Divemedic

SCOTUS

Joe Biden knows that the eviction moratorium is unconstitutional. He doesn’t care. In the words of the Washington Post: “Maybe it’s illegal, but it’s worth it”

Now this places the Supreme Court in a real bind. Since 1803, SCOTUS has held that any law that is in conflict with the Constitution is void. In practice, things are a bit different. This decision by the President creates a Constitutional crisis. What the President has done here is throw down the proverbial gauntlet. The court now must do one of two things: rule that the President’s actions are unconstitutional and attempt to enforce their decision, or they must ignore the moratorium and allow it to stand. In either case, the credibility of the court is now destroyed.

The Supreme Court is so worried that they will either be ignored, or that the Democrats will pack the court, that they are doing nothing that would upset the apple cart. The decisions on Obamacare, the election, and many other divisive issues are perfect examples. The court itself is no longer effective.

My prediction is that the court will find a way to dodge the question. They are deeply afraid of the answer to two key questions: What happens if the government ignores their decisions? Are they still relevant?

This has long term implications for the Second Amendment, and indeed for the very future of this nation. Things will begin falling apart more rapidly as the weeks go on.

By Divemedic, ago

Hospital Update

I had a chance to talk to one of the people in medical records while I was at work today. She tells me that two thirds of our COVID patients have been vaccinated, and with about the same percentage of Florida’s residents being vaccinated, I wonder if this vaccine isn’t really doing anything for COVID at all. I know that data isn’t the plural of anecdotes, but I wonder of we aren’t being lied to again.

In my last post on COVID, PapaSierra wants to know:

Why are patients being allowed to needlessly suffer, and perhaps die, when ivermectin is available? Are the doctors and administrator that afraid of the lefties?

Now I obviously haven’t talked to every doctor and patient involved, but after more than thirty years in the medical field, I have a couple of thoughts:

  • Since Ivermectin isn’t approved for use on COVID, many insurance companies aren’t going to pay for it
  • Ivermectin or not, some COVID patients will die. There are billboards all over Central Florida that look like this:

If a Doctor isn’t doing what everyone else is doing with regards to treating COVID, he or she can expect to hear from one of those ambulance chasers. The deposition will look like this:

Lawyer: “Has the Federal Government approved Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID? Please remember that you are under oath.”

Doctor: “No, it hasn’t, but…”

Lawyer: “And isn’t it also true that the US Food and Drug Administration recommends against the use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID?”

For that reason, no one wants to be the doctor who is the first or only one that is doing this. It’s the nail that sticks up that most often gets hammered down.

  • Not only that, but there is a law in the State of Florida that says any doctor who is successfully sued three times for malpractice will have his or her license to practice medicine permanently revoked. For that reason, doctors don’t go to court. They settle. The Doctor’s malpractice insurer surely knows this, and they will drop any doctor who is following that course of treatment.

I have seen this time and again. Years ago, I went to the state EMS convention and asked the Board of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians why they weren’t recommending a particular procedure, especially in light of some very convincing studies supporting it. The above answers were the very same ones I was given then.

By Divemedic, ago

Ban the box?

There is an entire movement in the US to prohibit employers from considering an applicant’s criminal history when making hiring decisions.

Do you have a cash handling position? Why not hire someone who has been convicted of embezzlement? Daycare center? Why not hire a pedophile? This is the dumbest shit I have heard this week, but to be fair, it’s only Wednesday.

That doesn’t matter to many employers- they are all in. The city of Lakeland, Florida has done it (although they are excluding police and fire departments from that policy, because hiring criminals to be policemen and firemen is against state law).

The state of Maine is the newest one to jump on this bandwagon. It is now unlawful in Maine for an employer to enquire about an applicant’s criminal history until after they have been offered the job, unless otherwise required by law to screen for criminal history.

So now we have a situation where the left is saying that I can’t get a job if I am a gun owner, or if I have ever opposed gay marriage, abortion, owned a gun, or any other ‘icky’ thought crime, but employers should be forced to hire criminals who have committed actual crimes.

Trump signed it into law, so he wasn’t the panacea that many on the right think he was.

