Divemedic

What is violence? What constitutes force?

In a post last week I made a flippant comment about people shooting masks onto people’s faces, where I said that this was a good way to get shot. TCK pointed out that such a gun was unlikely to be treated as a threat that would permit a lethal response, and of course he is correct. That got me to thinking about what is going on in this country, where the left seems to be walking the line and using force with impunity. This made me realize how badly we are currently losing in the revolution they have started.

Let’s begin with “mostly peaceful protest,” the term they are using to describe open warfare.

Mostly peaceful means what, exactly? The does that mean most of the people present didn’t engage in violence? We know that the US military in Iraq had fewer than a quarter of them in combat. Does that mean it was a mostly peaceful war?

What exactly is violence? If I put a gun to your head and demand your money and you hand it over without me having to shoot you, was that a peaceful robbery?

So is a crowd of  150 communist insurgents carrying rifles while screaming threats at unarmed motorists a peaceful protest? Or would you consider the threat of violence without actually carrying it out to be peaceful?

The communist mobs are getting very good at walking the line between legal technicalities and actual crimes. They have their own JAG corps. They have funds established for bailing out those who are arrested.

I don’t even know if it is illegal to shine a high powered laser into someone’s eyes, as long as the laser isn’t designed to indicate or mark an object, the target isn’t operating a vehicle. In Florida, a laser is not a weapon. A weapon is defined as:

any dirk, knife, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon except a firearm or a common pocketknife, plastic knife, or blunt-bladed table knife.

It appears that the best you can do is try to get them for simple battery, but that requires the prosecutor to prove that the person with the laser intended to injure, and not merely annoy. 

784.03 Battery; felony battery.—
(1)(a) The offense of battery occurs when a person:
1. Actually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other; or
2. Intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who commits battery commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Even then, it is only a misdemeanor for a first offense. Since it may not even be a crime, defending yourself from this assault is problematic and, even if you only use nonlethal means such a pepper spray, there is a very good chance you will be in more trouble than your attacker. At the very least, you will lay out serious money for your defense attorney.
Likewise for morons yelling in your ears with a megaphone. Likely to cause hearing damage, but there isn’t really anything you can do about it. 
The left appears to be walking right up to the legal line and carefully not crossing it. They are counting on the fact that the right is largely law abiding as their primary insurance against getting their ass kicked. They then claim that this is “nonviolence.” For example, when they cruise through your neighborhood at 2 in the a.m. screaming and chanting in a stated attempt to wake you up and inconvenience you. 
They snatch signs from children and intimidate them, but don’t actually cross the line and strike them. 
They are proving that the letter of the law has loopholes that allow people to use force and violence, or at least the threat of them, to control and intimidate others.

The question is, what do we do about it?

By Divemedic, ago

Equality of talent versus opportunity

There is this commercial that comes on frequently for Southern New Hampshire University. I abhor this commercial. Check it out:

“The world equally distributes talent, but it doesn’t equally distribute opportunity.” What a load of manure. So all that separated me from becoming Michael Jordan was opportunity? The fact that I didn’t become an NBA star is not because I am a short white guy who can’t jump. Nope, all that separated me from being the next NBA All star was that no one gave me the opportunity.

According to this theory, we have all been granted the same physical abilities, intelligence, susceptibility to disease, and other abilities. The only thing separating us is that no one gave us a fair shot.

This is pure communist propaganda. This is what lends validity to the communists over at BLM when they claim that the only reason they are not successful in life is that someone must have discriminated and conspired against them. This belief that we are all born equal is where the demand for equality of outcome originates.

By Divemedic, ago

Nope. Just nope.

High on the list of stupid and dangerous ideas:

Some have resisted [wearing masks] which inspired Allen Pan to invent a gun that quickly shoots a mask on to the face of those not taking this whole thing seriously.

Fuck around and find out what happens.

 If malls were to instead employ armed gangs brandishing these face mask blasters, the number of people voluntarily wearing masks would undoubtedly dramatically rise.

So would the number of people wielding those who had to be transported to the hospital with a mask stuck up their ass.

Look, like most of America, I just want to be left alone. You do you, and I will do me. The problem is the overwhelming number of busybodies who want to force their ideas onto others. Since they can’t seem to get the Government to do it, they are perfectly willing to resort to force.

Well, so am I. Leave me alone, or try to shoot me in the face with any sort of gun (mask or otherwise) and see what happens to you.

So here is from the comments:

Drew Wesely
1 day ago
That’s why the final model mask gun will be mounted like an M320 under an assault weapon.

So to all of the people who think this is a good idea:

Go ahead. Go ahead, skin it. Skin that smoke wagon and see what happens. I’m gettin’ awful tired of your gas. Now jerk that pistol and go to work.

By Divemedic, ago

Good question

I know it’s over a month old, but John Watson at the American Thinker asks a great question:

During the last two years of the Obama administration, some unusual purchases were made.  Large quantities of ammunition were purchased, as were firearms, mostly for somewhat obscure agencies or agencies with no real need for such weaponry. 

