School shooting

This shooting will be used to justify a law that only allows cops to have guns on school property.

A Florida sheriff's deputy killed three relatives, including a child, before killing himself outside of a high school, officials said.

Bad shoot, or am I an anti-gun idiot?

A 17 year old walks into a jewelry store and asks to try on rings. Once he has three of them, worth about $3,000 or so, an employee tells him that he cannot try them all on. The thief threatens her, and then runs from the store. The owner's husband, along with another employee, chases him out of the store, and this happens:



The man with the gun fires into the fleeing vehicle, hitting the 17 year old in the head.

When I pointed out in the comments on social media that this was a bad shoot because you cannot shoot someone who is fleeing, I was called an idiot, pro criminal, anti-gun, a Democrat, accused of having an "agenda" and every other name you can think of. Even when I pointed out that this case was very similar to another Florida shooting case, it got worse.

Stuff like this is what makes gun owners look bad.

Glad I got out

I had quite a bit of money in the stock market. A few weeks ago, the stock market's volatility had me down about $30k. I decided enough was enough, and I got out. I moved all of my funds to an online savings account that pays 2.1% interest. Since that day, the DJIA has lost more than 10% of its value, down almost 4000 points from its 52 week high of 26,951.

The Fed appears to be purposely destroying the market with these interest rate increases.

Money talks

Tranny Miss Universe

The tranny that was running in the Miss Universe contest is claiming that he is a woman because he believes himself to be a woman.

Let's say that I believe myself to be a gorilla. No matter how strongly I believe it, I am still not a gorilla.
Let's say that I take pills to make myself grow more hair to look more like a gorilla. I am still not a gorilla.
If I hire a surgeon to perform an operation to make myself look more like a gorilla, I am still not a gorilla.
If I get a million people to say that I can be whatever I identify myself as, and declare than I am a gorilla, I am still not a gorilla.

If I were to believe myself to be a gorilla and took the steps above, people would say I am crazy.

Why doesn't the same thing go for trannies? Just because you think that you are a woman doesn't make you a woman, it makes you crazy.

Security in depth

ALL security can be beaten eventually, because all security has one thing in common: the item being secured must be accessible to its owner, or there is no point in securing it. If you don't need access to it, the best (and often cheapest and easiest) way to keep it from being stolen is to destroy it.

Failing that, a good security system is one that relies on layers. The more layers, the more secure the system. Each layer can be fairly inexpensive.

For example, a security company yard sign is a great outer layer of security that costs very little. The purpose of this sign is deterrence: to signal to casual thieves that the risk of breaking into this house may not be worth the effort.

The next layer is part deterrence, part defense. I have security cameras that are visible to careful observers. I have no idea how well they work as a deterrent, and experienced thieves know how to defeat them, but they still complicate matters and may cause some thieves to look elsewhere. My cameras have helped catch criminals on three different occasions.

Layer three: landscaping lights illuminate the outside of the house.

The fourth layer is locked doors. There are more:alarm systems, safes, timers on lighting so no one knows when you aren't home, even fake televisions to make it appear as though you are home.

In fact, for a relatively small amount of money, your home can be a much harder target than any other in your neighborhood. The goal here isn't to make your house impossible to burglarize, that isn't possible. Instead, aim to make your house a less attractive target than your neighbors' homes.

UPS employees steal, which is why shipping guns is expensive

Shipping firearms by common carrier requires that you notify the carrier of the contents of the package.
No person shall knowingly deliver or cause to be delivered to any common or contract carrier for transportation or shipment in interstate or foreign commerce to any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, any package or other container in which there is any firearm or ammunition without written notice to the carrier that such firearm or ammunition is being transported or shipped

Let's say that you want to ship your firearm to the factory for some service work. The only problem is that the postal service refuses to ship handguns, and companies like UPS require that you ship firearms overnight- at a rate that may cost nearly as much as the firearm being shipped. I was shipping a pair of Sigs to the factory for some custom work, and UPS wanted nearly $200 to ship them overnight, which was the only way that they would accept them. Also, UPS contractors won't take them, only actual corporate UPS locations.

Why? Because UPS employees steal too much of what is shipped through their employer.

Deputies said the employee, Okoye Manley, 28, sent text messages to his co-defendants, Tanjinika Wright, 31, and Dekeria Wright, 26, as he delivered packages to homes. All three were arrested Thursday. UPS officials said that Manley is no longer employed by the company.

Why confiscation won't happen

There is always talk of banning firearms and having the police and military start confiscating them. It won't happen. There are two big reasons:
The majority of cops fall into two camps: they are also gun and freedom loving people who will refuse (this is the minority), or they are cowards with badges who care more about maintaining their pensions and benefits than they do about protecting the public.

To prove point one, all one has to do is look at what happened in Parkland, where most of the responding police officers hid outside while shots could be heard inside of a school. That was cops pacing just one lightly armed teen in a school. What do you think they will do, how motivated will they be, when faced with a trained, well armed, pissed off nation of even a few thousand gun owners?

Woke but blind

The recent uproar about the Christmas song, "Baby it's cold outside" has become somewhat of a big deal since I first posted about it a few days ago. We are now at the point where radio stations in Denver, Cleveland, and San Francisco have banned the song. One one of the articles, I saw the best comment ever:

"I wonder what future analysis of Kanye West's new song "You’re Such A F**king Ho. I Love It!’' will reveal?

Maybe these radio stations should start with rap before they go after more ambiguous music.

