Gun Free Zone

A Mad Oger Bon Mott.

A PPK in .32 ACP was my first carry gun. It was the only thing I could afford when I got my permit in Venezuela and that was because it was my Dad’s and he carried maybe twice in his life before shoving it in some drawer.

Even in .32 ACP, it barks bad and if your hands are not skeletal, you will sport a slide bite more than once. The trigger is simply atrocious in double action and barely passable in single action.  But also, the principle of a bad gun is better than no gun applied: It saved my bacon more than once.

I could not bring it with me when we moved to the States and Mom gave it to a friend of ours who was a cop and could take care (or ignore altogether) the legal bullshit of the registration transfer. And other than the fact it belonged to Dad, I had very little remorse about not being able to keep it.

A buddy of mine sent me the Instagram channel of a realtor who talks about the reality of the Millenial and Gen Z financial situation.

Three videos of his really hit me hard and and explain why the last year and a half has been increasing hopelessness and depression.

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I was born in 1983, so I’m an elderly Millenial, but I don’t feel like one.

Here is why.

I finished college in 2006. I didn’t like being a chemical engineer in a refinery, so I went to grad school for metallurgy. I expected to get an MS, but fell in love with my school and research, and my grad advisor became my best friend, so I just stuck around to get my PhD.

I finished school in 2012 at the age of 29.

My first job was in consulting. Wasn’t a big fan so left to work in R&D for a manufacturing company.

Iived that job. I was laid off when they declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

I went to a small aerospace and defense sub contractor until an election and change of presidents resulted in me losing my SBIR funding.

I went to another consulting company, and hated it. They fired me after 14 months, just before I was going to turn in my two weeks notice.

I went to work for another manufacturer in R&D, which is where I am now, and I love my job.

My living situation is horrendous.

I never expected to be a job hopper. I would have loved to stay with my last factory job until I retired, had they not gone bankrupt.

The advise about job hopping leading to raises is true, but that only works if you job hop and stay in the same house.

Unfortunately, my specialty means that every job hop requires a move.

I’ve lived in nine states in my adult life.

Since I started working, I’ve done four cross country moves, and bought and sold three houses.

Every job hop costs me easily $20,000 out of pocket. Combined with a few stints of extended unemployment between jobs and that’s lost me virtually all of my savings. Each time I bought a house, it was more expensive than the previous one.

Every job hop, despite averaging a $10,000 raise, has been a financial step backwards.

That brings me to where I am today.

My first house was a town home I paid $147,000 for with a $7,000 down payment that was a graduation present from my grandmother.

I sold that for my next house, and it got mt $20,000 on a $237,000 house.

I benefited a little grom COVID housing price increases and that got me $60,000 on a $440,000 house.

Sold that house after 14 months and got fucked. I had to rebuild the septic to sell it. Along with sime other repairs, and closing costs, I lost money and walked away with $30,000.

In New Hampshire, closing costs can’t be put into escrow.

A 3 bed/2.5 bath, 2,000 sq-ft house, for my family of four, averages $650,000.

My proceeds from my last home will only cover closing costs. I have no down payment.

I’m trying to put money away, but rent is $4,000 per month. Water is $300, electricity is $300, heating oil is $500 in winter and $300 in summer (heating oil also heats my water).

That’s $5,000 per month in rent and utilities.

I’m making $150,000 and my wife makes $70,000.  Rent and utilities is 42% of our net take home pay.

We have two kids, two car payments, a couple of credit cards, and she has student loans.

I’m scripting and saving to put away $10,000 per year.

To do a mimum 3% down is two years of savings on top of what I have just for closing.

At current interest rates and New Hampshire property takes, mortgage alone will be $5,500.

That means that means rebt and utilities will be 54% of my net pay.

With all my other bills, that’s $2,000 per month for all consumables to break even, putting nothing into savings.

I’m working hard to pay off credit cards, but that will only buy me another $700 per month.

