If you DO buy PMs, make sure you take physical possession of them, not just some scheme where the dealer gives you a piece of paper telling you that you own the PMs that are in his possession. This guy had over $110 million of his investors’ money and a vault filled with paper IOUs.
Military
Supply
The military supply system is stupid and messed up. Everything has a stock number and a description. They frequently don’t make sense. For example, a flyswatter is referred to as “Exterminator, Insect, Manual.” When I was a new E-4, I was forced into the role of Supply Petty Officer for the workcenter by the E-4 who was previously the most junior. He was glad to be rid of the job. I was soon to understand why.
On July 1, 1941, a requisition was submitted for 150 rolls of toilet paper by an officer aboard the submarine USS Skipjack (SS-184). As the boat patrolled the Pacific, the requested item never arrived. In March 1942, Lieutenant Commander James Coe took command of the Skipjack. As Coe settled into his new role, he learned of the missing toilet paper. On June 19, Coe received a canceled invoice for 150 rolls of toilet paper. The request was the original from July 1941 and was stamped “canceled-cannot identify.” Coe wrote a response that is famous within the Navy today.
1. This vessel submitted a requisition for 150 rolls of toilet paper on July 30, 1941, to USS HOLLAND. The material was ordered by HOLLAND from the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, for delivery to USS Skipjack.
2. The Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, on November 26, 1941, cancelled Mare Island Invoice No. 272836 with the stamped notation “Cancelled—cannot identify.” This cancelled invoice was received by Skipjack on June 10, 1942.
3. During the 11 1/2 months elapsing from the time of ordering the toilet paper and the present date, the Skipjack personnel, despite their best efforts to await delivery of subject material, have been unable to wait on numerous occasions, and the situation is now quite acute, especially during depth charge attack by the “back-stabbers.”
4. Enclosure (2) is a sample of the desired material provided for the information of the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island. The Commanding Officer, USS Skipjack cannot help but wonder what is being used in Mare Island in place of this unidentifiable material, once well known to this command.
5. Skipjack personnel during this period have become accustomed to use of “ersatz,” i.e., the vast amount of incoming non-essential paper work, and in so doing feel that the wish of the Bureau of Ships for the reduction of paper work is being complied with, thus effectively killing two birds with one stone.
6. It is believed by this command that the stamped notation “cannot identify” was possible error, and that this is simply a case of shortage of strategic war material, the Skipjack probably being low on the priority list.
7. In order to cooperate in our war effort at a small local sacrifice, the Skipjack desires no further action be taken until the end of the current war, which has created a situation aptly described as “war is hell.”
J.W. Coe
Coe’s letter caused quite a stir and was circulated throughout the fleet. When the Skipjack returned to Australia after her patrol, she was greeted by quite a sight. The pier was stacked seven feet high with boxes of toilet paper instead of the usual crates of fresh fruit and ice cream. Toilet paper streamers decorated the dock, and a band greeted the boat wearing toilet paper neckties and toilet paper flying out of trumpets and horns. The men of the Skipjack would not have to do without toilet paper again, as they were greeted upon every return with cartons of the precious paper.
Back to my story: we had an upcoming deployment, and I had to order supplies to get us through the first six months. I was told to order some superglue and some wooden handled cotton swabs. I looked them up, and the superglue was listed as “adhesive, cyanoacrylate” with a unit of issue of CS (meaning case) and a unit cost of $1.44. The cotton swabs were listed as “applicator, cotton tip, wood handle” with a unit of issue of BG (bag) and a cost of $0.29. No mention in either case of how many were in a case or a bag. At the time, the military was known to be paying $400 for a hammer, so I had to guess.
I guessed that there were at most 2 tubes of superglue per case, and ordered 12 units of superglue, and that there were at most 10 swabs per bag, so I ordered 100 bags of them. What it turned out was that there were 144 tubes of glue per case, and 100 swabs per bag. I wound up with 1,700 tubes of superglue and 10,000 cotton swabs. This mistake was legendary. I caught shit about it for the entire deployment.
When I passed the job on to the newly promoted guy a few months later, I was evil about it. We sent him down to supply to get a can of eh-eye-arr. He came back to supply with a bottle marked “Air, room temperature.” He got the best of me.
