Shermann
Shermann's JournalNo one person gets to decide the outcome of a democratic election
It sounds obvious but bears repeating. In modern democracies, there are hundreds if not thousands of individuals working together cohesively to tally and ultimately decide (for lack of a better word) the outcome. There are individuals like the Vice President in the American system with ceremonial roles which don't involve any actual decision-making. This is a bedrock function of the Constitution, and it is astounding to me that it is being brushed off by one of the two great American political parties.
Any Prolon fans?
So, this is cookware which is made of melamine, and the brand name is Prolon.
Melamine cookware is obsolete largely because it is not microwave safe. I have a Prolon collection and yes, if you put it in the microwave it heats up FAST.
That said, my Prolon collection has some nice old-timey features like serving platters and small bowls that don't seem to have modern equivalents. So, I could toss it, but at a loss. Anyone else in this predicament?
Subway changed how we think about sandwiches
It occurred to me that when I order a sandwich at Subway, it is dramatically different from how I might make a sandwich at home. I always add a ton of vegetables. Cucumbers are great, but who the hell slices a cucumber for a sandwich at home? My home version might have lettuce and tomatoes and maybe onions, and that's it. MAYBE pickles if I'm feeling crazy. But black olives and banana peppers? Who does that?? Also, we're talking carrots and spinach leaves and avocados...?
I just wanted to give props to Subway for normalizing the practice of incorporating salads into sandwiches. Now every sandwich shop offers that.
SweetWater Brewing Company 420 Extra Pale Ale should be ashamed of itself
This is not a bad tasting pale ale, on the contrary. However, it is not dense enough to properly support Guinness in a black and tan. So, your black and tan becomes just...a brown. Where's the quality control? Is there even a proper testable requirement in place?
I've moved on to the Sugar Creek Brewing Company Pale Ale. Now this is a proper black and tan, but quite bold in flavor.
The traditional go-to pale ale in a black and tan is the Bass Pale Ale which gives a mild bitterness to the flavor. However, those seem to be hard to find of late.
Guinness is actually weak in terms of ABV (4.2%), and a proper black and tan kicks it up a notch while still giving you that great Guinness flavor on top.
So is the Crimean Bridge toast once the F-16s are delivered?
I understand there are some ground rules for this weapons delivery, and Ukraine won't be permitted to strike targets inside Russia. What about the Crimean Bridge though? It that a fair military target? It won't be possible to defend it against F-16s and Russia isn't going to be happy about that.
Commercials we don't need
This is just off the top of my head.
- Wheel of Fortune / Jeopardy: There are commercials for these shows. Wheel of Fortune has been unchanged for 40 years, including the time that it broadcasts. If you watch it, you have always watched it and already know this information. If you don't watch it, you are unlikely to start.
- McDonald's: The menu hasn't changed significantly in almost a hundred years. There is one within walking distance of every home in America. No commercials are required.
- Commercial for next episode: Shows will often advertise the next episode at the end. If the show was good and/or the cliffhanger was effective, you probably already have it on your DVR. This prodding is unnecessary. Sometimes there will be a "coming up" mini-commercial before the real commercials for the next segment. If your viewers need to be convinced to stick around in this way, your show probably sucks.
- Repeated airings: Why run the same commercial twice during the same show? If the audience wasn't convinced the first time, they are just going to be annoyed the second time around. Sometimes a commercial is even run twice during the same break!
Does Cocaine Bear have an alibi for July 5th?
I'M not saying it was the bear's bag, but a lot of people are saying it was!
Atari LIED to us!
If you are a Gen-Xer, you've probably played Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 in which case you may have experienced a tinge of disappointment at all the odd differences from the arcade version. The colors, the maze, the blocky graphics, the flickering, the sound effects...it was a hot mess. The Pac-Apologists have always told us that hardware limitations were solely to blame. Well, there's a homebrew fan version which runs on the original hardware which fixes most of the shortcomings.
They LIED.
The only issue that couldn't be totally avoided was the flickering, although even that was improved.
Trump 2024: Mexico is going to make our student loan payments!
He's hoping we have short memories.
Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any other controlled substance?
This is the gotcha 11e drug question (paraphrased) on ATF Form 4473. It clarifies with a warning: the use of possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.
It's not just perjuring yourself during the purchase that can lead to a Federal felony, these same druggies are barred from possessing firearms at all per U.S.C. 922(g).
The tie-in with current events obviously is the Hunter Biden plea deal, where the 4473 form came into play.
The rest of form 4473 is pretty unremarkable, and has questions about personal information, prior felony convictions, and mental health history. But this 11e question stands out from the rest. How exactly do you define "drug user"? What if you were merely at a party a few days prior? What if you are six months sober? How do you lose your "drug user" status in the eyes of the law?
The implications of this question are profound and can lead to one's Second Amendment rights being stripped and/or felony conviction and loss of freedom. You would think that clear definitions are in order here, yet this is nothing but ambiguous.
How is this law ever enforced? What happens during an ordinary search by law enforcement when they find medicinal marijuana and a legal firearm together? Chances are that it is local law enforcement, do they turn it over to the feds? The answer seems to be likely not, but what assurances (aka rights) do you really have here?
I have so many other questions.
How many prosecutions per year are there on related to perjury on question 11e? This seems quite problematic to prove.
What is the history of this federal law? Republicans would seem to object to the blatant Second Amendment infringement, while Democrats would seem to object to the opportunity for selective prosecution of very serious crimes.
What happens if a "non-drug user" legally purchases a gun and then smokes a joint later? Are they compelled to immediately turn in their firearm collection?
This whole thing makes me queasy, and I don't even use drugs.
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Gender: MaleHome country: United States
Current location: Fort Mill, SC
Member since: Sat Feb 22, 2020, 12:55 PM
Number of posts: 7,458
