Tag: Stupid People

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I was looking for a new keyboard, but…

Maybe a month or two ago I ran across a nifty computer keyboard in some publication. At the time I thought, “It’s really nice, I like that it’s mechanical, It’s cool that you can order it with switches that are firm, medium, or light, which allow you to have a keyboard that is exactly what you want, but dang that’s really expensive,”

So I moved on to the next thing and forgot the manufacturers name. After all, the 8 year old keyboard I’ve got works just fine and I’m used to it.

Then yesterday, my reliable old keyboard started missing space bar presses and occasionally other keys as well. I considered the problem and admitted that it might be time for me to pony up the cash for a new one. I tried to go back and find the article in my Apple News History. I haven’t found the article I was looking for but did stumble across the Alec Baldwin, George Stephanopoulos interview where Baldwin tearfully claims he didn’t pull the trigger.

What a load of runny horse shit!

I was able to let the statement of the Armorer from the production “Someone must have put a live bullet in the gun,” go because that statement was so stupid it required no comment.

Had I commented at the time, I’d have said, “No Shit dumbass!“

But Alec Baldwin crying and saying he didn’t pull the trigger?

Oh hell no, I can’t let that one go.

The gun reportedly used in the crime, (Yes, it was a crime!) was a period specific Colt revolver or a replica of the venerable Colt revolver. This gun, as are most guns, is a purely mechanical machine. There are no batteries, no electronics, no circuitry, and no software.

Guns in general are relatively simple machines that exist in the real physical world and require real physical actions to operate. They can’t be hacked.

The person holding the gun is the power source and the directing intelligence.

As you can see from the diagram, (Thank you Nichols Ranch), There are approximately 24 components in a revolver. (24 in the diagram, there could be fewer in other models) The last two components in the diagram above are the Bullet and its shell.

Functionally, you could loose the grips and the logos, possibly the ejector rod and spring, and the cylinder cover, and still have a functional weapon. It would probably bruise your hand if you fired it without the grips but the weapon would still work as designed.

There is no magic here. This is simply an elegant mechanical system.

To fire the assembled weapon requires the following steps.

Open the cylinder cover
Put rounds (a bullet and its shell) in at least some of the chambers of the cylinder. In this case a maximum of six chambers can have rounds inserted.
Close the cylinder cover
Cock the hammer.
Take aim
Pull the trigger

Repeat the last three steps as necessary five more times, then start at step one.

Note there are three inherent safety mechanisms present.

If rounds are not loaded, the gun is not ready to fire
If the hammer isn’t cocked, the gun is not ready to fire.
If the trigger is not pulled, the gun will not fire, even if rounds are present and the hammer is cocked.

I’m not a gunsmith, but if I’m looking at the diagram correctly, it appears that the action of cocking the hammer is what causes the cylinder to rotate, moving the next round to firing position.

This mechanical simplicity is why the revolver and integrated shells & bullets revolutionized guns.

Prior to the revolver, the choice was a cap and ball pistol, which basically gave you one shot, then you had to spend a minute reloading before you could take a second shot (think about a cannon). That’s probably why everyone carried a sword with their pistol.

For close to 200 years, the revolver has been around, it’s well understood, reliable, and has undergone some evolution but not a whole lot.

There is a variation of the revolver where pulling the trigger also cocks the hammer.

This is why when handling a weapon you never put your finger on the trigger, and you never take anyone’s word for it, that the weapon is not loaded. You always check!

Even then if you need to pull the trigger (as in you’re checking proper function,) you always aim in a safe direction. You do not pull the trigger unless you are sure that no-one is downrange.

Given the simplicity of the revolver that Baldwin was probably using, for him to claim he didn’t pull the trigger is a bald faced lie. He may not remember pulling the trigger, but he sure as hell did.

The only other scenario that has a remote possibility is that he partially cocked the revolver when he pulled it from the holster. In that scenario though, it’s far more likely that he would have had the weapon fire the moment it cleared the holster.

I rather suspect that in that scenario Baldwin would have shot himself. I also suspect that the mechanism that rotates the cylinder would not have brought a round into correct firing position since the hammer wouldn’t have completed its travel.

