Was Shooter’s Force Likely to Be Found Unlawful?
What the Sheriff had to evaluate, then, was whether the available evidence was likely to support a finding of self-defense, in which case the use-of-force was likely lawful and an arrest impermissible, or whether the available evidence was likely to fail to support a finding of self-defense, in which case the use-of-force was unlawful and an arrest was appropriate.

COTW: Florida “handicap parking spot shooting” analysis
Understanding Why No Arrest in Florida Handicap Space Shooting

Andrew Branca makes a point by point explanation why Sheriff Gualtieri did not present charges in this case. It is a somewhat long read, but do please take the time to read it. Also remember this is adjusted to Florida law and may or may not apply to other states, which is why you should be smart and get Andrew’s book and see where you stand. 

Today is apparently National Intern Day.  It’s trending on Twitter.

Right off the bat all of the Tweets I’ve seen on this subject about the importance of paying interns and how internships are racists, etc.

https://twitter.com/e_vern23/status/1022497518054264838

https://twitter.com/viccsilver/status/1022494947705057280

Happy #NationalInternDay!

Here’s a friendly reminder to pay your interns because if you don’t, many black and brown folks and those from low income backgrounds will be shut out of valuable opportunities. Then, the diversity of your newsroom will suffer. ??

— syd ✨ (@thesydneygreene) July 26, 2018

https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1022491107056332800

I have worked two internships in my life.  Neither were unpaid.  I’ve never actually heard of an unpaid internship in engineering.  No engineering student would take it.

My best friend from high school worked several internships with Wall Street firms.  He was getting a degree in International Finance from Wharton.  All his internships were paid.

I get that some kids may want to intern with a Congressman or Senator because that sounds cool.  Other kids may intern for some celebrity news anchor.  In those cases, you are paying for the privilege of making connections to advance your career.

For everyone else, if you are expected to work and unpaid internship it is because the market is flooded with people with your skill set that your value is zero.

Take an introduction to economics course and learn about supply and demand.  Then ask yourself what it means that people are willing to work a job for free.  Maybe factor that into thinking about your chosen major and career.

When two bodies with different masses collide, the one with the bigger mass will have the upper hand and win the collision… or something like that. I think you will find that in Newton’s Laws of Physics, the annotated version.

This from one of the 2020 Democrat Presidential forerunners:

In 99% of counties in America, a person working a full-time job at the minimum wage can’t afford a 1-bedroom apartment. This is a crisis and folks deserve solutions. pic.twitter.com/W5SUlRrsG7

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 23, 2018

First of all, what is with the Democrats laser like focus on minimum wage workers.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016 only 2.7% of the labor force received minimum wage, and half of those people were under 25 years of age.  Minimum wage is earned by a small percent of workers at the beginning of their working life.

Raising the minimum wage might temporarily improve the lives of the minimum wage workers who are not laid off after the minimum wage goes up, but raising the minimum wage definitely hurts the working class people above minimum wage whose effective wages go down if they don’t get a corresponding raise.  In addition is the increased cost to everyone as increased labor costs are passed on to consumers.

Really, and not to sound too cruel about it, but when it comes to the Democrats go-to “people raising a family on minimum wage” argument, why should I give a shit.  Seriously, minimum wage employees are minimum wage employees because they lack the skills to do anything more valuable than minimum wage.  We’re talking about people than can barely read let alone drive a nail through a 2×4.  If you are in your 30’s or 40’s and raising a family and don’t have the skill set to earn more than $7.25 an hour, your life is a just a series of bad decisions and major fuck-ups.  I really don’t believe that society should be restructured to accommodate the least productive among us.

But I digress…

Kamala Harris’ idea is based off a 2017 Joe Crowley bill, so now it seems that Ocasio-Cortez is only slightly more socialist than Crowley.

Taking the bill at face value, a family making less than $100,000, or $125,000 in some regions, and paying more than 30% in rent can get the additional money they pay in rent (everything above the 30%) back in their tax return.  Supposedly, the highest earners will only get back 25% of the above 30% rent.

