Month: October 2023

Categories Links

Links 10/29/23

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Cyber attacks on businesses continue. Medical. Transport, more. Manufacturing, more.

NIH-Funded Study Just Vaccinated A Human Using Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

The FDA’s approval of Pfizer’s maternal RSV vaccine has omitted key data and is problematic

The Annual COVID19 Booster

Covid Vaccine Makers’ Stocks Crash To Multiyear Lows Monday As Sales Keep Sliding

Covid infection correlates with a lower subsequent rate of hospitalization for other infectious diseases.

School Closures and Student Health

N95 Covid masks may expose wearers to dangerous level of toxic compounds linked to seizures and cancer

CDC Data: COVID “Deaths” Plummeted Once Federal Money for Hospitals Ran Out

Was SARS-CoV-2 or Pneumonia the primary cause of respiratory Covid-19 deaths

COVID19 Therapeutics & Boosters all need new studies

Trudeau regime puts Canadian detective on trial for investigating link between infant deaths and mRNA vaccines

A Series of posts on the supposed death toll in NYC in spring of 2020

Remember when the FDA tweeted to tell people to stop taking ivermectin because “you are not a horse”? (twitter thread)

The Vice of Spice

US suicides hit an all-time high last year

Our thesis is that a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.

Oregon removes writing, reading, and math mastery from high school graduation requirements

Grand Canyon tourists exposed for years to radiation in museum building, safety manager says

D.C. to pay $5.1 million settlement after judge finds Second Amendment violations

Adderall Shortages Are Dragging On—Can Video Games Help (excuse me while I laugh out loud)

Ethical boundaries in medical decision-making can be blurred by circumstances

Won’t that remove oxygen? (article is behind a paywall, link is to twitter thread)

Your ceiling fan is a threat to the environment

Man forced to ditch Ford EV truck during family road trip to Chicago

‘Eco-Friendly’ Paper Straws Contain Harmful PFAS Chemicals

Brazen bandit uses blowtorch to steal $448 in skin care products from NYC Walgreens: video

Retailers Lost Billions of Dollars to Shoplifters in 2022

Thieves steal $300k worth of gift cards from GenCon

41% of French population is in favour of a proposal to limit everyone to 4 flights in their entire life.

Zoom wanted to use your calls to train AI, but the backlash made them change their minds (supposedly)

Tom Hanks says AI version of him used in dental plan ad without his consent

Louisiana Man Cleared to Sue Cops After SWAT Raid Over Facebook Joke

The Revolt of Religious Parents in Montgomery County

(Male) Teacher refuses to supervise nude girl in lockerroom.

California to prioritize missing children by color

How a teenager survived a plane crash and 11 day trek out of the Amazon.

(Video) How puppies might save Mongolia.

Maine dairy farmer places in top 15 in world’s longest horse race

Meet Wallace the first mule to win the British dressage competition

Researchers successfully potty train cows

The American marten reappears in Vermont and intrigues researchers

Categories Nothing Much

Theft

4 Comments by

Last week my mom mentioned she’d seen an article about how Home Depot and Lowes are dealing with a growing theft problem. My response shocked her more than a bit, so I thought I’d share (and expand on) it.

I’ve shared some articles here, in my links posts, about the theft problem, but it can be hard to really picture unless you’re actually working it.

The first thing you need to understand is that most companies have a policy in place that forbids the average employee from physically stopping a thief. We’re allowed, and encouraged, to be that annoying employee who won’t take “I don’t need help” as an answer. But anything more aggressive than that is forbidden. If we spot someone walking out the door with a cart we can ask for a receipt, but we can’t try to stop the cart, or grab their arm, or even really say anything more than “can I see your receipt”. Doing more than “customer service” can actually get you fired. Managers are allowed to be more aggressive, and Loss Prevention (or Asset Protection) employees are allowed to grab/stop/apprehend thieves. But the average cashier or sales person? Nope.

Now I have mixed thoughts on that. On the one hand, I’m glad I’m not expected to actually stop thieves, that’s dangerous and I agree that it’s not my job to put my life on the line for my employer. On the other hand: thieves KNOW this. They know they can load up a cart and not get stopped. So on more than one occasion I’ve wished I could do a BIT more.

HD, Lowes, and similar stores have been dealing with excessive theft for years.  It only increased during the Covid lockdowns, and never decreased after everyone was let loose.  

In garden: any power tool from Echo, Makita, Milwaukee, or Dewalt must be spider wrapped.  Any tool from Milwaukee and Dewalt must also be cabled or behind bars.  All other brands must be spider wrapped if they’re $150 or more.  All power tool batteries must be cabled. All generators, and all power washers over $150 must be behind gates or bars.  Anything locked up must be hand carried to the register by an associate. Oh, and BTW, with everything being forced to switch to battery power instead of gas you can guess how THATS going.

In Electrical they’re not allowed to stock out more than 2 at a time of the expensive breakers, and 90% of the smart home stuff has to be locked up. A huge selection of the speciality electrical tools are high theft risks. 

Plumbing has to lock up many of the thermostats and some of the fancier water heaters.  The smaller copper pipe fittings are also a huge theft risk. 

Many of the vacuum cleaners have to be locked up. 

Some 3/4 of the power tools in hardware have to be locked up or at least spider wrapped. Saw blades, from tiny to large, are also at high risk of theft. Power tool batteries again, anywhere in the store, require extra lockup.

Theres some variation between stores/regions in the specifics of whats locked up and how, but I’ll bet that even in higher end areas you’re going to see a larger number of spider wraps and cables than you did even 10yrs ago.

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