By Divemedic, ago

COVID news

The hospital where I work has a large number of COVID cases. I had to call the head nurse this morning and tell them that there was no more room for new patients this morning. At that point, we began discharging any patients that we could, so that we could make room for the 57 COVID patients who were being held in the ED, waiting for a bed.

Today, we had six different patients who were COVID positive die. Three of them were directly related to COVID, one was indirectly related, and two died of other causes, but were COVID positive, meaning that they will likely be classified as COVID deaths. In all six cases, the patients were at least 70 years old. Four of the six patients were more than 80 years old, with two of them being more than 85 years old. I do not know their vaccination status.

The patients on the COVID floor are being treated with donor plasma, as well as vitamins C and D, and high flow oxygen. I do not know what else they are receiving, because I am not in the COVID unit.

That is what I know.

By Divemedic, ago

Where does this end?

The CDC has reversed its decision to let the eviction moratorium expire, and has reinstated that moratorium until October 3. The actual text of the order can be found here. (pdf warning) There is one possibility that I see to removing a tenant:

If there is another part of the lease that is being violated, or if the lease has expired, it seems to me that there is room here.

Where does this end? Is there any endpoint where a property owner gets his property back? There is all of this talk about “people losing their homes,” but the people losing their homes are the landlords, not the tenants.

By Divemedic, ago

Range Report

The new 80 percent lower arrived over the weekend. Before I even began, I checked the magazine catch slot to ensure it was the proper size. I began the milling operation at 7:30 this morning, and the entire rifle was ready to go by 10:00.*

The upper

Total cost for the completed upper was $1435.

The lower

Total cost for the completed lower was $750.

The Glass

The total cost of this rifle without considering the optics was $2185. If you count the cost of the scope and its mount, the total project cost was $2,785. The rifle with the scope mounted weighs in at 8.85 pounds.

I headed out to the range to test fire it. If functions fine, with the brass coming out at the 3 o’clock position, so I have the gas block tuned correctly. The first target was at 25 yards, five shots to get a 25 yard zero. The first shot was the one that is the lowest, most rightward one.

25 yard zero target

Once it was dialed in at 25 yards, the target was placed at 100 yards. I fired two five round groups. The first group is the five holes to the upper left. That group measured in at 6.25″. Some adjustments were made. The second group is the one to the lower right, which measured at just over 3.5″.

Two, five shot groups at 100 yards.

This rifle isn’t a tack driver, but it isn’t meant to be. Then again, the loose groups are probably because I haven’t had much range time for about a year. I think some more range time is in order.

I have no relationship with any of the vendors or manufacturers mentioned in this post, other than me being a customer. The prices paid and any discounts I received were those available to the general public.

*The rifle is ALMOST done. When I was assembling it, I realized that I was out of roll pins for the bolt catch. I went to the range without a bolt catch installed. That will be rectified once the new pins arrive.

By Divemedic, ago

Judges are our masters

Congress couldn’t do it. The President can no longer do it. A judge in Atlanta can.

Override civil contracts by fiat, that is. The eviction moratorium expired at midnight Saturday night, except in Atlanta, where a judge claimed that evictions would be prohibited for another 60 days.

If I were an Atlanta area landlord, all servicing of rental properties would stop. No more trash collection, property taxes, or any other services would be taken care of. You might as well admit that in some areas of the nation, the right to private property no longer exists.

By Divemedic, ago

Inflation and shortages

All sorts of excuses are being made, but inflation seems to be hovering around 20 percent. There seem to be all sorts of shortages.

When I was on my lobster trip to South Florida, we ate at Frigates in West Palm Beach. They were out of hogfish and lobster. Seafood restaurants all over the country are reporting shortages and higher prices.

My wife and I went to Longhorn steakhouse on Friday. They were out of strip steaks and lava cake.

Welcome to socialism.

By Divemedic, ago

Resuming the build

Thanks to the magazine catch on my lower being out of spec, all work on the skirmish rifle had to come to a halt. The slot for the magazine catch is supposed to be 0.250″ but looking at the measurement, you can see that this is not the case:

Since it is several thousandths too small, the catch doesn’t fit. I sent this photo to 5d, the maker of my 80 percent lower, and they shipped me a new one. As soon as I get a day off, the build will resume.

By Divemedic, ago