tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post5736331701843686320..comments2023-12-24T05:26:48.861-05:00Comments on The Pittsburgh Comet: In a Glass Darkly, Part 1 - Security Culture, Public-Private Partnerships and CorruptionBram Reichbaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-38550418351648312772013-04-01T13:27:41.005-04:002013-04-01T13:27:41.005-04:00Helen,
Georgie Patton would be proud of your tit...Helen, <br /><br />Georgie Patton would be proud of your title!<br /><br />"Through the travail of ages,<br />midst the pomp and toils of war,<br />have I fought and strove and perished, countless times among the stars. As if through a glass and darkly, the age old strife I see,<br />when I fought in many guises and many names, but always me." Shawn Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02199246577083781115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-18552483720287756702013-04-01T13:19:47.604-04:002013-04-01T13:19:47.604-04:00heard the earlier waited for confirm... lamb to le...heard the earlier waited for confirm... lamb to leave raceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-57598984011099268602013-04-01T12:14:23.055-04:002013-04-01T12:14:23.055-04:00This blog is starting to remind me of "Friend...This blog is starting to remind me of "Friends"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-46834571064890635572013-03-31T13:22:10.125-04:002013-03-31T13:22:10.125-04:00I agree with Helen. Ben Franklin would definitely...I agree with Helen. Ben Franklin would definitely be against the assault rifle ban. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-49724749278232932842013-03-31T12:38:15.905-04:002013-03-31T12:38:15.905-04:00@Mark
Thanks for the explanation and apologies fo...@Mark<br /><br />Thanks for the explanation and apologies for too-quick readiness to misinterpret.<br /><br />But it sure doesn't seem remotely like Bram's style to hide behind any other persona or moniker.Helen Gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010369817073080001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-4179330815331531562013-03-31T12:26:38.569-04:002013-03-31T12:26:38.569-04:00Van writes: "If we're going to do that, w...Van writes: "<i>If we're going to do that, we should at least price it right.</i>" For real! You're telling me those duds and the actual authority they imply are worth just $3 and change and hour? But I guess that's really a side-issue.Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-46732759114201042532013-03-31T12:10:32.985-04:002013-03-31T12:10:32.985-04:00@Vannevar
You write:
And the other great traged...@Vannevar<br /><br />You write: <br /><br /><i>And the other great tragedy must be identified: there are many good people on the force that want to protect and serve, who see their once-legit organization hijacked by the scroungers, scammers, and skimmers.</i><br /><br />Amen to that, Vannevar - it's true of both soldiers and police. I've run out of time, so can't reply fully now to either you or to Bram, but will also be addressing many of the local and global issues you both raise in my next post. <br /><br />Happy Easter, everybody!Helen Gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010369817073080001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-24398071996304522512013-03-31T12:01:54.319-04:002013-03-31T12:01:54.319-04:00@Bram
You write:
It's my conviction that hu...@Bram<br /><br />You write: <br /><br /><i>It's my conviction that humankind is intent on sacrificing rights against abuse so long as our protectors are "doing the job" providing security.</i><br /><br />Benjamin Franklin put a common reply to such assertions most harshly: <i>They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.</i><br /><br />I don't know about "deserve." I like Franklin's other quote from the Poor Richard's Alamanack far more: <br /><br />"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."<br /><br />But I do think the logical consequences of trading human rights and civil liberties for perceived security can be seen in the general pattern of resulting erosions of democracies into People abusive, exploitive tyrannies and empires. <br /><br />And both logically and practically, this argument is flawed, since the institutional waste, fraud, extraction, and heinous abuse, humiliation and murder of men, women and children by mercenaries, as consistently protected by our Executive and Judicial branches in Iraq and Afghanistan, has invited deep desires for revenge of former ardent supporters on a Power now perceived as Tyrant and mask for corporate Power in many countries around the world. I'll address that evidence more fully in future posts of the series. <br /><br />In short, we spend far more on wrecking the lives of innocent civilians and their societies overseas than securing our ports, nuclear power plants, water sources, and other vulnerable points of attack in our Homeland, or on diplomacy and negotiation which far more effectively addresses the motives for violence .