Category Archives: Comments and Observations

Shootings spotlight ‘alarming’ jump in violence against rural Minnesota officers

So, this story ran today and kept getting referred back to all day.

Thing is, it pisses me off.

Sure, no one should be shot while on the job. That’s a given. And no, the story does not gloss over the fact that there is no trend, just a statistical anomaly for the year. It stinks, it shouldn’t be happening.

All said, you know what else shouldn’t be said? An executive director for a sheriff’s association is quoted in the story that basically this is all Black Lives Matters fault.

No, really.

In a story about police being shot in rural communities, he wants to blame the folks living in the big city.

They can’t hide it. Ever.

The whole of the story is that we have a subset of the population in rural communities that think it is fine to pop a cop these days. But the police won’t blame the folks in the Oaf Keepers with them. Or the Klan. Or their white supremacist church. Nah, go blame the Other. As usual.

Lawsuit against police for targeting journalists during Minneapolis protests heads toward trial

I learned the police had it out for me back when I was a brown teenage kid in Pasadena, TX. They absolutely *loved* to show up in force, shove our faces into the gravel and put a boot on our heads. Good times.

Turns out a few years ago, Minnesota learned this the hard way. At least this is going to court. I have low expectations but maybe this is the start of something changing.

I lost my Shoe

I have been here at Red Wing Shoes since late January. I like it a lot. My coworkers are good folk and the work is entertaining.

That said, I recently ran into an old friend and coworker and – long story short – I will be back in gaming here in another week or so. I get to work with some folks I haven’t been around in over a decade. It is hopefully the right move for me and the family.

That isn’t to say I won’t miss this place.