Let me quote from this article:
Biden ... is working toward creating a buy-back program, where firearm owners can either sell their weapons to the government or register them with the NRA.
No. He wants to register them as NFA weapons, not NRA weapons.
The Democrats have finally thrown off the veneer of minimal government and have gone full on tyrannical dictator. A few examples:
Governor Cuomo has been issuing imperial dictates for weeks, and they are getting more arbitrary and ridiculous as time goes on. The latest example is a prohibition on bars who do not serve food serving alcohol. Now he is claiming that only some items count as 'food' while others do not. In one case, saying that chicken wings do not count as 'food' while sandwiches DO count.
The mayor of Savannah, Georgia is 'disgusted' by the fact that the people who he intends to rule over are ignoring his orders, despite the fact that those orders aren't lawful.
Jerry Demings (the husband of Congresswoman Val Demings, who was on the short list to be Biden's running mate) is the mayor of Orange County, Florida. He is 'exploring' ways to punish business owners who violate his mask dictates, even though Florida's Governor issued his own dictate that prevents him from doing that.
All of this shows that conflicts between businesses and government are coming to a head. The New York Health Department has issued a $15,000 fine to one business owner who threw them out of a protest meeting. The owner of the business tore up the fine and is refusing to pay.
Things are accelerating.
So this 58 year old rich douchebag and his 18 year old gold digging girlfriend were on a trip together when he says he accidentally shot her. What makes this so fishy is that, as soon as he shot her, he hauled ass without calling for help. Dumbass left his belongings at the scene, and made it 250 miles before he ran out of gas. Her body wasn't found until 24 hours later. I think the story smells like bullshit.
Remember the Seattle plan to have mental health workers respond to 911 calls instead of police? Well, on the same day that the Seattle city council voted to put this plan in place, a case worker was fatally stabbed by one of her 'clients'.
According to reports, she was stabbed 12 times with a "military grade" assault knife. The case worker and her killer had known each other for the past 8 years, as he was a resident in the apartment building, which provides long-term housing for people who were formerly homeless. She had also been a case worker there for the past 8 years.
So now do we see how well having unarmed social workers respond to 911 calls is going to work?
I have been asking what we are building up to while reading about the Democrats wanting reeducation camps, enemies lists, amidst an obviously stolen election. Now we learn that New York City has 'checkpoints' throughout the city, with police conducting random 'spot checks' to ensure that people are complying with COVID restrictions.
Can we stop referring to Roberts as a conservative justice? Here is the first decision from SCOTUS that has a right/left element, and ACB voted with the other conservative justices, while Roberts was with the liberals. 5-4 decision supporting the Constitutional rights of the citizens. Dissenters supported religious tyranny.
I have heard theories that Roberts has been compromised because he took trips on the Lolita Express. I don't know if that is the case, but I do know he is a reliable vote for whatever the Democrat position is.
The greatest part of the Trump legacy is his three SCOTUS picks. Look for the Democrats to try and undo that. Will we see court packing? Will one of the conservative justices die under mysterious circumstances? Who knows, but things are about to get sporty.
A guy that I served with is now working as a librarian. He sent me a picture of one of the books that just came into the library.
they should be afraid of what’s going to happen later when he’s not around
Remember that this is the guy who needs lifts in his shoes to look tougher.
Still, the left hates you and wants you dead.
I ordered some of the parts for my rifle project from Brownell's. I just got a call from them. The truck was in an accident and all of the packages on the truck were destroyed. An entire shipment of guns, gun parts, and ammo.
Sounds fishy. I think some Fedex employees just made some side cash. At any rate, I have to wait for the parts to be reshipped, so a week's delay.
Edited: the shipping company was FedEx. Lasalle, Illinois was the last reported location
You read that right- the CDC is proposing putting people at high risk of COVID in camps. They call them "green zones" but camps, nonetheless
Let me take a short break by listening to some music from my home town of New Orleans. The band featured here, Tuba Skinny, has the traditional sound of New Orleans jazz, despite the fact that not one of the band members is from the Crescent City.
The calls to throw President Trump in prison are growing. Those same members of Congress are saying "the Republican party is unfit to govern" If you remember, I pointed this out in July:
Once the last phase begins, totalitarian elites let loose their inclination to brutally eliminate their perceived enemies. Once this phase begins, things happen very quickly. The entire country will collapse in a matter of weeks.
Violence is considered a means to achieving the goal of centralized power. There is not even a pretense of due process or respect for free speech. Yes, there are pretexts given for eliminating perceived enemies, excuses that have the perpetrators projecting their own intentions upon their victims, but the accusations are merely for show.