Me
Disappointed: My Rant
My ongoing series about carrying in hospitals has been a bit of a disappointment to me. I am receiving a number of messages, comments, and emails warning me about raising a fuss with an employer about firearms. A couple of points:
Nurses in Florida are in extremely short supply. Good emergency nurses, even more so. To the point where hospitals are paying bonuses of $10,000 a year just to accept a job there, on top of their pay. Considering that nursing is an associate’s degree, a nurse fresh out of school who is starting with no experience is being offered $70,000 a year is pretty good money.
Unarmed security guards in Florida have to take a 40 hour class. They are easily replaced, and there is no hospital that is going to fire a nurse over their disagreement with the opinions of a security guard, barring unusual circumstances.
With that being said, I am not dumb enough to give the guard any of those unusual circumstances. I was polite and that is why it pissed off that guard. It went like this:
Security Guard: That law doesn’t apply here. You can’t carry a gun here because (reasons covered in other post)
DM: Really? I didn’t see that in the statute. Can you point me to that law, or cite the number? I would like to read it for myself.
SG: (produces Facebook page of local cops) See? The cops even say so. Just trust that security and the police know the law better than you do. It’s our job to worry about the law, you guys just need to worry about the medicine. If you see anyone that you think might have a gun, let us know and we will take care of it.
So like I said, Mall Ninja is practicing law by reading Facebook posts. So if THAT is the reason why I get fired, so what? Nursing shortage- I will have another job within a couple of days. Even so, that is why I have the emergency fund that I talked about last month. It’s called “fuck you” money. Don’t let someone use money to control you. You should be working on your financial independence.
To my second point, and the thing that really has me disappointed: If those of us in the freedom/gun community are too afraid to even ask questions of a security guard about gun policies at your place of employment, then how are we ever thinking that we will use those guns to defend your rights? If you won’t even risk pissing off a Mall Cop at your job, how will you ever use those same guns to defend freedom? If so, the entire argument about the Second Amendment is moot. You might as well turn them in for some gift cards. Think about how far you are willing to go in defending your rights.
I would also add that the nurses in the emergency room tend to be on the Conservative end of the spectrum. It’s hard to see what we see and still have a bleeding heart. I have already had in depth conversations about guns with several nurses and Doctors at the new job. Most of them belong to the local gun club, and there are even a couple of III% and Molon Labe stickers on vehicles in the parking lot. A couple of us are looking to setup a range day, and one nurse I was talking to is a precision rifle shooter who builds his own rifles and rolls his own ammo because factory isn’t precise enough. He was telling me about a 1,000 yard range that he makes the drive to. This is the most progun ED that I have ever worked in.
Antigun
Florida Legislature Leaves a Mess
As a follow up to yesterday’s post on hospitals and businesses prohibiting carry in the wake of the new constitutional carry law that went into effect in Florida on Saturday, we will address the next two claims:
- Concealed carry isn’t allowed in police stations, and our hospital contains a “police substation”
- Concealed carry isn’t allowed in hospitals
First, let’s look at the claim that concealed carry isn’t permitted in hospitals. There are two laws that can be applied here, with the first of them being 394.458:
Except as authorized by law or as specifically authorized by the person in charge of each hospital providing mental health services under this part, it is unlawful to introduce into or upon the grounds of such hospital, or to take or attempt to take or send therefrom, any of the following articles, which are hereby declared to be contraband for the purposes of this section:
1. Any intoxicating beverage or beverage which causes or may cause an intoxicating effect;
2. Any controlled substance as defined in chapter 893; or
3. Any firearms or deadly weapon.
Note that this is uncharted territory. The law as it existed in 2022 specifically says “except as authorized by law” and Florida’s 790.06 does authorize one to carry a concealed weapon, and paragraph (12) gives a specific list of places off limits to carry. The addition of constitutional carry (PDF alert) also states that a person who is otherwise qualified for a permit may carry a weapon under the same conditions as a person with a permit.
The problem here is that one could make the argument that 790.06 authorizes (by law) carry in places except those listed in 790.06(12), and 790.06(15)(c) specifically says:
This section does not modify the terms or conditions of s. 790.251(7).
