Divemedic

No More Qualified Immunity

Why? Because you need an ID to lie on a park bench, but you don’t need one to vote.

It’s time for qualified immunity to go. As a health care professional, I have to carry a million dollars in malpractice insurance. It’s time we make cops do the same.

Can we here in Florida get a petition to have this added to next year’s election as a State Constitutional Amendment?

Facts of this case:

On June 7, 2019, Keokuk, Iowa Police Officer Tanner Walden responded to a report that someone was sleeping in a park. Walden found Land, who was watching the sunset on a park bench. Land told Walden that he had not been sleeping and was not in distress. Walden asked for identification, and Land refused. Walden arrested Land for misdemeanor interference with official acts. During a search, officers found drug paraphernalia and added a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. The incident was captured on Walden’s body-worn camera.

On August 27, 2019, a judge dismissed the charges against Land because the pretext for the stop was improper.

On June 6, 2021, Land filed a federal lawsuit against the city and Walden, claiming violations of his rights under the Fourth Amendment.

On September 20, 2021, the city claimed that Walden “exercised all due care to comply with the law and is entitled to qualified immunity” and also (in October 2022) that Walden had reasonable suspicion as required by Terry v Ohio and probable cause to arrest Land.

On October 26, 2022, the judge disagreed when he ruled that Walden’s contact with Land should have ended when it became clear that Land was not sleeping in the park or in need of assistance, and that the city was not responsible for Walden’s actions.

On November 22, 2022, the city settled the lawsuit for $30,000.

By Divemedic, ago

Incident Debrief

Milton was a pretty smooth incident here in Sector Ocho, at least as far as disasters can go. I post this in the hope that others can learn from my trials and tribulations, as well as using this as a means of remembering what I need to do next time. Each disaster only helps us to improve for the next one.

The power went out late Wednesday night. We were without power until Saturday afternoon.

Some key things we learned from the incident:

Records, Food and Water, Medical:

Records, Food and Water, and Medical saw no issues, and they will not be addressed here.

Energy:

The solar system worked great. I overreacted a bit on shutting down the water heater because it was cloudy the day after the storm. I needn’t have bothered- our Powerwalls never went below 64% on Thursday, and it was sunny on Friday and Saturday, so the batteries fully recharged to 100% on those days.

It was suggested that we add a connection to the system for connecting a generator, but that would again make us dependent upon a fuel supply. I don’t want to do that because the scarcity of fuel is one of the reasons why I went with solar in the first place.

I am going to replace the water heater with a heat pump water heater. That will reduce our power requirements by 10 KWh per day, which is almost the same as adding another Powerwall, but at a fraction of the cost. (They hold 13.5 KWh each, with about 13 of that being useable).

Even though the Powerwalls kick in less than half a second after the lights go out, the loss of electricity is long enough to cause the modem to reboot. That meant a loss of Internet for about 30 seconds. More an annoyance than a problem, but still one I will address. I am going to put the modem on a UPS, but need to get one that is physically small enough to fit inside of the QI panel.

Shelter:

We sat in the living room during the storm and watched as the sliding glass doors bowed into the house with the wind. I was sure that they would break under the strain. For that reason, I made the declaration that we had to wear hard soled shoes and locked the cats in the safe room, just in case we suddenly had broken glass to deal with. I am going to do some research on some fabric hurricane shields like these. I figure it will cost $3,000 or so to get all of the windows done. They look easier to store and put up than things like plywood or even plastic shutters. Some research is definitely needed.

Security:

I also learned that the people in the area were kind, and all pitched in to help each other- we formed a working party and moved from house to house, cutting up fallen trees and stacking the wood. One of them, as it turns out, is even a prepper. Living in a small town is amazing.

At one point, I was in a swampy area, helping recover things that had blown out into the swamp. One of the guys with me said “Watch out, there are snakes and alligators out there.” I replied by lifting my shirt to show him my M&P45. He said, “Cool,” and that was it. Having electric power meant that the neighbors asked me to allow them to charge their cell phones, and the fact that I had a chainsaw and a pot of coffee ready for offering a cuppa made me the most popular guy on the street.

About 14 hours after the power went out, we lost Internet. I’m guessing that they had the system on a UPS whose batteries finally went dead. Trying to use our contingency of using cell phones as hotspots didn’t work- there were so many people trying to do the same thing that they were effectively non functional. To address this, I think I am going to get a Starlink and just not subscribe to it until I need to use it. We had power, and it was nice to make coffee and all, but no TV or Internet is something that needs to be taken care of.

Miscellaneous:

One funny thing happened during one of my outside patrols. I put on a rain slicker and walked the outside of the house every couple of hours as the winds would allow. When I went out at around 3 am, a squirrel that had taken refuge on my back porch but was unseen by me decided to jump down and land on my head. I almost shit myself. My wife thought that it was hilarious.

