Comments

1
That is my nightmare. When I am moving the car the kids are in with me, in the house, or in the yard. I am paranoid about knowing where my kids are (and any others who may be around) before moving my car. Years before I had kids I saw an ER episode just like this story that still haunts me.

And SUVs that you can’t see an 11-year-old behind: you sure you need that big of a vehicle?

I’m sorry for this woman and the families of the other children. I hope for healing for the surviving kids. But fuck, that story makes my heart clench.

RE: 911 calls from Wed. Did you hear the call from the scene of the carjacking? Heart rending.
2
Forget you, Jon Voight. If you were actually in any post-1979 films that I could actually watch, I'd skip it. But you made that easy by being old, gross and irrelevant.
3
Has Target made amends for that anti-gay brush-up from a couple years ago? Don't remember the specifics, but am nevertheless surprised to see Dominic claim to be "excited" about a new store.
4
AMEN!! I don't have to go to Northgate to get my cheap plastic crap made by children in China..I get get it right by work!
5
Remember in Anaconda when a snake threw Jon Voight up?

Yeah?

Yeah.
6
If I have to go to a Target, I'd prefer a downtown Target. Saves me a second trip to buy my cheap Chinese crap.

But seriously, this is the first time there's been an affordable general merchandise store downtown since Woolworth's closed. Macy's missed out big time in providing that kind of service, if you ask me. But that's what you get when you have a company that is too centralized and too timid to try anything new.
7
Target has a better selection of Barbies and Barbie clothes than Toys R US so it's fine with me.
8
Any brilliant insight on today's jobs number from the Stranger's crack economic staff? How can you spin them this time?
9
I don't want to listen to the sound clip. What's the argument about the content?
10
@8

Clearly Obama needs to be pushing the Magic Jobs Button harder! That's the spin.
11
@9: Listening to the 911 call is eerie and surreal. The arguing is essentially how the desperation and emotion of the caller and the process for the dispatcher come into play. Nobody's really at fault. It's worth listening to.
13
@9 The caller sounded remarkably together and deeply concerned for the dying and wounded, but, because he was in the bathroom at the time of the shooting, he couldn't provide a description of the shooter. This seemed to irritate the 911 operator who sounded skeptical, condescending, and impatient with the caller.
14
@13, the operator didn't sound especially irritated to me or any of the other descriptives you use for that matter. She did insist forcefully and calmly they needed a description of the perp right at this moment since police was already on the way, presumably on the lookout as he was trying to get away. The caller was obviously and understandably distressed as he assumed she hadn't already sent emergency services. There is no need to make a mountain out of a molehill.
15
@13 I guess our comments illustrate the argument Dominic referred to. I certainly don't think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, just offering a reasonable interpretation of the call. And for what it's worth, I think your interpretation is reasonable, as well.
16
@10, The explanation is simply that some people are now re-entering the job market while not as many new jobs are being created as the effect of the paltry stimulus is gone while, thanks to austerians, the public sector continues to shed jobs. Summed up: decreasing unemployment was in great part due to people dropping out of the work force and we are now seeing the opposite.
17
^ Oops, reply fail. Meant @ 14.
18
Seattle would be number 1, but they measure Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, not just Seattle.

Also, the large number of H1-B visas skew the numbers down.
19
I think the local economy is good for people who can design software and manufacture airplanes as well as health care professionals to a certain extent. But in other sectors, you will struggle to find work.
20
@19 not necessarily. In fact, studies show that cities with strong professional job demand create higher job demand than other areas in non-related industries.

Multiplier effect.

It's what's for dinner.
21
Local economy doing well. Times runs editorial today, wishing we could keep Eyeman's state-crippling initiative. Why does the Times hate Washington so much?
22
hehe, too funny, scroll down a bit and see Goldy has reached the same conclusion as me.
24
Wednesday night I was joking with my wife about hypothetical politicians "getting out the zombie vote", when the news on CBC mentioned the foul smelling body parts being mailed to political parties. At first this sounded like what activist zombies would do to support their political cause.
25
People who call 911 always seem to think that the operators can't do two things at once: send aid and continue to gather information.

It probably would have helped if she had said that right away: "We already have help on the way. Please help them by answering these questions."
26
@23 no, we recategorized what is and is not a tech job during that period, you can't compare the datasets.

Now, if you want to debate should the Tech industry retrain Tech workers for new jobs, I agree, they should, rather than hire cheap H1-B and L2 instead with CVs and resumes padded with fake certs, but that's another debate.

I stand by my statement.
27
As a former medical call center employee (not my favorite job ever) who had a few emergency calls to deal with, I can identify the missing element in the 911 responder's efforts. She never said "We have emergency responders on the way to your location immediately."

That's what the caller needed to hear, because his first priority are the victims on scene. To the caller's perspective, it sounds like a lot of needless data entry is taking place that is slowing down the emergency response for those victims.

Like lifeguards who have to learn how to defend themselves against the drowning victims, taking emergency calls often includes fighting through the situation and the caller's human reactions to get the information you need. The 911 responder's job is to keep the caller on the line and get as much information as possible on the situation and feed that information to the emergency responders on route.

This caller WAS, as mentioned above, very calm and was able to give good information in a horrible situation. His frustration was due to that one key piece of emotional information that might have made the interchange less contentious.

...but all that's easy to identify in hindsight. (And it reminds me that I'm glad that's not my job.)
28
...or what 25 said.
29
Yeah, if the operator had assured the guy that there was help on the way early in the call he probably would have been able to focus more on her questions. Still, though, it was the sort of situation you never want to be in and cannot possible judge after the fact. I think they both did pretty well, given the extreme nature of the situation.
30
Or what 27 said....
31
@20 The job multiplier nowadays appears to be more like part time and temp jobs being created due to businesses adopting new models of doing more with fewer workers and bringing in temps when work piles up.

Industry training people--That's so 1990. Now they want workers with readymade job skills and requirements and if you don't have the training, you have to go and pay for it yourself. and maybe, just maybe, they'll accept the certification or Associate Degree.
32
Target = Wal-Mart + smiley face
33
Oh, gross, don't shop at Target. Like @32 was getting at, it's just Wal-Mart with slightly better branding so yuppies don't feel bad about getting their cheap exploitation-made crap there.
34
And Kim Layfield?
35
So what are the yuppies supposed to do, dear Balderdash? Shop at Nordstrom, so they can buy slightly better made Sweatshop crap at a ridiculous markup in a place that looks like a airport gift shop?

36
Target is crap. Save your money, buy better quality. If you shop for Quantity, don't be surprised when your stuff breaks more often and the clothes fade fast. That's what it's supposed to do.

Also, shop the sales at drug stores and you'll save money. Really. Target is seriously no better than Walmart. I worked there for 5 years. They specifically said, during training, that they watch Walmart and either copy what works or get rid of what gets them in trouble.

Please wait...

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