I guess they finally understand the need of normalcy, even their version. Some have chose to maintain their mask use for their reasons and one in particular was funny.

I would have to say that is a pretty much valid reason for a lot of people out there. 😀

Met again with some old friends and got to meet a couple of legends of our Gun Culture.

And yes, I believe is an all original Artillery Mauser. I was holding while being poked on the side of my butt by Japanese swords. Lots of guns and lots of sharp-pointy things.

It was indeed a good Sunday.

So we have done the car registration and the Driver’s License thing here in Tennessee and the next step is to get the Enhanced Carry Permit (Yes, we want the darn thing because reasons.)

Now mind you, to get the TN DL which is supposed to be Real ID compatible, I was told to present Proof of Citizenship or Legal Permanent Residence so I could get that cute little star in the ID card indicating I am all good in that sense. So when I got my license, I took my certificate of naturalization and all was well and I am supposed to get my DL with a star in the mail sometime in the next couple of weeks (the fact I am driving around with a printed copy of the DL in the meantime is one curious TN thing I won’t address just yet.)

I don’t like messing around much with the Certificate of Naturalization as it is the only thing you have to prove indeed you went through the legal hoops and are a Citizen. US Born Americans can get a copy of the birth certificate  without too much of an issue, but I have to deal with the federal government and pay a frigging fee of $555 for a copy of the gorramed document which is why I keep the darn thing under lock and key at all times.

So a few minutes ago, I sit down to review the requirements for the TN Carry Permits and I get this:

Clicking at the link takes you to the list of approved items which do not include the frigging “TN DL. Now with Real ID!” which is supposed to be proof you are indeed legally here. And that begs the question of why did I go through the Real ID crap in the first place if the DL is not good enough.

And no, I don’t have a valid passport. Mine expired long ago and I tried to get a passport card before moving, but the slowness of the process would have meant they would be mailing the document to the Miami address rather than TN.  Now I have to wonder if the Passport card would be an accepted form of documentation or do I need the full booklet so the officials processing future paperwork will consider it valid.

I am going to breathe deep, count to ten and  wait for the TN DL to arrive in the mail, only then begin the process to get the EHCP.  I will probably go ahead and apply for the passport too so I can secure the hell out of my Citizenship Certificate and stop messing with it. If I read the law right, my Florida carry license should be valid for 5 months and 3 weeks before I am legally obligated to have the TN card.

Bureaucracy has a way to ground you back to reality, doesn’t it?

Yesterday, I was messing around in the truck’s center console where I keep one of my trauma kits and I realized I did not know if Tennessee had a “Good Samaritan Law” in the books. After a quick Google search, I found Tennessee annotated code § 63-6-218:

63-6-218. “Good Samaritan Law.”

(a)  This section shall be known and cited as the “Good Samaritan Law.”

(b)  Any person, including those licensed to practice medicine and surgery and including any person licensed or certified to render service ancillary thereto, or any member of a volunteer first aid, rescue or emergency squad that provides emergency public first aid and rescue services, who in good faith:

(1)  Renders emergency care at the scene of an accident, medical emergency and/or disaster, while en route from such scene to a medical facility and while assisting medical personnel at the receiving medical facility, including use of an automated external defibrillator, to the victim or victims thereof without making any direct charge for the emergency care; or

(2)  Participates or assists in rendering emergency care, including use of an automated external defibrillator, to persons attending or participating in performances, exhibitions, banquets, sporting events, religious or other gatherings open to the general public, with or without an admission charge, whether or not such emergency care is made available as a service, planned in advance by the promoter of the event and/or any other person or association, shall not be liable to such victims or persons receiving emergency care for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission by such person in rendering the emergency care, or as a result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for further medical treatment or care for the injured person, except such damages as may result from the gross negligence of the person rendering such emergency care.

Always good to double check stuff like this. Although I believe most States have some sort of Good Samaritan Law, it is always better to make sure you are covered and legally safe.

Are you?

Here is an example:

A brave man tried to intervene in an armed robbery in Oakland. It did not work. pic.twitter.com/SoMEknul4S

— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@stillgray) July 16, 2021

How many times have we been told we are some sort of blood thirsty animals because our solution to deadly violence upon us is dishing it back and we describe it? We shock some sensitive souls with our “crassness” which is simply realism of what needs to happen because otherwise it will happen to us.

I can’t criticize helmet guy because his intentions were honorable and good. Anybody willing to stand up to criminals deserves kudos, but we also need to make people understand that there more than likely be violent and painful consequences when they make their move and are not prepared for them. Hollywood has programmed people into thinking bad guys will just cowardly run away at the slightest verbal confrontation. Reality has taught us otherwise.

If we intervene, we must make sure we thoroughly “win” and that is not an easy thing to predict. And then comes the legal aftermath which we will subjected to. It makes you wonder if being a good person is worth it.  This is something I always confessed changes with me every day: Sometimes is “Not my circus, not my monkeys” and the next day will be “But of course I will intervene. It is the human thing to do!”

I guess I will never know till it happens.

Rules do not apply to them.

On the left (in more ways that one) are Texas legislators who ran away from the state to break quorum and sabotage the passing of Voting Laws.

On the right, just regular folks traveling under Covid Theater rules.  And that is not enough:

The above are more Texas legislators pretending to be more “folksy” and running away in a bus still without wearing a mask against US DOT Covid mandates and the added bonus of a case of beer!

But the  best commentary award goes once again to the Babylon Bee: