Mallard

“Ghost guns” are a non issue - not used in major events or in any notable event. It’s a hobbyist market.

 

Pistol braces - also not a real issue. The Colorado shooter had no advantage when using the gun in a 10” barrel instead of a 16” barrel. He got out of his car and started shooting. There was not a concealable advantage. In fact, it probably made it harder being less accurate.

 

Also, SBR’s should be removed from the NFA. There are millions of braces in existence, it is a common use weapon. Making millions of upstanding citizens felons overnight is a mistake and will only hurt the heat up even more on a very, very sweaty situation.

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More unconstitutional bullshit coming from Biden tomorrow on guns.

 

Goodie.

Direct the Justice Department to propose a rule within 30 days to help stop the proliferation of ghost guns – firearms assembled from kits that often lack serial numbers and are difficult to trace.

 

Direct the DOJ to craft a rule within 60 days that clarifies the point at which a stabilizing arm brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, subjecting that firearm to additional regulations.

 

Direct the DOJ to publish, within 60 days, model red-flag legislation, which lets law enforcement officers or family members ask a court to temporarily bar someone from accessing guns under certain circumstances. The White House says the model legislation will make it easier for states to pass their own versions of that law.

 

Direct the DOJ to issue a comprehensive report on gun trafficking.

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We'll see if the government vaccine passports go anywhere. I don't think they will, given the logistical and constitutional quagmire, plus the aforementioned discriminatory nature, AND on top of that I've already had one shot and all I have for proof is a 3x5 index card that they had me fill out myself. While my shot record is tracked in my provider's database, a lot of people don't have much more than this easily forgeable card. At this point the ship has sailed (pun in ten did) on tracking vaccinations as far as I'm concerned.

 

Now I can certainly see cruise ships et al require "proof" of vaccination, which should be pretty easy to fake, but cruise ships are not the government so their decision to require them is a business one and nothing more. I can see the average (re: elderly) cruise ship passenger not wanting to rub elbows with a bunch of anti-vax wankers.

Also, during smallpox people had to provide proof of recovery or vaccination in order to go places, but the public was largely supportive of this atvthe time. Also, if you recovered from it you had visible scars so it wasn't easy to fake it.

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does that mean the 2wd version is FWD and for 4 wheel it's AWD and not conventional 4-wheel drive?

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I'm assuming it'll be based off of the Bronco Sport chassis...

Correct, Ford Escape/Bronco Sport platform.

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neither of these things are an issue. The shooter in colorado bought his gun from a store 6 days before the shooting. He somehow passed a background check with his history.

Also see where I said:

Also, the gun that was used in Boulder skirts the definition of a rifle and is classified as a pistol. Had it been classified as a short barrel rifle there would have been a lengthy background check that would have included fingerprints, a photo, a $200 tax, and would need to be purchased from a specialized dealer.

His purchase should have been scrutinized more heavily, for sure, and the gun should not be classified the way it is.

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/06/opinion/how-to-reduce-shootings.html

Thoughts?

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On paper I'm a normal dude with no real criminal history. Hit me with one really bad day and I'll go on a spree with a smile. How do you prevent that?

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New flash: Colorado has most of those already...

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so what national gun related policy would prevent a deranged individual from doing what exactly?

Universal background checks

Red Flag laws

High capacity magazine bans

Closing gun show and private sale loopholes

All of those are a start. I'm not against reinstating the "assault weapons" ban of the 1990's. Also, the gun that was used in Boulder skirts the definition of a rifle and is classified as a pistol. Had it been classified as a short barrel rifle there would have been a lengthy background check that would have included fingerprints, a photo, a $200 tax, and would need to be purchased from a specialized dealer. All are barriers to entry.

Something needs to be done. We can't just sit on our hands time and time again after this happens like "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well." The problem is not going to be solved with one piece of legislation, we need to start whittling away at it.

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She might be slightly/mostly insane, but I feel like this point is valid.

https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1374392821285748739?s=20

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She might be slightly/mostly insane, but I feel like this point is valid.

https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1374392821285748739?s=20

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that's wild, that ford sold the kit

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/ford-focus-v8/

And here's the ATI Focus, which Ford apparently later swapped to the 5.0 "Cammer."

http://www.superstreetonline.com/cars/new-car-reviews/0404scc-ati-terminator-ford-focus

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IIRC, there was a kit for this back in the day and they were kinda popular for a hot minute.