Seeing the current violence and knowing that Obama didn’t mind arming drug cartels- Do we know if all of these weapons are accounted for?

By Divemedic, ago

Missile found in Lakeland Airport

Contractors at the Lakeland Airport in Florida discovered a shipping container that contained an air to air missile.  An Air Force EOD team from MacDill AFB, agents from BATFE, Lakeland Fire Department, and numerous other agencies removed the missile to the Air Force Base for disposal.

The markings on the container indicate that it is a French S530 air to air missile. The missile has a 30kg fragmentation warhead.

By Divemedic, ago

Another failure of our court system

A 28 year old man was recently arrested for murder in Osceola county, after a 56 year old man was shot and killed. I looked up his record with Osceola county, and he didn’t have one. Now it is pretty unusual for the first crime committed by a person to be murder, so I went looking in Orange county (where Orlando is located).

In Orange county alone, he has been charged on 28 different occasions, beginning in 2006, when he was just 14 years old and was caught driving without a license. I wouldn’t normally mentiosn traffic, except in this case because adjudication was withheld.

2008, he was arrested for armed robbery with a firearm, tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm by a minor. He was placed on probation.

2014, he was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Charges were dropped because the prosecutor said the case was “unsuitable for prosecution.” However this resulted in his being violated under the terms of the probation from his 2008 robbery, and was sentenced to 4 years in jail.

This obviously didn’t mean that he actually went to jail, because during 2014, he was arrested for domestic battery. The DA dropped the charges.

During 2014 and 2015, he received 7 traffic tickets for open alcohol container, no seatbelt, no drivers license, speeding and no registration in multiple different traffic stops. Case was dismissed or adjudication withheld each time.

In August of 2015, he was arrested for possession of controlled substances and marijuana with intent to distribute. Adjudication was withheld.

In 2016 and 2017, he received 9 traffic tickets during 4 different traffic stops: speeding, no insurance, no seatbelt, no tags, no registration, etc. 3 were for running tolls, 2 for improper tags, and there was also a couple of red lights, speeding, and another minor one. He paid a few fines.

In 2018, he was caught with cocaine (more than 28 grams), marijuana (more than 20 grams),  $19,500 in cash, and charged with 11 counts of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Sheriff Demings proceeded with an asset forfeiture in that case, taking the cash. Again, however, the DA dropped the charges because the case was not suitable for prosecution. 

Just after that, he was again arrested for domestic battery. Charges were dropped. Again.

In 2019, he was arrested for second degree murder for shooting and killing a motorist in the car next to him. He claimed that the other motorist was threatening him, and won his “stand your ground” hearing. Charges were dismissed. The police did however, manage to use civil forfeiture to take his car.

So in the past 14 years, he has been arrested on 5 different occasions for felonies, twice for domestic battery, twice for possession of a firearm by a felon, dealing drugs, murder, and yet was free to walk the streets and kill again. How many times must a person break the law before there are serious consequences?

* as a side note, this morning the article had over 13 comments on gun control, lax courts, etc. They were all deleted within the past two hours. The press has no right to claim a lack of bias.

By Divemedic, ago

The police aren’t coming

In Minnesota, a Democratic candidate for state representative openly stated that he will target whites for assasination and would burn their neighborhood down. I am going to quote exactly what he said, because I feel that his statement is so inflammatory and insulting that the only way to truly understand how despicable this man is, is to read exactly what he said:

Black skin I’m in! I’m a Black man being terrorized by this fucking Klansman right here! We are terrorized by the Grand Wizard! You got the Grand Wizard living in your goddamn neighborhood! All the Klan exist in Hugo, Minnesota! And it’s right here! Don’t run now! Don’t run now, racist white people! I’m here! Oh yeah, we pull up! We pulled the fuck up! Over here! Come on over get your blue eyes medicine! Blue eyes ain’t shit! And if people in Hugo don’t support Black people, fuck Hugo, Minnesota!

Peaceful protest? I didn’t come here to be peaceful. Why the fuck is we so peaceful in this faggot-assed neighborhood? Fuck your motherfucking peace, white racist motherfuckerers! Blue lives don’t mean shit to black people. Fuck Hugo, Minnesota! This whole godamn state burned down for $20 goddamn dollars, you think we give a fuck about burning Hugo down? 

So now you have a Democrat who will likely be elected to the state legislature, and is being endorsed by the current Governor, saying that he wants to burn down neighborhoods and “kill white motherfuckers.”

What do you do when a hostile crowd is standing in front of your house, with their spokesman shouting at you with a loudspeaker that he wants to kill you and your family? Calling the police won’t help- they have been neutered and are not coming. Of course, if you defend yourself, your home, and your property, you will go to jail and lose everything you have ever worked for. Why because he is now a part of a hostile government with the open support of a hostile governor.

Once the people begin to believe that the government is actively trying to kill them, that government is no longer seen as being legitimate. What happens then?

