Amazon Hates Its Employees - Example 57

This is insane. Though to be fair, Amazon doesn't employ the drivers, subcontractors do. What Amazon does is completely direct their work. Amazon’s Cost Saving Routing Algorithm Makes Drivers Walk Into Traffic

If it were up to him, Mike said, he would never run across a highway with his arms full of packages. But the routing algorithm designed for its Flex app by Amazon's research scientists often makes it unavoidable, according to a source with direct knowledge of Amazon's routing algorithm. In North America and Europe, roughly 85,000 contracted delivery drivers rely on this algorithm to do their jobs. While crossing the street in a quiet suburban neighborhood is probably safe, doing so on a 50 mph highway can be deadly.

Sane companies, like UPS, have drivers in these situations first deliver on one side of a busy street and then on the other side of a street.

The Limits to Knowledge

Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem disturbed mathematicians for a long time, and still strikes some people as odd when they first encounter it. But at its heart it says there are things you cannot know. There are true statements that you cannot prove to be true. This goes along with Turnings' proof that there is no algorithm way to decide if something is follows from the axioms. That is called undecidable.

There is also at least one question in physics which has been shown to undecidable, and another in quantum physics which may be undecidable.

This is the video for "This is Math's Fatal Flaw" from Veritasium.

Hat tip to Political Calculations and The Hole at the Bottom of Math.

A very well done video explaining the meaning of Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorems for a general audience, which are about the limits of mathematical knowledge.

“You don’t really think the rules apply to them, do you?”

Canada manages to be even more corrupt than the USA. The lockdown class is giving itself an exemption from its own rules. Do you care? - Rebel News

There was an NHL game in Toronto. It was supposed to be open to "front line" health care workers, under the Vaccine Passport regime. But was it front line workers?

Turns out Barb Collins was there.

She’s the CEO of a hospital. She literally makes more than $600,000 a year. To run a government hospital. She’s the CEO. She’s not a frontline worker.

This is the millionaire lockdown class giving themselves a very special night out.

Yeah. You don’t really think the rules apply to them, do you?

Oh, and the NHL is going to get an exemption from the COVID travel restrictions. It's hockey and it's Canada.

Rules are for you, serf, so shut up and do what we tell you.

Texans Are Still Armed, Home Invaders Still Getting Shot

Did this guy think he was breaking into a home in New Jersey? 74-year-old homeowner kills suspect who attempted to break into home in southeast Houston

The homeowner suffered a home invasion several years ago. This time he was prepared.

“He busted the windows out with both hands. The first thing that comes to my mind is to grab my pistol and shoot him one time,” the homeowner said.

The homeowner said instead of backing down, the would-be intruder became even more aggressive.

“Came right back in through that window again. I didn’t know if he had something or not because everything happened so fast. After I shot him twice, he left and I didn’t come out the door anymore,” the homeowner said.

Police found the guy by the front window.

Oh, and some of the neighbors were shocked.

Self-defense is a human-right.

You Are Not Protected By Your Zip Code

Crime is not something that happens to "other kinds of people" in "other kinds of places." It can happen to you. Late-night break-in 'scary' for Ramara residents inside home - Orillia News

Even in rural Canada, you can have a break in. Of course in rural Canada, you cannot protect yourself.

On Sunday night at about 11:30 p.m., Kitchener Warren was lying in bed in his isolated Ramara Township home, watching television with his girlfriend, when he heard a noise come from the top level of his home.

Turns out there were a couple of people rumaging through stuff looking for valuables. They ran. The cops were called, including a K-9 unit, but the cops didn't catch anyone.

“I went outside this morning with my neighbour and not even two minutes into our search we found footprints that matched the ones in our house, so I don’t know ... what the hell is happening. There has to be more to the story; there is a big grey area there.”

But the reaction is the part that is telling.

The incident is even more disturbing and strange because of the isolated area in which the home is located.

“My second closest neighbour is a couple of kilometres down the road. It’s just swamp and bush around here. Things like this never happen here,” Warren said.

"Never?" It seems that things "like this" do indeed happen in your area. You do not live in a magical, crime-free zone, you do live in The Real World™ where crime can and does happen. And if you are reading this, you too can be impacted by crime. You should plan accordingly.

Of course since this incident happened in Canada, there is damn little these folks can do. Defend yourself? You have to rely on the police. You know, that group who wasn't there when the crime occured and couldn't manage to find and catch the bad guys. (Read the whole article; it seems they did find someone.)

More New York City Hate Crimes

Two stories of Hate from that Progressive Utopia, New York City.

First up, an anti-Asian hate crime. Asian woman randomly slugged in the face outside NYC restaurant.