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It's running its course in the meaning that the number of cases is on a steep decline and there is a vaccine.

 

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases

 

 

 

as far as press briefings:

 

 

 

 

Fuck Biden, Fuck Trump, Fuck the IRS

When someone says Biden is "taking credit for a virus that has run its course" I would take that to mean that the virus is just disappearing on its own, and that's not the case. Europe is doing really badly right now, and it's mostly being attributed to lack of access to vaccines and the relaxing of distancing. Italy just went back on lockdown this week.

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Imagine voting for biden then he goes into his bunker n takes credit for a virus running its course. Then refuses to speak to any media because hes a political liability

Biden refuses to talk to any media? Hasn't he given several speeches in front of the media recently? I haven't watched them live so I have no idea if he took questions from the media after, but they do have regular press briefings.

I think you'll find most of us who have been critical of Trump will be equally critical of Biden. I'm not riding anyone's nutsack, regardless of political party.

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thats unreal she got a whole $200 while the company made money off it. the survivor benefits are great. i get that where I work. one of the several reasons it will suck to leave the company when we sell our house to relocate.

Sorry we're far off the Biden topic now.

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first off... your mom deserves a big thank you for her time.

 

 

 

the unfortunate thing is that handing any company/gov money for long term retirement is still a risk and a good chance a decent portion will get hosed based on company promises. then add in company bankruptcy to reduce cost from retirements which i do think is bs.

 

 

 

does anyone have any suggestions for cities to avoid the pension bubble without blanket increasing taxes?

(On the flip side if my mom died and my dad lived, her pension has survivor benefits that would have continued to pay her monthly pension to my dad for the rest of his life, on top of his SS)

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This is the reason for social security. Not to be a retirement plan, but a backup in case private funds get depleted. Implemented after the market crash that led to the great depression.

When I say "got screwed over by the system" I mean that they worked hard jobs with a promise that they would be taken care of later in life. The failure of their pension was no fault of their own, and they had no control over the funds. My mom was in the teachers union and also gets a pension payment every month, so I am sympathetic to the workers and the effect a total loss would have. I have read nothing about this situation besides the link Mace posted, so the entire situation could be more complicated than I know.

While I would not like to see tax dollars ever needed to be spent to bail something out, I also think that ethically making good on a promise made to blue collar workers is a worthy cause, and I wouldn't waste my time trying to attack this as being pork spending or corrupt when there are bigger fish to fry.

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I found this amazing..here is part of where the "covid" money went..thank the dems for moving on this.. This is an op-ed article:

 

 

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-hopeful-news-for-social-security-buried-in-the-1-9-trillion-bailout-11614912469?siteid=yhoof2

 

 

 

Nobody’s noticed, but there may be a glimmer of hope for Social Security in the gigantic “rescue” package currently going through Congress.

 

 

 

Lawmakers have moved to include in the bill an unrelated $86 billion bailout for bankrupt union pension plans.

 

 

 

And once they’ve done that, it’s going to be even harder for them to argue that they shouldn’t bail out the stricken Social Security trust fund that is actually their responsibility. Social Security’s deficit: $16.8 trillion, or about $50,000 for every person in America.

 

 

 

On the other hand, if Congress tries to weasel out of fully funding Social Security in a few years’ time, this rescue of private sector union pensions is going to look like an outrage.

 

 

 

I write about retirement and I am (within reason) generally going to fight for retirees and future retirees. So I confess I’m glad elderly members of these “multiemployer” union plans aren’t going to the wall. Call me a bleeding heart. Even with the bailout, many members will be looking at pension cuts.

 

 

 

But this bailout is hard to justify on any grounds other than compassion—or, perhaps more accurately, “politics masquerading as compassion.”

 

 

 

These are private-sector plans. Clearly the members—the workers and their employers — paid in too little over the years. Sure, there were external factors. But everyone has to deal with external factors in handling their retirement.

 

 

 

These are union plans. One of the biggest unions involves is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (And before anyone attacks me for casting aspersions on the Teamsters, or their past history involving pension funds, my mom was a member of the Teamsters in the days of Jimmy Hoffa.)