<br /><br />Helen Gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010369817073080001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-45362610493217551362013-03-31T10:52:23.322-04:002013-03-31T10:52:23.322-04:00Helen, my google fingers were slow. You'd be w...Helen, my google fingers were slow. You'd be wrong about all of them thar other between the lines meanings N @. I asked an honest question as I have not seen many other by-line posts on Bram's blog before. <br /><br />That is it.<br /><br />Seen, yes. Ask, no, until above.<br /><br />And, in these blog spaces we have had many fake personalities, from Admirals to girls to the countless name less. <br /><br />Greetings, real person. <br /><br />Now I can begin to better put a citizen with the voice in those words on line. <br />Mark Rauterkushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17157914569686528007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-15112623833610390612013-03-31T10:49:07.259-04:002013-03-31T10:49:07.259-04:00Generally government is given a monopoly on the us...Generally government is given a monopoly on the use of force and police powers (which include some presumption of objectivity and justice).<br /><br />In the federal examples (I almost said external examples, but I'm not sure that's valid) the business complements the government role, adding to government staffing and enjoying the legal protection of operating with government blessing.<br /><br />In the local/domestic examples, the government personnel (the police) supplement the business role and convey the benefits of government to the business.<br /><br />In the local arrangement, business isn't buying just a rent-a-guard; they're buying and co-opting local government for $200/day. What a tremendous deal. If we're going to do that, we should at least price it right.<br /><br />The value of the rent-a-FOP isn't in the human being, it's in the trappings of our government that the body brings with them; the benefit of that hiring should accrue to the value-generators, the taxpayers that create the police department.<br /><br />Certainly, if Jo Doakes was a mall cop instead of a Pittsburgh police officer, the local business would be much less interested in hiring her and would pay a lower price.<br /><br />At one time, the Pittsburgh Police may have existed "to protect and serve" - how quaint. Now, a Pittsburgh police shield is an entry ticket to lucrative external employment, a necessary inconvenience to the real paying gig. That shift in priorities explains more about recent years than anything else.<br /><br />And the other great tragedy must be identified: there are many good people on the force that want to protect and serve, who see their once-legit organization hijacked by the scroungers, scammers, and skimmers.<br /><br />Vannevarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08513110035186346571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-85740778465852266462013-03-31T07:41:58.773-04:002013-03-31T07:41:58.773-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Helen Gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010369817073080001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-51789087464376370132013-03-31T06:01:35.733-04:002013-03-31T06:01:35.733-04:00Mark - You hadn't seen Helen in the comments, ...Mark - You hadn't seen Helen in the comments, or seen a bunch of her posts on transit a while back as befits an organizer for Pittsburghers for Public Transit?Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-92133354488193814092013-03-31T00:37:42.772-04:002013-03-31T00:37:42.772-04:00Who is Helen?
Is she more than an alternative eg...Who is Helen? <br /><br />Is she more than an alternative ego? <br />Mark Rauterkushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17157914569686528007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-10744417764963321372013-03-30T16:43:53.649-04:002013-03-30T16:43:53.649-04:00My first take-away is that waste and abuse of powe...My first take-away is that waste and abuse of power in the safety and security sectors, when permitted to take hold, is PERNICIOUS. It sticks around.<br /><br />My second is a lot depends on how a person defines security, and she or she defines her security interests. It's my conviction that humankind is intent on sacrificing rights against abuse so long as our protectors are "doing the job" providing security.<br /><br />Third and fourth are given that it is a hard job, and the people doing it are our brothers and sisters, many tend to want to overlook inefficiency, waste, and even fraud as well, so long as the job is getting done. Further still, I bet many are content to let the accumulated military wisdom of -- I guess 10,000 years -- dictate how that exactly that security is best sought.<br /><br />Just an instinct, but I'm guessing only 3 and 4 are ripe for addressing. In our neighborhoods. Globally, 4 just brings you back swiftly around to 2, but I have a hunch there is 'Burgh acknowledgment in favor of addressing policing methods. Even the Bureau's Pgh Initiative Against Crime was a hopeful response to that.Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.com