LA Sheriff's Office a Bad Joke

I'm not one to condemn the police. They put their butts on the line, daily, to protect us from stupid people. But, in my experience, when someone calls to report a felony, then the police should, you know, respond.

Especially if it's a hit-and-run.

Oh, yes, my friends. You will not find this in the media...yet. I do hope my friend (yes, the Rogue Assassin has them) contacts the local media on this one....

On Thursday, my friend--we'll call her Aisley--was walking across a street in San Pedro to get to her next bus stop on her way to work. She was in the crosswalk, ya know, where you are supposed to cross a street? A car hit her--to the point that Aisley flew up onto the hood, hit the windshield, then rolled off and onto the street, sending her shoes in opposite directions. The woman driving got out of her car and asked Aisley if she was okay.

Here's where it gets REALLY good...

Aisley moaned and looked up at her and said, "No, I'm not okay..."

The woman looked at her and said, "Well, you look fine to me and I'm in a hurry," got back in her car and drove away!

First of all.... HELLO?! You just freaking HIT a PEDESTRIAN with your CAR!?!?!?!?!?! How in Bixby's Nine Hells would that person be okay?! My SO is fairly certain that he'd have ripped the license plate off the woman's car. Aisley, however, wouldn't have been able to do that, anyway.

Second of all.... SHE TOLD YOU SHE WAS, in fact, NOT OKAY! It's only a small fine if you stay. It's a felony if you leave. Which would you prefer? Jail time or a ticket?

Unfortunately, Aisley didn't get the license plate number. Fortunately, she did get a very good description of the car and the driver. She called the police to report the incident. Remember she was the one who was hit by the car. She waited for 2 hours and the police still hadn't shown up.

I'll let that sink in.

The victim of a FELONY called to report said felony to the police who, for whatever reason, chose NOT to go to the scene of the crime! How is this "To serve and protect" if you get to choose what's important enough to you to show up to. "Meh....she called us, so, obviously she's not hurt...."

Bull.

Aisley has no health insurance.

She needs medical attention, but can't get X-rays because she can't afford them. She needs a cat scan to make sure she doesn't have brain damage of any kind. She can't afford it. She needed to go to a hospital--she couldn't afford it. Instead, she took herself to the police station to file a police report. She, who was injured, went to the cops she had called two hours prior--who were NOT injured--and filed the report there.

If you're not as raving mad as I am over this...wait til it happens to you or your friends.

Do me a favor, folks. Make this go viral. LA County's Sheriff's department is slacking...and it's getting worse. Media attention to this is a must. Let's get the word out and make a change for the better.

Jobs on Privacy

There's no publicity like "bad" publicity--or so I've been told. I know I'm a few days behind the action on this one, but, ya know, I work from time to time. To quote Mr. Jobs: "Leave [me] alone."

Yeah, I went there.

In fact, I'm going there. Let's examine this particular piece of, apparently, newsworthy drivel.

A journalism....student...from Long Island University was given an assignment (presumbably for her journalism class...one of many) was given an assingment. Now, depending on which article you believe, that assignment either had to do with the school's new policy of giving iPads to the students or she was lobbying for that to happen. Either way, she chose to secure a quote from the notoriously silent Apple Media Relations.

What makes me laugh is that she was surprised when they didn't return her phone calls!

Now, let's take a look at that little piece of information. A student journalist calls the notoriously silent Apple Media Relations more times in a week than a telemarketer or creditor. Five to ten messages?! In a week?! There's persistent, and then there's a-freakin'-noying. I wouldn't have answered her, either. I would have, however, called the authorities and reported her for harrassment.

From there, her e-mail correspondance, in my not so humble opinion, wasn't very appropriate. She chose to contact Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple (if you've been living under a rock and have no idea who he is). Steve responded. His response was terse--which, if you've ever seen him deal with people outside of his keynotes, you'd know....IT'S HIS PERSONALITY!!! He and I have something in common: we don't handle stupid. I know there are Mac haters out there who read this blog. You know what? Get over yourself. If this had been Bill Gates, you'd be making excuses for him left and right (despite how much you curse his name when Windows offers you the BSOD...and let's not forget the cursing of Windows Vista). But, somewhere along the way, a number of us bought his crap that Steve Jobs was Satan and that Apple was The Beast. Frankly, I don't care. Every OS out there has issues, be it Windows, Mac's OS, Linux, or whatever. Use what you use for what you need. If that means running three OS's, then run 3 freaking OS's. Anyway, that's a rant for another time.

Back to Chelsea Isaacs and Steve Jobs.

