Divemedic

I Hate Dealing with IT

This is where I vent about the computer nerds at my hospital.

I have been having a problem with a piece of medical equipment at work. In order to perform a procedure, a Doctor’s order must be in the system. The problem is that whenever the device tries to download orders, I get an error message “The Server Returned an unrecognized response.”

If the medical device can’t find the order, it won’t proceed with the test. There is no way to get around it. There used to be, but they eliminated that ability about three months ago.

So I did what I am supposed to do- I put in a work order. I did so at 8 pm.

The next morning, I find an email reply with a very snarky response. It says “If you would read your emails, you will see that we were doing server maintenance at XXX hospital from 10 pm onwards, and the server was unavailable.” Your work order has been closed.

There are a couple issues with that:

  • I don’t work at XXX hospital. I work at YYY hospital.
  • The problem was happening well before 10 pm
  • I work in the Emergency Room, and this equipment is pretty important. Why would you shut it down with no way to operate it?

Then the very next email in my box is a request that I take a survey about the “service” I received from the IT department. I blasted them, but in a controlled, polite way.

I was called into my boss’ office because “If you have a problem with the work done by another employee, you come to us. There is no need to disparage other employees on interdepartment surveys.”

If you don’t want my opinion, don’t ask for it.

Also, why does the IT department in every place I have ever worked have to be staffed with condescending assholes who treat you like a moron because THEIR equipment doesn’t do what it is supposed to be doing? I get that you don’t want to be bothered with actually interacting with people, but that is kind of your own fault for making sure that no one can do anything without calling the helpdesk because even changing the font on your screen requires an admin password that only you possess.

OK. Rant over.

By Divemedic, ago

IRS cops

Check this out. These agents will be going after landscapers, roofers, and others. Not billionaires. How do I know? Here is one job posting, and it is in the “Small Business Self Employed Office of Fraud Enforcement Field Operations” division. They carry guns, ammo, and “no Tasers:” dead or alive, you are coming with me:

I would also say that the way the agent is teaching how to apply handcuffs is not correct, according to how I was taught. You don’t “smack” the handcuffs on, because that is painful for the arrestee. Why be an asshole?

It looks like they are also looking for digital currency tax dodgers.

Interestingly, they refer to tax evasion as “stealing from the government.”

By Divemedic, ago

This Happens Too Often

Or: “It followed me home, can I keep it?”

A child is missing before being “found” at a female teacher’s house. I wonder what she was planning on doing with him. In comments, people are saying that there is no evidence that she was going to molest him, and the typical shit about “she was hot, this will make the kid popular” bullshit.

A groomer is a groomer. A molester is a molester.

EDITED TO ADD:

The teacher’s arrest affidavit is here. (pdf alert) Here is the information on the class she teaches, which is English 1. The arrest affidavit says that she was his English teacher last year, meaning that the boy is most likely a 15 year old who is just beginning the 10th grade.

No mention is made of sexual activity. I wonder if it was that, or if the teacher was planning on helping the boy become a girl.

By Divemedic, ago

So we can do this now, right?

Ron Desantis pushed for a law to stop companies from doing the following:

Ban unlawful employment practices to include training requirements by companies that teach any of eight “forbidden concepts,” including:

  • that individuals should be discriminated against based on race, color, sex or national origin
  • members of one race, color, sex or national origin are morally superior to members of another race, color, sex or national origin
  • an individual, due to his or her race, color, sex or national origin, should be discriminated against due to actions committed in the past by other members of that race, color, sex or national origin
  • the idea that virtues such as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity and racial colorblindness are racist or sexist
  • a person is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive based on their race, color, sex or national origin

The law was intended to stop companies from teaching that white people are the cause of all of the problems in America, according to the left.

A Florida judge just struck down the law, saying that it is an unconstitutional violation of free speech. So now, according to this ruling, I can teach my employees that it is OK to discriminate against black people because they are morally and intellectually inferior to white people, and also because blacks are a race of criminals who are inherently racist because they are black? Of is this another law that will only be enforced against white conservatives?

By Divemedic, ago

Election Tampering

As we enter the days before the election, word is coming out that multiple conservatives are being targeted by big tech for censorship. Steve Crowder has had his YouTube channel shut down, and LibsofTikTok has also been banned from multiple platforms.

I don’t want to hear about how they are a private company and can do as they please. As long as they are immune from lawsuits because they are claiming to be a neutral platform that can’t be blamed for what people post, they must remain free of using the ban hammer to influence the conversation. Otherwise, they are just another arm of government censorship.

By Divemedic, ago

Suing Out of Business

New York City just settled a lawsuit against a seller of gun parts, where the seller has agreed to modify their website to prohibit sales to anyone living in NYC.

The article calls them sellers of “ghost gun” parts, but the industry of 80 percent firearms is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. No, this is aimed at the parts market. They are nibbling away at gun culture.

The city’s complaint came after undercover investigators with the New York City Sheriff’s Office were able to purchase from Rock Slide’s website a Polymer80 PF940C unserialized, “unfinished” frame, slide, internal upper parts kit, recoil spring and guide rod, lower parts kit with trigger, and 32-round magazine — all to be delivered to an address in Manhattan. Rock Slide does not require customers to have a valid state or city license or permit, and it did not perform a background check on the buyer.

The reason that the seller didn’t require a license, permit, or background check is that one is not legally required for gun parts. There was no firearm sold there.

