Government

Just the Tip

Read this guy’s perspective on rights:

Ludwig believes that all rights come from government. That’s patently ridiculous. If I were alone on an island, I would have the right to speech. I could keep and bear arms. The only way that I can lose those rights is if someone takes them from me.

That’s why government morally exists- to keep others from taking your rights. This is why we have a Constitution that lays out the powers of government- what that government CAN do, and what it CAN NEVER do.

Not so in Mr. Ludwig’s world. He believes that, unless there is a government present that tells me I may speak, I simply don’t have the right to do so. That’s fundamentally out of line with the ideas of the Founders of this Nation, whose thoughts on this were based upon the philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.

This is where the left gets the idea that food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare are human rights. They are not, and they never have been. If I have a human right to any of those things, it follows that I can force someone to provide it to me.

Enter a law forcing someone to pick my cotton, my oranges, build my houses, and perform free healthcare services. Even enacting price controls is a form of slavery, and to claim otherwise is exactly the same thing as saying “if I only put the tip in, it isn’t rape.”

The saddest part of this, is that Mr. Ludwig is an attorney. His college failed him when they failed to teach the basics of the Constitution and its underlying philosophy.

By Divemedic, ago

In Case You Missed It

Justice Jackson, in a recent dissent, complained that SCOTUS is favoring only rich litigants. That’s especially ironic, considering that she has received $3 million for writing her autobiography. Does anyone really think that the publisher will sell enough copies to pay that? Of course not, this is how payoffs are done:

An investor wants to pay off a high-ranking political figure. They make a deal that, on its face, looks like a legitimate business deal. That’s how the Cattle Futures market worked for the Clintons, it’s how the paintings for Hunter Biden sold for so much, it’s how Chelsea Clinton was being paid $300,000 a year by NBC while she was still in college, and how she had a net worth of $30 million before she was 40 years old.

Both parties are corrupt. They are stealing us blind.

By Divemedic, ago

The Feds and Terrorism

I just finished reading the book Blowback: The Untold Story of the FBI and the Oklahoma City Bombing. The book is filled with documented links between the FBI, the CIA, Secret Service, and the ATF. The entire story of the OKC bombing is filled with witnesses who committed suicide in front of malfunctioning video cameras, witnesses disappearing so completely that their SSN was deleted, missing documents, and other odd “coincidences” that it seems almost incredible.

There is missing video, supposedly hidden because it is classified, of multiple people exiting the Ryder truck just before the bomb went off. Body parts that don’t match any DNA of any known victim. Mystery fingerprints that couldn’t be matched to any known suspect. A second Ryder truck. FBI agents seen trying to use radio direction finders in the OKC area in the lead up to the explosion- the author alleges that they had a tracking device on the truck, but couldn’t locate it.

The names that are part of the investigation come up again and again- Larry Potts, Merrick Garland, and other familiar names. At least 6 witnesses either disappeared or were killed. There were explosives experts in town on mysterious orders, including Air Force EOD, but the logbooks are unexpectedly missing. At least one alleged CIA operative fled to Germany. It’s hinted in the book that the Southern Poverty Law center is an FBI front operation for hiding the sources of illegally obtained evidence and intelligence.

After reading it, I am firmly convinced that McVeigh was up to his ears in this bombing. However, I also think that there were numerous other players, and some of those players were government assets. If even half of this book is true, the OKC bombing is proof that the Federal Intelligence community has been pulling the strings of all sorts of lone wolf attacks.

As I read the book, I thought about the mysterious ties to the Vegas shooting, COVID, Antifa, the 2020 election, and the Epstein “suicide.” It’s enough to make you question everything and begin to feel paranoid.

The book could stand to be better organized, and you almost need to take notes in order to follow all of the details, and this makes it a long, difficult read. There are enough ties and names that are named that it is difficult to follow and connect the dots. Even with that, this is a story that would read like a cheap novel with an implausible plot if it weren’t for the events that have happened since 2019, and I still recommend reading this book.

The disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I don’t think that I ever will. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

NY and GOA: A Larger Issue?

There is a case in NY that is important, where the U.S. Northern District Court ruled in Higbie v. James that New York’s concealed carry laws are violating the Second Amendment rights of nonresidents by making it nearly impossible for nonresidents to obtain a concealed carry license. It was sponsored by Gun Owners of America.

The plaintiffs in this case argued that they each have firearms licenses which permit them to bear arms in public in their respective states “and across most of the country.” They also claimed that New York does not permit them to carry their firearms while they are in New York solely because they are not residents or employees of the State. They argued that New York’s licensing scheme is an extreme outlier among the states because at least 27 states do not even require a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public, while the vast majority that do require permits will issue permits to out-of-state residents. The US District Court agreed, and struck down NY’s complicated and overly onerous regulations as being unconstitutionally designed to deny nonresidents their constitutional rights under the Second Amendment. The court ruled that state lawmakers can not restrict concealed carry licenses to maintaining residency, property ownership, or business interests in the state.

