Red Stripe

Reading between the lines: A deputy from Orange County, Florida didn't take his finger off the trigger of his Glock when putting it back in the holster, and earned himself a red stripe.

Gun training DERP

Here is a video from a police training site. There are so many testosterone laden idiots passing themselves off as firearms training experts, it simply makes me want to shake my head in disbelief. Is this REALLY what constitutes advanced police firearms training?

Why in the world would you ever need to train for an environment where you are in a gunfight with a disassembled pistol, a disabled arm, and wearing a gas mask? Seriously? This is simply pure stupidity, not to mention the multiple range safety violations.

Mortgage bank again

Today is an important day. I have been in a four year fight with SunTrust. It seems like they will never learn. The lawsuit that I filed against them in December has been settled. Although the exact terms of the settlement are confidential, I can say that I received a 5 figure settlement. That is the second time that they have paid me 5 figures within the past year. In the settlement, I agreed to hold them harmless for everything that they had done as of the date of the settlement.

The day after the settlement was signed, they again violated the court's order. I am going to wait a couple of months for them to do it a few more times, and I will sue them again. Sooner or later, they will get the message.

Laugh of the day

A teen taking a selfie with a squirrel in Palm Harbor was visiting when his family decided to go for a hike in a park after the flash of the camera, the squirrel climbed down his shirt. The resulting pictures were hilarious.

Continuing Shenanigans

For those just joining us:
I had a house that lost its value in the real estate crash. I declared bankruptcy, and was going to turn the house over to the bank. The bank testified in court that they were the owner of the note and the mortgage, but I caught them lying. They had sold the note and mortgage to Fannie Mae, two year earlier. I sued, and we settled out of court for almost 10 grand. They then sold the note and mortgage again, this time to Nationstar mortgage. They recorded the sale in the county clerk's office.

Then SunTrust tried to foreclose. The foreclosure was dismissed, and Nationstar claimed to not have any record of owning the mortgage.

The feds stepped in and sued the banks. I got another $4,000 in THAT lawsuit.

SunTrust continued to send me demands for payment, even though prohibited from doing so by the bankruptcy court, and the fact that they no longer own the note and mortgage. So after a few years of this, I got tired of it and sued again in May of this year (the hearing was in June). This time, the court awarded me $14,700 and instructed SunTrust to have no further contact with me.

The next day, SunTrust began sending letters and leaving notes on my door. Since that court date in June, I have gotten 2 letters, 5 notes on my door, and two phone calls.

Today, I get a letter from SunTrust, telling me that they have sold my note and mortgage, and effective October 1, 2013, I should send my payments to yet another bank. I am thinking that this is going to be my new career.

Bankruptcy is supposed to allow you to start over. It has been four years, and this bank STILL will not leave me alone.

Dumbass firearm instructor

This video astounds me.





What this guy is saying could easily be construed as murder. He wants you to make sure that anyone who enters your home is dead. He says to either shoot them in the head, or after shooting them, go back to bed for an hour or so before calling 911, so that you can let them "bleed out." Here are some of his statements in comments:

 When someone breaks into your home in a home invasion at 3:00 a.m. they are not another individual, they are a predatory puke who is there to kill you and your family. Don't you pay any attention to the news? Don't you know what happens to homeowners and their families in home invasions?

 What I in fact said was if you can put two to center mass and one in the head before they hit the ground that can be made to look like a legitimate shoot. If they hit the ground before you can put one in the head that's going to be a problem. Then you're going to have to let them bleed out.

When a person enters your home in a castle doctrine state, the law presumes that the homeowner is facing a deadly threat, and allows the homeowner to use deadly force. That presumption disappears if the state can prove that  you deliberately allowed a person to die after they were no longer a threat. An attorney in the comments says effectively the same thing, and this is his response:

What will your hourly charge be to defend a so called CLEAN SHOOT? I betcha if you are an attorney your charges will be a lot. If I dispose of the body I don't have to pay them.

This video will be used against the maker to show premeditated murder, even if the shoot is a proper one. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Look at another video he produces:


At 1: 34, he says that he keeps his Sig 220 in a "combat ready condition" where it is loaded and the hammer is back. This guy is a total dumbass. This is a double action pistol with no manual safety, no grip safety, and no safety built into the trigger. He fingers the trigger and sweeps the camera multiple times before clearing the pistol. This is a negligent discharge waiting to happen. He goes on to say:

I haven't taken this thing apart yet, and have no desire to. My guess is that this lever (indicates takedown lever) releases it, and it comes apart like a Glock.