That being said, if the weapon was worn or had been abused it’s a remote possibility.

However there wouldn’t have been enough of a delay for Baldwin to have brought the weapon to a firing position for the view of the camera. (They were rehearsing, the assumption is they were trying to frame a shot.)

No matter what. In this situation Alec Baldwin was the person holding the weapon. Baldwin was the person who violated gun safety protocols. Baldwin is the person who clearly still has no idea how guns work.

Ultimately, Alec Baldwin is the person who shot two people, one fatally. Alec Baldwin is therefore the responsible party and must answer for his negligence.

Update: I was just reading another article on Baldwin’s interview.

Baldwin said, “So, I take the gun and I start to cock the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger,” he continued. “And I cock the gun, I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun – the gun goes off.“

Was the gun cocked Alec or was it not? In this type of gun if you’re holding the trigger down and you pull the hammer back then release it the gun will fire. You’d know that if you’d paid attention in any of the on-site gun training you’ve no doubt received during your many years of movie making where you were handling guns. You’re essentially describing that you “fanned” the hammer.

Stephanopoulos stated, “There are some who say you’re never supposed to point a gun on anyone on a set no matter what.”

Baldwin replied, “Unless the person is the cinematographer, who’s directing me at where to point the gun for her camera angle,” Baldwin replied. “I didn’t point the gun at her, and she said, ‘Hey, man, don’t point the gun at me.’ I pointed the gun in a direction she wanted.”

Is it me or does Baldwin’s reply sound like he was trying to blame the victim?

“Do you feel guilt?,” Stephanopoulos asked.

“No. No,” Baldwin said. “I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.“

What a piece of Shit Alec Baldwin is!

He goes on to describe how he has dreams and emotional distress. Trying to paint himself as the victim.

Really? Alec Baldwin, you are filth! I cannot even describe how reading your responses has sickened me.

I hope the family, the members on set, and everyone in the production sues you into poverty. I hope the police, the district attorney, the judge, and a jury throw the book at you. I hope you end up doing hard labor in a prison in New Mexico for the rest of your miserable life.

It’s one thing to have this be an accident. It’s quite another for you to try to slime your way out of responsibility and essentially say, she was asking for it.

BTW… I still haven’t found that keyboard site!

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That’s it! I want to get the HELL out of California!

In addition to all of the absolute bullshit that is California…

Traffic, Lockdowns, Abridgment of rights, Water shortages, Electricity Shortages, $500 Auto Registration Fees, Incompetence of the State Government and all the state’s government offices, State waste of tax dollars. Complete lack of planning, Crime, Outrageous Property Taxes, Outrageous Gas prices .55 on every gallon of gas really? Shitty roads, Outrageous State Income Taxes, and on and on and on…

I mean, pick literally any subject and then look to California to see how to do it exactly wrong.

I hate this place and everything about it.

There was a time when the benefits outweighed the hassle. That time is long gone.

This is a losing proposition any way you cut it.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good people here and even some good Representatives in the Legislature. The problem is there are too few people with any common sense and those numbers apparently are dwindling.

The straw that has broken this camels back is EDD.

I don’t think there’s ever been a more incompetent government entity short of perhaps the last of the Roman Empire, maybe King George III’s tax collectors or court.

First EDD screwed up their modernization of their computer systems. They contracted with, and hired a bunch more people to actually do the work. Apparently the work not only didn’t get done, but they bought a shit ton of equipment that sat in its boxes until the warranties expired. Then the equipment sat for another few years until it was literally obsolete and had to be scrapped.

They were completely unprepared for the number of unemployment claims that were being filed when the pandemic hit. How did they address this? By putting more people on the phones supposedly to answer phone calls, which of course still didn’t get answered.

Oh yeah, there were hearings and excuses and in the end, after the uproar died down nothing was done. No heads rolled, and EDD went right back to its usual incompetent self.

They screwed up who was being paid during the pandemic. Turns out they paid a lot of people that perhaps weren’t eligible for benefits.

What? You mean they threw taxpayers dollars at people that shouldn’t have received benefits??? Yep… in at least the hundreds of millions of dollars range if not billions.

