Divemedic

Sunrise

At 7 o’clock this morning, I woke up hearing music playing. It was loud enough that I could make out lyrics. It was Christian music. My wife and I searched the house and soon realized that it was coming from a church that, according to Google maps, is exactly 1,000 yards from my house. They were having a sunrise Easter service. According to their website, the service was indoors, playing outdoors on a large TV screen for people in their cars sitting in the parking lot, and live streaming for those at home. The music played from 6:45am to 7:15am, then the service began.

I heard it all.

Also according to Google Maps, there are 21 churches and a Synagogue within a 5 mile radius of my house. We decided it was time to get up and hurry out for breakfast before the post-church service rush.

I am not a religious person. I *do* support people and their religion. I am respectful, and will quietly bow my head when others pray. However, if I can be awakened by the music from your service inside of my house from a half a mile away, your shit is too loud. This is no better than having to deal with the Muslim call to prayer.

Have some respect for people who choose not to attend your church.

By Divemedic, ago

Force of law

Parents lose a child, so they petition the government to pass a law that would have saved his life. They want it made mandatory for boat operators to wear the lanyard connected to their vessel’s kill switch.

Another woman wants people who go swimming when conditions are ripe for rip currents to be fined.

Look, I am all in favor of people being safe. A kill switch is a safety device, and I frequently use mine. When the red flags are up, you shouldn’t be in the water. However, just because something is a good idea doesn’t mean that it needs to be legally mandated.

By Divemedic, ago

The rest of the story

When I was a kid, Paul Harvey used to have a radio show called “The rest of the story” where he would do a short story about something that had occurred that “everyone” knew, and then would disclose the part of the story that was largely unknown. He would end the segment with “and now you know… the rest of the story.” With that out of the way:

Here is a tear jerking story about three young black people who were gunned down in their prime by evil, racist cops, when all they were doing was listening to the radio and “smoking.” What the story glosses over is that three handguns were found in the vehicle. What the story doesn’t mention is that at least one of them, Jaquan Kimbrough-Rucker, has a lengthy criminal record. He was convicted in 2018 for a felony in Indian River county (burglary), was sentenced to three years and wound up serving two years in prison for it (first year was credit for time served.) He was released early. He was involved in this case just weeks after being released from prison. Had he served his full sentence, this likely would not have happened.

The shooting can’t be interrupting him too much because he was arrested in December of 2020 for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and again in March of 2021 for possession of Fentanyl, Cocaine, Ecstacy, Xanax, resisting arrest, and intent to distribute.

Now without knowing whether or not they were business associates of this violent drug dealer, or merely in the wrong place, this wasn’t some young, innocent group of young people. The two young people who were killed were friends with this drug dealing violent criminal, and that is what got them killed. It wasn’t racism. It wasn’t out of control cops, it was another case of criminal black men that got them killed.

Now you know the rest of the story.

By Divemedic, ago

Police State

Across the US, police conduct more than 20 million traffic stops each year. This means that 50,000 times each day, a police officer stops someone in traffic. Less than half of those stops are for speeding, DWI, stop sign or stoplight violations. Instead, minor traffic violations are used as an excuse to initiate criminal investigations. This tactic fails to find any criminal wrongdoing 98% of the time.

I disagree with the thrust of the article- claiming that police are racist. The real reason why traffic stops disproportionally affect blacks is for two reasons: most police and most traffic stops happen in large cities, which are where most blacks live, and black neighborhoods tend to be where most of the violent crime is, so that is where most police spend most of their time. That is just a fact. We all know it. Go to any city and ask any person, no matter what race they are, to tell you where the most dangerous and crime ridden area of town is, and they will point to a predominately black neighborhood.

No, the real issue with police overreach isn’t racism- it is that the police have too much power to stop and search people. Let’s agree to start there.

By Divemedic, ago

Freelance? Or Nalyevo?

The Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating an M4 rifle that has gone missing from the DC national guard. It looks like it is either a troop that has decided that he needs to keep his weapon when things get sporty soon, or he is going to sell it on the black market, what the Soviets used to call ‘nalyevo’ (on the left).

We will know that units are planning on going rogue when things like Javelins, Stingers, some M-2s, explosives, and other heavier stuff starts walking off.

By Divemedic, ago

Global Warning?

In 1959, the US Government drilled some ice cores in search of a location to put a missile base in Greenland. They found plants frozen into the ice, which indicates that Greenland was ice free recently, in climate terms. At some point within the last million years, possibly only several hundred thousand years ago, Greenland was ice free.

Now, to humans, a million years seems like a long time, but that is relatively recent in climate and geological terms. In fact, atmospheric CO2 was lower a million years ago than it is now. This indicates to me that climate is cyclical, and has little to do with humans adding CO2 to the atmosphere.

By Divemedic, ago

Maddening

So I asked about the shotgun that I recently acquired and you guys delivered. I was put in touch with a great gunsmith who specializes in refurbishing Parker Brothers shotguns. I sent him photos of the shotgun. He tells me that this particular gun was manufactured in July of 1914 and has a value of between $3,000 and $4,000 once refurbished.

If I send him the shotgun, he will give me a quote with no obligation other than his cost in return shipping if I decide not to get the work done.

Here is the problem: I can ship it to him and get it returned without going through an FFL. The problem is that UPS and Fedex are telling me that they REQUIRE me to go through an FFL and they require it to go overnight at a cost of $400 each way. The idiot at the UPS center even told me that if I am not an FFL, they will require me to ship it to a police station in the town where it is going in care of the guy doing the work, and he can then pick it up there. They also require written proof of the value of the shotgun in order to insure it. I can’t get written proof until the guy I am shipping it to receives it. This is ridiculous.

Yes, I know that UPS requires overnighting of firearms because their employees are thieves. I would rather ship USPS Registered insured. Cheaper and more likely to get there, if I can.

That means the cost of shipping alone could be a third of the value of the shotgun. Since this is a long gun as well as being a C&R weapon, is there another way? Anyone have suggestions? Or should I just apply for a C&R license and send it USPS?

By Divemedic, ago