This guy supposedly runs a training academy. I seriously hope that no one takes his advice, because they will likely wind up in jail. Anyone who has attended this school that is involved in a shooting better hope that the prosecutor doesn't find out about it, because they will be in a world of trouble.

Minimum wage again

The Obama administration is talking about a minimum wage hike. The one that has been proposed is a hike to $10.10 an hour, which equates to $21,000 a year. The Federal poverty level for a family of four is $22,320, and for a single person is $10,890. So Obama's plan will wipe out poverty, right?

Wrong.

Coming on the heels of the massive costs involved with Obamacare, it would cost $12,000 more per year to hire a new worker than it did when Obama took office. Employers are not bottomless pockets full of money. In order to afford these new, higher wages, employers will have to do one of three things: cut costs, raise prices, or a combination of the previous two. Most likely, this will be done as a combination of the previous two. The first effect will be fewer jobs.

The second effect will be pay compression. Let me give an example: In 2004, workers in Florida followed the Federal minimum wage law. The minimum wage in Florida was the same as the Federal wage, $5.15 an hour. In those days, an unskilled position like fry cook at KFC started at about $6.50 an hour. A semi skilled position, EMT, started at $8 an hour. A skilled position, Paramedic, started at $14 an hour.

In 2005, the voters of Florida put a law in place that increased the state minimum wage each year. (Here it is - pdf warning) Right now in Florida, an unskilled position like fry cook at KFC starts at about $8 an hour. A semi skilled position, like EMT currently starts about $9 an hour. A skilled position like Paramedic starts at about $13 an hour. So, the minimum wage in Florida increased by $2.64 (a 51% increase) over 7 years, and while the wages of unskilled labor climbed by 23%, the wages of semi-skilled laborers climbed by only 12.5%, and skilled labor actually fell by 7%. Factoring in inflation, and unskilled laborers were the only ones who saw an increase. This is illustrated in this Sentinel article. About three quarters of the way through the article,

Eric Jackson is CEO and president of Total Roofing Services, a 2-year-old Orlando company with about eight employees. Jackson starts his employees out at $10 an hour, saying he wants to give everyone "a chance to earn a living wage."

Jackson said he's not particularly concerned an increase in the federal minimum wage would drive up his labor costs. He said he'd tell new employees, "I'm already paying you a buck above that. Prove yourself, and you'll make more."

So the skilled workers  making more than minimum wage would not make more when the minimum wage is raised, and would be making the same as what a KFC fry cook makes, only now all of the businesses who had to give raises to their employees (KFC, grocery stores, gas stations) charge more. Inflation.

Inflation brings us to the second way that employers react to an increase in labor costs: they raise prices. They pay for the wage increases and the increased costs of providing health insurance by raising prices.

One of the biggest complainers about the minimum wage law is waiters and waitresses. They have a "tipped minimum wage" that is only $2.13 an hour. They claim that this places them below the poverty level. I claim bullshit. I know your game. Waiters and waitresses make HUGE amounts of money, they just don't claim them. Since much of these wages are "under the table," unreported income, they appear poor, but my daughter works as a server, and she regularly brings home $200 a night in tips after an 8 hour shift.

A meal for two at a moderately priced restaurant like the Outback or Olive Garden runs about $35, meaning a tip of $4 or more. The average server works 3-5 tables. This translates into $12-20 an hour in tips. For a job that requires no licenses or real skill. All you have to do is write down what the customer wants and carry it to the table. 

Fairness

Scott Cate is a man who has everything you would want: A yacht, a private jet, a speedboat, and other toys. He also is passionate about the athletic program of the High School where his sons went to school, where he volunteers to coach football. As a self-made millionaire, he made a pile of money when he sold the company that he built from the ground up and retired. He decided to spend his time coaching high school football as a volunteer, and also funded many projects to help the school. He built $4 million worth of projects: A turf field, a weight room, a press box, and other projects.

He also funds an after school program that tutors high school students. In short, he is the kind of guy that the school system should be delighted to have as a booster. 

How did the school district thank him? They passed a rule prohibiting him from volunteering his time. It seems that many parents accuse him of doing this to build an all star team around his son. The problem with this accusation is that he has not had a child in school since 2006. It seems that the real problem here is that other schools in the district didn't like the fact that the school was successfully recruiting athletes from other schools because of the successful tutoring and athletics programs.

On any given afternoon, players can be found in the study hall with former college stars like Kaufusi. Cate retains the tutors, who double as assistant coaches, with a personal services contract. He pays for their advanced degrees or teaching certificates if they agree to spend five years working at any high school.

 The man says that he will take his time and his money, and donate it somewhere that it will be appreciated. Another case of class warfare and jealousy making equality more important than excellence. The idea here is that other schools were jealous that they did not have their own donor, so to make things "fair" decided to deprive the school of a substantial source of support. Never mind that this school was taking failing students, and turning them into A students.