The median cost of a one bedroom apartment in New York City is $2,956/mo.  In San Francisco it’s $3,334/mo.  So a year’s rent is $35K – $40K.  But this is aberrant.  The median rent prices in Fresno and Bakersfield are $800/mo.  Zillow is showing house rental prices that are on par with Huntsville only 90 minutes away in Stockton.

When I got my first job after grad school, my wife wasn’t working and my starting salary was $85K.  My mortgage on a condo in the Chicago Suburbs was $1,450/mo or 20% of my pre-tax income.

So it is clear that Kamala Harris created her bill with the mindset that the norm in America is New York City and San Francisco.

I can only see one outcome of this bill: the total destruction of the housing market.

This bill will encourage people to rent way above their responsible price range because they will get back money from the goverment.  At the same time it will encourage landlords to jack up prices of their rentals and then negotiate rates with tenants based upon income so the increased rental cost is payed by the government with a tax return.

Why should an owner ever sell a house when it can be used as a revenue stream by way of artificially high rental value.  My mortgage is $1,500/mo.  I could charge $2,500/mo to a family making $67K and they’d get a tax refund on their rent and I’d pocket $12K per year.

Irresponsible renting and inflated rental prices would make the sub-prime mortgage crisis look like a wet, sloppy fart by comparison.

This is apparently what Democrat Senators do to the housing market when they want to run for President.  They propose feel-good legislation that will collapse it.

Occupy ICE PDX posted vid this morning of moment police finally entered the camp. “This is what happens when a fascist empire fucking sees people create something beautiful… they have to destroy it.” pic.twitter.com/MPuPoH8bg7

— Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 25, 2018

They created something beautiful. It reminds me of the streets of Caracas under Socialism.  Do I need say more?

I’ve been browsing through the Twitter feeds of politicians, celebrities, and anti-gun activists clutching their pearls over the “3-D printed guns” and what they think that means.

What I am noticing reinforces just about every political stereotype I have.

I remember reading one of Mike Rowe’s (of Dirty Jobs) Facebook posts where he mentions that he’s never seen anybody burn a flag in protest at a trade school.

Working as an engineer in the defense world, I have watched bar stock and billet get turned into weapons.  It is not magic, it is a process of machining, broaching, milling, tumbling, finishing, and assembly.

Depending on how many pieces you want to buy vs. how much you want to make yourself, a garage machinist with an end mill and a lathe can turn a block of aluminum or steel into an AR-15 lower or 1911 frame.  Then, of course, there are simpler designs that can be made out of mostly steel tubing.

This country is full of guys with garages who make knives or restore old cars and make parts themselves.  Any one of these guys, with a little effort, could make a gun.

The I see the hysteria over “3-D printed guns” and how gangs and criminals are going to print untraceable guns and it will be the end of law enforcement as we know it.  I go into the Twitter bios of these people and I see a lot of moms, activists, artists, and Lefty college students.

The people who are going nuts about this are the people who have no idea how stuff is made.

These are the same people that have no idea about what happens to food before it ends up at the grocery store.

If gangs making their own guns was such a problem than every Mexican gang that has a shop that can make Lowriders would be making AK receivers.  The sheet metal work that goes into fender flares is far more complicated than an AK.  This equipment is much easier to buy and use than a 3-D printer.  A drill press and break press at Harbor Freight will set you back a couple of hundred bucks.

If these people had any clue how stuff is made, I’m not sure if they’d be more calm – “this is a non issue since gangs aren’t cranking out home made guns from their autobody shops already” – or if they’d hyperventilate to death – “we need to ban people from buying sheet, bar, or billet steel and aluminum, or possessing a CNC without a license.”

What I do know is that this level of hysterics can only be born of an incredible level of ignorance.

The politicians who are trying to make hay out of this clearly have never laced up a pair of work boots and stepped foot into a factory to do more than take a photo op with some union shop workers.

The pearls are being clutched in soft hands of loafer wearing money fondlers and Liberal Art degree having snowflakes who know NOTHING about either the technology they are worried about or how anything is made.

But of course, these out-of-touch elitists want to regulate something they do not understand.  And therein lies the rub.