Hah

WHAT????

If this report is to be believed, the FBI is carrying miniguns to serve search warrants.

The agents could be seen inside the home Sunday evening near Baltimore's Inner Harbor. They wore bulletproof vests and carried rotating machine guns. 

Jacksonville

Before it gets sent to the memory hole, I want to post the rules for Jacksonville Landing, the site of this afternoon's mass shooting. Note that this place is, by the rules of management, a gun free zone.
The applicable part of the page follows, emphasis added by me.

E. Violations of the Law

a. The commission of any act defined by Federal, State or local ordinances as a criminal act is prohibited. These include, but are not limited to: graffiti, property damage, defacing, damaging or destroying any real or personal property, etc.

b. Possession of a weapon, even if legally carried (except by law enforcement officers) is absolutely prohibited on Landing property

c. Using or possessing fireworks is prohibited

A violation of these rules may result in expulsion from the property or other legal action as Property Management deems appropriate.

Gun free zones are NOT effective in preventing anything.

Making mountains out of molehills.

A man running for political office puts up a large campaign sign. It disappears, so he replaces it. The second sign disappears, and this time he puts up a camera to see where the signs are going. The cameras catch a man cutting the signs down with a chainsaw. The Lake County Sheriff's office posts screenshots on social media, looking for the man.

He is found almost immediately, because he approached deputies who were on the scene, investigating the alleged crime. Who is he? Well, he claims to be the owner of the property, and states that the signs were put there without his permission. The political candidate parades out a caretaker of the adjoining property, who states that the signs were on his employer's property.

Instead of simply moving the signs a few feet, so that they are clearly on the property of the person whose permission was given, the cops are choosing to make this a major case, and have referred this to the State Attorney's office for prosecution. Why are the cops wasting thousands of dollars over what is obviously a civil dispute, and not an intentional crime? Even if charges are pressed, they are unlikely to get a conviction because any potential charges for vandalism or criminal mischief would not be able to show intent.

Well, what the stories don't tell you is that the political candidate in question is a Tavares police officer. THAT is why they are making a big deal out of it. If I were the property owner, I would hire an attorney and prosecute for trespass, seeing as how the cop had to climb over a fence to place the sign.

Best laid plans

So there is this ALICE protocol that my school district spent gobs of money to train the school staff to follow a few months ago. One of the basic things was that the school will not keep everyone in the dark. They are supposed to put the school in lock down, and then keep everyone informed through announcements of what is going on, and where the shooter is, so that way teachers can escort their charges to a safe location, if the shooter is not close enough to prevent escape.

Great plan? eh.

They say no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and this plan was no different. Yesterday, my school had two separate incidents involving firearms. The teachers didn't find out until AFTER school was over. One of them involved a student who texted her mother, saying that the kid next to her had a gun. The mother called the school. The administrators decided that they didn't want to cause a panic, and decided to handle the incident by barging into the classroom with a load of administrators and cops. So much for their  plans.

You're treating me like a black person.

A doctor arrives at the Orlando airport at 6 am for a flight that is supposed to depart at 6:24. When the airline staff tells him that he is too late for check-in and has missed his flight, he becomes irate and demands to be placed on another flight. He was verbally abusive towards the airline employees, to they called the police. The airline employees offered to place him on standby for the next available flight, which was at 7:20 a.m.. He was told by police to get out of the line because he was yelling obscenities.

After he was removed from the line, he could be seen standing near an officer yelling that an American Airlines employee had a “flippant attitude” and that the officer was trying to provoke him.

“Do you know how to de-escalate things, genius?” the doctor said to the police officer, “Do you have training, genius?”

They eventually yell him that he is being trespassed and must leave the airport. That is when he loses his shit.

The police tell him that he has to leave, because he is being trespassed by the airline staff. The good doctor refuses, and then begins getting violent again, so the police try to place him under arrest. That is when things got physical. The doctor winds up sprayed with pepper spray and arrested.

He then gives us a quote that is our dumbest comment of the weekend, and the title of this post: “You're treating me like a black person.” That infuriated members of the New York city SJW community, because they are the only ones permitted to play the race card.

“It’s clear that Dr. Epstein stood firmly in his privilege, taunting the officers,” said David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “He was condescending. He was rude. Those are all things that black people could never think to do to a police officer and remain standing and or breathing.”

Work is still for suckers

In response to a recent post, Silicon Graybeard had this to say:

Didja ever notice that even an alligator, not on anyone’s list of the top 10 smartest animals, brings food to its young? But these human parents are too stupid to do so?
They’re not more stupid than a gator. They would ask why they shouldn’t take what’s being given to them. 