The reality is, I cannot afford a home unless prices and interest rates come down.

If I manage to buy and be stupidly house poor, I’ll get it paid off at 72.

So already, I’m looking at still paying a mortgage long into when I should be retired.

If housing costs continue to increase faster than I can save, that keeps pushing further and further out until I will die before my house is paid off.

I’ve looked at moving to where housing is more affordable, but that puts me back into the uncertainty and cost of another job hop and cross country moves.

My current employer loves me and my boss wants me to stay and have a long career here.

So I don’t know what to fucking do.

Stay with an employer that I love and loves me, but it’s becoming crystal clear that I’ll never own a house or retire.

Or

Move again, lose the last of my savings doing that, and end up at another job that might force me to move again after that.

So what I am is a 40 year old man with two kids, making a combined income of $220,000, and the inability to be a homeowner or retire, with no light at the end of this tunnel.

The more I try and crunch the numbers, the more hopeless I become, and the depression is starting to sink in.

I never thought I’d be in this situation.

If my wife and I had our salaries now in our 2019 home, I’d be living like a fucking king.

Today, I turn the heat to 50°F and make everyone wear sweat shirts in the winter, and buy Aldi store brand groceries.

I don’t know what to fucking do.

B.L.U.F.
This case is quoted in Heller as the Court’s understanding of the meaning of “The People”. In reading the opinion, it becomes crystal clear that the Supreme Court has been using text, history, and tradition for a long time.

(2500 words)

Introduction

There are numerous terms we use to describe the courts and judges of the United States. The first term is “inferior”. This is a technical term. The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court and such inferior courts as congress might authorize.

All courts are inferior to the Supreme Court.

Below the Supreme Court are the Circuit Courts and state Supreme Courts. Under the Circuit courts are the district courts.

The states also have hierarchies of courts.

Inferior courts are supposed to follow the guidance given to them by their superiors. When they do not, they are “rogue” courts or justices.

I use the term “agenda driven” to describe those courts, judges, and justices that are so driving by their agenda that they can twist the plain text to mean whatever they want it to mean.

Listening to some questions and comments from circuit judges, it is often easy to identify those agenda-driven judges. When a judge says, “It can’t mean shall not infringe because that would mean we can’t regulate guns!”. It is pretty clear that their agenda is more important than the law.

Text, history, and tradition

Read More

Yesterday I was having lunch at the local park when I heard an amplified voice. It was a police officer using his vehicle’s P.A. system telling a gentleman that his dog (beautiful German shepherd) had to be on the leash. The guy gave a sideway glance, ignored him with a smirk on his face and kept walking toward his vehicle. The cop repeated the warning, and the now official Asshole repeated his initial reaction. It felt like “So what are you gonna do?” and he was about to find out.

The cop turned his vehicle around and parked in front of me. He got out of his car and confronted Mr. Asshole, very politely about the dog not being on a leash. Mr. “A” began to complain and even used the “I see people with unleashed dogs all the time” doubling down on the stupid attitude. The officer then asked for ID and Mr. “A” initially said he did not have ID and then thoughtfully confessed he had it in his van. After retrieving it and passing it to the cop, he kept going back and forth about other people and their dogs and assorted BS while the officer checked him out on his computer.

Since I had a better angle than Mr. Asshole, I could see the officer using his pen, figured somebody was about to get a ticket and this was about to get even funnier given the prissy attitude I have been seeing coming from the Idjit… and I was not disappointed.

Mr. Asshole was not happy about getting a ticket, and then he said something I was not expecting:

“It is because I am White and did not run, isn’t?”

Are my ear deceiving me? Is this guy actually using a Reverse Race Card like it was a game of Political Uno? Nope, he went on a tirade re-using the “other people are doing it so I should get a free pass” and the always favorite “You could have given me a warning instead” alongside with “I am going to court and fight this ticket!” and repeated the “It is because I am White and did not run” bit at least twice more and adding “If I ran away, you would have not bother chasing me and giving me a ticket” or words to that effect.