The 55-year-old victim can be seen walking by the Kong Sihk Tong café at around 6:15 p.m. — when a man in an orange hoodie and denim jacket whacks her unprovoked.

He was provoked by her Asian ancestry. The cops are calling him unhinged and took him in for a "psychiatric evaluation," but hate is just hate. If they do decide he's sane, then they have to release him, because there is no bail in New York.

Then there is the homophobic hate crime. Cops looking for man who launched anti-gay attack in NYC.

The NYPD released a photo and video Sunday night of the man cops say sucker-punched a 24-year-old while hurling homophobic remarks.

The bad-guy in this incident has not been caught.

And I thought that NYC was a bastion of love and understanding.

Because Keeping Repeat Offenders in Jail is Unfair

No, I'm sure this kind of thing doesn't increase crime. Mayor Groot keeps telling us that. Car thief busted after victim tracks him down and literally sits on him until cops arrive, prosecutors say | CWB Chicago

A ten-time convicted felon who stole a delivery driver’s car was arrested after the vehicle’s co-owner used GPS to track it down and then literally sat on the thief until police arrived, according to prosecutors.

And since Chicago police are forbidden to chase criminals, I expect more of this kind of thing.

Lori Lightfoot's Chicago

This should encourage people to stay away from the city. Large groups of teens are robbing people in Millennium and Grant Parks, police say | CWB Chicago

Police said the groups consist of Black males and females between 14- and 20-years-old. No arrests have been made.

“If you’re thinking of using your phone in a public place, take a look around,” police advised in the alert. “

Come to the park and get robbed. Police? They can't do anything. No foot chases. No car chases.

Gun "Buybacks" Increase Crime - Academic Study

Not that a study will deter the anti-gun Left.

They are "feel good" programs for the gun-hating Left. Academic Study: Gun Turn-Ins ("Buybacks") Increase Crime committed with Guns

A study published in May of 2021 has rigorously shown such events do not reduce crime or suicides. Instead, the number of crimes committed with guns increases in the two months after the turn-in events (“buybacks”) are conducted.

The study was published by the National Bureau of Economics in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Click thru for the details.

Here's a link to the academic paper. It is a large PDF.

Hat tip to Guns In The News, where you will find a bunch of links to other studies that all basially say the same thing. Gun Control doesn't stop Crime.

Cops in Australia on a Power Trip

Cops don't like it when you protest against them enforcing authoritarian laws. And so they become even more authoritarian. Not just enforcing the bad laws, but making up shit on the spot.

The Cops in Melbourne, Australia have been harassing Avi Yemini, a reporter for Rebel News, for sometime. They have arrested him multiple times. On at least one occasion they detained him, but did not arrest him; they just dumped him miles from the event he was covering. To the point where he is suing the police and maybe the state (I haven't been following it that closely) in the High Court.

In this case they hassled him for 2 reasons, both of which were bogus.

1. They tried to tell him he needed to wear a mask while reporting on camera.
2. They tried to convince him that only officially recognized media (with a police-issued press-pass) are real press.

They got on the phone with their legal department before they arrested him this time. They did detain him without cause. Is being a stupid cop cause?

It turns out that they were wrong on both counts. Are we shocked that they would not apologize for violating his rights? I'm not.

Here's the video for Avi Yemini OWNS police who tried to ARREST him today at lockdown protest.

Here's another video: Watch POLICE VIOLATE every covid rule to enforce lockdown in Melbourne

Hundreds of police packed into busses, travelled to Melbourne's CBD and violated every covid rule on the way because they wanted to arrest a few people protesting lockdown.

Hat tip (for the first video) to Small Dead Animals and Can I Get That Apology On Camera?

And speaking of power trips, it seems YouTube is changing some "terms and conditions" on Tuesday which may result in Rebel News being removed. What a shock! That YouTube doesn't like journalists who don't follow the party line. Which is why these videos are from Rumble.

Wednesday Link Roundup

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkage

The Other McCain: The Vindication of President Trump
Bustednuckles: I Have Achieved Enlightenment

Pirate's Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

2. The Other McCain notes Creepy Joe getting creepier
3. The Lid discusses China Joe’s really bad tax plan
4. The Last Tradition has an alternative take on January 6th

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 06.01.21 (Morning Edition)

Cafe Hayek: Scarcity Is Not Prosperity
Da Tech Guy: Clarence Thomas, TMZ, & The Left’s Greatest Fear Realized
Don Surber: When Was Trump Wrong? also, Obama Judge Flips Out

EBL - Turandot 🎭

American Elephants: There is no climate crisis
Diogenes Middle Finger News: Despair Closet at Amazon
A View From The Beach: Manuela Arcuri

Political Hat - News of the Week (May 30th, 2021)

Minneapolis’ plight: A law-enforcement shortage in the center of “abolish the police” The same city that vowed to get rid of its police force in the aftermath of the George Floyd homicide now has begun begging other jurisdictions to send law enforcement officers to help out.