Of course they take advantage of what is there. I have posted on this before. More than once, in fact.

Work is for suckers.

Waste of money

The school where I teach is a Title 1 school. A Title 1 school is a school where a large portion of the students are in homes that are below the poverty line, so the school receives extra money from the Federal Government. In my school's case, an extra $125,000 per school year for 1,500 students.

We are designated as a Title 1 school because 70% of our students are so poor that they qualify for free or reduced lunch and breakfast, meaning that they need to be fed two meals a day because their family can't afford to feed them. On top of that, most of them also receive welfare and food stamps.

So isn't it odd that nearly every student also has a cellular phone with a data plan?

If the students' families can afford to waste money on cell phones, why can't they feed their own kids instead of asking the taxpayers to do it?

Speech and guns attacked

First, Internet companies attacked the speech of the right by shutting down conservative voices online. Now, they are attacking gun businesses: (from Spike's Tactical)

APOPKA, Fla. – A change in policy announced Monday night by Shopify, an e-commerce platform used by more than 600,000 merchants to conduct online sales, will essentially shut down the sale of guns, gun parts and accessories over the internet by retailers who use Shopify.

Spike’s Tactical, a Florida-based gun manufacturer, has built their entire website and online sales portal exclusively using the Shopify platform and conducts millions of dollars in sales through Shopify each year.

“This decision will have significant ramifications to our business and should concern every online retailer and Second Amendment supporter,” said Cole Leleux, general manager of Spike’s Tactical.

Some of the new amended rules in Shopify’s Acceptable Use Policy now include banning the sale of semi-automatic firearms that have an ability to accept a detachable magazine and are capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. Additionally, unfinished lower receivers are also prohibited, according to the new rules. Most of Spike’s Tactical’ s products include AR-15 parts and full rifles, which would fall under those new restrictions.

One of the things that makes this more challenging for businesses like Spike’s Tactical, is that Shopify’s platform is entirely proprietary, meaning the information stored on their platform cannot be easily transferred to another online platform.

“We have invested more than $100,000 in the development of our Shopify store, which will disappear once these policies go into effect,” said Leleux.

As for when these new policies will go into effect, that remains a mystery. When representatives from Spike’s Tactical reached out to Shopify to try to learn more, Shopify refused to answer any questions and directed Spike’s Tactical team members to the Shopify legal department, which at the time of this news release, has yet to respond.

Ironically, when challenged by left-leaning critics about selling Breitbart products in 2017, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke said, “We don’t like Breitbart, but products are speech and we are pro free speech. This means protecting the right of organizations to use our platform even if they are unpopular or if we disagree with their premise, as long as they are within the law.”

It now seems that Shopify has reversed course on their previous belief, as our products are not only legal, but also used by many law enforcement agencies, Leleux said.

Another gun company, which will also feel the pain of Shopify’s recent decision is Rare Breed Firearms. Rare Breed announced the launch of their new Spartan lower receiver last week and the product is also sold online exclusively through Shopify.

“We have spent the last three years developing the Rare Breed brand and more than $40,000 developing our Shopify site,” said Lawrence DeMonico, president of Rare Breed Firearms, an Austin, Texas based firearms company. “Depending on how this policy is rolled out, this is a move that could put companies like ours out of business, and we will undoubtedly be looking to pursue legal options.”

Any other gun manufacturers or retailers who are also experiencing issues related to this new policy are encouraged to contact Spike’s Tactical, as they are looking at legal options to potentially file a class action lawsuit.

About Spike’s Tactical
Spike’s Tactical was founded the day before 9/11 by Mike and Angela Register and is headquartered in Apopka, Florida. The family-owned business employs around 40 people and all products are made exclusively in the USA and assembled in Florida. Spike’s Tactical is regarded as one of the premier AR-15 manufacturers in the world. Their mission is to build the highest quality products and offer them at the best possible price to the consumer. Spike’s Tactical weapons are designed to military specifications for civilian, law enforcement and military use. All products manufactured by Spike’s Tactical feature a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty.

About Rare Breed Firearms
Rare Breed Firearms was established in 2016 to develop innovative, visually appealing and highly functional firearm designs. Rare Breed Firearms is based in Austin, Texas and is veteran-owned and operated. Through friendly competition, their goal is to drive innovation and bring new designs to the market.

