John Ross paints us a representation of the latest spending bill excreted out of Congress.
I’m not sure, but I think he might be a tad upset about this one.
Jan 012021
Dec 282020
So a guy buys a Legal Thing. But he made the mistake of living in California. And he decided to obey the bizarre California law regarding that Legal Thing and register that Legal Thing with the state. What does the state do? Send a platoon of police with a warrant to tear his house apart looking for that Legal Thing. And when they find that Legal thing? They look at it, decide that it is indeed a Legal Thing, give it back and leave.
So… when the Gropey Manchurian takes over and tells everyone that they have to register their Legal Things with the government… will it actually be a good idea to do so, knowing what the government is likely to do now that they know you have that Legal Thing?
Dec 282020
This seems Constitutionally dubious:
A California Plan to Chase Away the Rich, Then Keep Stalking Them
California’s Legislature is considering a wealth tax on residents, part-year residents, and any person who spends more than 60 days inside the state’s borders in a single year. Even those who move out of state would continue to be subject to the tax for a decade … Assembly Bill 2088 proposes calculating the wealth tax based on current world-wide net worth each Dec. 31. For part-year and temporary residents, the tax would be proportionate based on their number of days in California. The annual tax would be on current net worth and therefore would include wealth earned, inherited or obtained through gifts or estates long before and long after leaving the state.
“Non-residents” who spend more than 60 days in California could be residents of Montana… or of France. Good luck taxing *them.* People who attend college in California would be on the hook annually for ten years after the graduate and flee the state. Someone who spends more than two months in a California hospital would have that benighted state pursuing them for years after.
According to the text of the bill, this would be a 0.4% tax on wealth (*ALL* wealth, not just wealth held in California) over $30,000,000. This would seem to be the sort of thing that would automatically make it so far beyond most folks as to be considered safely inoffensive,. But the fact is, once a government finds a new way to tax the really, really rich, it will then tax the regularly rich. The the almost-rich. Then the non-rich. Wherever there’s a nickle to grasp, a government – especially one as venal as the California government – will find a way to grasp at it.
What I look forward to: some scion of a Russian oligarch comes to America and spends three months sleazing around LA. Papa moneybags keels over two years later, leaving a hundred million to the kid who now lives full time in Moscow. The state of California then sends a bill for $400,000 to the guy every year for the next eight years. How do you think that would work out?
Dec 242020
Not *complete* good news, but a step in the right direction:
St. Louis Prosecutor Taken Off Case Of Couple Who Brandished Guns At BLM Protesters
Kim Gardner is the prosecutor who decided that the act of guarding your home is a criminal one by arresting and charging the McCloskeys. She subseqeuently used her persecution of these people for political fundraising, showing that this is all about a show trial. She has more to her list of shameful acts than just that though. She sounds like a real winner:
her failed prosecution of then-Gov. Eric Greitens. That latter case actually resulted in one of Gardner’s own investigators being indicted and hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars being spent to defend Gardner herself in subsequent litigation.
In January, Gardner filed a bizarre federal civil rights lawsuit alleging a vast, racist conspiracy against her by the city, the St. Louis police officers union and others. In September, U.S. District Judge John Ross summarily dismissed her 32-page complaint as disjointed and unsupported by facts.
And, of course, after all this nonsense she won re-election.
Dec 242020
Or at the very least a temporary backing off from bad news:
ATF Withdraws Pistol Brace “Guidance”
Don’t expect this to last. They’ll try again soon enough; hell, in a month Uncle Sniffy the Gropey Manchurian may well start tossing out executive orders mandating the same thing the ATF wanted to do anyway. And if January 6 goes the way I kinda expect it will, then all that’ll stand between the Feds and the citizens will be a shaky Supreme Court… which may well get packed anyway.
Dec 222020
Because the government *clearly* doesn’t take this seriously.
Congress unveils $2.3 trillion government spending and virus relief package
$2.3 trillion split evenly among 331 million people would be stimulus checks in the amount of nearly seven grand. But what actually in the 5,593 page bill? If you’ve got a *lot* of free time, go ahead and read it. Congress sure as hell didn’t read it before they voted on it. Some people are trying to struggle through it, and they are finding some *amazing* things:
The Covid relief bill also includes $10 million for “gender programs” in Pakistan pic.twitter.com/7kivucCjvY
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
The Covid relief bill includes a lengthy subsection titled “the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020” pic.twitter.com/zfBtHUnRhE
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
The Covid relief bill includes funds for a museum that will offer “programming, education, exhibitions” on … “the life, art, history, and culture of women” pic.twitter.com/9xFwUh67Te
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
The Covid relief bill includes funding to discourage teenagers from drinking and hooking up pic.twitter.com/fklSOaW4Gp
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
The Covid relief bill mandates new hiring measures to ensure diversity in the intelligence community pic.twitter.com/6Xaaq0kaMH
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
Your government at work.
