Government

What You Do Instead of Something

The government added sesame to its list of allergens as a the FASTER Act, which goes into effect on Jan. 1. This regulation triggers all sorts of complicated tests and requirements for consumer notification in order to prove that the food product you are selling don’t contain the allergen, in this case, sesame. The plants where your foods are handled and processed must be inspected, cleaned, and maintained in such a way as to ensure that there is no way that sesame could contaminate the foods handled there. It’s a costly process.

The costs of testing, certification, and other compliance costs were so high that some restaurants discovered that it was cheaper to simply add sesame to their food and then put a waring label on it, declaring that the food contains sesame. By adding sesame to products that didn’t previously contain it, companies may be able to skirt manufacturing processes that would ensure production facilities are clean enough to avoid cross-contact with the allergen.

So that is exactly what they did. Chick-Fil-A, Olive Garden, and other restaurants have added sesame to their products so that they can avoid the added expenses incurred in not having sesame in their food products, while still complying with the FASTER act. These establishments are now fully in compliance with the new law.

According to Jason Linde, the senior vice president of government and community affairs for FARE, a nonprofit working to increase food allergy awareness, the nonprofit is disappointed that companies seem to be defeating the purpose of the FASTER Act, potentially putting millions of people’s lives at risk.

The same is true of assault weapons bans. What the left says is an “assault weapon” is a semi-automatic rifle with certain cosmetic features (pistol grip, barrel shroud, collapsible stock, etc.) that don’t change its function. So when the last AWB went into effect, people complied with the law by using bullet buttons, fixed stocks, thumbhole stocks, eliminating bayonet lugs, etc. The left then accused them of “exploiting loopholes” when what they were really doing was complying with the law.

This is what happens when you demand that the government do something. They do something without regard for the unintended consequences of what it was that they did, then you wind up with sesame seed breadsticks or sesame flour on your chicken nuggets.

By Divemedic, ago

They Are All A Grift

As of Sunday, you won’t need a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Alabama and Georgia. That’s right- those two states have gone to Constitutional Carry. The cops are opposed to this, and many times they claim that they are opposed to it because it makes it more difficult to fight crime. However, in at least one case, the cops have let slip that the real reason for the opposition is that CWP fees are a major source of funding.

“And those fees that are generated by the permit go directly to law enforcement purpose only…For instance, here at the sheriff’s office in Lee County, we use that for training and education primarily,” Sheriff Jones adds.

With gun permit requirements out the window, Sheriff Jones says they’ve already seen a 30 to 40% decrease in revenue. While it has not put a dent in their budget, he says sheriffs in smaller counties throughout Alabama have expressed concerns about how they’re going to make up for the loss.

It’s all a grift. I ask you this- why do you need a driver’s license? You say that it’s to make sure that each driver knows how to drive? Yeah? So why does it expire? What’s that you say? So they can make sure that you aren’t blind or otherwise have a disability that prevents them from being safe behind the wheel? So how can you make sure of that when a driver renews by mail? My guess is that collecting the fees is the real purpose there.

A Florida driver’s license costs $48 and is good for 8 years. So, $6 a year times the 18 million licensed Florida drivers equals $108 million.

A Florida concealed weapons permit costs $45 and is good for 7 years, or just about $6.50 a year. Multiply that by the 2.6 million Florida permit holders, and you see that the state gets another $17 million a year.

Permits are all a grift.

By Divemedic, ago

Puerto Rico Statehood

This issue comes up every decade or so, and here it is again. The Democrats passed a referendum to allow Puerto Ricans to select whether they want to be a state or be cut loose. It seems like the Democrats do this every few years to pander to the Hispanic vote, even though they know that there is no chance this will pass the Senate.