The tyrants of NY government attempted to make the argument that their licensing measures were not entirely prohibitive for non-residential applicants, saying certain guidelines allowed for those who owned habitable property or a business stake in the state to apply for such a license. In essence, they claimed that, because they allowed one nonresident to have a permit, this excused violating the rights of the rest of them. In essence, they are relying on the “token negro” defense. The court rightly called them out on this. 

Look, this case will have no direct impact upon the reality of CCW for nonresidents in New York. We all know that, because those ass clowns will simply find another way to violate the rights of US citizens while bleating loudly about the rights of illegal immigrants to take a dump on New York city streets. Even those residents who have permits nominally have to have criminal background checks, a mental health professional sign off on the permit, and multiple references.

The reality is that New York’s scheme is all about who you know and political payoffs when deciding who gets a permit. I know someone who has a New York carry permit. He also has a state police license plate, which starts with 1SP. He began telling me that the state police union had a series of special plates made, and they are only available through Hamilton county in New York. He claimed that this plate was given to “friends” of the police union, and the lower the number was that followed the 1SP, the more important you were to the cops. He said that this plate routinely gets him out of traffic and parking tickets. Not because he paid for it, nor did he jump through hoops. It’s because he knows someone, or as he puts it, “I’ve got a guy.”

This sounded like a lload of BS to me, so I activated my Google skills. What I found was that handing out special plate numbers is a common practice in New York. and I quote:

To some recipients, special license plates issued by the Saratoga County clerk are a symbol of county pride. For others, they are an inherited treasure passed on by a family member or loved one.
For many who have them — a list that ranges from county workers to state Supreme Court judges — an unwritten rule is that a lower number may indicate a special driver.
Indeed, an examination of the recipients of the special plates, which carry an “SP” prefix, shows they are coveted by a select group of government employees and elected officials, including judges, prosecutors, town supervisors, attorneys and political party leaders. The spouses and children of those people are also among those, estimated to be in the hundreds, who have the plates.

Now the SP prefix goes to Saratoga County. The 1SP prefix, which I can find little about, belongs to the State Police. This is how things are done there, from Concealed Weapons Permits to License plates, corruption and special favors rule the day.

They claim it is for “county pride” but I am sure there are not that many people who believe that. This is a way of announcing to the police that you are politically well connected and should receive special treatment.

The real impact of the Higbie case is that the noose is closing. The era of violating people’s rights to bear arms is closing through the courts. That doesn’t mean the fight os over. Evil, corruption, and man’s quest for power to rule others never ceases. That’s why the fight can’t either.

Donate to the GOA or the FPC. They are doing the work of patriots.

By Divemedic, ago

Warrants

The left is running around saying that it is illegal for ICE to arrest people unless they have a warrant. The idiots are injecting themselves into the situation by confronting police and demanding to “see the warrant.”

  • The leftist isn’t involved in the case. Random people can’t walk up to police and demand to see anything. The cops are under no compulsion to show you a warrant, nor to explain themselves to randos on the street.
  • The cops don’t have to be in physical possession of the court order or warrant in order to make an arrest. All they need is to know that the warrant or order exists. That’s why they call in the identification of people they are in contact with. If they call in your ID and are told there is an arrest warrant, it isn’t a “get out of jail free” card if they don’t have the physical warrant.

Stop being morons.

By Divemedic, ago

Karens

This woman is upset that the FHP arrested an illegal who was driving with no license, no insurance, and unregistered tags. She feels that the cops should have just given him a ticket and let him go.

I saw this situation many times, back when I was a fire paramedic. This is what they do- The scam here is that an illegal buys a van with a valid plate from someone who is legal. They leave the tags on the vehicle, because they can’t get new tags or insurance without a valid license. They use the vehicle until it either gets impounded or in an accident. The driver they hit is left holding the bag, unless they have uninsured motorist coverage.

When they get in an accident, they give the fake name. They get a ticket for canceled tags, for the accident, for no insurance and for no driver’s license. The tickets require a court appearance. They don’t show up for the hearing, and an arrest warrant is issued, but they already have a new identity and vehicle. They are never seen again.

I know, because I saw plenty of people fall victim to that scam. It also happened to me once: July 4, 2002. I was rear ended by an illegal, he had no insurance, and he never showed up to court. The new bumper for my truck cost me $1000 that I had to pay myself. That’s why I still carry uninsured motorist coverage to this day.

She is literally defending a criminal.

By Divemedic, ago

In The Finest Tradition

Cop takes cover behind a woman. I applaud shooting the robber, but any man (especially a cop) who takes cover behind women and children is a pussy.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to say this. Remember the time cops in South Florida hid behind cars filled with soccer moms?

EDIT: Comments here have crossed the line and are generating more heat than light. With that, comments on this post are now closed.

By Divemedic, ago

Another Trillion

It didn’t make major news, but it should have. The US government borrowed another $724 billion last week when it sold large amounts of government paper. The odd thing is that the Treasury and the Fed appear to be coordinating their efforts in transitioning US debt from long term bonds into shorter term T bills.

This means that the national debt has grown to $37 trillion. Six years ago, we were at $23 trillion. We hit $36 trillion in late November of last year, meaning that this last trillion in debt was borrowed in just 9 months. We are doubling the debt every 8 to 9 years, and have been for decades– since Nixon took us away from the gold standard.