AYFKMRN?!😡
The stimulus bill is 5,593 pages long, and has to be delivered in a hand cart?!pic.twitter.com/54NP3Aw6Zd
— President-Elect DR. ƬЄƛƓƛƝ ƦЄƖԼԼƳ PHD (@velvethammer) December 21, 2020
5,593 pages to read and the vote is in 4 hours.
That's almost 1,000 pages an hour!
This is INSANITY and the definition of dysfunction, @SpeakerPelosi! pic.twitter.com/PDV84SszT2
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) December 21, 2020
UPDATE:
Dec 212020
From the Washington Post:
Why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll
A number of reasons are given for why Americans are just kinda shrugging at the ~300,000 deaths from the Commie Cough. One reason: it’s just too big, the human brain refuses to try to conceive of such vastness and simply shuts down trying. Another is that many people have bought into conspiracy theories. Another is that people are isolated from the actual deaths, the infected dying alone, sealed away from friends and family.
But there are two obvious reasons that didn’t seem to get mentioned:
1: We’ve all heard about overcounting… someone dying of cancer dies with the CCP virus in their system so it gets notched up to the Commie Cough. How often does that happen? Is it statistically insignificant? Or is it a sizable fraction? We just don’t know.
2: And perhaps most importantly, look at how the pandemic was sold to us in the beginning:
Now, assuming the vaccine works well enough, the pandemic should start tapering off in a couple months I’d think. We’re currently sitting at about 318,000 *official* deaths, losing about 2,600 more per day. Two more months of that, assuming that the death rate somehow stays constant (which would be damned peculiar) will lead to a total of about 473,000 deaths. Substantially less than the 1.2 million, especially if a large fraction of those deaths weren’t really killed by Pinko Pox but were already sick folk just sorta pushed over the edge.
3: The lockdowns indicate that the Government Takes This Seriously. That riots were allowed to proceed and that liquor stores were considered essential businesses, indicates that the Government Does Not Take This Seriously.
When were were oversold into a panic from the beginning, and then the data is not only well below the original fearmongering but is not widely trusted, and the government sending massively mixed signals… well, it only makes sense that lots of people kinda stop worrying about things too much.
Dec 162020
Second important news item of the day. It seems that not only is the ATF going after owners of legally purchased 80% lowers, they may soon be going after owners of legally purchased pistol braces. There are a *lot* of them out there. You may very well know someone who owns one or more. Someone who might soon find themselves the owner of an unregistered Short Barreled Rifle, which means – HUZZAH! – a raid by the ATF and a term in federal prison. For owning something they bought legally.
ATF to Institute Rulemaking Regarding Stabilizing Braces and Require Registration of Currently Owned Braces
A more optimistic – yet still quite pessimistic – view of the situation here:
No, Pistol Braces Are NOT Banned . . . But ATF Is Attempting Further Restrictions
Dec 162020
Biden isn’t even in office yet and the ATF is already going nuts with UNLIMITED POWER. They are now going after private citizens for having legally purchased legal items. Even right now, an 80% lower is not considered a firearm… but the ATF is knocking on doors and demanding that they be turned over as illegal firearms.
If you’ve purchased a “Polymer80” “Build Buy Shoot” kit, get ready for a visit from the Federal government.
Stamps.com & Authorize.net Rat-Out Polymer80’s Customers, ATF Raid Reason ~ VIDEO
Dec 132020
Wow, this is some galaxy-brain stuff right here:
https://da.lacounty.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/SPECIAL-DIRECTIVE-20-07.pdf
The misdemeanor charges specified below shall be declined or dismissed before arraignment and without conditions unless “exceptions” or “factors for consideration” exist. These charges do not constitute an exhaustive list.
- Trespass –Penal Code § 602(a)-(y)
- Disturbing The Peace –Penal Code § 415(1)-(3)
- Driving Without A Valid License –Vehicle Code § 12500(a)-(e)
- Driving On A Suspended License –Vehicle Code § 14601.1(a)
- Criminal Threats –Penal Code § 422
- Drug & Paraphernalia Possession –Health & Safety Code §§ 11350, 11357, 11364, & 11377
- Minor in Possession of Alcohol –Business & Professions § 25662(a)
- Drinking in Public –Los Angeles County Municipal Code §13.18.010
- Under the Influence of Controlled Substance –Health & Safety Code § 11550′
- Public Intoxication –Penal Code § 647(f)
- Loitering –Penal Code § 647(b),(c), (d), (e)
- Loitering To Commit Prostitution –Penal Code § 653.22(a)(1)
- Resisting Arrest –Penal Code § 148(a)
Say, that’s neat. It’s almost like they’re opening the door for Antifa to commit their terrorism without restraint. I can’t wait for the LA DA to decide that chucking a lit Molotov cocktail into a book store is just “free speech.”