Bills counted 11 players living within the Kearns boundaries on rival Hunter High's sideline during a lopsided loss this season. "You don't mind getting beat," he said, "but you hate getting beat by your own kids."

Certain schools are magnets for parents who think their children can thrive athletically and possibly earn college scholarships. Recruiting allegations have swirled for years, most notably around perennial power Skyline.

Lately, talk has shifted to Cottonwood, a team that until last year endured 17 straight losing seasons. The Colts lost in the 4A championship game last November and are poised for a state title run this season. The team's star running back, Stanley Havili, lives outside the area as do several other top players.

This is the end goal of socialism: to place everyone on the same plane, even if that plane is at the bottom. This is what "fair" looks like.

CYA

So a cop on a SWAT raid spies what he believes is a threat and discharges his weapon into the finger of a fellow officer. This smells like bullshit to me.
1 If there was a threat, then why did the only shot fired hit another cop? Why was the 'threat' not shot as well?
2 If there were no other injuries during the raid? Couldn't have been much of a threat.

This smells like a cop with poor trigger discipline trying to cover his ass after having a negligent discharge, and his fellow officers going along with it.

We are military

This douchebag says that he and the New Black Panther Party are "military" and that they are going to "apprehend" Zimmerman.He claims an ability to perform a "citizen's arrest" under the constitution, and claims that according to "the street people's law" Zimmerman is guilty of murder, and states that he is not subject to "the white man's law," which is "America's law."

He then says that Zimmerman will be tried by the "people" and once found, he will "not be alive." He calls blacks who oppose his ideas "Uncle Tom Negroes."

It appears as though this New Black Panther party and the rest of the race baiters want a race war. Racist dickheads.

We interrupt this blog

I was going to post a part 2 to yesterday's post that was the beginning of my theory on the biological reasons for why some people are criminals, but I need to take a minute to vent.

Yesterday, I posted the following image on a social networking site with the caption of "Aren't we as Americans tired of this yet?"

 In response to this, my ex-sister in law, who is on food stamps, decided to post the following:

More restarants are accepting ebt so families can experience the going out to eat like families who can do it anytime they want, i think that america needs to learn that the unemployment isnt a joke and a lot of ppl have stopped lookin for work cause there isnt anythin out there, so stop complaining about ebt and be happy that if u have a job or are gettin paid to go to school atleast u dont have to deal with struggles like some families do

 Here was the reply that I sent her:

I don't care if you go out. I do care if you go out and expect me to pay for it. The EBT system is meant for people to not starve, not so they can have luxuries like "experiencing going out to eat." You have internet access, which tells me that you have at least some money for luxury. It is about priority and about working to get ahead, not about waiting for someone to give you something. I get paid to go to school because I worked and saved in order to do so, not because I sat around and expected handouts. It isn't luck that I had a job or that I am in school, it is called HARD WORK. There were times that I had to work 3 jobs to make it. It isn't that there are no jobs, it is that you don't want to work at the jobs that are there. Get off the internet, stop using the EBT to go to Pizza Hut, put away the pride and take whatever job you can get, but stop asking me to pay your bills.

 It really angers me when someone says that I am somehow lucky to have what I have, or that I somehow fell into having a good life. 
I graduated from a public high school. So did you. We started from the same point.
I couldn't afford college, so I joined the military.
While in, I got my girlfriend pregnant, and married her. We had a child when I was 19 years old. It was a struggle, but I provided for my family. Try making it on what an E3 makes, and see if you feel fortunate.
When I got out of the military, things were tough. At one point, we were homeless for about three months, and lived in a storeroom at my job. I bathed my kids in a 48 quart ice chest. 
I went from job to job for the next four years, each job paying more than the last, until I could afford to go to school. 
I then went to the fire academy and paramedic school at night and on the weekends while I worked during the day. Then, I got a job with the fire department, and worked my ass off to get promoted twice, and earn a retirement. During this time period, I worked three jobs so that I could save for a rainy day. 
After 12 years of that, I lost everything when the stock and real estate  market crashed. I wound up bankrupt. 
I worked hard some more, and finally retired with about $50,000 in savings so that I could go to school.


Socialists call that "good fortune" or "luck"

I call it hard work.
Get off your asses and get a job, but stop expecting me to pay your bills.