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 1: Texas dropped the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Stephen Gutowski, founder of the Reload told Fox News, "I think that this just continues the momentum for permitless carry across the country.

A View from the Beach - Annals of the Biden Crime Family - Bitch Set Him Up!

More importantly, though, from Miranda Devine at NYPo, his laptop shows Hunter Biden brought VP Joe to dinner with shady business partners. NYPo, Joe Biden was a ‘regular’ at DC hotspot where he met Hunter’s Kazakh associates.

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 06.01.21 (Evening Edition)

American Thinker: Fauci Will be Gone In 90 Days
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Spending Spree News
Babalu Blog: Cuba’s Black Spring Deja Vu

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 5/31/2021

Latest Economic Data Show Red States Crushing Blue States — and Here’s Why
The good news is our economic recovery from the pandemic is finally underway. The bad news is that it’s going a lot slower in blue states than red states

Vlad Tepes - Enemy propaganda to, well more enemy propaganda really: Links 1, June 1, 2021

1. Prager U video interview of a former 25 year news anchor who left the business because it has become enemy propaganda, and no longer information. (My interpretation of her words) Eight minutes long

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: War crimes? In 2012 Fauci Promoted Gain of Function Research While Admitting Global Pandemic Could Result

US Needs to Pull ‘Supply Chain Out Of’ China Over Pandemic: Top Lawmaker: Jack Phillips
Texas Democrats Walk Out of House Chamber to Block Voting Law: Janita Kan

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 6/1/21

"Iconic mag fails to properly disclose $700,000 from China."
Time Magazine Takes Chinese Cash To Promote Controversial Drone Business

Maggie's Farm - Tuesday morning links

Cynthia Nixon: Why are we locking up shoplifters?
Reparations will never be enough
Founder Of Black Lives Matter Chapter Quits After Learning the "Ugly Truth"

I leave you with It's Funday Morning from Woodsterman, Sunday gifdump from Knuckledraggin My Life Away, The Week in Pictures: Media Leak Edition from Power Line, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, and Sunday Funnies, 05-30-21 from Stately McDaniel Manor.

Self-defense Is Legal in Michigan

And "The System" hates that. Retired detective cleared of shooting his son in self-defense after judge tosses case

A retired detective was attacked in his own home by his son. He shot him in self-defense.

“His sister and best friend both said he was possessed. He was coming at his father with the intent to kill him and it was a scary situation,” [Attorney Todd] Flood said.

And under the heading "The Process is The Punishment."

As a result of the charges, the retired detective has had to step away from a job where he held a top-secret clearance and he’s suffered wage loss. He’s also had to find other work and cope with the loss of a relationship with his son, who recovered from being shot in the stomach at the homeAs a result of the charges, the retired detective has had to step away from a job where he held a top-secret clearance and he’s suffered wage loss. He’s also had to find other work and cope with the loss of a relationship with his son, who recovered from being shot in the stomach at the home

All because prosecutors hate self-defense.

Another City Struggling With a Lack of 911 Operators

What if you called 911, and no one answered? Unanswered 911 calls leave local residents concerned about the CDA

This isn't a mystery by the way.

News of understaffed 911 dispatch centers have popped up around the country. Just this month agencies in Cincinnati, Ohio; Jackson, Mississippi; Jefferson County, Colorado; and others reported struggling operators drowning in floods of emergency phone calls.

The reasons for the shortages vary but typically include details of a low pay, high stress work environment.

Also, the managers of the 911 centers do their best to make the environment soul-destroying. But the high-stress and low-pay are usually enough to cause problems.

So, whatever your particular emergency, you should probably have a fall-back plan aside from Call 911.

Vinda

Not quite 20 years ago I became interested in the Nordic myths. I had studied some of the Greek and Roman stories in both high school and college, picked up a bit the Indian Upanishads along the way, and had also gotten a bit of the stories from various Native North American traditions somewhere, but I had never studied the Norse legends. (Marvel comics, notwithstanding.)

So while searching for something else, I had stumbled across a whole new world of music, which I listen to in fits and starts. I find it interesting, but not always engrossing enough to displace what I usually turn to. One of the artists I found from that path is Kati Rán. Here is how her Bandcamp page describes her work.

Nordic Music

Kati Rán creates song with historical folk instruments and composes her music with poetry reflecting our connection with nature.

