Automatic updates

It seems like every time my computer does an automatic update, my computer stops working. The updates are supposed to make your computer better and protect you from malicious code, but the cure is worse than the disease.

This time, Windows defender updated and my computer slowed to a crawl with choppy audio. It took me two hours to find the problem. I had to disable Windows Defender.

I have routinely denied and refused updates, but that only works for so long before it updates anyway.

Even "conservative" press gets it wrong

The news media is infuriated because President Trump barred a reporter from the Whitehouse Press room, some reporters claiming he is taking unprecedented steps against the press.

They have short memories, because Obama did it, too.

Canada

Earlier in the month, we decided to head for our BOL as a bit of a summer fishing trip. It gives us an excuse to get away from the hot Florida summer. We were here for a bit when we got a bit of bad news: there had been a death in my wife's side of the family. We headed to New York for the funeral. While there, we were invited to another of her relative's home in Canada. We went back the BOL for a few days, and then headed for the Canadian house.

That is where we were when the shooting in Toronto occurred. The Canadian politicians were going ballistic. They were demanding a reinstatement of the long gun registry, even though the shooting was carried out with a handgun. They were talking about a total ban on all firearms within city limits of any large city. According to the locals, there have been over 250 shootings in Toronto this year. They are mostly blaming Americans.

In the lounge of the hotel, we met a guy who had to drive two hours and pay a $45 ferry toll to stay in the hotel overnight in order to see a specialist in the morning.

Also while there, we talked to a woman who received a knee replacement. She had been on the waiting list for two years before getting it. There have been papers and studies done that claim a waiting time of only 16 weeks for Canadian patients, but the studies themselves admit that the respondents to the survey are mostly younger. The wait times in Canada are determined by your age and health.  Younger, healthier people get priority over older, sicker people. The woman I spoke with was 71 years old when she was placed at the end of the list.

This makes a lot of sense. Medical care and the time of providers is a finite resource. Since there is only so much to go around, not everyone gets everything that they desire. There must be rationing of a sort. In the US, this is driven by two factors: the market and insurance. That is, financial reasons.

In Canada, since the cost of care is included in your tax bill, the government decides who gets and does not get care. Since older people tend to be more conservative, and Canada is run by liberals, guess who gets priority of care from the politicians who wish to be elected?

Lifejackets

The press seems to have latched onto the use of life jackets in the recent capsizing of the boat in Missouri that claimed 17 lives, as if forcing every one to wear them would have saved everyone.

Marketing photos and videos, posted for years by the company advertising the rides, show people not wearing life jackets. Pace of the Highway Patrol said state law requires that the vessels have one jacket for everyone on board and that the jackets be readily "accessible," not stowed under a seat.
This video from Ride the Ducks social media page about two years ago, for instance, shows a packed boat of tourists on a leisurely ride on calm water. Not a single person featured in the video is wearing a life jacket.

I don't think it would have helped much. The vessel was an amphibious truck with a roof and windows. Wearing a life jacket in an enclosed vessel that has capsized makes escaping that vessel nearly impossible, as the swimmer cannot submerge in order to escape.

The real culprit here, in my opinion, is the Captain of the vessel who did not bother to check weather conditions before taking passengers out on the lake. The storm that caused the sinking packed winds at the upper end of Tropical Storm force, and warnings had been issued for the weather before the boat sailed.

When you are in an area where storms are frequent, like the Midwest, it is easy to become complacent and ignore storm warnings. In this case, the Captain's complacency cost 17 people their lives.

More sitting on the dole

The same judge who last month ordered FEMA to continue providing free hotels to Puerto Ricans for Hurricane Maria until July 24 has again extended the free hotels. At what point are people expected to get jobs and provide for themselves? Isn't 11 months and $450 million of free housing enough time to find a job?

Death for pedophiles?

Last year, Trump tweeted out that "pedophiles" should get a fast trial and a fast execution. I am opposed to this. I once blogged about a young couple who were being prosecuted because they took revealing photos of themselves and texted them to each other. They were caught, and being prosecuted as adults for possessing, producing, and distributing child pornography. Should they be put to death?
What about the 14 year old girl who sent revealing photos of herself to her boyfriend? Should she be put to death? In this particular case the ACLU is defending her (even though I abhor them, the occasionally do some good).
It is unlikely that such a law would be constitutional, as the Supreme Court already ruled in 1977 that the death penalty was excessive for rape.
Not only that, but I am opposed to the death penalty because I don't trust the government to be honest.

Deliberate ignorance of LEOs

I ran into a Central Florida police officer recently. It was a social situation, and we got to talking firearms. He made a statement to the effect that machine guns and 'silencers' were illegal. I explained the law to him and, since he was a supervisor, offered to come into the police station with some NFA items as well as the proper paperwork, so that his officers would know the law and be familiar with the proper documents that are required.

Hes response: "No thanks, keep that stuff out of my town." As if a person who has gone to the trouble of jumping through ATF hoops and is supportive enough of law enforcement to come in and train his officers is a threat to law and order.

Undisclosed location

Busy in my BOL. We hauled supplies here and will be staying for a bit. We have set up a cache for supply storage and will be building that up.