Puerto Rico is a socialist disaster of a state, and if we are being honest, the entire island more closely represents a third world shithole than it does the US. I’m talking politically and visually. The tax rates are high, with a corporate rate of 37.5%, a personal income tax at 33%, and 11.5% sales taxes. On top of all of that, residents also pay US Social Security taxes, but not Federal Income taxes. In exchange, the US pays about $40 billion a year to Puerto Rico. In all, the government of Puerto Rico takes in about $12 billion in taxes, plus the $40 billion in US Federal money for a population of about 3.6 million, or about $14,400 per capita.

There was a time when President Trump speculated on trading Puerto Rico for Greenland because the island is dirty and filled with poor people. Honestly, I don’t know of any country that would take that deal.

I would like to see the place get cut loose. I just don’t see the benefit that the island gives the US.

By Divemedic, ago

Not New

A parent is claiming that a new law (trying to be sneaky and make it seem new) is preventing her from teaching students about holidays by preventing her from talking about Hanukkah because supposedly a new law says that teachers can’t talk about Hanukkah, Christmas, or even that made up stupid one, Kwanzaa*.

No, this isn’t a new rule. You can’t espouse religion in school, but nothing prevents you from explaining that different people celebrate different holidays. The problem here is that a parent wanted to come in and talk about her religion. It’s always been a delicate balance, and I can understand a school not wanting parents on the warpath because someone is engaged in what is a political minefield.

*Kwanzaa was made up in 1966 by a black American asshole after the Watts riots as a black people’s holiday. It is also celebrated in Great Britain, Jamaica, France, Canada, and Brazil. Note that not one African country celebrates it. Why not? Because it isn’t a real fucking holiday. The stated goal was to give black people an alternative to Christmas (which the inventor of Kwanzaa called a “religion for white people”) so they could celebrate black culture, rather than simply assimilate into American culture. Anytime a black man is successful, he is called names like “Oreo” and made fun of for “acting white,” which is why so few blacks do well. As an aside, the asshole who invented it was a convicted felon. He held women against their will as his slaves and tortured them.

Reading this, now you know why I didn’t like being a teacher. It’s all bullshit.

By Divemedic, ago

Trades

For months, we have been seeing stories about Britney Griner, the Woman’s Basketball player who protested the US, taking a knee and complaining about the US and its supposed unfairness to women. She get caught smuggling weed into Russia and was sentenced to prison. The penal colony she was sent to was supposedly inhumane torture.

Contrast that with the treatment being received by Pete Schwartz, who was convicted of four counts of felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers using a dangerous weapon; interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding, and related charges. for his supposed participation in the J6 riots, even though he claims he never entered the Capitol or even had pepper spray on him on January 6. Even if the allegations are true, the trial was a farce. He was tried alongside three other defendants and was denied a separate trial. Since when does that happen in a case where the defendant faces up to 40 years in prison? (I love how police claim he stole “a wooden tire thumper” and used it on other cops. Let’s call it what it is- a club for beating people. )

Contrast that with Griner. She was released from prison today in a deal that saw President Biden free a Russian Arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years for terrorism charges in connection with selling handheld SAMs to FARC. Meanwhile, a US Marine convicted of espionage remains in Russia, rotting in jail for the next 16 years. You and I both know that this smells like a “if you get caught, we will disavow you” op from the CIA.

You can bet your ass that Griner will still run her mouth about how unfair the US is, even though she has both seen how other countries do business and had the US free a terrorist to get her out.

This country now has one of the most evil governments on the planet. Perhaps that’s been the case for decades, and now they just aren’t bothering to hide it any longer.

By Divemedic, ago

Professional Negligence

Imagine that a man’s truck with half a dozen guns inside of it is stolen. The man uses the “Find My Phone” app to locate his phone, which is presumably still in the stolen truck. The app tells him that his phone is somewhere within a 4 block radius of a location, so he drove around the area in a rented car and somehow came to the conclusion that his phone, and presumably his stolen guns and truck, were located in a woman’s garage.