Senseless Traditions

Growing up, my father insisted on a family tradition. Every year, my siblings and I were forced to watch "Miracle on 34th Street" on Christmas day. Not just any version, the old black and white version with Natalie Wood. Every Christmas. By the time I was 18 years old, my brother and I would roll our eyes and make a face every time we were forced to watch it.

Then, I had children of my own. The tradition lived on with my own kids.

The day eventually came when dad passed away. My kids are grown and have lives and families of their own. I still watch that movie every Christmas, and it brings back memories of childhood days spent with my family: the one I had as a child, and the one I had as a young parent.

Suddenly, that tradition didn't seem so senseless. Dad would have been 78 years old this week had he not passed away 14 years ago. I still miss him, but he still gives me a Christmas gift every year when I watch that movie.

Cherish the senseless traditions. They become some of the best memories you will ever have. 

Living in the future

I decided a couple of years back that I wanted a smart house. Since I was being spied upon by technology anyway, I figured I might as well put the fact that I am living in the future to use. So I invested the time and money in having a smart home.

The house is automated with voice control. We can turn appliances, ceiling fans, and lights simply by speaking a command. We have a robot vacuum that cleans the carpets when we leave the house.

There are all sorts of automations that run in the background.

When we leave the house, the system activates the alarm system, turns the thermostat to a more energy efficient setting, and turns off the lights. When night falls and no one is home, the system automatically turns lights on and off to make it appear as though someone is home.

When we are home and leave doors and windows open for more than 5 minutes, the house announces the fact, and then turns off the air conditioning. Close the doors, and the air conditioning is turned back on.

I am continually adding capabilities to the house. I feel like George Jetson. Living in the future is great. All I need now is a robot to fold the laundry.

More from the PC crowd

Rabid leftists are destroying everything. Now one of my favorite Christmas time songs has fallen victim. Rabid feminists have demanded the removal of "Baby, it's cold outside" and an Ohio radio station has complied.

How to save time and money on education

I recently posted that we are throwing money at underperforming and poor students without getting much of a return. A reader left a comment, asking if I have suggestions for improvement. I do.

First, some facts: 
Three in ten jobs in the US do not even require a high school diploma.
Two out of three jobs do not require a college degree of any sort.
4 million students a year begin high school. 90% of them graduate.
70 percent of those who graduate from high school go on to enroll in college, despite the fact that only one third of jobs require a college degree.
Of course, of the 63 percent of high school students who attend college, less than half of them will actually graduate with a four year degree.
Of the students who get a college degree, twice as many get degrees in park, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies as there are students who receive degrees in mathematics or engineering.
Ten percent of college freshmen want to become a medical doctor. Less than 0.4% of them actually DO become doctors.

In other words, Americans are overeducated for the jobs that are there. We need to get away from the idea that every student needs to be ready for college, because even with all this money we are throwing at the issue, they just aren't learning. Here is my proposal:

At the end of the eighth grade, all students are given a proficiency exam. Students will be tested on proficiency in reading, vocabulary, and math skills. There will be no adjustment for special needs or learning disabilities.  Your score determines what taxpayer funded school you attend. If a student wishes to attend a higher level of school than the test determines that they are qualified for, then they can pay for the difference in cost out of their own pocket.

The lowest performing quintile will be sent to a school for the next two years to be taught how to be an adult: they will learn about  budgeting, along with basic life skills. At age 16, they will graduate and be able to get a job. This is all you need to mow lawns, work at a retail or fast food job, or any other job not requiring an employee to solve algebraic equations or write sonnets.

The second and third quintiles will attend a vocational high school. In this school they can learn general vocational skills like use of tools, construction, culinary, or mechanical skills. They can graduate at age 16 or 17 with the basic skills needed to work at the apprentice level of the skilled trades.

Fourth and fifth quintile students will be eligible for the college pathway. They graduate after taking classes on algebra, chemistry, composition, literature, and civics.

To be honest, we are doing this now. The school where I work pulls out the best performing students and puts them into "honors" classes or "AP" classes that are designed to prepare them for college. The remainder of the students are placed in fluff classes that are essentially babysitting to keep them out of their parents' hair until they are eighteen years old. All this would do is save us money by getting them off the gravy train earlier, and also give them life skills instead of paying lip service to the idea that every kid needs to be ready for college.

You are being spied upon, get used to it

So much data has been spent complaining about how smart devices are spying on you. There are many bloggers that I have a lot of respect for that say they will never own a smart device because those devices will listen to every word you say.

As for me, I think that ship sailed years ago. Many people stay away from Social media because it spies on you and sells your information. Guess what? Do you have a cell phone? It spies on you. So do frequent shopper cards. Your email provider does, too. As does your credit card provider, your bank, and your ISP.

I own my own business and I advertise online. One of the features offered is a "pixel" campaign. You know those pictures and memes that get passed around the Internet? Companies offer the ability to add a pixel to those picture files that acts as a tracking beacon. Every time someone looks at that picture, the pixel executes a program that mines information about the person viewing the picture.

Even if you refuse all of that, there are companies who are tracking your shopping habits by tracking your purchase history by your credit or debit card numbers. So you say, never mind, I will avoid using customer loyalty cards, credit cards, a cell phone, an email account, and the Internet. That will not work either, because there are companies using facial recognition and license plate readers to track you as well.

Data mining is the new gold rush. Most companies have large databases of information on people, and they sell that information to anyone who wants to pay for it. Big brother is watching you. It is now impossible to live in this country without someone somewhere having the ability to track your every move.