If I was correct, and the Communists are still following the CIA manual for overthrowing a country, then things will begin to get worse very quickly after January 20. The blinding speed with which 2020 seemed to fall apart will seem to have been a slow stroll in the park compared to the coming year.
I sit here hoping that I am wrong, but it seems like they are following the CIA book "Guide to the Analysis of an Insurgency" (pdf warning) as if it were an instruction manual. Let me quote directly from that manual, from the section titled, "Resolution Stage"
The final collapse of the government will probably appear in retrospect to have been rapid, but the signs of imminent insurgent victory may be difficult to see as they are occurring.
In 1940, Hitler defeated the French by placing a decoy force opposite the French Army on the Maginot line while his REAL army simply went around the defenses by taking a detour through Belgium and the Ardennes. All of France was occupied in 14 days.
Where this insurgency has broken new ground is in the territory that was seized. While we were all distracted by the BLM riots, the insurgents were busy capturing territory. Not land. Virtual territory. They managed to gain control of the electronic systems that we had put in place to determine who wins elections, and who winds up in charge.
If so, high school students in world history classes will be writing papers about this in a couple of decades. We may be watching a new chapter in world history being written. The first nation to be overthrown as a result of Fifth Generation warfare. Can we call this a Fifth Generation Coup?
Philadelphia Bans ‘All Indoor Gatherings of Any Size, Any Location, Public or Private’
Let me quote the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law ... abridging the the right... of the people peaceably to assemble
I will not comply. To my LEO friends: Remember that you took an oath to the Constitution, not to the Democrat party.
The left loves to call people on the right "fascists," but it is the left who is cheering on the censorship of those who say things that they disagree with. It is the left that is tampering with elections, locking the citizens in their homes, and interfering with private contracts.
It is the left who is blocking justice by physically blocking those on the right from entering courthouses to seek legal remedies, and threatening their attorneys with violence and death in a nationwide conspiracy to subvert justice. They are threatening and doxing government officials for enforcing election laws.
It is the left that is making an enemies list. It is the left that is planning to put those who disagree with them into camps.
We are at an important crossroads. If we fail to stop the left and their onslaught now, we will have far more difficult times ahead. The true fascists are coming, and they are no longer even trying to hide it.
I know that there are those who think that I am being alarmist, but ask yourself this:
What would you have though if last Thanksgiving, someone had posted the headlines below. Would you have called him alarmist? Crazy?
Citizens locked in their homes for months. Businesses closed. Riots burning over 100 cities. An election subverted. Armed insurrectionists openly marching in the streets. Democrats openly making enemies lists and demanding reeducation camps.
The signs are there. Sure, many of us are still in denial, but the war is here. It is at your door. Our nation, our government, our way of life are under attack. If we don't fight now, then when?
CBS News came up with a list of the most heavily armed states in the USA. There are a few things wrong with it: a- Washington, DC isn't a state, b- Guns aren't 'registered' in most states, and c- you have got to be kidding me- this list is WRONG. Here, according to CBS News are the "most heavily armed states:"
1 Wyoming
2 Washington, DC (WHAT? Maybe if you count all of the law enforcement guns and the ones that belong to the 3rd Infantry Regiment.)
3 Arkansas
4 New Mexico
5 Virginia
6 Idaho
7 Alabama
8 Nevada
9 Alaska
10 Louisiana
11 (tie) Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire
12 Indiana
13 Kentucky
14 Utah
15 Texas (So they are claiming that there are more guns in Maryland than Texas?)
16 Oklahoma
17 Colorado
18 South Carolina
19 South Dakota
20 (tie) Ohio, Oregon, Connecticut, Montana, Tennessee
21 North Carolina
22 Kansas
23 Florida (the article claims 199,828 registered firearms in Florida. That is BS for two reasons: 1 There is no firearms registry in Florida, and 2 There are 2.2 MILLION Florida residents with concealed weapons permits.)
24 (tie) Minnesota, North Dakota, Arizona, West Virginia
25 Illinois
26 Maine
27 Washington
28 Missouri
29 Wisconsin
30 California
31 Nebraska
32 Mississippi
33 Vermont
34 Iowa
35 New Jersey
36 Hawaii
37 Massachusetts
38 Michigan
39 Delaware
40 Rhode Island
41 New York
As I typed this, I figured that they are talking about NFA weapons. They are the only "registered" weapons that I can think of that would be present in these sorts of numbers. What say ye?
As I have posted before, it is looking more and more likely that President Trump will be indicted shortly after the inauguration. As of right now, he is a very popular man, and the most serious threat that the Democrats face in terms of opposition.
There has been talk of President Trump pardoning himself, but that opens him up to all sorts of legal challenges. As the article says:
An attempt at a self-pardon would be an unprecedented move and could very well face legal challenges.