By Divemedic, ago

It’s complicated

I keep seeing those on both sides of the COVID debate continuing to go back and forth about reopening schools. At this point, the debate has become more about politics than it does about actual infection control. Everyone is trying to condense this COVID thing down into a 3 second soundbite or tagline so they can get in a cheap zinger, this reducing a complex issue into monkey poop flinging.

I am torn. I can see valid reasons for either decision. Let me explain:

– Our society can’t seem to decide. In Florida, the Republicans claim that the disease is such a threat that bars must remain closed, while restaurants and movie theaters can only open at 50 percent capacity. Sporting events are cancelled because gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited. Unless that gathering is a high school sporting event, because reasons. Either open it all up, or cloase it all down. Stop trying to pick winners and losers.

Schools themselves are not taking this seriously, but at the same time, they are. For example:

– we are being told that schools are going to remain safe through a campaign of social distancing and mask wearing. Class sizes remain at the same size as they always have. I teach 6 periods a day. Periods one through five have an average of 22 students per class(1). There is no way for me to ‘socially distance’ 23 people who are all in the same room. If we can’t socially distance, everyone is required to wear masks. How successful do you think we are going to be in getting 1300 teens to stay away from each other and wear masks all day? We can’t keep them apart and from trying to copulate during the best of times.

– My school claims that the teachers will be sanitizing their classrooms in the 5 minutes we have between classes. That is impossible, because the school hasn’t provided any supplies for doing so- no sanitizer, no spray bottles, no supplies of any kind. In fact, all we have been given so far for COVID supplies are 3 disposable ear loop masks, and an 8 ounce bottle of alcohol based hand sanitizer.

– My school also claims that our rooms were thoroughly cleaned and sanitized by our janitorial staff while we were locked out. When we returned, the desks still had eraser shavings on them.

If the eraser shavings are still there, the desks have obviously not even been wiped down, much less sanitized. In fact, the bathroom on my floor still has dried urine in one of the corners from when a student decided to piss on the wall a year ago.

Florida is currently seeing thousands of new cases of COVID per day, with dozens of deaths each day. Whether or not you think those numbers are reliable (I don’t) the fact remains that the illness is worse than it was back in March when the schools were originally shut down. Every teacher that I know is convinced that we are going to eventually shut down. There is even a pool going on how long. My pick is ten school days after the students resume classes. The guess that has the longest pick is October 1.

That creates a problem for teachers. What made the spring shut down so difficult was that teachers had 48 hours from when the shutdown was announced to have their classes back up and running online. We had such silly restrictions that the online classes of the spring were a joke. Each of us is determined that online classes in the next shutdown will be of higher quality and that we will not be caught by surprise.

1- My sixth class is an online class to accommodate those students who are attending virtually. It has 45 students in it. 48 teachers in my school are teaching online courses. The courses are large. It creates a large workload on teachers. I have a total of 160 students, all of whom must have their papers graded. I have to make lessons, study materials, and assignments available to all of my students- the ones who are face to face get papers, the ones who are online get electronic. On top of that, I have to figure out how to do tests and quizzes online while making the playing field even between the online kids who can and will cheat, and the kids who are physically in my class.

By Divemedic, ago

Racist press publishes official discrimination policy against whites

The Associated Press has a webpage dedicated to explaining their racial bias in reporting. They explain why they capitalize racial descriptors.

AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. The lowercase black is a color, not a person. AP style will continue to lowercase the term white in racial, ethnic and cultural senses.

People of African descent share a common history, identity and community? A black man shitting in the street in Freeport, Jamaica, a black woman living in Babanusa, Sudan (where onions cost $45), and a black man living in New Orleans all have a shared history, identity, and community? At the same time, whites in Australia, England, and South Africa do not?

The AP then goes on to explain why ‘white’ doesn’t get capitalized:

White people generally do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.

Whites don’t experience discrimination due to skin color? Multnomah County, Oregon didn’t create ‘safe spaces’ where white employees were forbidden to enter? Wake Forest didn’t have staff meetings where white staff members were excluded?

Anyone who has ever been to Hawaii knows that the many of the natives do not like white people. In fact, my life lived in Hawaii for two years and she loved it. She tells me that she had only two problems there: it was expensive to live there, and being white, it was very tough to fit in.

The mayoral race for Savannah, GA didn’t have a ‘blacks only- no white reporters allowed’ meeting?

We have all seen this lately.

According to the AP, if you capitalize ‘white’ it means that you are a white supremacist.

We agree that white people’s skin color plays into systemic inequalities and injustices, and we want our journalism to robustly explore those problems. But capitalizing the term white, as is done by white supremacists, risks subtly conveying legitimacy to such beliefs.

Only by refusing to capitalize white while capitalizing all other racial groups can you overcome white supremacy and prove that you are not a racist.

I am calling this what it is: Whites in this country are now the only racial group where it is not only legal to attack and discriminate against them, it is socially acceptable, and perhaps even encouraged. This is why I cannot believe anything coming from the MSM as being close to anything resembling truth or fact.

By Divemedic, ago