Everyone is a terrorist

Here is a list of things that the FBI says make you a possible terrorist:

if you pay cash for small purchases like a cup of coffee, or for large purchases
using encrypted files
shaving off your beard
SCUBA diving without certification card, or SCUBA training to get a certification card, being a SCUBA diver without a logbook, diving using "rebreathers", use dive equipment for extended dive times or deep dives
taking pictures with a cell phone, having more than one cell phone, buying more than one disposible cell phone, not activating a prepaid phone at the time of purchase
At work: likes to work alone or unsupervised, and if at work, is willing to do tasks that no one else wants to do
people who are overdressed, underdressed, or are dressing to blend in
playing paintball on your own property
buying waterproof matches, MREs, or flashlights
absence from work for charity work
study of fields that can be used for terrorism like chemistry, gunsmithing, SCUBA training, rappelling, marksmanship, etc.
When renting a vehicle, inquiring about its fuel capacity
receiving a large number package deliveries
having weapons on your property, or buying bulk ammunition
refusing to allow landlord to enter rental property on demand, or changing locks without landlord permission
having offensive tattoos, or asking to have offensive tattoos concealed, covered, or altered
owning remote controlled model aircraft
use of model rocket engines and igniters
buying firearms and ammo outside of hunting season
requesting hotel room in specific location or floor
arrive at hotel with too little or too much luggage
persons mumbling to themselves
excessive sweating

This list covers so many activities that it is useless. If you read the list, everyone is a possible terrorist, because if we just focus on Muslim males between the ages of 16 and 35, the terrorists will know this and exploit it. Except looking harder at Muslims is profiling, and we can't do that, that would be insensitive and discriminatory, thus ensuring that the terrorists don't need to disguise themselves as non-Musilms.

Irony

I find it ironic that Mike Church, a talk show host on Sirius/XM radio (a paid subscription radio service) this morning on his show, states that companies that don't make any tangible thing (like Facebook, Sports, and other entertainment) are a waste of money. He then says that society can't afford to have them, as we will run out of money as a society as we waste it on entertainment.
I don't know if he has thought this through. After all, he doesn't do anything, either. He is a political commentator. That means that he doesn't make anything, all he does is comment on politics, which is another group of people who don't produce anything.

Mother of the year

When you are a parent, you get used to saying no to questions like: "Dad, can I juggle chainsaws?" or "Mom, can I go skydiving?" or even "Dad, I know I'm only 14, but we are in love and want to get married." So what do you say to your ten year old when he wants a tattoo?
Not this mom. Maybe mother of the year is a bit premature, since we have about 49 more weeks of people doing stupid things left in the year, but she is probably going to be a finalist.

We are doomed

This is why this country is going to shit. These people's votes count the same as the votes of people who actually have knowledge of things that do not happen on Twilight, American Idol, and other stupid television shows.

Just lucky, I guess

According to some douchebag named Tim Wise, I am the recipient of 12 to 13 years of institutionalized affirmative action as a result of my attending public school, and this is why I, as a member of the white establishment, am so fortunate.

When I graduated from high school, the school I graduated from was one of two in the entire county. Everyone from the east side went to one school, everyone from the west side of the county went to the other. We all attended the same classes, taught by the same teachers. I can't see how there is any difference.

After high school, I joined the military and did six years there. When I got out, I was broke, but willing to work. I tried making it for a couple of years as a business owner, but was soon nearly homeless. My family and I lived in the storeroom of my business, and we bathed in a 48 quart ice chest.

I took what little money I had and moved to Florida. When I got there, I took a job in residential construction that paid $7.50 an hour. Over the next 5 years, I worked at the airport repairing ground support equipment, at Disney repairing the electronic control systems on dancing chickens, at Sherwin Williams on paint manufacturing equipment, and at a stainless steel mill repairing stainless steel pipe manufacturing equipment. Each time I changed jobs, it was for more money. Over that 5 year period, I went from $7.50 an hour to $12 an hour. Then, Bill Clinton signed a the "most favored nation" treaty with China, and cheap steel flooded the market, putting my employer out of business.

I got tired of being laid off, and decided to take my volunteer firefighting occupation full time. I went to school, by working odd jobs during the day, and going to school at night. I graduated the fire academy and got hired. While I was in school, my wife of ten years and I got a divorce. I was so broke, I had to get a second job as a janitor, and then as a lifeguard to make ends meet.

Since then, I have earned 4 college degrees and I am getting ready to begin my masters degree. I did it without handouts, I did it without Pell grants, welfare, food stamps, or anything that I didn't work for myself.

But hey, none of that was due to hard work and perseverance. It was all luck and 'white privilege' that got me here.