Oh yes, the officer was Black which made it even funnier and incredibly sadder for Mr. Asshole.

The cop remained at all times utterly professional in his dealings with Mr. Asshole. Bravo for him.

I believe that a simple attempt at de-escalation by Mr. Asshole, namely acknowledging the officer’s warning and making a half-hearted effort to restrain the dog would have saved him some money and aggravation. Instead, he will be at least $50 off and a lot of blood pressure up.

Now, I realize not everyone is able to have a house in the boonies with a wood stove. I am smug enough to think that anyone who considers the government to be in decline, and the cities to be largely unlivable, OUGHT to live in the boonies, regardless of their other foibles. What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain.

Years ago, I lived in the big suburbs of a big city. I was okay with it, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I liked it. Then I was given a nudge by the gods… I lost my job and my home in one fell swoop, and was forced to make a jump. In doing so, I miraculously landed not only on my feet, but in a much better situation overall. I wish I’d made that jump years earlier. Regardless, I found myself in a wonderful situation, living a life I had previously only dreamed of.

These days, I live in a sprawling home on the suburban/rural edge of a very small town. We only have an acre or so of land, but we back onto a multi-acre piece that is private and beautiful, and more importantly is not posted. This means we can hunt there, we can camp, we can play, and our kids can run amok. It’s been wonderful. I have gardens, sometimes more fruitful than other times. I have firewood galore, just from fallen trees out back (which we have permission to harvest). There’s potable water close by, and I have the means to cart it and filter it to make it safe (if it was unsafe). In some years, there’s a stream out back, if you know where to look, which isn’t huge but is big enough and is ground water and therefore pretty likely to be clean.

Our power went out for a day. Previously we’ve lost power for longer than that, but this time it was just a day. We knew it was likely to happen, though it hit us much earlier than I’d thought. Apparently a local transformer blew up and started a two alarm fire. Whee… exciting times. That’s aside from the usual branches taking down lines. When we get icy rain like we did, it’s just one of those things that happens. It’s the price of living in a place that has shade and privacy and lush, green beauty all around.

I’ve heard people say that the trees ought to be taken down. Why? To protect the power lines, apparently. While I sympathize with power lines being downed, that’s not a reason to be defacing my property. Your (the faceless mass of “your” here) desire to force me to address things that may happen will not cause me to do so. As an example, neighbors noted that one of our trees is dead. It’s standing firewood right now. Unfortunately, it’s not in a place that’s easy to bring it down, so we’ve left it alone. It’s not rotting at present, and it’s not causing any issues. It doesn’t sway nearly as much as the other trees. And unlike our neighbor’s trees, it hasn’t fallen and caused damage to a house. Regardless, we have insurance to cover just such emergencies. It’s our tree, and our choice. Our neighbors can “want” us to take it down all they like, just like the “want” us to not have firearms, or enjoy our firepit, or raise chickens, or any of the other fun things we do. They can “want” as much as they like. What they can’t do is compel.

When we get to the point of compelling people to do things, I have a problem. “Public safety” is the first thing that gun grabbers usually mention. It would be so much SAFER if the guns were just not in public possession. Leaving aside the fact that I disagree with that to the extreme, the thing is, I don’t care. My concern is for MY family. My firearms protect MY people. Going a bit further, my woodstove heats MY family, my food feeds us. Public safety only goes so far.

When I hear that I ought to have all my beautiful privacy trees cut down for “public safety,” I start squinting my eyes and looking sideways at people. No thank you. I said NO THANK YOU sir. Giving up my trees is one step toward giving up my other freedoms.

All that leads me to what I asked in the title: Whose job is it, anyhow?

