a recent homicide case. Police had found Corey M Eady injured with several gunshot wounds, and the 44-year-old had died shortly after being taken to a hospital. “This is the 11th homicide in Portland this year,” the bulletin read. “All 11 have been by gunfire.”

The next day, Portland police captain James Crooker got a text. “Ready for some help?”

The message, which linked to the bulletin about Eady’s death, was from Teri Greene, a representative of Shotspotter, the nearly 30-year-old gunshot detection company that in recent years has faced intense criticism for its methodology and the impact of its technology on communities of color.

Greene had been pitching Shotspotter devices to Portland police for at least three months, but it had been weeks since Crooker, a captain at the bureau’s specialized resources division, last responded to her texts. This time, however, Crooker replied.

Yes, he was ready.

Over the course of the next year, Greene and Crooker would communicate over text and email, commiserating over the city’s recent rise in gun violence and discussing how Shotspotter recording devices, which alert police when gunshots are detected, could help.

Greene and Crooker would communicate over text and email … discussing how Shotspotter recording devices, which alert police when gunshots are detected, could help

Those mails and texts, obtained through a series of public records requests filed by the Guardian and research and civil liberties organizations including the Lucy Parsons Labs and the Oregon Justice Research Center, provide an unprecedented look at how this policing technology firm worked with Portland police to try to secure a city contract, in effect circumventing parts of the public procurement process.

The documents detail how:

• Shotspotter marketed itself aggressively to Portland police by tapping its vast network of law enforcement partners and supporters – some of whom now work at the company – to vouch for or advocate for the service.
• The company backed up claims it is a non-instrusive and effective public safety tool with academic studies, some of which it funded or helped set up.
• Once Portland police was on board, the company worked closely with Crooker, the Portland police captain, to win over a volunteer-led police oversight group, Fitcog, which recommended the use of Shotspotter devices to the mayor, Ted Wheeler.
• Greene, the representative, also helped Crooker prepare for media interviews and even offered the company’s services to help the city apply for federal grants to fund a contract.

Back-channel conversations between private companies and city departments aren’t unique to Shotspotter or the police technology sector. And many police departments have direct and often undisclosed conversations with vendors without first seeking public input, according to Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown Law and former US Department of Justice deputy chief. Shotspotter told Portland police it had prepped police departments in Fresno and Richmond, California, ahead of those cities’ votes on a contract.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... hotspotter

[RTH10260]

Common US consumer products release toxic compounds, new research shows
Dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer and air pollution are often found in cosmetics, personal care products and cleaners

Tom Perkins
Wed 3 May 2023 10.00 BST

Some of the most common consumer products probably release 5,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in American homes annually, new research on the dangerous class of chemicals finds.

The research, which analyzed ingredient lists across dozens of product categories, found the most concerning levels in general purpose cleaners, art supplies and laundry detergents, while the individual product that emitted the most VOCs was mothballs.

The sum of the exposures present a health risk for average consumers and especially those working with many of the products in a professional capacity. The findings are “alarming”, said Kristin Knox, a scientist at Silent Spring Institute and study co-author.
“It just highlights that there are a lot of products that people use every day that contain many of these harmful chemicals,” she added.

VOCs are a widely used class of chemicals that can detach from or are emitted from surfaces or products and move through the air. Many pose health risks and are carcinogenic, or bond with other chemicals to form air pollution.

The study is the first analysis to make use of data manufacturers are required to submit to the state of California under its truth-in-labeling law, Proposition 65, and which in some cases otherwise wouldn’t be made publicly available. The ingredients are submitted to the California air resources board, which tracks 33 VOCs in consumer products in an effort to reduce smog. In the presence of sunlight, VOCs react with other air pollutants to form ozone, the main ingredient in smog.

However, the study was limited to VOCs, and many products can contain other chemicals that are not identified. The peer-reviewed research was conducted by the University of California, Berkley, and the Silent Spring Institute environmental non-profit.

Overall, the research found more than 100 products with VOCs, and 30 – including a dozen different types of personal care products – that researchers say deserve special scrutiny because the goods frequently contain VOCs and may pose the greatest health risk. VOCs can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin, and many products contained more than one kind of the compounds.




https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ealth-risk

[tek]

Some of the most common consumer products probably release 5,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in American homes annually

If my math is correct, that works out to about one ounce per home per year.

