Divemedic

As we await the end of the Zimmerman trial, I realized that lost in all of the arguments about race and the differing opinions on the meaning of this versus that, we have a fundamental problem: Everyone is treating this like a game. Some kind of sporting event, where the players try to gain advantage and  win the game, while the entire time we forget that the person who is accused has constitutional rights. Not just in this case, but in every case.

The entire point of having constitutional rights is to prevent mob rule, otherwise we would be a true democracy. The people who are the largest cheerleaders in this case are blacks, who more than anyone, will have to face the results of what the prosecution has tried to do to Zimmerman.

What did they do?
The prosecutor lied on the charging document. There is evidence of witness tampering, manufactured evidence, slow rolling of discovery, the hiding of possibly exculpatory evidence, misrepresentation of the facts, and many other violations, right down to the last minute addition of the murder by child abuse charge. Politicians interfered in the investigation by tainting witnesses and pushing for charges in order to advance their own political careers.

All of this has been lost in the argument of people who have been distracted into asking the wrong questions.

“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.” ~ Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow

There is a new Android app that lists on a map all of the gun owners in your vicinity. The app relies on users reporting on where the icky guns are. The problem is illustrated by the maker of the app:

“The gun rights community has been busy making personal threats (we
remain unconcerned), as well as spamming the Gun Geo Marker database
with false markers,” he exclusively told FoxNews.com. “Though these fake
markers are not useful for identifying dangerous guns and owners, they
are certainly representative of the highly paranoid reaction we have
come to expect from any attempt to improve gun safety in the United
States.

Today, this blog turns five SIX years old. That is quite old for a blog, but I have to admit that I don’t get near the traffic of the popular kids like Tam, Uncle, Law Dog, or AD. Each of those blogs inspired me to start my own. My first blog post as of this writing still has only 4 page views, and Tam is one of them. I made a few mistakes along the way, angered some, made others laugh. I’ve seen some blogs end: Kim, Kit, Breda, and others. I have found new blogs: Borepatch, Graybeard, and others.

I am not a terribly prolific blogger. I’ve only posted about a thousand times in that five SIX year period, not even averaging a post a day.

To this day, I still only get about 30-40 eyeballs a day, and although I had hoped when starting that I would get thousands, I blog now because I like to get my thoughts out of my head, and not because I care if people read them. That is why I blog: for me.

Anyhow: Happy Blogiversary to me.

Correction: This blog is six years old. I first posted in 2007.

The quote of the day is from Sultan Knish, and he really brings the smart:

Neighborhood watches don’t have to turn violent, but they exist because
of the potential for violence in a society with plenty of law, but
little order. The struggling middle class looks to the cops only to
realize that the cops have their own job and it isn’t to protect them,
it’s to protect each other. And so they become cops. It’s vigilantism of
a sort and it’s a symptom of social collapse.

Read the whole thing.

It is often said that you should never talk to the police. I think that nothing illustrates this better than the Zimmerman case. This is a case where a man was calling the police as a member of the neighborhood watch- an organization established by the police themselves to encourage neighborhoods to be the eyes and ears of the police and report people and events that appear suspicious or possibly up to no good. By reporting these people, it seemed as if he was helping to improve his neighborhood. He called 46 times in four years. 6 of those calls were made about black males who were acting suspiciously. The fact that 6 of his 46 calls were made about black males is being used to “prove” that he is a racist.

 The tapes of his calls are being replayed in the court, and the words he used to report the suspicious activity are being used against him. I repeat- it is almost never a good idea to talk to the police. Remember, it is their job to put people in jail, and they aren’t very particular about who it is that they arrest.