There is a way that the President can beat this. The 25th Amendment. Let me explain:
At 10:00 am on the 20th of January, the President transmits a written statement to Mitch McConnel and Nancy Pelosi that he is unable to fulfill the duties of his office. The Vice President immediately becomes the President of the United States, and as his first official act, he pardons the now former President.
If this is timed correctly, there would be nothing that the Democrats could do about it.
According to the governor, there are no "mandated" COVID protocols for businesses in Florida. That isn't stopping tyrant Demings, who is going to “explore his regulatory authority” over businesses who don't comply with his commands.
DeSantis said his order would stop cities and counties from fining people for not wearing mandated face coverings. He said fines and other penalties imposed so far would be suspended. So Demings is using his "authority" to get businesses into being his enforcers in making individuals wear masks.
Iran announced a new warship that claims to have all sorts of warfighting capability. There is one capability that it is notably lacking- ASW. A submarine could follow this ship for days without being noticed. This ship is some submarine captain's Navy cross in waiting. Iran is a parody of real military capability. Jesus, that country is run by morons.
and Joe Biden is going to let them obtain nuclear weapons. They are too stupid to have nukes without using them.
So my rifle project continues. A couple of you pointed out that I need to get my handguard at the same time as the barrel, and of course you are correct. After a thorough search, I came up with a few choices. Odin, Faxon, and JP enterprises were all contenders. After looking at what was actually in stock and in keeping with my desire to cut down on weight, I finally bought an Edge Carbon Fiber Handguard from Brigand Arms. Weighing in at only 6.3 ounces, I may have luck in keeping the rifle balanced and low weight.
I got the rifle length barrel and wanted a full length handguard because I like gripping the rifle near the muzzle. It was tough forking out $400 for a handguard, but I finally just did it.
Also, it was pointed out that you need to check the headspace on a new barrel/bolt combo. I already own go-no go checkers for that. Now to wait for all of my orders to get here. Hopefully, I can have this thing assembled, tuned, and running before Christmas.
and yes, Miguel, I was hooked as soon as I picked up Dave's rifle.
During the blogshoot, Dave let me shoot his Scout Rifle 2.0. That rifle was lighter, had less felt recoil, and (once the suppressor was removed) swung better than my own DPMS Oracle. Still, I thought that there were some areas of his rifle where I could change to suit my own needs. It was at this moment that a project was born.
Ah, but it is VERY hard to get parts to do a project gun. That means that instead of a new rifle, I am starting a (re)build as a search for a better all around rifle. I am looking to change this into a rifle that has the power of a 308, with the ergonomics, recoil, and ability for rapid follow up shots of an AR15. I want a rifle with less recoil, lower weight, better balance, and better shootability than my Oracle currently has.
So keeping in mind that I am limited by parts availability, I am starting this project. .
I want:
- Less felt recoil
- A rifle that is at least a pound lighter than my Oracle's 9.2 pounds.
Since this will be a complete rebuild of my Oracle, I am beginning with the DPMS lower and upper that I already have. I am changing the 16 inch heavy barrel that came with the Oracle out for an 18 inch Faxon pencil barrel. From JP enterprises, I am adding an adjustable gas block and an LMOS lightweight bolt carrier. So far, that comes to about $630.
Once that stuff arrives and gets installed, I need to decide on a handguard and compensator.
Then we will see if we can get this rifle to function.
Ohio is under a curfew, prohibiting people from leaving their homes from 10pm to 5 am for the next 21 days. New York City has announced that all schools have closed. Oregon is locking down various businesses, as are cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and more.
Why are we doing this? It can't really be due to the seriousness of the Kung Flu for children. According to the MSM, we have 1.04 million children who have contracted COVID, but only 113 of them have died. That is a survival rate of 99.98 percent. Even THAT number likely overstates the disease because there are likely more children with COVID who are undiagnosed because their symptoms are so mild that the illness goes undetected. More children drown in bathtubs each year than have died from COVID.
There is a lot of noise being made about 200,000 new cases a day being diagnosed. Even so, less than one percent of cases are fatal.
So if the lockdowns and dictatorial power grabs aren't really about COVID, then what are they for? I am not sure, but I feel like whatever it is, it isn't going to be good. Are we about to see all interstate borders being closed?
Now that elections are rigged in this country. (and there is no other possibility) Pandora's box is now open. We will never again have another fair and free election. This has been very hard for me to accept, but there it is. It is the inescapable truth that the Republic is no more. This is how liberty dies- with masks, quarantines, and mail in ballots, cheered on by a press that still doesn't realize the real impact of what it is that they have done. Or maybe they do, and that makes it worse.
Will this nation be brave enough to fight to regain what was lost? That remains to be seen.
So now the left will threaten and scream at any Federal employee who does their job, if that job happens to be a detriment to what a Democrat wants.