I first ran across Kati Rán due to a song she performed at Midgardsblot 2016^‡. That song wasn't interesting enough to feature here, but was enough to get me to go looking for more. And so we are here today.

For today's song, you can find the lyrics and their English translation at this link.

This is the acoustic version of "Vinda" by Kati Rán featuring Ravn Helisir. "Vinda" translates to "Wind" in English. The song was originally on the 2015 album Lys which translates to Leaf. This acoustic version was released in 2016, as far as I can tell.

‡ Midgardsblot is a festival of "extreme metal" and folk music, that also includes what looks to be the Nordic version of a Renaissance Faire, and probably a bunch more stuff I don't know about. It appears to be on for this coming August in Norway.

Top 10 Insane Things from Universities 2020-2021

I disagree with the order of the list, but I agree with the list. The College Fix’s Top 10 most outrageous stories of the 2020-21 school year.

I would have put the "2 + 2 can equal 5" as number 1.

Click thru for the insanity which includes the word "Picnic" being racist, automatic soap-dispensers being proof of systematic racism, and other things.

Those aren't the only insane things, of course. Just what The College Fix sees as the top 10.

And here is the Woke Math entry...

6) Some critical theory scholars argue 2+2 can sometimes equal 5
You thought Common Core math is bad. And it is. But somehow, academia always finds a way to lower the bar.

(Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.)

Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago

HeyJackass! has the stats on the "festivities." Memorial Day Weekend.

This weekend last year witnessed the Mostly Peaceful-ist Shitshows of Shitshows racking up more dead than an average February. This year it’s the annual Memorial Day weekend nonsense which marks the start of the Mostly Peaceful-ist, Chase-Free Summer Shooting Season EVAH!

Final Peaceful Tally: 3 killed, 37 wounded
2020 Loot-N-Shoot weekend: 30 killed, 64 wounded*

"Chase-Free" because Chicago cops have been mostly forbidden to do car chases, and now foot chases.

*2020 was not Memorial Day weekend and does not include the extra day. All other years display their respective Memorial Day weekends no matter the date range.

Self-defense in Detroit

Of course the homeowner was "detained." This isn't Texas after all. Man fatally shoots intruder in alleged home invasion, Detroit police say

Police said a 60-year-old entered his house and encountered an unidentified man who broke into his home. The homeowner fired a shot, fatally wounding the suspect, police said.

As I said the homeowner was "detained" for the investigation.

Self-defense is a human-right, and it might be your legal right in Michigan. Or maybe not.

Montana Allowing Guns on College Campuses

Starting today, concealed carry licenses will be good on college campuses. Leftist professors and students are clutching their pearls. Given Their Fear of Guns, How Have Professors Ever Gone Off Campus? by John R. Lott, Jr.

Montana isn't the first state to allow this. And it isn't the first state where predictions of gloom and doom were made.

One wonders if left-leaning professors and college students in a state like Montana feel safe going off campus. Whether they go to a restaurant, movie theater, or grocery store, they are very likely to find themselves next to someone who is legally carrying a gun.

But seven percent of Montanans already possess concealed handgun permits, and students and faculty somehow manage to leave campus.

Seven percent of people in Montana have concealed carry licenses. I don't know if I think that number is high or low for a state like Montana. (According to numbers from the Ohio Attorney General and the 2019 Ohio population estimate from the Census Bureau, the number is not quite six percent for Ohio.)

Go read the whole thing. Hat tip to Crime Prevention Research Center.

Was He Trying to Get Killed?

You are being followed by half a dozen marked and unmarked police cars. (That is the number I can count, though there may have been more cars.) How do you think you are going to get away? How are you going to shoot your way out of the situation? Maybe dying would have been preferable to this guy. It is almost surprising to me that he didn't die. First aid has gotten much better in recent years.

Had Tavon Macklin died, I'm sure there would have been "Justice for Tavon" riots. They don't hold peaceful protests for dead criminals, even if they win the Darwin award.

Here is a news story that covers the incident. IMPD releases bodycam and surveillance video from officer-involved shooting of murder suspect

Police identified [Tavon] Macklin as the suspect in the Jan. 17 shooting death of 29-year-old Justin White on South Keystone Avenue. Macklin is currently facing charges of murder, robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in the death of White.

I wonder if there were "Justice for Justin" protests.

After Tavon Macklin did everything possible to get cops to shoot him, he was taken to a local hospital. Once the doctors were done with him, he was arrested.

The woman who was driving the vehicle that was transporting Macklin can be heard screaming in the video after cops shot him. What did she think was going to happen?

This is the video Body Cam: Officer Involved in Shootout With Murder Suspect, Indianapolis, Feb 23, 2021. It also includes some security camera footage.