If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
Month: November 2018
ACLU Decides It Doesn’t Like Some Civil Liberties
Growing up, the American Civil Liberties Union was one of those principled organizations that I often disagreed with, sometimes celebrated, but never doubted their commitment to their core principles.
Then Charlottesville. And the ACLU decides it won’t defend free speech if guns are involved.
Now, the ACLU is coming out against stronger due process in college inquisitions for sexual misconduct. When you’ve lost The Atlantic…
My big gripe with the NRA in recent years (and GOA for a while) is being more interested in being a conservative organization instead of a civil rights organization. Now, I watch as the ACLU does the same thing on the other side of the aisle.
If You Can’t Ram It Through the Legislature
Get it on the ballot.
Some group out of Miami is working to get an assault weapon ban on the 2020 ballot. The amendment’s language defines an assault weapon as any semi-auto rifle or shotgun capable of holding more than ten rounds “at once”. It includes fixed and detachable magazines.
My gut instinct is that an unfriendly judge could interpret that as banning damn near any rifle that can accept a magazine with more than ten rounds, even if you only have “acceptable” magazines.
There is, of course, a registry for non-compliant long guns already purchased. I would imagine they’ll be lucky if they get New York compliance rates.
This is dangerous. We are going to have to fight it from getting on the ballot. Time to see what I can shake loose from the budget for my state organizations.
Metal Tuesday- Hollywood Undead – Young
This one came up in my Amaranthe radio station. It’s decent Nu Metal if you like Linkin Park. Unfortunately, this was the only halfway decent song on the album.
Who’s Your State’s Largest Employer?
I saw this article in the Book of Face. It was being shared by a couple of my more progressive friends who were crowing that Wal-Mart was the largest employer for large swaths of the country. This was evidence that the low unemployment rate was all low-paying jobs. Now, I try not to step into folks’ digital living rooms and start a fight. That’s what I have the blog for.
First, it is the height of arrogance to assume that:
1. All Walmart employees are low-paid wage slaves earning at or just above the minimum wage. I don’t doubt that a large section of the employees are lower paid because A) that’s true for all retail, and B) they’re unskilled labor. I don’t pay a cashier the same as I do a carpenter.
- Walmart employees are somehow locked into horrible jobs because they are too stupid to find better work or Walmart somehow destroys all other opportunities. I don’t doubt that for some employees, they feel locked into the job because it’s the best they can do for their circumstances. Hell, I felt that way working for McDonald’s. Circumstances change though.
Another thing I noticed on the map was the prevalence of healthcare systems and university systems as large employers. Two industries heavily subsidized by government funding. Hell, Colorado’s largest is an airport, which is another government-run entity. This could be bad when interest rates go back up to historic norms and governments have to make hard choices.
Lastly, the one thing that’s missing from this map is what percentage of the total workforce is represented by the largest employer. Let’s take Florida for example. Florida has approximately twenty million residents. For the sake of the argument, let’s say just half of them are gainfully employed. Even if all of Walmart’s 1.5 million employees were in Florida, that would represent just fifteen percent of workers. Which means that eighty-five percent are doing other work. Some will be low pay, but not all. Probably not even most.
These maps can be interesting, but not the basis for in-depth economic analyses.
Friday Quote – F.A. Hayek
The curious task of economics is to to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
Turkey Day 2018
This is the first Thanksgiving for The Fiancée and me. We’ve got both clans invading the house – I mean, joining us for dinner.
For those of you who wish to participate in Black Friday festivities, I recommend perusing The Wirecutter’s Black Friday page.
I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and successful Black Friday.
Tab Clearing – Gun Edition
I’m clearing out some gun-related tabs from my browser.
Another Reason article on Cuomo’s use of regulatory power to demand financial firms stop doing business with the NRA. Needless to say, they are against it.
From concealedcarry.com comes a study on active shooter incidents and armed civilians. In the small number of incidents where an armed citizen is present, the Armed Citizens are successful 94% of the time. Also of note, most active shooter incidents don’t occur in gun-free zones.
Forbes has an article that top FDIC officials knew about and ran Operation Choke Point. Nice to have confirmation.
Metal Tuesday- Beyond the Black – Shine and Shade
This one may stick in your head for the next few days. Just warning.
If You Were Thnking About Getting Your CWP…
If you were even slightly contemplating getting a Florida Concealed Weapons Permit, I recommend you do so now. Do not wait, go to the Department of Agriculture’s site and follow the process.
Why the rush?
Because our newly elected Commissioner has publicly stated that she supports gun control. I wouldn’t put it past her to muck around and do her level best to make it as difficult as she legally (and illegally) possible to obtain/renew a CWP.
One hopes she gets tied up trying to fix the medical marijuana system. Maybe she’ll actually do some good for the state.