This is what the socialist revolution looks like.
Police in Ocoee, Florida will be asking businesses and residents to share the feeds from their cameras with them, so they can monitor everyone solve crimes.
It isn't like having video of Hunter Biden helped police solve THAT particular crime spree.
No thanks. I will keep my freedom, thank you very much.
I have a weather station on the roof of my house. I use it to control my irrigation system as well as for general science geekery.
For the past three years, it has been an Acurite 5 in 1 weather station. The problem is that I bought my first one in April of 2018. It had to be replaced in July 2019 after a lightning strike. Well, it died again. That makes 3 units in 30 months. Not good enough.
So now I have an Ambient Weather unit. This one adds measurements for UV level and sunlight intensity. The only problem is that I have to find time to climb on the roof to install it, but it is too dark in the evenings, and I keep finding other stuff to do on the weekends like shoot guns and visit with my grandkids.
Also, the wife and I just noticed that the local stores are again running out of toilet paper.
We took advantage of today's stock rally to sell some of the stock we bought back in April and made a $17,000 profit on the deal. Thanks to some wizardry on the part of my CPA, we won't owe any taxes on the proceeds. A good accountant is worth every penny. Don't get me wrong- we still get bent over by the tax man. An accountant just makes it less painful.
Plus we both work. It seems like there is never enough time.
Still trying to get everything prepared for what is coming. Financially, legally, and supply wise, I am trying to anticipate everything while still managing to enjoy my life.
North Carolina is a "shall issue" state- meaning that the government has no choice- if a citizen meets the criteria for a concealed weapons permit, the permit has to be issued:
In order to acquire a North Carolina permit, an individual must apply to the sheriff's office in the county in which he/she resides. As part of the application process, the applicant must accomplish the following:
1. Complete an application, under oath, on a form provided by the sheriff's office;
2. Pay a non-refundable fee of $80.00; and
3. Allow the sheriff’s office to take two (2) full sets of fingerprints, which may cost up to $10.00;
4. Provide an original certificate of completion of an approved handgun safety course; and
5. Provide a release authorizing disclosure to the sheriff of any record concerning the applicant’s mental health or capacity. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-415.13
So you can see the loophole, right? All the sheriff has to do is stop providing the applications or stop taking fingerprints, and the entire process becomes may issue. That is exactly what happened in one NC county.
Trump finally admits that the election is over. Just as I predicted, Biden will be inaugurated on Jan 20. Trump was given a list of court defeats on Friday that signal that the courts are not going to do a thing. SCOTUS remained silent on the DOJ requests for intervention, and the Republican leaning parts of the MSM turned their backs on him, all the while ignoring the election shenanigans. Expect that to continue.
Short term preps (next six months)
So what comes next in the short term? Retailers will begin preparing for the return of COVID lockdowns. Expect tourism related businesses to be hurting in the next few months. For example, at the end of March, I bought 1,000 shares of Royal Caribbean at the low price of $21 a share. As of Friday, that stock was selling at $71 a share. I wanted to wait until I had owned the stock for a year so that I could pay the capital gains rate on my profits, but my wife and I don't think that this is a good idea. We are going to sell 350 shares on Monday, so that we can at least get our original money plus a small profit back. Similarly, we have stock in MGM resorts, Darden restaurants, and a few others. We are looking to sell off some to safeguard our original investments.
In order to silence the most serious opposition, the Democrats will have Donald Trump arrested within weeks of his leaving office. Whether or not he sees any serious trouble is immaterial- they will end his political career, along with the threat he brings to the status quo.
How much control the revolutionary communist wing of the Democrat party and their billionaire and Chinese backers have on the overall party will determine how Biden leaves office. If their hold is weak, Biden will make it to 2023 before he is removed and replaced by Harris.
If they are a bit more powerful, he will be replaced within weeks. They may even let him resign. If the communists are firmly in power, he will die in office. Just how spectacular and public that death is will be a great indication of how much trouble is coming. The worst case scenario for this country would be an assassination. In public. By an assassin who turns out to be a Republican member of the NRA and the murder weapon is an 'assault weapon.' Of course, this will enable them to declare the NRA to be a "terrorist organization" and shut it down.
The worst thing in all of this: Biden didn't even bother to campaign. He was blatantly in your face with the lack of a campaign. The Trump team scoffed because of this and thought that the campaign was in the bag. No one bothered to think that Biden already KNEW that the election was a done deal, and this was why he didn't even bother to try. For crying out loud, the guy who is the CEO of the voting machine manufacturer is now on the transition team as a part of the future leadership of DHS.