Now, EDD is sending out stupid emails that demand the people who received benefits prove they were eligible to receive those benefits and they’re threatening to charge 30% penalties on those benefits.

But of course the email they send you provides links to the EDD website that frankly is a hot steaming pile of shit. So even if you want to comply with their demand the odds are you can’t since the site sucks so bad.

Just connecting to their web site makes me and my computer morons. The intellect draining capacity of California’s EDD site should be harnessed and used to combat hackers and cyberterrorists the world over.

Come to think of it, the EDD site could be used as a firewall. It’s amazing at creating endless loops of login after login.

The funny parts of EDD’s demands are that they seem to think; A) The criminals who gamed the system are going to send documentation. B) That they’re going to get the money they threw away back from criminals who gamed the system.

Hey California EDD, NEWSFLASH Those people are in the wind and you’re not going to find them!

D’Oh!

But for people who had legitimate claims. We’re having to jump through hoops to clean up EDD’s fuckup.

When you talk to EDD they predictably absolve themselves of responsibility by saying the Federal Government is who is requesting this information.

That is probably true, however EDD should have all the data. They should not be asking for tax returns. After all if EDD approved a person for unemployment benefits that presumes that EDD knows who your previous employer was and verified that you were eligible for benefits in the first place. RIGHT?

It gets better, the EDD representatives are apparently unsure what exact documents you need to provide. Do you need to provide the entirety of your tax returns or just a copy of the W2 or will pages from your California Tax return suffice? They’re not sure.

“It’s the Federal Government that’s asking, it goes into a computer to determine if the document is right…“

Uh huh.

Having spent some time working for a Federal contractor, I can tell you that the Feds are pretty damn specific about what they want to see.

But wait, there’s more! EDD told a representative from a legislator’s office yesterday that they’d called me, (they did). I wasn’t available to take their call so they went to voice mail. This same person told the same legislative representative that they’d left a voice mail, (they did not). I sent screen shots proving the point to the legislators representative. So I have a little bit of a trust issue with EDD.

I have a real problem with providing EDD documents of this sensitive nature.

They’re incompetent, they’ve reported at least one data breach if I recall correctly. I’ve caught them literally lying to a California Legislator’s office.

Given their incompetence and Laissez-faire attitude about what they seem to need I’m concerned that by providing these documents in an electronic format I’m just setting myself up for identity theft.

After all what better hacking target than an organization with a proven track record of stupidity? Just imagine all the wonderful identities that will suddenly be available for the picking.

EDD appears to be auditing the citizens. EDD needs to be audited by a totally independent source. Maybe a group of accountants from Texas or Florida? Someone who’s not likely to sweep things under the carpet in the interest of not embarrassing California.

They made this mess. Why should the citizens be hassled, threatened, or further annoyed to help them clean it up?

I believe, California’s corruption and incompetence goes from the top all the way down to the local level.

I’m sick of it.

Voting is pointless because the people who’ve created this fucked up system greatly outnumber the people in this state who demand fiscal responsibility.

With that realization, I choose to work to get my ass out of here.

Even if that means divorce after 33 years and leaving the house and everything else behind. Honestly at this point I’m thinking about cutting my losses and doing anything to be free of this third world shit hole.

At least in another state I might have a shot at a job where I don’t have to worry about skin color quotas and layer upon layer of politically correct bullshit!

Fuck California!

p.s. In case you had any doubt… I’m not in a very good mood today.

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Hey it worked for Obama…

Just a few months ago President Biden said, “vaccine mandates are not the role of the federal government.”

Sort of like when President Obama said, “If you want to keep your doctor you can,”

We all know how both of those statements turned out.

The OSHA requirements regarding President Biden’s vaccine mandate have been published.

For a President who keeps telling us things are going to get better, that the supply chain will be fixed, that employment figures are going to get better, and everything will be happy happy joy joy, his actions sure don’t seem to be taking the United States in those directions.

At this point, any company who has less than 100 workers is likely to keep their employee number exactly where they are. So no additional jobs there.

