Author: Derek

BOA ups Citi’s Ante

April 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Bank of America stated on Tuesday that they are going to “step away” from firms that make “assault weapons” for non-military users. The bullets from CNBC are vague on exactly what that means, but considering several of the big manufacturers are current BOA, this could mean a nasty shake-up.

The antis have found a rather insidious means to attack us by focusing on access to capital. I don’t doubt they were inspired by Operation Chokepoint. BOA may decide it can afford to lose its corporate and personal accounts from the pro-gun side. Wells Fargo has been holding steady against attacks so far. If they’re smart, WF could recoup a lot of the lost business it suffered from its fake account scandal last year by bringing in former BOA clients.

That’s fine in the short term. I’m concerned about the long term of these tactics. It’s another push to drive the gun community underground and make it seem disreputable.

Ignoble End to an Upstart?

April 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

At the grocery store this week, The Brother and I saw a Tesla 3 in the wild for the first time. The Brother wants a Tesla for his next car, and to be honest, they tempt me as well. I wish there was a version of the Chevy Volt’s electric with gasoline backup system that was built into an SUV. Both The Brother and I believe that electric vehicles will phase out the internal combustion vehicles, but that’s going to require time for the infrastructure to be built up.

I’ve also been a fan of Tesla in its history of disrupting the market. Tesla has done a lot to “mainstream” the electric vehicle – much in the same way Apple mainstreamed the smartphone. For me, I’ve enjoyed them working to fight back against the franchise car dealership system.

Which makes this analysis of Tesla’s cash crisis from the Economist disappointing. My read is Tesla is burning through cash because there is a corporate culture of chaos and letting the better get in the way of the good.

Tesla received four hundred thousand $1,000 deposits for the Tesla 3’s. That’s an initial investment of $400 million. I can’t see any of the big car firms not being able to set up a new line for that sort of initial capital.

I’m really hoping Tesla manages to push through, but I have a suspicion that it will revert to a boutique manufacturer of innovative EVs while the big firms bring the electric car revolution to the masses.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

April 6, 2018 / / 0 Comments
  1. Physical therapy is much easier to deal with when liberal amounts of Sabaton are applied.
  2. Facebook thinks I’m politically “very conservative.” This may come as a shock to some of my conservative friends who think I’m too liberal.
  3. I don’t know why my iTunes refuses to go past step 5 on syncing my phone. And google has not been much help either.
  4. Reading a bunch of resumes makes me glad that I don’t have a job that requires me to do that on a regular basis.
  5. That point of just finished being sick is almost as bad as being sick. I feel so much better that I think I should be able to do everything I was doing before, but not back to full strength, so I can’t.
  6. Trying to put something on my blog every day makes me appreciate the folks who manage to do that and keep a regular full time job that isn’t blogging.
  7. As much as I enjoy working from home, there are times that having my home workstation so close to my personal system provides too much temptation. Particularly when I finally figured out something for the story I’m working on.

Now They’re Coming For Preemption

April 2, 2018 / / 0 Comments

According to this article, almost a dozen municipalities are suing to strike down Florida’s preemption law. They assert that it is unconstitutional to allow the governor to remove a local official for violating state law. And it’s too expensive (personally and for the municipality) to pass local laws that violate the preemption.

That’s what we call “kind of the point.”

Every Day Carry

March 30, 2018 / / 6 Comments

I’m listening to the Clockwise podcast, and the bonus topic is “What indispensable piece of non-tech do you carry every day?” The answers were a water bottle, a special kind of wallet, a microfiber cloth, and a nail clipper.

I realize that the people on the tech podcasts generally don’t intersect with the people on my gun podcasts, but I was amazed that none of them said a pocketknife.

I started thinking about my EDC. So, for 2018, my current EDC:

Wallet

I use a Saddleback Large Leather wallet.. I keep one of those credit card multi-tools inside it.

Keys

I have a key ring that uses little caribiners to attach keys or other items. In addition to my keys, I have a Kingston 32GB flash drive, [Gerber Shard](tool, and a Surefire Sidekick.

EDC Pouch

This is one of those Maxpedition pocket pouches that I stash useful stuff:
1. First aid kit – needs a tourniquet, but decent for handling minor issues
2. Trauma shears – small pair for cutting bandages and clothes
3. Bic disposal lighter
4. Tweezers
5. Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter
6. Anker lipstick battery
7. Short lightning cable
8. Spare CR123 and AAA batteries
9. Reusable twist ties
10. Lightning to micro USB adapter
11. 32GB flash drive
12. Emergency cash

Pocketknife

Currently, I’m carrying a Leatherman Skeletool. It’s a bit “friendlier” for some of the areas I go.

Flashlight

Currently, I have an older Streamlight ProTac. I want to upgrade to one of the new ones. Must have all the lumenz!

Pepper Spray

I’ve got a little Sabre canister

Earbuds

Currently, I’m using a pair of Apple AirPods. Expensive, but worth the cost IMHO

Phone

I’m using an iPhone 8. I have the 256 model because I cram it with audiobooks.

Watch

I’m using a Series 1 Apple Watch, but will probably upgrade sometime this year.

Pen

Either an S&W M&P or CRKT tactical pen.

Sidearm

Unless I’m going to someplace I’m not legally allowed to carry, I generally have my first gen M&P9 with at least 1 spare magazine.

Real Men Use Whatever Works

March 29, 2018 / / 0 Comments

There’s a pic of one sign at the recent march. Since WordPress is being stupid, I’m going to link to Miguel’s post.

This is an attitude that needs to go away. There is not something more honorable or pure about punching someone trying to kill you. There’s nothing honorable about putting yourself into melee range and suffer injuries against someone who wants to take your life.

What’s worse is that this line of thinking splashes over on to women. Look at the self-defense ideas portrayed in the media. As much as you might see it on the screen, a 120 lb. woman is not going to come out on the winning side against a 200 lb. man. Especially a man who is willing to attack a woman.

That’s the point of carrying a gun. It’s a force equalizer. It allows the weaker to fight off the stronger.

I hope that young lady never has to find out by example of the fallacy of her sign. I hope she never has to face someone who wants to hurt and kill her. I do hope she learns that the people purporting to help her are leaving her not only defenseless, but unaware of that fact.

Criminal Justice Reform in Philly

March 28, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Philly’s new DA is doing some interesting things. Normally when I hear “progressive civil right attorney,” I cringe a bit. Generally, the “progressive” outweighs the “civil rights”.

So far, he’s fired a bunch of prosecutors and outed a bunch of cops who were deemed “unfit to call before a jury” due to numerous infractions and some for outright lying.

Then comes this memo. Yes, you need to RTWT. The basic crux of the memo is reducing the number of people sent to prison, particularly for non-violent crimes. This is a good way to approach prosecutions, because going to jail is a quick way to destroy a person’s life. Not just for the time (s)he is confined, but for the rest of his/her life.

Prosecutors have immense power at their fingertips to destroy lives, and not much in the way of accountability when they bend or break the rules of their profession – much less actual laws. It’s nice to see someone reigning in one office.

H/t Denada