So the election was stolen. There was fraud on an industrial scale, and they didn't even try to hide it. Why not? Because they know there is nothing that the American people will do about it. That scares me more than anything- because now that they know they CAN, they WILL. That means that there will likely not be another fair election in the USA. Ever.
I hope and pray that I am wrong, but I fear that I am not.
As many of you already know, the Great Florida Blogshoot was yesterday and it went off without a hitch. There was a large (for a blog meet) attendance of 19 people. The weather was great, and it was good to see people that I had never met before. Let's see if I can do the list some justice. Of course the main people were there: Miguel of Gunfreezone, Borepatch, and Queen of the World. Then there were others including Ratus, Big Country, Sapper, and many others. Sgt Bob showed up with an M1 Garand that was in better condition than any other I have seen in awhile. If I overlooked anyone, my apologies and assurances that it isn't intentional. I just wasn't taking notes.
It was a bit of a drive for me (two and a half hours each way), but it was a great day.
I want to make a special mention of Kevin Creighton of Ammoman who produced a 500 round brick of CCI Lawman in 9mm for the shoot. The only thing he asked was that each of us mention his site and give him a link. His prices look good, he has ammo in stock, and I think I am going to be making a buy soon.
Any time you get a group of gunnies together, you always see some interesting toys, great conversation, and a bit of showing off. If you weren't there, you missed a good time. There was talk of doing another in February, so there is always another chance.
My prediction stands: the election fix was successful, and too many RINOs are willing to punt so that the Democrats will destroy them last. Here is what I see happening:
- The recount in Georgia will find nothing.
- SCOTUS will take no official notice of the shenanigans, because they are afraid of being packed into irrelevancy.
- Biden will be inaugurated on January 20.
- Trump, who has said he will run again in 2024, is a threat to the status quo. He will be arrested and jailed within weeks of leaving office.
- Harris will take Biden's place before St Patrick's day.
A judge in Pennsylvania handed the Trump campaign a victory when he ruled that the PA Secretary lacked the authority to allow mail in ballots extended time to cure their ballots by providing identification. There will be a hearing tomorrow to determine how many ballots will be thrown out as a result.
In September, I ordered body armor in the form of a hoodie from Bulletproof everyone. After weeks of delays, broken promises, and more, I got the armor on October 5. Even though I measured properly, it didn't fit.
More calls and emails, including a cell phone conversation with the owner, and I was promised the correct size. It never came. I have disputed with my credit card processor, but I don't hold out much hope.
I can probably kiss that $250 goodbye. That is a shame.
CNN is listing the names of American lawmakers that aren't showing sufficient deference to our new Dear Leader. This is some tin pot dictatorship bullshit right here. So a sitting lawmaker who doesn't call the Democratic candidate to congratulate him for winning an election that hasn't even been officially ended yet deserves to be called to the carpet? This is the kind of thing you would expect from North Korea, not the United States.
Recall that the last four years, #resist has been the war cry among Democrats.
Fuck them.
Also, the OAS claims that they sent 28 election observers to the US, and the only evidence found of voting irregularities in the election was REPUBLICAN poll watchers attempting to intimidate vote counters by standing too close to them. They also went forward with an implied accusation that Trump is in the wrong for attempting to claim fraud in the press instead of in court. Also, there was this quote (pdf warning):
Access to the vote is an important right for all persons. The Mission noted that citizens continue to be deprived of their franchise for a range of reasons, including the loss of voting rights following a felony conviction (even when convicted persons have served their sentences) and the revocation of rights of persons with intellectual disabilities.
I wonder if the OAS is as staunch defending the right of felons to own firearms...
I would point out that Luis Almagro is the Secretary General of the OAS. He is from Uruguay, a nation controlled by the Broad Front and the National Party, both being variations of communist political parties.
There is so much fraud out there, it is hard to know what is true and what isn't. Confirm your own or someone else's Florida voter registration with this link.
CBS will require 50% of casts of unscripted programs to be non-White next season in response to complaints that shows on the network are not "diverse" enough.
This is pure horse hockey. According to the US census, the population of the United States is 76.3% white. One of the shows mentioned in the article is Big Brother. Here is this season's cast:
So a total of 16 cast members. There is a black man and a black woman. Again, according to the census, blacks make up 13.4% of the US population, which would mean that 2 blacks out of 16 cast members would be representative of the US population. The cast seems to be fairly even. That isn't good enough.
I guess fair isn't woke enough. This is why I don't watch TV shows.
This is a great post about evidence. Let me give you a couple of quotes:
Now, let's be clear here about what the word "evidence" actually means. It doesn't mean "proof". When a defendant is found not guilty, all the evidence against them doesn't cease to exist; it is still evidence against them, which has been weighed and found not damning.