Conclusion:

Things went about as smoothly as they could have. I felt comfortable leaving my wife home alone on Friday and Saturday, so that I could go to work at the hospital. Good neighbors, secure, sturdy house, and lots of supplies made that an easy choice.

That concludes the preparedness for Hurricane Milton. Now I get to put the house back in order. The good news here is that the summer heat is usually broken by a late season hurricane, and this year is no exception. It is now in the 60s here at Sector Ocho, and it feels wonderful.

There will be another post detailing how the emergency room did, and that will come later.

By Divemedic, ago

Florida Amendments

Florida is one of the states that permits the state Constitution to be amended through a popular vote. If 60% of those casting ballots vote for it, then it becomes a part of the state constitution. This election, there are six proposed Amendments on the ballot. I am researching this myself, and you benefit from my research. Let’s begin:

Amendment 1

Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify that the amendment only applies to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot.

Amendment 1 Ballot Language

The current law is that all school board candidates must run as “no party affiliation.” A vote of yes means that the people running for the school board will run as members of their political party. I am of two minds on this one. One the one hand, it will be useful to know if a tranny supporting Democrat is on the ballot, but on the other, there are so many RINOs that it likely won’t matter.

My take? This is a useless amendment. If I can’t see a clear benefit to an amendment, I am voting no.

Amendment 2

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. Specifies that the amendment does not limit the authority granted to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under Section 9 of Article IV of the State Constitution.

Amendment 2 Ballot Language

Not only is the ballot language clear, the enabling legalese behind it is as well. I am voting yes on this one.

Amendment 3

Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories.

Amendment 3 Ballot Language

This one is a bit tricky. Normally, I will get behind anything that reduces government power. However, this isn’t the case here. Here is the proposed text that it would add to the state law:

(4) The non-medical personal use of marijuana products and marijuana accessories by an adult, as defined below, in compliance with this section is not subject to any criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida Law.
(5) Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other entities licensed as provided below, are allowed to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use upon the Effective Date provided below. A Medical Marijuana Treatment Center, or other state licensed entity, including its agents and employees, acting in accordance with this section as it relates to acquiring, cultivating, processing, manufacturing, selling, and distributing marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law.

(11) “Marijuana accessories” means any equipment, product, or material of any kind that are used for inhaling, ingesting, topically applying, or otherwise introducing marijuana products into the human body for personal use.
(12) “Marijuana products” means marijuana or goods containing marijuana.
(13) “Personal use” means the possession, purchase, or use of marijuana products or marijuana accessories by an adult 21 years of age or older for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise. An adult need not be a qualifying patient in order to purchase marijuana products or marijuana accessories for personal use from a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center. An individual’s possession of marijuana for personal use shall not exceed 3.0 ounces of marijuana except that not more than five grams of marijuana may be in the form of concentrate.

The legislature may provide for the licensure of entities that are not Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to acquire, cultivate, possess, process, transfer, transport, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories for personal use by adults.

Note that it permits recreational marijuana, but only people who are licensed can grow or sell it. No personal growing for personal use. This is designed to permit the marijuana companies to make money, while doing little to nothing to prevent police abuses of power. In my opinion, this amendment is the typical “get out the vote” stuff that the left always puts on the ballot during a presidential election year. This one is designed to get the young potheads out to vote. This one is going to be a no from me.

Amendment 4

No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.

Amendment 4 ballot language

Again, the actual text is pretty vague. Note that the actual text of the Amendment is shorter than its ballot description, and I believe it is intentional to permit a loophole large enough to drive a truck full of purple haired non binary oddballs through:

Limiting government interference with abortion.— Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.

Did you know that mental health, including anxiety, would likely be enough to permit abortions even after viability? That’s how it looks to me as I read this. I don’t like the way that this is written, and while I lean one way, I don’t have strong opinions on abortions. Still, it’s too vague and I hate that. In my opinion, this amendment is another of the typical “get out the vote” stuff that the left always puts on the ballot during a presidential election year. This one is designed to get their base out to vote. This one is going to be a no from me.

The hurricane has slowed my research. I will do the other two proposed amendments later.

By Divemedic, ago

Recovery Phase

Our highest wind gust last night was 78 mph. We had several hours of 40-50 mph wind. We wound up getting 4 inches of rain in total. There were a couple of instances where I heard something hit the house.

At first light, I went out and surveyed the damage. We had no damage to our house, but a neighbor had a couple of trees topple. I helped him do some chainsaw work. Another lost his roof. All in all, it was relatively painless. Once the breezes calm a bit, I will get the drone up to look at the area.

