Wednesday, February 12, 2020

22 comments:

  1. Meanwhile, in Sacramento, The People's Elected Representative of the Serene, Majestic, and Glorious People's Democratic Republic of North San Francisco has introduced a bill that would make voting compulsory in California.

    I'd love to see this result in a landslide sweep for a Non-Party Party that promises to abolish the Government of the State of California after arresting the current members of government on the basis of operating as an organized crime syndicate, but it probably won't happen.

    But even 10% of the seats going to the Non-Party Party of Abolishmentarianism?

    That'd be a huge win, especially since those would be the only people that anyone could count on for voting against bigger government.

    Did anyone really believe all of that bullshit about Republicans being the party of small government?

    AHAHAHAHAHA
    THEY MARVELED
    WE SAW THEM MARVEL

    :-)

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  2. Rob - enjoy the pictures of greenery while you can. We haven't gotten rain in almost a month, and we aren't scheduled to get rain for another 10 days. Things are already starting to dry out.

    Texas Refugeee - there are no Republicans in California. They all move. And how did we get dragged into this?

    Re: the COVID-19. I am technically still in the CES range. There is a reported case of incubation being 45 days.

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  3. "... there are no Republicans in California."

    Technically correct! Wow, you actually understand this!

    California's voting system suppresses not only Republicans but also anyone else who wants to oppose at least one otherwise non-viable Democrat on every ballot.

    So since you're disenfranchised already, why not join Circle A?

    Circle A has more interesting conversations and you'll always have somewhere to trade your crypto-coins privately.

    Also, if you want to meet some people who can 3D print a Lamborghini clone, Circle A's got everything to set you up with that. :-)

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  4. LOL. what about you? Every time you try to move somewhere some crazy shit happens.

    You - I want to move to an island.

    Cat 5 hurricane hits.

    Change of plans. Maybe Europe.

    Corona hits.

    Why not stay home. This place isn't the worst......

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  5. Capital of Texas RefugeeFriday, February 14, 2020 8:42:00 PM

    Maybe an island, possibly Europe, possibly an island in Europe, but I need a different place of last residence in the US first ...

    I know your first question already: "What's wrong with Florida?"

    Several things, but let's start with guns because that's a subject that's near and dear to the heart (or whatever else you're aiming at) for many Republicans.

    Florida's CCW is actually issued by the Department of Agriculture.

    The agriculture commissioner is a Fort Lauderdale lawyer and former public defender, so you can figure out where she's coming from.

    That means that any excuse to deny issuing or renewing a CCW will be used, regardless of whether it's legally defensible, and I do mean any excuse.

    Add to this something known as the Baker Act, which can be used like a verb.

    It works like this: some "friend" or some "concerned party" can inform the police that someone is behaving in "self-harming behavior", and if some psycho doctors agree with that, the victim of forced psychiatry can then expect a period of involuntary commitment in "crazy jail".

    That's called "Baker Acting" someone or getting "Baker Acted" now in Florida.

    So it's a common tactic in divorces involving rich people, but it's also a tactic that can be used against a business owner, someone of influence in the community, etc.

    I've seen this in action, but I didn't understand the circumstances under which certain people "went away for a while".

    While this mess is going on, the victim of forced psychiatry isn't allowed to possess firearms under Florida Statutes.

    And that's just one way that Florida can deny someone due process of law.

    "We heard ol' Cap of T Refugee wanted to go speed boat racing out in the Gulf!"

    "Speed boat racing? Is he crazy?"

    "Do you think so? Would you be a witness to that?"

    Yes, it can actually be that easy.

    So now nearly everything I own that fits into a gun safe is in another state, including a lot of stuff that isn't guns, just because this is just one window into the problem of asset forfeiture in Florida.

    There are two states I've been looking at where this isn't a problem, both of which are "shall issue" states for CCW.

    One of these states has reciprocity in otherwise difficult East Coast states, and for a time actually had reciprocity with California for their highest level of CCW permit. (BTW, if you want to do that in California, move your residence to Kern County, it's easier there.)

    One of these states would let me fly in, spend a day in a hotel, and then use the hotel receipt as evidence that I plan on returning to the state for the purpose of residency. I would then get to do this "border run" yearly in order to maintain this situation, and I'd have to register all of my vehicles to an address in the state where I can be expected to receive mail in a timely fashion.

    Because this is the way I'm leaning, that's why I'm down to one vehicle and two guns here. It would be better to sell the remaining vehicle in Florida and to buy something completely new that's better suited to the local area, so I may ship the guns to an FFL and pick them up instead of flying with them.

    (BTW, if any of you lovely readers out there know which state in particular I'm talking about, you just shut your mouth and be happy you're that smart. :-) )

    The other state has better asset protection laws, but there are other problems to deal with, including possibly needing to buy a place.