But the best quote of the entire post:
democracy is not primarily a decision-making mechanism. I mean, really, if you were setting out to design a good way of making good decisions, would you come up with democracy? Of course not. Because it's laughably useless.
However, democracy is a very very good civil-war-prevention mechanism.
Truer words were never spoken. Once a people have decided that their vote doesn't matter, they will resort to the only recourse left to them.
Read the whole thing, it is worth your time. For the last word of this post, I leave you with the words of John F Kennedy:
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
When nuclear weapons were first invented, militaries all over the world had to adopt new tactics. When it became possible for a single bomb to destroy large amounts of military firepower, it became imperative for militaries to spread their forces over large areas, so that a single nuclear strike to destroy them all.
The same tactic applies to individuals who are into preparedness. You don't want one single event to destroy all of your preparations. Events like a hurricane, fire, riot, or government action may limit your access to (or destroy) certain supplies that you may have stockpiled.
Now might be a good time to review how and where you store supplies. Maybe you can have backup storage locations where some of your stuff is hidden. Some of it can be on property you have access to. Maybe some can be cached in PVC and buried on public land that you can relocate in an emergency. If you DO decide to cache supplies on public land, make sure that they are either "ghost supplies" that have no serial number or finger prints on them, make sure that they are "off paper" supplies, or use some other method to ensure that the cache cannot be traced back to you in the event that someone else finds them.
Biden says that his first act as President will be to enact a national mask order by EO. He also plans on placing the entire nation on lockdown until November 2021.
I am going to write my governor and my county sheriff and demand that they not attempt to enforce this. I suggest that everyone do the same.
Schrodinger's vote:
The act of observing a ballot being tallied alters its state.
It isn't paranoia if someone really IS out to get you. There are Democrats who are compiling lists of Republicans to use as an enemies list. They are saying the list will be used to identify people who will be killed, jailed, sent to reeducation camps, or simply denied employment or other participation in society.
This isn't just a few crackpots- the people participating in this include a sitting member of Congress, prominent members of the press, and other people in positions of power. This has advanced to the point where it is reminiscent of other government takeovers.
Weeks ago, I did a three part series on insurgencies and how they are carried out. This one has so far followed the official CIA insurgency manual nearly to the letter. So closely in fact, that it is scary. If you didn't see it, here is part one, here is part two, and here is part three. You might want to give it a read.
I am afraid that the door to door disappearances are about to begin. The time is nearing for this blog to end.
Graybeard comments on the post about Florida's new minimum wage. He points out that there are many people who currently earn less than $15 an hour who are going to suddenly find themselves making minimum wage. I have been writing about this stupidity for over
In 2016, the Miami Dade school system was looking for people with a 4 year STEM degree to teach STEM classes for $14.58 an hour.
Starting pay for a paramedic who was not a firefighter was $14 an hour in 2002, when minimum wage was $5.15. By 2012, paramedics were starting at $13.25 an hour, but minimum wage was $7.79. Even though minimum wage had increased by $2.64 in the previous ten years, paramedic wages had fallen by $0.75. Those who support minimum wage increases mistakenly believe that a $2 increase in the minimum wage will mean that everyone else gets a $2 an hour raise. It doesn't work like that. The term for that is called "pay compression."
To become an EMT, you have to attend EMT school, which usually is a 12 week course with 110 hours of classroom training and another 32 hours of internship. You must pass the National Certification exam for EMTs.
To attend paramedic school, you must first be an EMT. The school lasts a year, requiring 1,200 hours of classroom training and 400 hours of internship. There is also a two part exam that must be passed with an 80 percent or higher.
Those paramedics are not going to be happy to discover that their wages are not going to rise anywhere near $2 an hour. How are you going to convince people to attend school and accept more responsibility when they won't be paid for their efforts?
I recently bought a set of Axil GX Extreme ear buds for hearing protection. I got them on sale for $129 each and bought two pair. They are Bluetooth ear buds that also have built in ambient sound processing. I took them to the indoor range and they did a good job of reducing the sound of gunshots to a non-painful level, as they don't pass the actual gunshot through. The echoes still were passed through and that seemed a bit loud, but turning the volume down seemed to fix it.
They are rechargeable with a microUSB cable and the battery lasts for hours. I have used them to make calls, listen to music and pod casts, and even to wear in high noise areas. They are much more comfortable and less obtrusive than earmuffs.
I recommend.
I did not receive any compensation for this review and paid what any other customer would pay, other than catching them on sale.
Florida's new minimum wage rises from $8.56 to $10 an hour (a 16% increase) on September 30, 2021. However, there is a provision in that law allowing employers to take a "credit" on the wages of tipped employees and assume that some of their wages are paid in tips. The amendment sets that amount as what the FLSA allowed in 2003. In 2003, the allowable employer tip credit was $3.02 an hour.