Meaning that the legislature means for this law to supersede others in restricting carry at certain locations, and when they don’t want it to do so, make it clear in the statute. The issue with this argument is that it can only be made in court after you have been arrested. Since no one has yet done so (as evidenced by the fact that there is no case law spelling out the limits here) this is an issue that has not yet been tested in the courts, so you do so at your own peril.
What is interesting is the second law that affects hospitals: 790.145. That law specifically says:
Unless otherwise provided by law, any person who is in possession of a concealed “firearm,” as defined in s. 790.001(6), or a “destructive device,” as defined in s. 790.001(4), within the premises of a “pharmacy,” as defined in chapter 465, is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(2) The provisions of this section do not apply:
(a) To any law enforcement officer;
(b) To any person employed and authorized by the owner, operator, or manager of a pharmacy to carry a firearm or destructive device on such premises; or
(c) To any person licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Since a person who is carrying without a permit under Florida’s constitutional carry law -IS- carrying without a permit, and most hospitals are or contain pharmacies, is it still illegal for a person who is otherwise legally carrying a concealed weapon without a permit to have a firearm while inside of a pharmacy? Is this one of those cases that I mentioned above, where the legislature exempts a law when it intends to? Or has the legislature left a legal mess that the courts will have to deal with later? In my opinion, this is another case where the law is confusing and unclear, and the courts will have to deal with it after someone is arrested and charged with the crime, whereupon his lawyer will have to make this argument.
So to sum up the answer to the claim that you can’t carry in a hospital in Florida: The answer is maybe. It is specifically illegal to carry a firearm into a hospital or pharmacy in Florida, but not if you are authorized by law to do so. The law is unclear on whether or not people can carry into a hospital, or whether those who are carrying under constitutional carry may do so into a pharmacy. This question will not be cleared up unless the legislature cleans up the law, or until the courts rule on this one way or the other.
The legal issues here are quite a mess, and the only people who benefit from what the legislature has done here will be lawyers and those who write books about what the law means (in many cases, lawyers who are also authors). It will be interesting to see Jon Gutmacher’s take on this when my copy of Florida Firearms book gets here later in the week. That book is the bible for those who carry or use firearms in Florida, and there are more than a few judges who have his books on their bookshelf. If you own or carry a firearm in Florida, you should have a copy of it.
We will address the last of the three claims tomorrow when we look at “Concealed carry isn’t allowed in police stations, and our hospital contains a ‘police substation'” I think that this post is long enough already.
Now, the disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.
In this case, I have had a relationship with the author of the book that I mention in this post. You can read about it here. I wrote an email to Mr. Gutmacher at the time, letting him know that the property records of Florida showed that the property licensed for explosives manufacture and the resorts were two different pieces of property, as they must be, because under the fire code, you can’t have a hotel on the same property with an explosives factory. He was interested in my point, but I don’t know if he made that point in his legal case or not.
I do not make any money from the book, or from Mr. Gutmacher, but I still want to disclose the relationship, however tenuous it was.
Antigun
Cops Are Lying in Florida
I was at work last night and the supervisor of security came wandering through the ED. One of the nurses asked him if Florida’s new concealed carry law was going to make his job more difficult. His reply was that many people in Florida don’t realize that concealed carry doesn’t apply to the hospital. When I asked him why the law didn’t apply, his reply was that there were three reasons:
- Concealed carry isn’t allowed on private property in Florida, unless the owner allows it
- Concealed carry isn’t allowed in police stations, and our hospital contains a “police substation”
- Concealed carry isn’t allowed in hospitals
When I told him that most of those statements weren’t what the law says, he told me that he and the police likely know more about the law than I do, so I should just stay in my lane. Let’s tackle his claims one at a time, with this post addressing the “property owner” argument:
The police are the ones circulating the “carry isn’t allowed on private property” trope, and I am not sure where it’s coming from. I searched the social media pages of every sheriff’s office in central Florida, along with a sampling of city police departments. This is what I found:
It’s being pushed by a fair number of law enforcement agencies all over the state. The problem here is that the law says nothing of the sort. The new law says that a person who doesn’t have a permit but would otherwise be eligible for one may still carry a concealed weapon or firearm wherever they could carry that weapon if the DID have a permit. There is a list of places off limits to carry that can be found in 790.06(12). Property owners prohibiting carry is not anywhere on that list.