 

 

 

I spoke to John Murphy, the vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He defended the rescue of these multiemployer union pension plans. He said a society should be measured by how it treats the sick and the elderly. Fair enough. He flatly denied that the plans were in trouble because of any mismanagement attributable to the unions, saying anyone making that claim “doesn’t know what they are talking about.”

 

 

 

He also said during our conversation that the $86 billion rescue was the result of five years’ hard and intense “lobbying”—his word, not mine—on Capitol Hill by the Teamsters and other unions.

 

 

 

 

 

There is plenty of blame to go around for the crisis at these pension funds. Blame the employers who paid in too little, banked too many dividends, then filed for bankruptcy when times got hard. Blame the unions, who sold their members promises that couldn’t be met. Blame the government-owned Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, for charging these plans too little over the years in annual premiums. (Even today, the PBGC charges multiemployer plans just $31 per member per year.) Oh, and blame Congress and state governments, for not intervening years ago.

 

 

 

To bail out these plans, we the taxpayers are writing a check to the PBGC, which insures these pension plans. But the PBGC was never supposed to be supported by taxpayers. Says the 1974 law that created it: The “United States is not liable for any obligation or liability incurred by the corporation.” Oops. The PBGC is supposed to be self-funding, through premiums raised from member plans. Its liabilities are not our liabilities. This isn’t our bill.

 

 

 

Very few of the taxpayers paying for this rescue are lucky enough to have defined-benefit plans at all. We’re all on “defined contribution” plans. If our 401(k)s and IRAs leave us underfunded in retirement, nobody is going to bail us out.

 

 

 

Charles Blahous, an expert at George Mason University’s libertarian-leaning Mercatus Center, tells MarketWatch the bailout is not merely “irresponsible,” but “scandalous.” He accuses companies and unions of using accounting gimmicks to hide the problems for years, and warns that the new law won’t force them to stop, either.

 

 

 

Given this, it’s going to be a much bigger scandal if Congress shafts Social Security beneficiaries harder than it does members of these union pensions. It would be ludicrous to hope that shame or embarrassment would constrain most politicians. But right now Social Security beneficiaries could be looking at a 25% benefit cut in just over a decade.

 

 

 

Joe Biden ran on a platform of protecting benefits, and actually raising them for many.

 

 

 

When the time comes for Congress to address the matter, they’d better give us the same terms as the unions, or we’re going to want to know the reason why.

I also find it funny that Trump and the Republicans spent $1.9 billion on tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefitted the rich, and here the Democrats have $86 billion for direct support of blue collar workers, yet the Republicans paint themselves as the working man's party and the Dems as global elitists.

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they said there was a 'black box' in it and would look at the data

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https://nypost.com/2021/02/23/tiger-woods-injured-in-serious-california-car-crash/

 

 

 

I couldn't help but think, as I read this article, that Hyundai/Genesis is secretly pleased that Tiger was not only driving their Genesis SUV, but hit EVERYTHING and flipped it off-road and survived.

 

 

 

I'm very curious if there are any internal cameras (like the Tesla Y) that record the passenger cabin.

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Works so well in Russia.

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Term limits will only lead to massively inexperienced people who don't know how to get things done, which will then sprout back offices of Congressional "experts" that will effectively pull the strings of Representatives. So instead of having Mitch McConnell elected to office, you'll have Mitch McConnell advising multiple reps on strategy perpetually, and the inexperienced who lack this advisement will get eaten alive. IMO.

If a rep isn't working for their constituents they should be voted out, and districts should be drawn to make that possible.

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https://jalopnik.com/porsche-claims-its-synthetic-fuel-could-make-combustion-1846319665

 

https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/mazda-first-oem-to-join-the-efuel-alliance/

 

I'm very curious what the 8 ingredients are that make this synthetic fuel, but no doubt it'll be very expensive. However, for the right vehicle or right time, I'm definitely interested in hearing more about this.

There's also a company out of Canada that is making fuel through direct carbon capture out of the air.

IMO, this stuff hasn't had enough backing, and it has the potential to drastically reduce carbon emissions immediately without any changes to major infrastructure. I would like to see more of this, and there will definitely be a place in the market for it, as long as legislation doesn't kill it.

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