Boston, Insurance, and Charity

The recent events in Boston, MA have appalled us all. Three people dead, the youngest of whom was only eight years old, and hundreds wounded. Senseless violence was planned and carried out against innocent people, and for no good reason.

Knife Bad, Tree Pretty

In my real life I am a retail manager at a big box store. That means that I deal with any number of complaints. Some of these are real, and I handle them as best I can, and some are utterly silly based on misunderstandings or outrage that we won't change our policy "just this once". This last group is particularly challenging since no one at the store actually did anything wrong that I can fix. The reason I bring this up is earlier this week, toward the end of my shift, I was walking the store with my direct supervisor making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing and I was approached (if you can call being yelled at from thirty feet away approached) by a customer who had a concern in the second category.

The Aurora Shooting

Sorry this is so late, but there were some things I couldn't confirm that I wanted to be sure of. I don't always blog, but when I do, I prefer to be accurate.

The Aurora theater shooting was a tragic occurrence. I cannot speculate as to the perpetrator's motives, since he hasn't said much to anyone at all since his capture that night. All that has been consistently reported has been the shooter's dyed-orange hair and his "dazed" appearance at his first hearing. The Aurora shooter's odd behavior had been noticed by others, notably Glenn Rotkovitch, president of a local gun club, because of the disturbing outgoing message on his answering machine. According to the article Mr. Ratkovitch

gave [the] staff his name ... and told everyone here to get me if he shows up at the range. I wanted to know who he was before we considered doing anything with him, let alone make him a member. He was flagged.

 So, even the so-called "gun nuts" could tell he was disturbed. Interesting.

The Second Amendment, Businesses, and Property Rights

Before I get started, let me tell you some things about me that I don't think I've come out and said before. I am a card-carrying Life Member of the NRA, and am in the process of upgrading to Endowment Member. I have a concealed carry permit issued by the state in which I live, and carry when I leave the house. On a side note, my state allows permit holders to carry their weapons openly in public, which I normally do. I own a pistol and two working shotguns and shoot them regularly. I say this so the accusation of "left-wing anti-gun nut" can't be thrown my way after I finish this post.

Blogs, Pool Parties, and Bodily Functions

When a blogger puts up a post he is exercising a right to participate in the great marketplace of ideas. Just putting a post out there and letting it sit is similar to the days when someone could go to the public square, stand on a box, and pontificate to his heart's content. At the end of his speech, he could simply walk away and be forgotten, or possibly have rotten fruit thrown at him. The speaker/blogger has had his say, gotten whatever was on his mind out into the open, and been satisfied by the process.