Too many posers

I was having a conversation the other day, with a man who told me that he was opening his own business. The business? He is going to be a firearms instructor. He began by telling me he is certified to teach tactical rifle, tactical shotgun, and Florida CCW classes.

Somehow the conversation turned to machine guns. He then said: "You need a class 3 license to buy those. The license costs $6,000, or you can get a Federal Firearms License and they only cost $3,000. With that, you can carry a gun anywhere in the country, and you can also own machine guns."

I walked away as soon as I could do so without being rude.

Evolution of EDC

More than any other type of firearm, I love shooting pistols. Over the years, I have bought, sold, and traded dozens of them.

My very first pistol was a Smith and Wesson model 59. After a couple of years, I went with the 4506. Then, the Sig 226. I ended the Millenium with a 229 in 357 Sig.
Along the way there was a Taurus Millenium, which had an awful trigger. I once owned 4 different 1911s, but while they are nice looking, they were too unreliable and difficult to keep running, so I sold them and switched to the M&P series. I also frequently carry my J frame.

The pistols I remember owning, even though I am sure that I have missed a few.:

Colt

Commander

Smith and Wesson

59
4506
4566
4586
J frame
Various M&P's
Bodyguard

Sig Sauer

Sig 220
Sig 226
Sig 229 in 9mm
Sig 229 in 357 Sig

Kimber

Ultra Carry 2
Raptor

Glock

Model 19

Model 17

Beretta

Tomcat

Taurus

PT45
Millenium

Powerball and wealth redistribution

Powerball is a multi-state lottery game. Since there are multiple states, the prizes are large. As I write this, the Grand Prize is $203 million. Now I know that the lottery is a tax on people who don't understand math. (I play by buying one $2 ticket, because I get hours of entertainment out of daydreaming what I would do if I won, and hay, it's only $2. Cheaper than the movies, or even a book.)

I was looking at the prizes and odds, and noticed something odd: California, even though they are playing the same game, awards different prizes. Check this out:

Match	win	win in California
5 numbers and powerball	$203 million	$203 million
5 numbers	$2 million	$212,409
4 numbers and powerball	$50,000	$9,062
4 numbers	$100	$399
3 numbers and powerball	$100	$197
3 numbers	$7	$7
2 numbers and powerball	$7	$8
one number and powerball	$4	$5
powerball	$4	$4

As you can see, the prize structure takes money from  the larger winners and redistributes them to the smaller winners. Matching 5 numbers without the powerball, or 4 numbers with the powerball in California means that 85% to 95% of your winnings will be confiscated (by the time you pay taxes) and the majority of that money will be given to the "less fortunate" people who matched fewer numbers.

It's a metaphor for the entire state.

Computer issues

So my computer issues, which I thought were being caused by updates changing my settings, was something else.
Sound was very broken and static filled. Playing videos would slow the computer so much that it sounded like a 45 RPM record being played at 33 RPM, for those of you that remember records. Doing anything would bog the computer down so as to make it unusable. I thought for sure I had some sort of device or driver conflict.
I would only have problems for an hour or so a day, as I tried to fix it until I got frustrated. I finally decided to take it in to be repaired. When I got it there, the computer worked fine. The techies at the computer shop couldn't find anything wrong.
So this morning, it was acting up again, and I was sitting here trying to fix it when my wife asked what my battery level was. I told her it was 88%, so she said her computer was at 25%, and asked to use my charger.
As soon as she plugged the charger in, she got a warning that looked like this:

She showed it to me and said "Maybe something is wrong with your charger."

Since my laptop was running on battery, I tried to run a video, and play a game. Both worked flawlessly. I checked both chargers that we own (our laptops are identical) and they both do it. Since they are $18 each, I ordered two new chargers, and we will see if that fixes it. It runs fine right now, as long as I run it on battery power.

EMP hit

We had lightning hit the house yesterday. I was home when it happened. We were in the middle of a typical afternoon thunderstorm, the kind we have every afternoon in the Florida summer, when the entire outside lit up blue and there was LOUD thunder.

I later noticed that we were missing a channel from our surveillance cameras. Reviewing the footage showed a bright flash in every camera, and all of them went blank for about 5 seconds. When they came back up, channel 4 was missing. I assumed it was a failed camera. but changing the camera didn't fix the issue. Luckily, my DVR is a 16 channel model, and we are not using all of the channels, so I simply moved the camera to another channel.

Upon further investigation, one of the arc plugs on one of my HAM radio antennas is blown. The radio equipment and other electronics are all fine, thus proving that my house is as EMP protected as it can be.