Blog
Politics
Florida is Corrupt!
This may come as news to some people, I guess; to those who fall into the class of keen observers, not so much.
...Florida is corrupt. The most corrupt. The nonprofit research institute Integrity Florida has found that our corruption stats rival or beat every other state in the union. They report that “since 1976, Florida’s federal courts have convicted 1,762 individuals for public corruption. That’s an average of 50 public corruption convictions a year, or about one a week for the last 35 years. From 2000 to 2010, the average number of federal public corruption convictions per year increased to 71 in Florida, indicating an upward trend in the modern era.”
One thing for sure, among things nefarious, political corruption causes traffic jams! Consider that the next time you're caught up in highway grid-lock.
/fl
Politics
Stupid is as stupid does
Whether it be a liberal so-called “church”, a casino, a bar displaying a 'rainbow flag', a whore-house, or a gun-free-zone, the best advice applies in all cases: stay out of stupid places, where stupid people are doing stupid things.
The definition of "stupid places" can apply to any place, including government buildings, and even the Halls of Congress — for example:
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) is attempting to block the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) from receiving a $2.4 million grant from the Department of Justice for the Project ChildSafe, a project designed to help parents keep children safe around guns.
But then, left-wing liberals seem to have something against children and safety.
At the same time that the CSGV is trying to block the NSSF's program for child safety, 177 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against a bill that makes killing a baby murder. Go figure!
Liberalism is most certainly a mental disorder; how else can you explain an unbridled attempt to embarrass The Vatican's Pope Francis, while exercising total restraint from embarrassing Chinese President Xi Jinping, or Cuba's Castro's.
Is there any doubt why we are seeing, what one pundit refers to as, "a defibrillator for flat-lined politics" running in this up-coming election cycle?
The doctrine of total depravity is validated yet again, and again...
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VetDogs
Meet Kenve
Kenve (pronounced Ken'-vee) was born on March 14, 2015, and he is well on his way to becoming a great service dog for some yet-to-be-named veteran.
/fl
NICS
Second-Highest August on Record
The August 2015 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,031,959 is the second-highest August on record for the 17-year-old system, with an increase of 4.3 percent compared to the August 2014 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 989,337. For comparison, the unadjusted August 2015 NICS figure of 1,735,911 reflects a 12.8 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,538,347 in August 2014.
/NSSF
Marine Industry
Bye Bye P.J.
Anyone who has been around boats for any length of time knows the name Palmer Johnson. That company has produced many noteworthy yachts, including the Sailing Yacht Tenacious that won (via handicap) the famous, but ill fated, Fastnet Race in 1979.
Boat builder Palmer Johnson Yachts of Sturgeon Bay is closing its 96-year-old shipyard, resulting in the loss of more than 100 jobs.
In a plant closing notice filed Wednesday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the company said sales had fallen and offshore competition had escalated.
"We are disappointed and saddened by this business closing, and yet realize that there is no alternative," the company said.
The shutdown will take place in phases starting about Oct. 31.
"We estimate complete closure of all facilities in the fourth quarter of this year, and obviously no (employee) bumping rights will be in effect," the company said.
Palmer Johnson to move manufacturing to the Netherlands
There appears to be some truth to Donald Trump's point!
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Tropical Storms
Being Prepared
It’s hurricane season in the Caribbean, which means lots of charter boats aren’t being used. Since there isn’t enough room for all the boats at charter company docks, and since charter company docks aren’t the safest places for boats to be during hurricanes, a lot of them get moved to a convenient 'hurricane hole'. This is what it looks like:
One of the best shelters in the British Virgins is Paraquita Bay, not far from the big charter boat bases at Road Town. The bay is unusual in that the entrance is barely big enough to get a 45-ft catamaran in. Once the boats are in, they are secured with very heavy cables.
Having been involved in hurricane prep several times, I can appreciate what the crew's managing these boats had to go through.
A friendly wag of the tail to Lectronic Latitude for this photo and info.
/fl
Law & Order
Crime rates, like politics, are all local
The Wall Street Journal’s political correspondent Gerald Seib writes today that this presidential campaign cycle resembles 1968, with Trump filling the George Wallace role and Bernie Sanders the Gene McCarthy role. Maybe, but one parallel he left out is the crime rate, which was a central issue in 1968, and which may well be by election day next year.
Have you noticed that crime is “unexpectedly” rising fast after two decades of significant decline? Is it a coincidence that crime rates are rising especially where local police have come under the most criticism [Hello!], such as Baltimore?
It's obvious that, from time to time the shallow end of the gene pool gets to roiling like an ol' mud hole full of carp. But, is the "crime rate" going up, or down at the present time?
It depends on where you are.
If you look at figures coming from some places, you would conclude that law and order has completely broken down. For example, the scorekeeper's at http://heyjackass.com paint a bleak picture of Chicago — where the outlaws who keep and bear arms prevail. On the other hand, places where law-abiding citizens who keep and bear arms prevail, remain relatively peaceful. Did you pick up on the not-so-subtle difference between the two places?
For anyone interested in crime rate studies, especially those involving firearms, you can get the data at the Crime Prevention Research Center.
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