What this means is that instead of rising 16%, the minimum wage for tipped workers will increase from $5.44 to 6.98 an hour. Every restaurant in the state just saw their tipped labor costs rise by 28%. Look for price increases to cover that, plus you STILL get to tip.
Even worse for dining establishments: on September 30, 2022, the tipped minimum wage will rise another 14% to $7.98 an hour.
Most workers do not make minimum wage. The reason for this is that the value that the worker's labor adds more to the transaction than that. If a worker is only making minimum wage, this is an indication that their job can literally be done by anyone, so the value of their labor is worth no more than whatever that minimum wage is.
So workers whose labor is of low value figured out that it is easier to vote to have the government force people at police gunpoint to pay them more than it is to increase their skill set so that their labor is worth more. In other words, they are voting to remove voluntary cooperation from the market- they are warping market forces.
So now I am going to have to pay the person who carries the food to my table a 28% raise as a part of my menu cost increase, plus a 15 percent tip? I don't think so. So beginning September 30, I am going to cut my tip amount to 5 to 10 percent. Perhaps 2022 will see me no longer tipping at all.
One of the things that must happen after a coup is that the new leaders must eliminate anyone who can challenge their authority. That includes members of the previous administration as well as any "up and coming" challengers. It is a sure sign of a dictatorship when there are mass arrests and disappearances. The Soviets even had a word for it- "vzyali" meaning "they have taken," and there was no pronoun or noun needed to indicate who "they" were- "they" were unspeakable. It was never "arrestovani" or arrested. Vzyali was a word that struck fear in the hearts of Soviet citizens.
So that is what needs to be watched for- if Trump and his staff disappear. If the lists being made suddenly result in vzyali- this blog will immediately be shut down. The time for talk will be over. I know that I am not a big enough fish to make a national list, but the time to disappear myself before some local apparatchik gets around to it will have arrived.
Do I think this is likely? No. However, TEOTWAWKI isn't likely, but we still prepare for it.
However, there are people whose disappearance should serve as a warning that it is coming.
The arrest of Trump and/or his staff. The disappearances of prominent media personalities like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. Locally, I have a list of major Trump donors that live near me that I obtained from the FEC database.
There are three business owners in my area that donated a combined $140,000 to the Republican party and the Trump campaign within the last year.
If they disappear- have the gone John Galt, or were they vzyali?
SCOTUS ordered the Pennsylvania Department of state to have county election boards keep ballots received after 8 pm on election day and before 5 pm today separate from other ballots in anticipation of a court challenge. That order was passed on to those boards on October 28 and November 1. The boards stated that this was mere "guidance" and not binding. The election boards of PA have simply ignored the order.
Judge Alito issued an order directly to all election boards in PA. (pdf warning).
So what? The Democrats have been so "in your face" about their activities in this election, they are likely to ignore the order. Then what? What power does the court have? The goal here is to get their guy elected. SCOTUS doesn't have the power to do very much. Fines? So what? Those are paid by the taxpayers.
I just don't see how any of this matters.
You couldn't write a better thriller:
A Machiavellian power wanted to start a Civil War. They first released an engineered virus that caused tensions to skyrocket. Then agitators began rioting and civil unrest that put everyone on edge and made them suspicious of the other side.
Then they screwed with the election in an obvious way, ending with Biden getting elected, but with the right pissed off that they were cheated.
Then they lit the fire of civil war by getting rid of the President just a few weeks after his inauguration by having him assassinated in a public way, and the assassin was an apparent right wing gun nut right out of central casting who used an AR-15 that had been modified to fire full auto (or used a bump stock).
Even if it is proven that the Democrats cheated, what then? Everything is such a mess, I just don't see a way forward. Word has come through that the senate races for BOTH of Georgia's senate seats are headed for a runoff. Since we know that the election was rigged in some way, it is likely that the control of the senate will belong to the Democrats.
We are now looking at both houses of Congress AND the Whitehouse being Democrat. That doesn't upset me. What does upset me is how we got there. The fact that no one trusts the process any longer means that our nation is broken. Again, what next?
I don't think it will come to a civil war. Republicans just don't have the guts for it. Even if they did, the American public would not approve, and they are too busy watching television to care. I honestly believe that the American people wouldn't care if all elections were cancelled forever, as long as they could still watch TV and drink beer.
What will happen, will happen. I am still taking the "wait and see" approach, but I am thinking that the USA has already had its last free election. My suspicious self thinks that China will be using this to their advantage. Almost like they planned it.
I posted the other day about the effect of the new Florida minimum wage on prices. I spoke with my brother about it, and he actually gave me a few details about how he is going to deal with it.