I set up the propane stove on the back porch, and we are cooking breakfast. Once the clouds are gone, we will go back to cooking on electric. I am just trying to limit electric loads while we are on battery.

We have plenty of food, water, and supplies.

By Divemedic, ago

Bright Flash

Update- The winds are now running about 45 mph. A weather station nearby just reported a gust of 120 mph, far more than we were supposed to get in this area. There was a momentary glitch in the power about an hour ago, which caused me to lose Internet connectivity as the modem reset. About 5 minutes after that, there was a bright flash outside and the power went out again, but didn’t come back on.

The power is out throughout the area, all is dark. We are now running on our fully charged Powerwalls. We have enough battery power for more than 24 hours at current consumption- I have turned off the upstairs air conditioner, the water heater, and all other large loads with the exception of the downstairs air conditioner.

I am sitting here watching the back door bow under the pressure of the wind. I’m sure that I won’t sleep well tonight.

By Divemedic, ago

Update

The local press is saying that Milton will make landfall right about in Venice, which is south of Tampa. I don’t know about that. I am no weather expert, but I can look at a map. The NHC says the hurricane as of noon is at 26.0N, 84.2W and moving at 17 mph at a heading of 035deg. This website draws me a map where you can put in starting coordinates, heading, and speed, and this is what it shows for 10 hours worth of movement:

In order to come ashore at Venice, it needs to take a pretty hard turn, and the longer it waits, the harder the turn will be needed.

By Divemedic, ago

Florida Knows Hurricanes

Floridians are the hurricane experts, even if those in South Carolina would disagree. When we went to Hurricane Katrina, the overwhelming response was “The experts from Florida are here, hurray.” The police in Alabama and Mississippi were still “commandeering” our truckloads of supplies as they travelled down the highway, to the point that we had to have armed escorts for them.

Even so, our state is constantly looking for better ways to respond and handle hurricane responses. A few years ago, Florida tried a plan called “contraflow” for evacuation routes. This plan was that both sides of a highway would be used for evacuating the danger zones along the coast, thus doubling the number of lanes available for evacuation. It turns out that this plan didn’t work as well as hoped, so the state is trying out a new plan called “ESU,” or Emergency Shoulder Use.

ESU is a plan where any vehicle that isn’t a tractor-trailer can use the road shoulders, sometimes called “emergency lanes” as an extra lane of travel. This makes two extra lanes available for traffic.

This enables two lanes to become four.

When loads of supplies are travelling and using these lanes to get through traffic, they are escorted by highway patrolmen. This is especially true for fuel deliveries to the fuel stops along Florida’s main emergency routes: the service plazas on Florida’s Ronald Reagan Turnpike, along with selected fuel stops on I-75 and I-95, the main routes for the west and east coasts, respectively.

So when you see police escorting trucks of fuel and supplies, it isn’t due to crime or hijacking of trucks, it is merely to help them get through the logjammed traffic.

Hope this makes things a bit more clear.

By Divemedic, ago

Preparations for Hurricane

I am under a hurricane warning, with winds of up to 110 miles per hour and nearly a foot of rain being expected in my area. We are now less than 24 hours to the expected arrival of tropical storm force winds. As soon as winds are above 45 miles per hour, emergency services stops responding and we are on our own until the storm has passed. So let’s review my hurricane checklist:

Records

Downloaded all vital records to my NAS. If for some reason your possessions are destroyed, the one thing that is most difficult to replace is data. Make sure that there are scans and backup copies of personal data: your driver’s license, professional licenses, birth certificates, bank information, etc. Then create a HYST file and download the contents of that HYST file to several thumb drives. One goes in the safe, one in the BOV.

Energy

Solar and Powerwalls take care of most of that. Powerwalls are charged to 100% automatically when bad weather approaches. I also charged up all of my rechargeable flashlights, lanterns, and other battery operated stuff. I also have 5 full Bar B Cue bombs that are full and ready for cooking on a portable propane stove. I also have propane lanterns and a grill.

Security

Let’s just say that we are OK there on weapons and leave it at that. I also picked up all of the outside stuff that can blow around, and secured them in the garage. Tested all communications, and updated the comms plan for the radio in the BOV. It’s a Yaesu 400XDR and is programmed with your frequencies by inserting a micro SD card. Done.

Shelter

The house, of course. For backup, we have a tent, and our closest BOL is the in-laws’ house an hour away.

Food and Water

We have an ample supply of both. We even have a good supply of Hurricane snacks, as is traditional in Florida.

Medical

We have our medical supplies laid in. That includes emergency medications, prescription medications, and plenty of first aid supplies.

Recon

Lastly, I did a drone flight around the area and got plenty of pictures for use later to survey damage.

So now I relax for a bit and get some rest for what promises to be a long day tomorrow.

By Divemedic, ago