Gun Free Zone

I, on the other hand, am totally fine with banning TikTok.

I understand the free speech argument against it, and that why I’m in favor of the ban.

TikTok is not a free marketplace of ideas.

We know that the Chinese government curates the feed. They do it in China and they do it here.

It’s deliberate to manipulate people.

TikTok promoted the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel users and limited pro-Israel users.

China is invested in building a relationship with Iran.

We know pro-transgender children users are promoted in the US and banned in China.

China uses TikTok as a weapon against the US by manipulating what we see.

We should absolutely ban TikTok to reduce China’s influence on American pop culture.

And if that sets precedent in the US, wherein any social media that is manipulates instead of being a free marketplace of ideas is squashed, I’m for it.

The ChiComs and billionaire tech-bros shouldn’t have the power to cureate what we see to manipulate us.

Some of you may have heard that the House voted to ban TikTok. It now goes to the Senate, and if it passes there, to the President.

I will admit, I don’t understand some of the finer points involved in this fracas. As someone who stepped into the World Wide Web as an adult, I knew that this particular form of media would save everything. If I put it onto the web, into an email, on a video, then it would be saved forever. I instilled this knowledge in my children, though I have been somewhat less successful in making them understand it. For them, there has ALWAYS been an World Wide Web. Regardless, I know that if it’s online, then people have access to it. That’s why I don’t store credit card info or personal information online. So how is TikTok any different than other social media?

After talking with people who are more “in the know” than myself, I believe that the only real difference is that it’s China holding onto the information. It was pointed out to me that if anyone with a security clearance has TikTok, then it’s possible for the Chinese to put two and two together to make classified documents. That seems like a fairly reasonable reason to keep TikTok out of government and military offices… but then again, I can’t think of a reason why a General or a military scientist would be indulging in TikTok on base anyhow. Still, that doesn’t mean the general public should have their toy taken away.

The information that TikTok contains in its gizzards is available from many places. While it may not be as easy to pull the pieces together, it’s still all there. If it’s online at all, then everyone has at least potential access to it. This is why I don’t have a problem using Temu. I know that the information being gathered by Temu is much the same as the information being gathered by Amazon and other places. If China really wants to sift through 170 million users’ worth of information, mining for a gold nugget, then let them. Maybe it’ll keep them too busy to do other obnoxious things.

More important than all of the above, though, is the knowledge that if TikTok is axed, then other social media platforms won’t be long in joining them. Whether it’s Truth Social, or X, or Facebook, someone will get their panties in a knot and court will happen, and the TikTok ban will be used as precedent. This is 100% a case of those unintended consequences we often talk about. Republicans need to NOT shoot themselves (and the rest of the country, thank-you-very-much) in the foot by passing this along. The American people, in droves, have decided they like TikTok. I happen to like it myself, though that’s not germane to this discussion. If our government “takes it away,” there very well might be hell to pay, and there absolutely will be unintended consequences galore.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Nashville International Airport employee was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence as she left work on Wednesday morning.

Mahealani Robert, 52, is charged with DUI.

On March 13 at about 10 a.m., officers were dispatched to BNA regarding a “possibly intoxicated employee,” according to an arrest report. Officers ran the employee’s information and found out which vehicle she was driving.
…
Roberts later agreed to the tests but failed, police said. Her blood alcohol content was .245, more than three times the legal limit to drive, according to the report. She was taken to jail without incident.

BNA employee arrested for DUI after leaving work, police say (wsmv.com)

If her blood alcohol level was that high, she did not get wasted between clocking out and getting on the road, she was soused on the job. I hope she was not in a high-security-sensitive position.

B.L.U.F.
A fun little trip through the FPC and SFA’s briefing on what “in common use” means to the Fourth Circuit court.

Text comes first.

Then history. If the arm is in common use, the history analysis has been done by the Supreme Court, we win.
(1400 words)

The Tip-Off

As noted, the correct response to a court asking about “in common use” or the state claiming that the plaintiffs bear the burden, is to simply point to the Supreme Court’s own words.