The cop assigned to the case somehow bought into this hunch, secured a warrant, and performed a SWAT raid of the house. The resident of the house, a 77 year old woman, opened her door to an armed and armored SWAT team who handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a patrol car, leaving her in there for hours without food, water, or her medication. The search, which lasted for several hours, didn’t turn up a truck, a cell phone, or any guns. In fact, there was no evidence of any criminal activity found there at all. The entire incident happened in Denver.

The woman has filed a lawsuit against the police (pdf alert), as she rightly should have. A search warrant is only supposed to be issued on “probable cause” that evidence of a crime is located on the property to be searched. The circle drawn by “find my phone” is an approximate location based upon the cell tower that the phone is connected to. In this case, the circle was four blocks wide and covered six different properties. That isn’t an indication that HER house was the one where the phone was. It isn’t even an indication that the phone is located within that circle.

The lawsuit alleges that the detective failed to disclose his inexperience using the “Find My” app, failed to explain how the ‘Find My’ app works, identify what technology it uses to produce its results, or establish that the app was working correctly. Going only on a screenshot from the “Find My” app that pointed to Johnson’s home, the search warrant was approved.

The police damaged the woman’s home by breaking her garage door and climbing atop her new dining room chairs to break holes into her ceiling, they also damaged irreplaceable collectables in the home. The detective then told the elderly woman on the day of the raid that the Denver police would pay nothing to cover any of these damages.

People need to have a belief that the police are not just another criminal street gang. The more I interact with and see how police work, the more I come to believe that we would be better without them. I have only called them a few times, and each time they did nothing more than write a report. It was a waste of time.

I have said before: the police need to clean up their ranks. I don’t think you can, because I believe that the bad cops far outnumber the good ones. The police have become just another group of criminals who prey on the people in this nation who actually produce wealth. They are a street gang with badges and qualified immunity.

By Divemedic, ago

It Gets Worse

On the Brevard county deputy ND homicide. He pointed the gun at the other deputy and pulled the trigger. When it didn’t go bang, he racked the slide and did it again. The second time he pulled the trigger, the pistol functioned as designed.

One thing that makes it worse is what the Sheriff got from the entire event:

he still believed the firearm was unloaded but should have known the magazine containing ammunition was possibly in the firearm by the weight of the gun,

Just like the Baldwin shooting, the shooter in this case deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I would also suggest that the entire Sheriff’s department be forced to undergo a 4 hour firearm safety refresher course. This incident is a sure sign that training is lacking and attention to firearm safety is not being taken seriously.

By Divemedic, ago

Only Ones

Another case proving how police officers are more trained than us in the handling of weapons. One Brevard county deputy shot and killed another, his roommate, when he pointed his pistol at him and pulled the trigger. He claimed that he thought it was “unloaded.” Fucking dumbass. What the fuck passes for police firearm training in Brevard county? Apparently, they haven’t heard of the four rules.

  1. Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
  2. Don’t point a gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy
  3. Don’t put your finger on the trigger until ready to shoot.
  4. Know what your target is, and what is behind it.

You can get away with violating one, maybe even two. Unintentionally shooting someone requires that you violate at least three of them at the same time. This is no different than the Baldwin shooting.

I have had a negligent discharge. Two, in fact.

One of them was when I was dry firing a handgun. I had done it for a bit, then loaded it. In a moment of stupidity, I again pulled the trigger and shot my dresser. I was 19 years old at the time.

The second came while I was at the range. I pulled the trigger on a Smith and Wesson 4506, and nothing happened. The hammer never even fell. Keeping the firearm (mostly) pointed down range, I looked at it as I pulled the trigger again. This time, it fired and blew a hole in the ceiling of the pistol range. I was 21 at the time.

Note that, even though there was a negligent discharge, no one was hurt. Why? Because I am not a complete dumbass and wasn’t pointing it at another person. That was a long time ago, when Reagan was still President. I learned my lessons.

The worst part of all of this is that we gun owners will see this “gun death” used as an example on why gun rights should be taken from us while we hear about how cops should be the only ones trusted to have guns.

By Divemedic, ago