The following is from attorney Andrew Branca’s book, released this week:

There were 5.8 million murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, and sexual
assaults in the US in 2011. There were another 17.1 million burglaries
and thefts. That’s a crime of these types for every 13.5 people. In one
year alone.
This is why self defense is so important. It lies at the core of what it
means to be free. Protecting our futures and our families against evil
men is a fundamental human right. If you are anything like me, the
alternative—to live at the mercy of evil people—is simply unacceptable. I
will not.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “When seconds count the police are only
minutes away.” This is not a knock against the police. Many officers are
good friends of mine, and no police force can be everywhere.
Nevertheless, calling the police when in danger will almost never help.
The bottom line is criminals, like predators in nature, do not attack
when conditions favor their prey, when the sheepdog is alert beside the
sheep. Predators attack opportunistically when the prey is unprotected.
In other words, when the cops can’t respond fast enough.
Read the entire introduction at the link above, and then go ahead and buy it. I know I did.
I am not affiliated in any way with Mr Branca, and have nothing to gain from this review. If you order it before a verdict in the Zimmerman trial, you get 20% off. Also, NRA/IDPA members can also use coupon code LOSD2-NRA at check out for another 10% discount and free shipping.
Excellent book, and well worth the cost.
I am adding his blog to my reader.

Here is a limited review of the law concerning the use of force. I am not a lawyer, and this is my opinion. In light of the possible riots that will follow a “not guilty” verdict in the Zimmerman trial, I think it prudent to review the self defense laws that may apply. The first thing to remember is that when a riot starts, the governor, sheriff, or other local official will likely declare a state of emergency. This means that he governor or other official may suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles. (state statute 870.044)(This means that you may not be able to get ammo or fuel during any unrest, and also means that your concealed weapons permit may not be valid during the emergency. Make sure you gas up your vehicles, and stay home during the emergency. Note what the law says:

870.044 Whenever the public official declares that a state of emergency exists, the following acts shall be prohibited during the period of said emergency throughout the jurisdiction:

(1) The sale of, or offer to sell, with or without consideration, any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description.

(2) The intentional display, after the emergency is declared, by or in any store or shop of any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description.

(3) The intentional possession in a public place of a firearm by any person, except a duly authorized law enforcement official or person in military service acting in the official performance of her or his duty.

When it comes to the use of force, Florida law says:

776.012: A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:

He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or

treason; murder; manslaughter; sexual battery; carjacking; home-invasion robbery; robbery; burglary; arson; kidnapping; aggravated assault; aggravated battery; aggravated stalking; aircraft piracy; unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb; and any other felony which involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against any individual.

One thing that I learned from years of working as an emergency responder is that we do not plan to fail, we fail to plan. For that reason, I always try to have a plan for various likely scenarios. Because of the likelihood of violence that would be brought about by a not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman case, I have reviewed and modified my family disaster plan.
My sister lives in a neighborhood that has a high probability for being involved in any violence that will develop, so I told her that she is welcome to stay here at my home with her boyfriend and her two daughters (my nieces). I was reviewing my preparations, and made sure that I had enough supplies for the seven people that will likely be staying here.
If I need to shelter in place and cannot leave, I have enough food for seven people to last about two weeks. I do not, however, have enough water storage for that many people. Need to think about that.
Communications are adequate.
Security is adequate.
Shelter is fine.
If we need to evacuate, there may be a problem with evacuating, because the majority of routes out may be problematic.
While I was doing this, my girlfriend said that it seemed like I was preparing for the end of the world. I told her that if you are prepared for a worst case scenario, then anything less than that is a cakewalk. Then I showed her reports from the King riots of 1992.
We will most likely gather at my home when the case is given to the jury, and will hunker down until a day or two after the verdict, to ensure that there will be no violence.

Breitbart says that only 47% of Americans have a full time job. According to the Department of Labor, there are 116 million Americans working full time. The actual picture is much bleaker than that. There are about 4.5 million Federal employees. There are also 19 million local and state full time government employees. Subtracting those from the employment, and we see that there are only 93 million Americans working full time in the private sector. That’s right- only about 1/3 of America is working to support the other 2/3.

This is being caused by the high cost of government mandated benefits for full time employees, in my opinion. A full time employee gets FMLA leave, free health insurance, and many other costly perks that part time employees do not. These benefits have pushed the cost of hiring full time employees past a critical tipping point, where the cost of hiring, training, and managing multiple part time employees is less than the cost of paying expensive perks and benefits. It is now cheaper to hire 2 people at 24 hours a week than it is to hire one person at 40 hours per week.

This will only accelerate the fall that I have been talking about for years. Hang on, this crash is going to hurt.