    Just because you don't see the gaps in my thinking doesn't mean they haven't already been filled in more than adequately. :-)

    Also, there are no international airports in the region besides Denver, so there's that going for the Just Say No To The Virus Formerly Known As Novel Coronavirus. :-)

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  6. Oh, BTW, here's how fucking stupid this gets.

    6 year old "special needs" girl gets sent to Crazy Jail by a shitbag school "social worker" in North Florida.

    No wonder this 6 year old girl was so calm with the police.

    The 6 year old girl was getting away from the real crazy person in the Duval County School system.

    That's the Baker Act right there for you.

    Florida Man and Florida Woman might be crazy, but the government's crazier, and that's why I'm leaving.

    I can scratch my BBQ itch when I'm in Chicago, BTW. :-)

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  7. I completely agree........but it's not like another country is going to give you that liberty either. You might as well stay here where it sucks less.

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  8. You should see some of the offers. :-)

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  9. Here's just one then. :-)

    No income tax, no filing of income tax, no even breathing about income taxes unless you are dealing with non-citizens (which are assessed at a fixed 10%), payment of which may be credited as taxes paid to a foreign government by US citizens filing US taxes.

    Low property taxes (as in so low you'd laugh) if you don't live near the resorts.

    Currency has a fixed exchange rate with a major forex currency, and in general use you can use either one, although some resorts prefer the major forex currency because it's much more common for tourists to have.

    Purchases made there are subject to 20% VAT just as in the UK.

    Slightly lower customs rates apply for most goods via direct import, and there's zero duty on computers and electronics.

    Has friendly relations with its neighbor countries and with all global powers.

    Has a formal diplomatic policy of peace and has never been in a war, and so its citizens are welcome in places where Americans would be afraid to go.

    Has daily flights to several global hubs, including hubs in the US, the UK, and Europe, and airport security isn't a horrible experience.

    Has roughly half the US average violent crime and property crime rates, making it about as safe as living in a Midwestern city, although these rates rise above the US average in some of the cities.

    Has an incredibly small legal code compared to the US, but has an incredibly complex set of rules applying to stare decicis.

    Allows private prosecutors to proceed with cases before the courts, so if the police won't help you get justice, you can pay for it and try your luck.

    Does not allow "payment by contingency" for attorneys, meaning that all legal actions must be paid for 100% by the clients, hence making it less likely that you will become lawyer bait for opportunistic lawyers.

    Losers of legal actions typically have to pay the legal costs of the winners.

    Has the very, very slow right of appeal to a major world power's final appellate authority which acts as a semi-disinterested final arbitrator of last resort, and is also part of a regional multi-country appeals court system which serves as an alternative.

    Cost of living is slightly higher than the US average, but lower than many US cities.

    And that's all before actually talking about citizenship.

    Their passport gets you the same visa-free travel in the Schengen zone as the US and as the UK will have post-Brexit, and a temporary replacement can be issued by a major world power if you happen to lose it or run out of passport pages.

    This passport is also probably the least likely to get you killed if your aircraft has been taken by The Usual Types of Well-Armed Militants.

    One disadvantage of it is that if this is your only passport, you have to apply for a Japanese tourist visa and submit an itinerary for your visit, since Japan and this country do not have visa-free travel arrangements. Japan is one of less than a dozen countries with this "value added" inconvenience.

    Despite the costs, which aren't something you'd blink at, and despite the annoyance with travel to Japan, this is one hell of a good offer ...

    The number two offer is almost as good, BTW, but Japan's still a problem.

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  10. I don't know - that sounds like some John Mcafee shit there. Before you know it someone changes the rules and you are dressed as a beggar trying to find a way out.

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  11. Wait ... you do all of your banking in the country where you reside?

    HOW OPTIMISTIC AN APPRAISAL OF THE FINANCIAL SITUATION :-)

    Maybe you need rental properties on picturesque islands that don't ask too many questions!

    Seriously, what's the best outcome in the SF/Bay Area, that you become a slumlord for software developers?

    OMG THE RENTER'S PHONE ISN'T PAIRING WITH THE THERMOSTATS AND WATER HEATER THAT'S LIKE TWO AM EMERGENCY STUFF RIGHT THERE.

    *puts the nuclear snark arsenal back into the safe*

    I sometimes forget I still have this. :-)

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  12. Yeah. I'm pretty basic that way. But I sleep well at night.

    That place is going to give you an open carry permit? I think not. So that can't be the real reason you are leaving.

    And one might take offense at being considered a slumlord. My renters moved into a completely gutted brand new house. It was in better shape than my own house! So - pound sand.

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  13. I still don't get it, but next time you play this game you should use the video game.