My brother owns a retail sales company that has 30 employees. Since the new minimum wage is going to increase his labor costs, he is going to have to find a way to make the new numbers work. He can't raise prices very much, because his competition will slaughter him if he does.
So he has to cut costs. He can't cut the cost of inventory, those prices are what they are. he is already at a cost disadvantage because larger companies already buy product by the railcar and get quantity discounts that he cannot hope to match.
Here is what he came up with:
Plan A:
An employee currently is paid for 2,080 hours per year. A 16 percent raise is equivalent to 333 hours of work. That is equal to 42 days at 8 hours a day, or about 2 months of the work year.
Vacation, paid sick leave, and holidays mean that employees get paid for 180 hours per year when they are not working. That means that 9 percent of his labor cost is paying employees when they are not working. So, half of the first year's raise is going to be made up by eliminating all paid time off- no sick leave, vacations, or holidays. If you aren't at work, you aren't getting paid. Now he isn't a Scrooge- his employees will still get holidays off, they just won't be getting paid.
Additionally, he will be implementing a quota system for productivity. Any employee who falls short of their quota will receive a warning. If they continue to fail to meet that quota, they will be terminated.
Plan B:
Liquidate, fire everyone, and retire.
Yesterday, a student was told to remove her mask because it had BLM printed on it. The school is even handed- the dress code prohibits Trump stuff, too. Also prohibited are things like rebel flags, clothing with sexual or vulgar language, and other things that are disruptive in a school.
Anyway, that student then organized a group of about 30 to 50 students who then refused to go to class and stood outside chanting "Black Lives Matter" while standing in front of the school's entrance so as to prevent anyone from entering. They began sending pictures of themselves protesting to other students in an attempt to get them to leave class and join the protest.
This student is known to me- I had her last year. She is a loudmouthed asshole. In fact, the same student was the subject of a post last year. When I was having trouble in class with students using phones during class, I gave them a writing assignment of "How cell phones disrupt learning" and I got back a barely literate screed that included statements like "I am not your pet or your child... but I am not finna sit here and act like I am OK with the way y'all treat us just because y'all got a little piece of paper that says you are a teacher"
The voters of the state of Florida voted to increase the minimum wage. The current wage is $8.56 per hour. On September 30, 2021, that will increase by 16 percent to $10 per hour. Each year, it will increase by an additional dollar per hour until the year 2026, when it will reach $15 an hour.
My rental expenses are increasing. Last year, our property taxes increased by 28% and didn't increase rent. Now we are going to see increases in landscaping costs, repair costs, and likely utility increases. The cost of landscaping is sure to increase. There will be other increases, such as added costs for repair parts, supplies, and other things like utilities. I just don't know how much our costs are going to rise.
As a preemptive measure, we are increasing rents on our properties by 5 percent as each lease expires. Next year, we will likely increase by at least ten percent, more if taxes or other expenses rise more than expected.
Our costs increase, we pass the increase on to the consumer. That's how economics works.
It looks to be over. Biden will be the next President. The only real positive here is that the Republicans still hold the Senate, but it is by a small margin. Collins and Murkowski crossing the aisle will be enough to give the Democrats all sorts of things from their wish list.
What do the next two years hold? Will there be new gun laws? Probably. Puerto Rico being admitted as a state would give the Democrats two more votes in the Senate. Will that happen? Who knows? Will Biden complete the entire term, or will we see President Harris? Will SCOTUS get packed?
Interesting times. I am going to post a few items that explain my take on the changes brought about for Florida by this election, then I don't think I will be posting for a bit, until I see how things are going to play out.
I was informed by a female student that she is "nonbinary" and wants to be referred to by a male name - let's call it "Steve." I refused. The school is telling me that I MUST call a student by whatever name they choose for themselves. They also have told me that I cannot divulge the student's sexual identity to anyone- including the child's parents- without the student's permission.
I am not going to. In fact, I will only refer to students by the name that they are registered under. I am also refusing to keep such a secret from the child's parents. They can fire me if they want, but I promise that should that happen, I will make sure that the school district becomes national news.
Early voting in many states has ended. Now we enter a short intermission before the start of election day. I have voted, as have 79 percent of the voters in my county. The voting in my county breaks down like this:
81.4 percent of registered Republicans
78.8 percent of registered Democrats
66.7 percent of registered independents
have cast their ballots. Republicans vastly outnumber the rest of voters in my county. Voter turnout in Florida is high. There are roughly 14.5 million registered voters in Florida, and 57% of them have already voted. The state usually sees about a 75% turnout in Presidential election years. The record turnout for Florida was 83% in 1992. Here is how it looks by party:
As you can see, most votes in Florida have already been cast, and the outcome is too close to call by merely looking at party turnout. All that is left is to wait and watch the results, along with the fallout.