There is a NY state law that allows the state to sue gun makers. I wonder if the defendants in the case made a motion to dismiss on the grounds that they are not gun makers, the customer who bought the parts were.

I also wonder if the new ATF regulation will stand up to a legal challenge. I guess we will see.

By Divemedic, ago

Dirty Bomb

Because some people don’t seem to be clear on what one is, let’s review.

There are some materials that are radioactive. That is, they produce radioactive particles like neutrons, alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays. Those can be hazardous. However, these materials are not capable of causing a nuclear explosion.

A dirty bomb is a bomb made using conventional explosives, but the explosion merely scatters radioactive substances across a wide area. The bomb itself isn’t more dangerous than any other bomb, except that is used to scatter this radioactive material. Although the radioactivity is hazardous, the chief effect of such a bomb is to instill fear in people.

A dirty bomb is not a nuclear bomb. A nuclear bomb creates an explosion that is millions of times more powerful than a dirty bomb. The cloud of radiation from a nuclear bomb could spread thousands of square miles, whereas a dirty bomb’s radiation could be dispersed within a few blocks or miles of the explosion.

Any explosion that occurs in your area may be caused by a dirty bomb. The only way to know if a bomb has dispersed radioactive material (is “dirty”) is to have some sort of radiation monitoring device like a NucAlert or other radiation monitoring device that will alert you to the presence of the radiation.

In general, protection from radiation is afforded by:

  • Minimizing the time exposed to radioactive materials;
  • Maximizing the distance from the source of radiation; and
  • Shielding from external exposure, and inhaling or ingesting radioactive material.

If you were in the immediate area of the explosion, do not eat, drink or smoke. If you have an N95, gas, or other respiratory protection mask, put it on. Even a bandana tied over the nose and mouth will help. Anything that will minimize your ingestion and inhalation of radioactive material is a good thing.

Get out of the immediate area of the explosion quickly. Wash yourself, your family, and any possessions down with water spray. This is called gross decontamination. Remember that runoff from this washdown is likely contaminated with radioactive materials.

The goal is to stop the radioactive material from harming you. Most radioactive products scattered by a dirty bomb are easily stopped as long as you don’t inhale or ingest them, and get them off of your skin.

The big threat from a dirty bomb is the public and government reaction to them.

By Divemedic, ago

This is Important

I think that reading this article is important. See if you can read between the lines and come to the same conclusion that I did.

The story goes like this: The Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives told the CEO of Smith and Wesson to appear before the committee so that other invitees who were the family members of people killed by criminal actors could pile on the hate and blame Smith and Wesson for the deaths. The CEO of Smith and Wesson wisely refused to attend.

The Chairman of the Oversight committee then said that Smith and Wesson would pay a price for their impertinence.

“The CEO of Smith & Wesson refused to testify before my Committee and face the families who’ve lost a loved one because of his company’s weapons of war. Highland Park, Parkland, San Bernardino, Aurora — these mass murders were all committed with Smith & Wesson assault weapons,” Maloney said. “As the world watches the families of Parkland victims relive their trauma through the shooter’s trial, it is unconscionable that Smith & Wesson is still refusing to take responsibility for selling the assault weapons used to massacre Americans.”

Make no mistake, this was no investigation. This was a politician wanting to use political power to punish someone while grandstanding in front of the press. Fuck him. I wouldn’t have gone either.

Even worse, they try use Kyle Rittenhouse’s use of force in self defense against the company.:

Kyle Rittenhouse also used a Smith & Wesson rifle to kill two people and injured a third during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all counts related to the shootings.

The committee has issued a subpoena to Smith & Wesson for documents related to its manufacturing and sale of AR-15- style firearms. My guess is that the FBI will be raiding Smith and Wesson soon.

My answer would be: GFY. I don’t think that I would answer this subpoena. There are still such things as Constitutional rights, I am not giving you information because you want to go on a fishing expedition. You got PC for a specific crime? Go for it. Until then, GFY.

By Divemedic, ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I am sure that you all are aware that New York City began running a PSA about sheltering in the event of a nuclear attack. Then Donald Trump was accused of having possession of “nuclear secrets.”

Now we get word that the FBI is issuing a warning that so-called “right wing extremists” will detonate a dirty bomb at the FBI headquarters. They are claiming that it will be done in response to the Mar a Lago raid and the right’s anger at the FBI.

The left means to pick a fight to start a civil war. We all know how good the FBI is at causing terrorist incidents and then busting them, and yes, I am saying that the FBI is part of the left.

You have a Nuke Alert, right?

By Divemedic, ago

Liberty or Death?

This kind of grandstanding behavior in a court is the kind of shit that would make me lose it and tell a judge something that would get the book thrown at me.

“Your purpose was not to be a tourist walking through the Capitol, was it?” Howell asked during a plea hearing for Leonard Gruppo, who pleaded guilty to the petty offense of “parading” in the Capitol. Gruppo said he was not there as a tourist. Howell then refused to accept his plea until Gruppo admitted that he was in Washington on January 6 “as part of a demonstration in support of President Trump.”

How is this anything but a farce? We call this justice? “Make the plea and statements that I tell you to, or else?”

Start working on a good quote now.

“Give me liberty, or give me death?”

“Sic Semper Tyrannis.”

“I regret that I have but one life to give to fight tyranny.”

Something cool. I will have to work on it. You know, for a fictional story I am writing.

By Divemedic, ago