Trying things out. Maybe next time, we will try during winter.

The location is FAR out in the country. The village is less than 100 people. The nearest town is 8 miles (driving) away and has a population of less than 1,000. From there, 8 miles away is a town of 12,000. The nearest city is an hour's drive away and has a population of 35,000 or so.

The only issue is winter. They can be tough here, with lots of snow and temps that regularly are below zero (Fahrenheit).

Blogiversary

Today marks the eleventh birthday of this blog. So much has happened since that first post. The entire Obama administration came and went. Personally, my life has seen a lot of changes. Married and then divorced, and then married again. Employed to retired to employed again. I declared bankruptcy and then became a millionaire.
In 2008 I got married.
In 2009 the bottom dropped out of the housing market, my pay was cut by 30% and, faced with a depreciating asset, I declared bankruptcy with the intent of giving the house back to the bank.
In 2010 My bankruptcy was discharged. The mortgage bank was caught lying to the court with regard to my bankruptcy. They were forced to pay me nearly $10,000. Then they were caught forging mortgage paperwork. Their lawyer was disbarred and they had to pay me more than $25,000 in damages.
In 2011 My wife announced to me (during the week of my birthday, no less) that she wanted a divorce. That divorce became final in June. I retired from my career as a firemedic and began school to be a physician assistant.
In 2012 I decided to leave school, moved back to Florida, and began teaching adult education.
In 2014, I met my current wife. I also applied for my teacher's license and became a high school science teacher.
In 2018, I finally got paid for a job I did for the Feds six years before and I was able to pay off my house, all of my bills, and put a sizable amount in savings. With a 7 figure net worth, my wife and I now work so we can afford luxuries and not because we need to.

A lot can happen in 11 years.

Crossing the border

He entered the country illegally, and then entered a home illegally.

“I turned back to see the TV again and that’s when I see the door wide open and I see him coming toward me,” she said. The woman says the man had a knife. Her hands are all cut up now because she says when he came toward her, she grabbed it, and started screaming. The victim says her husband woke up and went after the intruder, who police have identified as 32-year-old Samuel Hernandez. 

Had this been my house, there would have been firearms involved.

But, hey, they are just here to do the jobs Americans won't do, so they can make a better life for their families. No person is illegal.

Armed burglar caught

So the local sheriff's department caught the armed burglar that broke into several vehicles in my neighborhood, stealing a firearm in the process, and attempted to break into my vehicle. He was caught on my video surveillance system:

Here is his mugshot:

He has been charged with 9 felonies, including arson, armed burglary, several counts of grand larceny, and theft of a firearm. He is 19 years old and graduated from high school just last year. In case you are going to be surprised by the news, he is registered to vote as a member of the Democratic party. This is probably why the Democrats are so in favor of gun control: it provides them a safer work environment.

Free health care in Spain

During my recent trip to Europe, we took a tour in Spain. During that tour, we passed a private medical clinic. The tour guide pointed it out, and then said that one of the best things about living in Spain was the "free health clinics." He then said that there were private clinics that people must pay for, but almost no one did so, because they were so expensive that only the rich could afford them, and the best doctors and care were in the free clinics, anyway.

I asked him why the rich would pay for inferior care, and he had no answer.

To me, the fact that the rich can pay for care in for profit clinics tells me that the care there must be better than the free clinics, or else they would go out of business.

No go zones

Like all large cities, there are areas of Orlando that are just not safe to enter. In Orlando, one of those areas is Pine Hills. Locals have referred to that area as "Crime Hills" since the late 80's. The area of Pine Hills used to be an upscale neighborhood that primarily housed engineers who worked for Martin Marietta's (later Lockheed Martin) Orlando plant. It was the first neighborhood in Florida to contain golf courses. At just over 12 square miles, this neighborhood is just about 1% of the total land area of the county, but accounts for 10% of the murders, and 15% of robberies.

Martin Marietta was once the largest employer in Orlando, with 15,000 employees. I remember when I was a child, my father (who was an engineer for an electronics firm) used to do work there, but he could never tell me what he did there, claiming it was classified. However, he would occasionally bring home pictures of missiles being test fired, which my brother and I happily hung on our walls.

By 1987, that payroll had declined to 5,700. The engineers have moved away, and the area is now what they call an "ethnically and racially diverse" neighborhood where crime runs rampant. The census figures for the area's income are unreliable because the statistical area includes a high income area that makes it appear to be more affluent than it is.

So with that background, we are now equipped to hear the tale of how Tavaris Davis got robbed. Apparently, one man at a convenience store was robbing another at gunpoint, and the two began shooting at each other. Then a third man joined in. Marksmanship was poor, because all of the shots exchanged hit cars, buildings, etc. with only one person being hit in the ankle. When Tavaris Davis realized what was going on, he fled. While fleeing, he was robbed at gunpoint by a group of locals who were unrelated to the individuals robbing each other at the nearby store.

The vast majority of gun violence in this nation is located within just a few square miles. The rest of the nation has a crime rate that is on par with Canada. The areas that are filled with crime tend to be "diverse" neighborhoods. Unless we can have an honest conversation about race and the causes of crime without people calling others "racist," we can never find a solution.