Only Fox news has biased coverage

Recently, there was an attack by a group of forty or more teens against a neighborhood, and one of the residents used a rifle to scare them off. Some of the people reading the article were asking why the news didn't mention the fact that it was a group of forty black teens attacking residents of a white neighborhood, and the further alleged that if it had been a large group of white teens terrorizing a black neighborhood, it would have been the largest headline possible. Calls from the press to pass hate crime laws would have been heard. Instead, crickets.

The Chicago Tribune responded by saying:

It's the newspaper's sound general policy not to mention race in a story, whether about crime or anything else, unless it has some clear relevance to the topic. 

 Really? Let's see:

Editorial accusing people who disagree with Obama of racism.

Story accusing Arizona of racism because they crack down on illegal immigrants, who happen to be Mexican because the Mexican border is closer to Arizona than the Canadian border.

Story about how blacks do not save their money like whites do.

Story about a man charged with a hate crime for pointing at another man and calling him a name.

The Chicago Tribune fails to realize that the race of people involved with a story only becomes relevant when you report the race of the people. Ignoring the fact that an attack is racially motivated makes the race of those people irrelevant and shows your bias.

Government complexity

The government makes EVERYTHING more complicated. When it comes to performing maintenance, the US Navy has a complicated system in place (or did when I was in)called the Material Maintenance Management (3M) system, which controls all PMS (Planned Maintenance System). PMS is time consuming and overly complicated. The procedure for each maintenance action is written on an MRC (Maintenance Requirement Card.

 What makes the system so complicated and cumbersome is the fact that government bureaucrats have managed to turn the system into a set of procedures that make doing your taxes seem easy. Failure to follow the procedure exactly can and does end with sailors being courts-martialed. Maintenance is scheduled for each work center, and the work center supervisor schedules each person for his maintenance. Let's take a look at a required daily maintenance activity (D-1R). We are scheduled to perform that activity toady, so we look for the MRC, on the Maintenance Index Page (MIP) and confirm that it is correct MIP by checking it against the LOEP (List Of Effective Pages) after checking the effective date to ensure that the LOEP is the current one. After locating the current MRC, we confirm that it is correct by checking its effective date against the one on the MIP.

So take a look at the card here. Granted, this one is a joke, but looks remarkably like the real ones. There is a section that has the information about the equipment on the card and the frequency of maintenance. Then an area that specifies who may perform the maintenance, and the man hours it will take to complete. There are sections that specify safety regulations that must be followed, along with a list of every tool that is required. If the card calls for a 6 inch screwdriver, you better not get caught using a 4 inch or an 8 inch screwdriver. The procedure is then listed, and it must be followed exactly as per the card. Failure to do so can land you in prison.

These are the numbskulls that are getting ready to run our health care system. How do you think that will work out?

Worse Idea

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Washington, DC was implementing a bad idea when they decided to use firefighters to plug the gaps in their police force. I was proven correct when shootings happened right in front of the firefighters, and there was nothing that they could do.

Now the criminals are breaking into fire stations and stealing. This idea is worse and worse.

Civil rights, 1983 lawsuits, liability

After the incident that I last blogged about, where a Canton, OH police officer threatened a pair of citizens with physical force, I listened to the recording of the City Council President, where he gives his opinion on the whole incident:



The Council President states that the police officer's actions were logical because the person involved was legally carrying a concealed weapon in a bad neighborhood at 1:30 in the morning, around prostitutes and drug dealers. Excusing the cop's actions in this manner is a bit of a problem. Let me explain why:

42 USC 1983 provides that, "Every person who under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, Suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress"

Meaning that the citizen involved gets to sue both of the officers who violated his rights by threatening harm to him, and will probably be successful. You can sue cities and counties under 1983 in what is called a Monell claim. Under Monell, to hold a municipality liable you need to show that your constitutional injury was caused by a policy or custom of the municipality. Monell liability can be established where a municipal official with final policy-making authority ratifies a subordinate’s unconstitutional conduct and the basis for it. The theory behind municipal liability in this context is that the acts of persons with final policy-making authority are considered to be the equivalent of government policy.

To establish municipal liability, a claimant must show a persistent and pervasive practice of the police department in failing to respond to police misconduct. While a single act of misconduct is insufficient to establish municipal liability, a person in a policy making position can show that the unconstitutional behavior of the municipality approved of the act, and thus made the act a de facto policy. In police brutality cases, the municipal entity’s liability can be established by showing that the city encourageed or authorized the conduct.

By stating that the incident that took place is to be expected when people carry concealed weapons in compliance with state law, he has authorized the officer's conduct and opened himself and the city to a 1983 lawsuit. Damage awards in civil rights cases can be high. In 2007, a man won over three million dollars for damages he suffered from false arrest and other indignities by Oakland, California police officers. That award included punitive damages.