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  14. Capital of Texas RefugeeSunday, February 23, 2020 7:40:00 PM

    "So that can't be the real reason you are leaving ..."

    Everything has its place, and the guns are staying in the US, eventually to be sold off or given away to people who've helped me out over the years.

    But don't you think that it's odd that everything's all "Smile or Die" here?

    Of course, it's just another variation of a very familiar theme that plenty of people in tech can tell long stories about.

    Some people might actually put together a list of reasons ...

    Here's one at Infowars if you like that sort of thing.

    But here's my biggest reason: all of this forced psychiatry eventually leads to forced medical care, meaning that you can't choose to ignore the advice of doctors and to deal with conditions as you see fit.

    If I'd have listened to my doctors in America years ago, I'd be dead, because they were wrong, I knew they were wrong, and I could get doctors in another country to help me repair the damage they thought was a life-long medical condition.

    Because of this, I can fly again.

    The third and second most scary places in America are hospitals and prisons, but the number one most scary place in America is a combination of the two known as a "rest home" or "nursing home".

    You're not "resting" there and they're not "nursing" you back to health, you're just slowly dying there as a prisoner of "social security", private insurance, and the guidance of doctors working within a "medical system".

    BTW, forced psychiatry is coming to California in a much bigger way.

    CBS Sacramento: "Governor Newsom seeks to expand involuntary psychiatric treatment".

    I'm not a Democrat, not a Republican, not a Libertarian, not a Communist, not a Socialist, and not a processed cheese product, so maybe that's why I think that people should be free to be as crazy as they want to be.

    That worked out pretty well for a lot of people we think of as funny or insightful -- could you really imagine putting Hunter S. Thompson in Crazy Jail? What about Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks?

    Freud wroute about this stuff, the idea of the "narcissism of petty differences", but maybe it's the narcissism of large groups of people being unable to take a fucking joke.

    Maybe that's why the Democrats are doomed, and even Carville's got too many corn cobs stuffed up his ass to realize that he's no longer insightful, let alone funny, when it comes to observations of the realpolitik of the Left.

    BOOOOOOO BORING BORING
    THIS SUCKS AND YOU SUCK
    GET THIS ASSHAT JAMES CARVILLE OFF THE STAGE

    Even the hecklers are funnier than the main acts now.

    "In all declining civilizations, the good men retire to tend to their private gardens. They stop taking part in the larger social fabric and it is rapidly revealed that this little 5% of the population was doing nearly everything of consequence."

    These aren't my quotes, they're from a more Arcane kind of Texan who might choose to drop by, someone that some people lurking about might remember.

    What I'm starting to look forward to with this upcoming "pandemic" isn't the Schadenfraud and all of that kind of crap, but what could come after it.

    Imagine what they might accomplish if they stopped believing that absolutely everything has to be some kind of game or entertaining thing ...

    But about the current form of nastiness everyone's noticing: twenty times more lethal than the flu as it is today? Well, that'd be about 2-3%, wouldn't it?

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  15. Capital of Texas RefugeeSunday, February 23, 2020 7:45:00 PM

    "Places get their character from the people who live there. Nothing else."

    Maybe it's a good time to flee California for East Tennessee.

    Remember that bit in "Force Ten from Navarone" where the prison camp officer's milk is about to burn?

    It's a good time for me to tend to private gardens and to let that milk burn.

    Once you notice that this isn't only a figurative analogy ...

    "... the Western nations could not possibly look the way they do in the modern era but for one reason: the people who live there have a death wish."

    Really, why leave California ... or Florida?

    One last bit: go over to the JHU GIS page that has the global infection stats.

    Look at the lower right corner and find a tab that says "Logarithmic" on it.

    Notice how the logarithmic graphs for China and the rest of the world are almost exactly parallel, and then notice the points at which the graphs cross the 1000 line (or 3 = log10 1000 if they've changed it over the past few days).

    Then notice that the way things were for China on January 24 are how they are for the rest of the world on February 20.

    Does this imply that everyone's rigging the numbers, or that no matter what any of these super-huge national and trans-national health authorities do, that's not going to do anything serious to stop the spread?

    Was "28 Days Later" entertainment or predictive programming? Count the days?

    Don't know, don't care, I have some new projects that need watering.

    Otherwise, I prefer to panic now and avoid the rush. :-)

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  16. I ~completely~ understand what you are saying. I just don't see other countries being better off then the US right now in the ways you say. It just seems like a system where "you just don't ask a lot of questions" is a very stable one. That sounds more like getting ahead via corruption. That certainly is not better than here. Eventually you will be on the wrong side of that. That's why I'm a very "basic girl" when it comes to money stuff.

    Why not move to Puerto Rico?

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