MaxRedline

Customer Care At US Bank

In the week since her story made international news, Emily James, the banker fired from a U.S. Bank call center in Portland for a Christmas Eve act of kindness, has been “overwhelmed and emotional” from the outpouring she’s received.

On the day before Christmas, James had gotten permission from her manager to leave the call center and drive to a nearby gas station, where a bank customer was stranded. He couldn’t access the money from his paycheck at the bank, so James gave him $20 of her own money to buy gas, then went back to work.

The bank fired her a week later on New Year’s Eve, James said, calling her helpful hand an “unauthorized interaction with a customer.”

Then last week her account to The Oregonian/OregonLive went viral. She’s had several job interviews, including with other local banks, but hasn’t yet started another job. Several companies reached out over social media, wanting to hire her.

The bank, one of the largest in the USA, was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1891;  and is now headquartered in Minneapolis.

Today, U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest bank in the country, with 74,000 employees and $467 billion in assets as of December 31, 2018.

Well, they couldn't buy the kind of publicity they're receiving now.

 

Next Big Threat: Guys Who Can't Score

Although not a new movement, Involuntary Celibates (Incels) are an emerging domestic terrorism threat as current adherents demonstrate marked acts or threats of violence in furtherance of their social grievance. Once viewed as a criminal threat by many law enforcement authorities, Incels are now seen as a growing domestic terrorism concern due to the ideological nature of recent Incel attacks internationally, nationwide, and in Texas. What begins as a personal grievance due to perceived rejection by women may morph into allegiance to, and attempts to further, an Incel Rebellion. The result has thrust the Incel movement into the realm of domestic terrorism. The violence demonstrated by Incels in the past decade, coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match,or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types.

Yes - their failures as humans are always somebody else's fault.

The solution, apparently, is to continue to fail.

 

Portland City Council Srikes Again

In November 2018, the city of Portland voted to pass a ballot initiative called the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) that is basically Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s failed “Green New Deal” in a smaller, more localized package. In a few months, the city will begin finally investing the money they received.

It's a gross receipts tax on businesses, which are now essentially taxed twice one on stuff that they sell (gross receipts) and again on profits. No matter; the businesses won't pay it - their customers will. But it's a model for the nation, which is what counts as far as the erstwhile mayor of Portland is concerned:

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the tax and the use of subsequent funds, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler believes that the PCEF should inspire other large cities and perhaps even the entire United States. “It’s a model for the rest of the nation,” he said with pride. “A beacon and a testament to our community’s belief in doing things a different way.”

And the stupider, the better.

I stopped buying things in Portland years ago because of the mind-numbingly stupid policies the politicians foist on consumers. Things are less expensive in Washington County.

 

Timeless - And Clueless

I love that screenshot of Pantsuit.

The addition of Epstein is a bonus touch.

 

 

Green, Greed - What;s The Difference?

A neighbor down the street proudly placed solar panels on his house. He spent $4,000 after government subsidies and whatever deductions he may have taken from his income tax. He is confident that this move will save him tons of money on electricity and will safeguard the planet from global warming Armageddon by reducing his carbon footprint from fossil fuels. 

There is one fly in this perfect ointment—solar panels generate “tons of toxic waste” during the production process and during their disposal/replacement.

As mentioned here before, the output of solar panels decreases rapidly once installed, and they are effectively dead after 20 to 25 years. A number of companies offer "free" purchase and installation - but removal and disposal of non-functioning equipment is on you. Enjoy the smug feelings; they won't last long.

 

 

What Democrats In Congress Have Managed This Year

 

Dis-Comfort Animals

WASHINGTON — It seemed, in retrospect, a bit of a low point — a medium-size dog racing through an airplane at 30,000 feet, spraying diarrhea toward passengers throughout the cabin.

But according to some transportation officials, it was an increasingly typical scene that has stemmed from the growing use of comfort animals on airplanes.

“Over the last three years, there has been an explosion of emotional support animals, which seems to have coincided with websites that tell people how to get their pets on board and not have to pay for it,” said Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

Since 2016, the number of behavior-related service animal problems, “including urinating, defecating or biting,” has increased 84%.

There is no such thing as an "emotional support" animal; the applicable term is "pet". It'd be really interesting if someone shows up to board a plane with their "emotional support" elephant. Probably just a matter of time....

 

Thanks, Obama.

An illegal immigrant alien fled to Mexico after he was arrested for his involvement in a fatal car accident. Alejandro Maldonado-Hernandez was street-racing when he crashed into an Oregon couple’s car, killing an older woman and severely injuring her husband. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now blaming the Washington County Sheriff’s office for not honoring an immigrant detainer request.

No safer place for illegal immigrants than Portland, Oregon?

 

You Don't Need To Like Biden

But the duplicitous Tom Steyer is another thing. And to Biden's credit, he killed Tommy's "environmentalist" baloney.

During the Democratic debate on Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden attacked environmentalist billionaire investor Tom Steyer for making his money by investing in coal. Steyer has made fighting climate change his key issue in the 2020 race, so Biden's attack was particularly powerful.

Steyer may be rich, thanks to his daddy and mommy, but he's still as dumb as a box of coal.

 

Frivolity

A bunch of vegans are suing Burger King because they want to have their Impossible Burgers their way ... pristine, without any meat residue on the grill.

Phillip Williams just filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming the burger giant advertises the Impossible Burger as a vegan alternative to its meat burgers, yet they're all cooked on the same grill.

Williams says his burger was contaminated by meat byproducts.

I am a second-hand vegetarian. The animals eat the grass, and I eat the animals.