Of course, this sort of thing can’t go on forever, and whatever can’t go on forever has an end. When is the end coming? In 1891 Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a short story called “The Bottle Imp” that reminds me of this.

The story is about a working class native of Hawaii who buys a strange bottle from a sad, elderly gentleman who credits the bottle with his wealth and fortune, and promises the imp in the bottle will also grant the man his every wish and desire.

Of course, there is a catch, as there usually is in these stories — the bottle must be sold at a loss, i.e. for less than its owner originally paid, or else it will simply return to him. The currency used in the transaction must also be in coin (not paper currency or check). The bottle may not be thrown or given away. If an owner of the bottle dies without having sold it in the prescribed manner, that person’s soul will burn for eternity in Hell.

The bottle was said to have been brought to Earth by the Devil and first purchased by Prester John for millions of dollars; it was owned by Napoleon and Captain James Cook but each sold it. At the time of the story the price has diminished to eighty dollars, and declines rapidly over the course of the story to a few pennies.

The problem here is that as the price approaches a penny, it will become harder and harder to sell the bottle, as the buyer will be in fear of being left holding the bag.

This tale reminds me of our current national debt. As our debt increases, the interest payments will balloon. They can only get so large before default is inevitable. At that point, anyone in possession of a US bond will be stuck with worthless paper. Because of this, the returns for these bonds will have to increase, so as to entice people in taking the risk of buying them, which will make the interest payments higher, thus making the end that much closer.

By Divemedic, ago

School

The headline reads “Florida school tackles chronic absenteeism with unconventional model — and it’s working,” but that’s a lie. This is a carefully written story that not only ignores the facts, it downright fabricates them.

First, let’s look at the most obvious lie- that the school is working. The school’s graduation rate is 9 percent, less than one in ten. Even with their “largest graduating class yet” they are graduating less than half of the students who are currently still there. The student body here is about 314 students, with more than 200 of them being 12th graders. Who cares if you graduate from a program like this? We have public schools who are graduating students that are literally illiterate. I once had a student in the 10th grade who wrote assignments like this one.

More than a third of Florida’s students are chronically absent. This school is intended for students who won’t go to school. That’s a real problem, especially when you remove the kids who at the top of the class- the college prep kids, the ones who are dual enrolled, the honor students. I don’t understand how this school makes a difference, since when the kids DO come to this school, they are only there for half a day. This is nothing more than a daycare center that awards a diploma for merely being present. The students can’t even meet that absurdly low standard.

Making things worse, students and parents actively try to get the teachers who DO hold kids to a standard fired.

One other thing that this article flat out misrepresents- 85% of the student body of this school is not white, yet the interviewed the white girl. I’m guessing it was to conceal the fact that it is a nearly homogenous school.

This entire school is a waste of money, and only perpetuates the cycle of poverty and lack of education. I have a more cost effective solution:

For students under the age of 15:

  • If a student misses more than 5 school days in a quarter, then the parents will be subject to a monetary fine of up to $250, unless they can produce a doctor’s note outlining an illness that prevents the child from coming to school.
  • If a student misses more than 10 school days in a semester, then that fine increases to a maximum of $1,000. If the 10 day absence is due to an illness of the child, then there will be a hearing where a panel will review the doctor’s explanation of the illness. Also: If the ruling is that the child’s absence is unexcused by illness, the parent doesn’t get any public assistance- no welfare, no food stamps, nothing. Get your kids to school, or we aren’t going to pay you to raise more little drains on society.
  • If a student misses more than 30 days in an entire school year, then the parent can be sentenced to up to 30 days in jail and additional fines. Additionally, the parent is not eligible for any public assistance for 3 years.

For students over the age of 15:

  • If a student is tardy to school more than 5 times in a semester, then the student loses campus parking privileges. Take the bus.
  • If a student skips or otherwise misses 15 hours of any single class in a single school year, they will automatically fail the course and their parents would be subject to a fine of not more than $500. The student’s driver’s license is suspended for not less than 6 months.
  • If a student misses more than 5 school days in a quarter, then the parents will be subject to a monetary fine of up to $250, unless they can produce a doctor’s note outlining an illness that prevents the child from coming to school.
  • If a student misses more than 10 days in a school semester, they will be subject to a hearing that will determine whether or not they are defacto dropouts. If they are ruled to be dropouts, the student will be removed from taxpayer funded school and will not be able to re-enroll in school at taxpayer expense. Wanna skip school and waste money? Do it on your own dime.
  • Dropouts are not eligible for any public assistance for at least 3 years, or until 21 years of age, whatever comes first. You already had public assistance in the form of a free education, and you aren’t going to use your failure as a means of getting money to be an even bigger waste of time than you already are. Stop being a loser. We are deporting tons of illegal immigrants, and someone has to harvest the crops- you can go pick lettuce or something.

Harsh? It’s no harsher than what the government will do to me if I refuse to pay all of the taxes that are the source of this wasted money. It’s time we stop wasting all of this money.

By Divemedic, ago