The only statement that could be construed as allowing a property owner to prohibit carry is the general property rights that any property owner has. If you are in a place not specifically mentioned in the law as being prohibited for concealed carry, but it has posted “no guns” signs, and they ask you to leave, you must leave. If you refuse to leave then you are breaking the law and can be charged. Even if the property is not posted and you are asked to leave you must leave, but that is different from claiming that the “law doesn’t apply” to private property. If they don’t ask you to leave, it is legal to carry right past a “no guns” sign.
Since this is being widely pushed by some (but no all) police agencies all over the state, I can’t help by believe that this is an intentional misstatement by law enforcement to enforce a law that doesn’t exist.
Next, we will take a look at carry in hospitals and police stations.
Communications
Communications Plan
There is a reason for all of the HAM radio posts of late. Since I am moving within a few months, I need to rework the communications plan for the homestead. Since we are moving more than 30 miles away, there will be a new set of repeaters, a new fire department and police department to deal with, and other things. So I just broke out the programming software for the mobile radio (a Yaesu FTM400) as well as for the Baofeng handhelds, and I am busy reprogramming all of the new frequencies into the radios.
Then next time we are down checking out the progress on the house, I will also check to see if I can hit the repeaters I want to use.
I won’t even begin to set up the base station until I can see what antennas I will be able to put on the property. That won’t be until after we move.
Communications
HAM Repeaters
When communication by cell phones stops working, most of us can (and should) be able to switch to radios. Still, radio to radio direct communication in the VHF and UHF bands is generally limited to a few miles. To go beyond that, either HF frequencies need to be used, or some sort of a repeater is needed. The issue with HF is that it requires long antennas and is dependent on atmospheric conditions. Not a big deal if we are talking about base stations, but handheld and vehicle mounted radios are VHF or UHF for that reason.
Repeaters allow HAM radios in the VHF and UHF bands to “talk” beyond the horizon. We have already talked about the SARNET, but there are local and regional repeater nets that give quite good coverage. For example, here is the one for west central Florida, centered around Tampa Bay. Just five repeaters cover the entire area.
There are over 700 repeaters in the state of Florida alone. There is an excellent tool here that allows you to look for the repeaters in your area on a map. It isn’t complete, but it is very useful. Whenever I go somewhere, I always make sure that I have a list of repeaters for emergencies.
I was once in Maine on a fishing trip when we happened upon a car accident in a very remote area where there was no cell phone service. I was able to get the repeater in Millinocket, which was over 50 miles away, and called for help.
Antigun
Wrong
When I was a teacher, I layered the security for my classroom and my students. First, I installed a Nightlock on my door.
I have Level IV body armor that I kept in my classroom. It had a blowout kit, 4 TQ’s, a huge label on it that said “PARAMEDIC” and a sewn on badge with my blood type. The file cabinet between the door and the blind corner where I planned to shelter my students in the event of a shooter had been modified by me. It has a 1/4″ aluminum plate lining the inside of the sides of the cabinet. With us behind the cabinet, the bullet would have to go through the cabinet, through the first plate, through whatever was in the cabinet, then through the second plate, and the backside of the cabinet.
Dude, use your head.
climate change
Can’t Legislate Math
As the left continues to crow that we need to switch to electric vehicles to save the planet, they are overlooking the fact that the nation just doesn’t have the electrical generating capacity to do that. As I post this, two thirds of the nation is facing the possibility of blackouts due to insufficient power generation capacity to handle the power demands of air conditioning that deals with the summer heat. Why? Because the nation’s electrical generating companies have been closing coal and oil fired power plants rather than pay for expensive repairs and upgrades caused by the government’s efforts to deal with “climate change.”
By 2035, automakers will have turned away from the internal combustion engine. The electric grid doesn’t have the capacity to charge all of those new cars, trucks and buses. This will cause an increase in electric demand that would require 50% more electricity than we generate now. There isn’t enough land area to rely on wind and solar for our current needs, much less adding that much more.
For example, Florida is second in the nation in electric vehicles with over 100,000 of them, but ranks 42nd in the infrastructure needed to charge them with 24 cars in the state for each charging station.