Government

No savings

This editorial talks about the costs of a miles driven tax versus a fuel tax. If I have learned anything about taxes and government in my time on Earth, it is this: A miles driven tax will not be *instead* of a fuel tax, it will be *in addition* to a fuel tax.

So using the writer’s numbers, a truck driver will go from paying $1,582 a year to $2,685a year, a cost that will be passed on in other ways.

Likewise, your average car owner will see their tax burden go from $306 to $1,359.

Like Reagan said: tax and spend.

By Divemedic, ago

We aren’t the violent ones

The Department of Homeland Security says if you don’t agree with the government’s response to COVID, you are a Domestic Violent Extremist.

I disagree. Those of us who disagree with the government and its response to COVID haven’t even BEGUN to get violent, yet. So far, the only violence has been on the part of the government, BLM, Antifa, and other left wing groups. Yes, you read that right- the government itself is a left wing group.

If even one in a thousand of the United States’ one hundred million or more gun owners decide to get their violence on, that would be somewhere around 100,000 armed, pissed off people to deal with. The people who look like everyone else, and can blend into their surroundings fairly easily. Many of these shooters are extraordinary marksmen, capable of shooting a paper plate from 200 or more yards away.

Keep in mind that the Taliban managed to occupy a significant fraction of the US military for two decades before the US became disinterested and finally got their asses handed to them. That is with a military whose supply lines, home bases, and manufacturing base was 10,000 miles away, safe from goatherders without the means to bring that violence to the home front.

Don’t tell me how easy it would be to find and destroy such a force. The US government can’t even control weapons and other contraband in its Federal Prisons, much less inside of an entire nation. For them to try would likely increase the numbers of pissed off resistance members 100 fold.

By Divemedic, ago

F*ck Maxine Waters

Why? Let me quote her:

“Yes, the small landlords are at a disadvantage, but guess what, they know how to go to the bank, they know how to get a loan”

Maxine Waters, on the eviction moratorium impact on small business

The Democrats claim to be for the little guy, but that is bullshit. They care about their rich friends, and that’s it.

By Divemedic, ago

Surveillance State

In another example of Mussolini fascism, private companies are surveilling private citizens and passing that information on to the government. Case in point, a company named Flock safety (as in sheep?) installed approximately 100 hidden cameras around Lake county, Florida, with the approval of the sheriff.

We have installed 1000s of cameras around the country, including all over Florida, and our team moves very quickly. 

statement from Flock Safety

The company places an emphasis on capturing license plate numbers and vehicle details.

From flocksafety.com

This surveillance state crap sickens me. Mask, spray paint, intrusive camera.

IANAL, but it seems to me that since this isn’t government property…

By Divemedic, ago

Gangs funded by govt

An investigation by the state of Florida AG has found that street gangs fraudulently obtained funding from the Paycheck Protection Program and other COVID relief to buy drugs and guns.

At least six people created limited liability companies, or LLCs, solicited people through social media and in some cases stole identities to apply for PPP and SBA loans, then using the funds obtained to fund criminal enterprises. This included guns and drugs picked up from a marijuana farm in California and flown back to Orlando.

By Divemedic, ago

Cause, effect

One of the many jobs I have had was at a plant that made stainless steel pipe and tube. The process was that we would buy large rolls of stainless steel, slit them to the proper sizes, then cold roll those into pipe. The edges of the roll would be welded together, then the now completed pipe was induction annealed so it would hold its shape.

We had a woman there who was in charge of QA. It was her job to test each batch of pipe to ensure that the pipe was properly manufactured. Once, the woman decertified an entire batch of pipe because the welds were faulty and had microscopic cracks in them. That batch had to go out the next day so we could meet the customer’s deadline. It was a couple of dozen tons of pipe.

Management fixed the problem by firing the QA department and shipping the pipe. Of course, the entire batch of pipe came back when the welds began to fail. Due to bad management, the company went out of business less than a year later.

I am telling you this story because there is a lesson there. One that will easily apply to the situation in this country with regards to our education. The Oregon governor recently decided that too many black students were failing tests in reading and math proficiency. To her, the obvious problem lies in the test, so the test was eliminated.

By Divemedic, ago

Shut up, peasant

As you read this article, I want you to realize that anyone who votes for Democrats because they support the poor while the Republicans are evil rich guys is an idiot.

As I read it, it struck me that Kings of Imperial Europe didn’t have a life like Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of our nation’s elite.

Wear your mask and stay away from crowds, peasant.

By Divemedic, ago