Workers who for whatever reason don’t want to be vaccinated or share their vaccination status with their employer are in a really shitty position. They can either be fired on Jan 4 2022 or they can submit to a violation of their privacy and their bodily integrity to keep their jobs.

This is not freedom of choice. I don’t care how the media paints it, this is blackmail pure and simple. This is coercion and it is in direct violation of the Nuremberg Code.

The argument can be made that the COVID vaccines are in fact not vaccines, but are instead therapeutics. This argument has some merit in that the vaccines are not preventing infection, they are not conferring immunity, and their effectiveness is very short acting. Unlike say the smallpox, measles, or polio vaccines.

There’s been a lot of conflation using smallpox, measles, and polio vaccines as examples of why you should get a COVID vaccine. But let’s be realistic. Smallpox, measles, and polio vaccine confer lifelong protections against those diseases.

It’s become blatantly obvious that this is not the case with the COVID vaccines. Which means the COVID concoction is a therapeutic. It lessens the severity of the infection, but does not provide immunity.

Otherwise why would the vaccinated still have to wear masks to protect themselves? You could even argue that the COVID vaccines are on par with Hydroxychloroquine, Monoclonal Antibodies, Ivermectin, or the host of other therapeutics used in other countries. Lets not forget the 6 month booster shots either.

That starts to sound more and more like therapy, not a vaccine doesn’t it?

Smallpox, polio, and measles don’t require any additional safeguards post vaccination do they? Discussing these tried and true vaccines in the same breath with the COVID vaccine is a false equivalence.

The Biden mandate goes on. If you don’t want to take the vaccine, you must be tested once a week and you have to foot the bill for the testing, not the employer, not the government who is demanding this onerous procedure.

You, the employee, the taxpayer, the person just trying to pay your bills and put food on your table. Plus you’ll be masked up at all times in your workplace.

This is another example of blackmail perpetrated on the American People by the American Government.

As an aside, it is demonstrative of the criminality of the American Government and an excellent example of why this government is teetering on the knifes edge of failure.

Mind you, if the American government fails… The American Experiment is over. God only knows what that looks like… The nation states of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, all fighting among themselves for resources?

The OSHA mandate just keeps on giving. The employer will be fined $14,000 for each “violation” of the mandate with increasing fines for each infraction. There are also supposed to be OSHA inspectors presumably popping in for spot checks at random intervals. Can you say graft?

“Hey OSHA inspector… Here’s a couple of grand. Just call our operation good and you’ll get two grand every month, just between us okay.“

Do not labor under any illusion, graft as described, won’t or can’t happen. Ask any construction crew about building inspections, or corporation about current OSHA inspections. This shit is going on all the time. But the stakes will be higher now. The OSHA COVID police will have plenty of incentive, and leverage to demand payoffs.

“$2000, today Mr Corporation, or $14000 every time I come to see you. You pick!“

Smart business people will choose the $2000 and roll it into the cost of doing business.

You can’t blame the business people either. No one wears or keeps their mask on properly, or all the time. An OSHA inspector, at any time could walk through a building and note people taking their masks off for a variety of innocent or necessary reasons. Blowing their noses, asthmatics taking a hit from their inhalers, a diabetic needing to eat a little snack at their desk to keep their blood sugar normal, etc.

The OSHA inspectors will be shooting fish in a barrel, eventually they’ll realize that all the have to do is walk into the owners office with their clipboard, and walk out 30 seconds later with a wad of cash. Easy Money!

But Biden and OSHA estimate that this blackmail will result in 23 million more people getting “vaccinated”.

All the while, unvetted “refugees” or border crossers are allowed to move freely throughout the country will no vaccination requirements at all.

So President Biden tell us again how we’re going to have a land of milk and honey, with supply disruptions that your mandates only exacerbate? When businesses will be constantly disrupted by inspections? When your mandate dictates the firing of people adding to unemployment?

All this over a virus that 99% of the population survives, and over a vaccine that the CDC’s own data shows has the single highest contribution to the VAERS database practically ever?

Mr President with all due respect to your office… Sir, you need to resign. Your administration is more dangerous to America, her people, and prosperity, than almost anything short of a nuclear war.