A couple of things

Truth be told I have really tried to steer clear of current events of late.  Sometime a while ago I decided that I would draw the focus nearer and talk more about work and whatever and less about politics.  But the last couple of days - just wow.  So a couple of things.

There is no first amendment right to tweet.  Twitter is a private platform with rules.  They are free to enforce those rules and to change their rules.  If you are a free market Republican you want them to be a private company as opposed to a government maintained platform.  Twitter has had a substantial problem with misinformation coming from both well known and virtually unknown authors, as well as hundreds, maybe thousands, maybe tens of thousands of bots.  They are way, way, way overdue to do something.  Their action the other day to add informational links under suspect tweets is just a baby step.  The link didn't even refute the tweet, it just suggested a destination for additional information.  If a user doesn't like it, they are welcome to go post someplace else. 

Authorities should really do more to stop killing people.  In the 21st century haven't we come far enough that we don't need nearly this much lethal force?  I get that if someone is a continuing risk to public safety that the apprehension is a priority as it possibly saves additional lives.  But failing those circumstances couldn't we stand to be a little more patient?  We need a way to modify current tactics in such a way that arrests can be deescalated.  It would seem worth taking more time if it would mean that less lives would be lost.  I remember years ago hearing that some police departments had rules against high speed chases.  That they weren't supposed to engage in a pursuit that would endanger the public.  It must be well past time to apply that kind of logic more broadly.  If four people can't make a peaceful arrest, maybe they should wait for eight.  Maybe I am missing something.

And wear a damn mask.  Wearing a mask isn't politically correct it is prudent behavior.  Wearing a mask doesn't make you weak, it shows you are conscientious and are interested in solving the problem.  The more people that wear masks the less people that get sick and the sooner we might be able to lift the more restrictive measures.  We griped about seat belts and the speed limit.  We gripe about no smoking zones.  All of those things verifiably save lives and eventually became the new normal.  Let's skip to the end on this one and just make masks the new normal now.  My mask protects you as much as me, actually more than me.  Hospital workers are putting themselves in harms way every day and every day people chafe at wearing masks is that much longer the doctors and nurses and EMTs and the rest have to be in danger.  Find a mask you like and wear it.  This should not be controversial.

Maybe don't stand at a podium and say someone's family surely wants to get to the bottom of something when a member of that family has set their privacy aside to ask you to please just stop.  Have some empathy.

This has been quite a week.