So, Ms. Isaacs e-mails Steve Jobs and dutifully explains her plight--not that he cares. And were I in his position, I'd likely not care, either--in fact, I'd probably be wondering how the heck some random person got my e-mail address. Now, others seemed to pick up on something I noticed, as well--"Sent via BlackBerry on T-Mobile." She's expounded the joys of being a devoted Mac-user...and totally trashed her credibility with that one signature statement. Beyond that, look at the tone of her correspondance. I'll wait while you go back to that first link. Oh, right, you're lazy. Here. She is very supportive and praising in the opening, then goes into her "plight." It's the plight that gets my dander up and I don't even work for Apple.

The completion of this article is crucial to my grade in the class, and it may potentially get published in our university's newspaper. I had 3 quick questions regarding iPads, and wanted to obtain answers from the most credible source: Apple's Media Relations Department. I have called countless times throughout the week, leaving short, but detailed, messages which included my contact information and the date of my deadline. Today, I left my 6th message, which stressed the increasingly more urgent nature of the situation. It is now the end of the business day, and I have not received a call back. My deadline is tomorrow.

If you read nothing other than this paragraph (since I so kindly quoted it for you), please note the following:

1. Journalism Student
2. Called Countless Times
3. Left a SIXTH message today
4. Deadline tomorrow

As a non-journalist student, but a college graduate who wrote more papers and gave more presentations than I care to count, I always had a plan B. If I had been in Mr. Jobs' postion, my e-mail back to her would have been much worse than his, "Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry." No, no. Mine would have been, "Too bad; so sad. Your dad." At least he explained the reason no one was calling her back. Instead of accepting this answer, she continued her harrassment by telling him he owed her. I'm sorry, what? I couldn't hear you over the sound of money volunteering to be in Mr. Jobs' bank account...

Seriously?! He responded to you. Be happy. But, no!! Ms. Isaacs was insulted by his response because SHE is the center of HER world!

Yes, student journalists go on to be "real" journalists. Or Paparazzi. But, really, they need to know that the world could care less about the collegiate career and want to know how your annoying questions will benefit THEM.

"Dear Mr. Jobs, I'm writing an article for a local paper on the importance of technology in colleges. I have three questions regarding the iPad's [insert summary of questions here] and would like to get a statement from you or someone within your company regarding these questions. If you could spare a few moments, I would appreciate it." Chances are, you'll get a very favourable response, not "Leave us alone" (which, by the way, is well within his rights if he feels he is being harrassed...see my earlier statements about phone calls and telemarketers).

...and if he can't? Go to an Apple Retail Store, grab an associate, and get some answers. When you cite your source, it's "an Apple associate." That is journalism, ladies and germs. Creative writing.

Oh, Big Brother

It's been some time. In fact, I'd say it's been quite some time. You probably thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth--if you could be so lucky! No, no, dearlings, I just went....on a vacation, we'll say. But, as long as there are people, and as long as there is government, there will always be a Little Black Soap Box somewhere.

I thought I'd come back with a bang. Time.com posted an article (which is the link, kiddies) about the government's use of GPS to track individuals. In summation (because I know you won't read the article just yet), the government has the freedom to sneak into your driveway and attach a GPS unit to your vehicle, then track your movements for as long as it desires.

When we were little, we were told that we had to be good because Santa Claus was watching us. Now, we have to be good because the government can invade our privacy and watch us. But, wait! There's more!

The court's ruling, [Chief Judge Alex Kozinski] said, means that people who protect their homes with electric gates, fences and security booths have a large protected zone of privacy around their homes. People who cannot afford such barriers have to put up with the government sneaking around at night.

So, if you're really rich or you have political ties, your privacy is just fine! If you work for a living, however, it is not.

Haven't we already given up our freedoms in the name of "Anti-Terrorism"? Have we not already subjected ourselves to unreasonable searches and seizures at US Airports under the guise of the "Patriot Act"? Where are we going to draw the line, folks? It has to be somewhere. How many lives are we going to sacrifice to protect our rights from dictators of other governments only to strip them slowly by our own hands?

"We will not go quietly into the night.

We will not give up without a fight!

Rage--RAGE--against the dying light!"

Props for literate people who know that reference. Hint: It's NOT from Independence Day.

Off topic, a bit there, but listen, folks. RA's back and is here to tell you that we need to be defending our--the middle and lower classes--rights to privacy. The law is clearly written that states our expectations of privacy extend to the property, as well. The government is not above the law. We need to hold them to the same--or higher--standard than we hold ourselves.

...in the meantime, be careful out there. Big Brother is watching. And his presents are handcuffs.