[Foggy]

... while the individual product that emitted the most VOCs was mothballs.

When I arrived on campus at University of Vermont in August 1976, I didn't know anybody who was selling marijuana, so I asked my younger brother to send me some. He was worried about the smell, those darn dope-sniffing puppy dogs working for the post office, so he thoughtfully put some mothballs in the weed to disguise the smell.

Which is, of course, insect poison. I had to dump it.

He's now a pathologist.

[tek]

I THOUGHT you looked familiar!

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[p0rtia]

[Phoenix520]

Foggy, everyone knows you use coffee not mothballs.

I get a spike in blood pressure when I read this kind of study. Most of you are as as I am, so you know that we’ve had this information for quite some time, new studies aside. They may drill deeper but Rachel Carson twigged us to all of it in the 50s. I stopped using aerosol sprays in the 60s because of propellants, plastic wrap cuz plastic, beauty products because OMG what’s in those things*. Somewhere along the line we stopped being alarmed about the destruction we cause every day. Industry PR, climate deniers, conspiracy theories made it easier to shrug and say who really knows but we do and have for a long, long time.

Get the psychopaths out of business and industry.

* Check out the hazards of gel nail polish. Carelessness can induce an allergy to accrelates, which is a serious problem. Accrelates are everywhere, from dentures to suture glue and in many beauty products like false eyelashes.

[raison de arizona]

Anytime someone tells you something about something, and then says, "That's all you need to know," it isn't. There is a fuller picture you are missing.

[jez]

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We had a visitor yesterday. Their friend was wandering about the yard.

[Phoenix520]

Dam, vultures are BIG! Did you name it?

[keith]

Razzacraps.

Get home from 3 weeks holiday 《whale sharks are awesume, by the way) to a flooded sidewalk in front of the house.

So now instead of spending the day washing clothes, I get to cut down bushes over the meter and start shifting mud till the plumber can get here.

[Dave from down under]

Bugger...

at least you met the whale sharks

[keith]

Bugger...

at least you met the whale sharks

I'm OK. The leak is on the water company's side of the meter. The street is still wet while they take their own sweet time to get here to fix it (1 to 7 days!?!), but at least I ain't paying for the wasted water and I get to wash clothes.

And the water company better get here and fix it TOMORROW or I'll be screaming to the aww-thor-i-tees!

[Foggy]

Happy Cinco de Drinko, peeps!

[RTH10260]

To play the party pooper

► Show Spoiler

[Shizzle Popped]

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We're over in the St.Louis area again this week checking in on my dad. My dad doesn't cook even a little so my wife was cooking up a mountain of food to put in the freezer yesterday when she notified me there was a leak under the kitchen sink. She wasn't kidding. The bottom of the cabinet has almost caved in at the middle. A quick look around and I determined the leak was coming from the top of the garbage disposal which dad thinks is the original from 35-ish years ago when the house was built. The old disposal is a 3/4 hp Kenmore and I replaced it with a 3/4 hp InSinkerator that was a direct drop in. I didn't make a single change to the plumbing, including the drain outlet, to install the new disposal.

But the real story is the existing plumbing under the sink. When my parents built this house I worked in floor covering and knew all the local contractors, so my dad asked who he should talk to about building. There was one that I always thought was clearly better than the others. He was old school (plaster walls, plywood instead of OSB, etc.), used better materials and paid more attention to detail. He was more expensive but built a better house. Flash forward 35 years and I'm looking at the plumbing under the sink and remembered why I recommended this guy. There's a clean out at the bottom, followed by a "Y" with separate traps for each side of the sink, and the vent is both air gapped (required because the sink is in a peninsula more than 3' from a wall) and tied into the outside vent system as a backup (which is not required). It probably took twice as long to plumb the drain lines under this sink but it sure is nice for whoever has to get in there when something inevitably goes wrong.

The only thing I'm not crazy about is the bare romex running to the disposal but that's how they did it at the time. If I had my electrical tools with me I would have installed a GFCI outlet on the side of the cabinet where the wire comes in and put a heavy cord on the disposal. I may do that next month while I'm fixing the bottom shelf of the cabinet.

[neonzx]

Happy Cinco de Drinko, peeps!

Yep, almost 5 o'clock. Time to get the party started!