Whose job is it to protect my family? Ours. Whose job is it to feed my family? Ours. Whose job is it to keep my family sheltered and warm? Ours. It is not the government’s job. The moment you give ground in that direction, you may as well slide all the way down the leftist hill.

When the power went out, I wasn’t actually at home. When I did get home, the kids had the wood stove going, and had pulled out some oil lanterns and solar lights to see. Our battery back up packs had been located and put on the dining room table for anyone who needed them. We didn’t bother firing up the generator, because it’s cold outside. The food in our freezers was going to stay frozen without any issues (our freezers are actually outside), and the food in the fridge just got packed up and put into raccoon safe boxes on the porch, where it was cold enough to keep it as well as the fridge. People were reading books. I came in and sat and sewed for a while while we listened to a book on tape that I have downloaded for just such emergencies. Dinner was switched from an oven meal to a stove top meal, one that could be easily made with the gas stove (which runs without electricity). If I’d been home, I’d still have made the oven item; I have dutch ovens, and I know how to use them. Honestly, the kids do too, but they were being lazy, and that was fine.

That night, I cuddled up under warm blankets, in my bed. If it had been colder (it was really only a little below freezing), I might have gotten out the military sleep system, but I didn’t see the need. I also could have slept in the living room, where the wood stove was banked for the night, but again, it wasn’t that cold. I wore my night cap, and so even my head was warm.

Water was still running in one of our bathrooms, so we continued to use that. If it had stopped, we had bucket potties we could have pulled out to use. We had the means to heat water, both on the gas stove and on the wood stove, so we were able to wash. Camp showers are wonderful things.

So yeah… If you are in a city, there are lots of things you can do, even if you can’t have a fireplace or wood stove. If you need help learning how to prepare for such things, I’m more than happy to teach. In fact, I offered to do so for a local lady who spent 24 hours straight complaining about how horrid it was she had no electricity. I was a bit shocked, because it’s a friend who is normally fairly balanced and thoughtful… but she just lost it. She was whining about “losing all the food in her fridge,” when I privately contacted her and suggested that the gods had provided a giant outdoor fridge, just for her. I offered to help her learn how to deal with this stuff. Why? Because everyone should know how to go a few days or weeks without power. We get snow here, and other areas get hurricanes or tornadoes or tsunamis or earthquakes, or whatever it is that endangers your area. Learning to be self sufficient for the common emergencies of your place of living is not just important, it is your duty.

IMO of course.

Hagar,
who recently spent the night in an 18th century fort on an 11*F night, by choice

Antifa has been allowed to get away with political violence for years.

Palestinians and Muslims in America have likewise favorability from the radical Left.

Both groups hate Jews.

In deep blue cities, the result is that the Antifa Palestinian alliance can openly threaten and intimidate Jews.

Yesterday in San Francisco, activists marched through the streets screaming, "We don't want no two-state! We want all the 48!" and called for "intifada."

As the march moved down Market Street, "death to Israel" and "death to Zionism" were spray painted on nearby businesses.

In… pic.twitter.com/eebwsIXUSK

— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) March 25, 2024

"You f—king white bitch"

Exclusive video: A Jewish woman in downtown Portland was pursued and threatened by Antifa after attending a rally against Hamas. The woman had to ask two men to help her get to her car.

Antifa repeatedly referenced the victim's perceived race and… https://t.co/x2tYkzS0Qy pic.twitter.com/lTBnjMl71e

— Andy Ngô ?️‍? (@MrAndyNgo) March 25, 2024

There were a few murders and many assaults by Antifa against the Right starting in 2020 that went unpunished.

There will be more against the Jews, because the Left relies on Muslims as a voting block and there is a growing part of the alt-Right that doesn’t like the Jews either.

All I can say is that Jews need to get out of these blue zones, buy guns, get carry permits, and be vigilant. Nobody is coming to save us.

This is the speed up video of the event. It just gives me some weird itching in the suspicious bone.

If you know ships and care to explain that behavior, you have the comments section at your disposal.