If the plain, or bare, text of the Second Amendment covers the conduct, then the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.

The state is attempting to move the courts from “plain or bare text” to “nuanced meaning of the text” or, worse still, “interpretation of the text”.

If the state or court wants the meaning of “arms” to be evaluated in the context of “dangerous” or “unusual” or “primarily of military use”, they are not looking at the plain text. They are looking past the plain text.

The Ref calls it

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A small rant here. One of my many pet peeves (amazing how many of those you collect as you get older) is when people declare they have an emergency when they really do not. Once when I was working hospitality, I got called just as I had walked in the house in the wee hours and was advised there was it was an emergency call. When asked what it was (thougts of the hotel on fire crossed my mind) I was told that a coworker that I had given a ride home had left her purse in my car, wanted it back and the Manager On Duty told me to return it.

I was this close to utter a comment that would have me sent to have a nice chat with HR, but I held myself and just went back to the lady’s house, returned her purse and took myself out of the pool of helpful associates willing to assist other associates get home.

This has bothered me for years, and it was not till recently while driving around that I noticed these clinics all over the place here in TN.

If you check what they offer in manner of urgent care, the list is limited:

When you need more than a Band-Aid, but less than a call to 911.
Bites, Stings and Allergic Reactions
Burns
Cuts, Scrapes and Minor Lacerations
Eye Irritation and Injury
Respiratory Conditions
Muscular pain and injuries
Sprains and Strains
Broken Bones

Well shit, that is a damned good way to put it. So now I have my “own” definition of levels of priorities

Emergency, Urgency and Inconvenience.

I define Emergency any situation where you need life-saving devices and techniques. May it be going for the gun, calling 911 or breaking out the “Oh Shit!” Medical kit, we are talking about an event where lives are at risk of grievous injury or death.

Urgency is reflected on the list above. I have dealt on my own with everything there but broken bones (I don’t have what I consider real training with that) and it should be your responsibility to learn how to treat those injuries without having to pull the fire alarm, call 911 or bother somebody. And yes, you could help somebody with an urgency, but be mindful if you are legally protected in your state by a Good Samaritan Law, but even then, you can still be sued. Take that into account.

Inconvenience is pretty much anything else, especially if it is stupid shit you have done to yourself. You left your keys inside the locked car? Forgot to bring the charger of your smart phone? Broke a heel? Are late for work and need a babysitter? Inconveniences, not Urgencies or Emergencies and you should be even ashamed to bother a third-party requesting help.

I believe that pretty much covers it. Feel free to expound in the comments and give us your definitions.

I keep saying that I am amazed no more truckers get shot in this area because there is an abundance of assholes out in the highways. Like the 18-wheeler that brake-checked a loaded dump truck in the lane next to mine.

EV Mustang or as I call it Electro Eurotrash Hatchback by Ford. Apparently comes with matching passenger.

And the Redneck of the Day award goes to:

He just needs to tape a flashlight aiming down to the tailgate, so he does not get a ticket for driving without a tag light.

B.L.U.F.
The state dances around “in common use” because they fear it. They even explain why it can’t be used. If it was used, then they would lose.
(1650 words)

Ok, the state starts with a clear, concise, and correct statement of Heller‘s text, history, and tradition methodology.

When a circuit court issues an opinion, it can be cited in other cases. Here, the state is referencing an opinion from the Seventh Circuit, which said that it was the plaintiff’s burden to prove that something is an arm.

This is pure sophistry. The Seventh Circuit is saying something true to hide the false premises that will come later.

In order for the Second Amendment to presumptively protect a conduct, that conduct must fall within the scope of the Second Amendment. Thus, the object must be an Arm. The conduct must have something to do with keeping or bearing that arm.

“Is it an arm?” is the first question to be asked. The Seventh Circuit stated that correctly. The state states that correctly here.

The state then begins its dance. [T]he the Supreme Court in Heller explored the parameters of what constituted an “arm” such that it would fall within the protections of the Second Amendment. —Gun Conrtrol Act of 1968, 18 USC § 921 (U.S. 1968)
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