Meanwhile in...

[sexobon]

BOISE, Idaho — An 11-year-old girl toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon appeared Monday at a legislative hearing with her grandfather, who is supporting a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits.

Charles Nielsen addressed the committee that voted to send the legislation to the full House as Bailey Nielsen stood at his side with the weapon slung over her right shoulder, but did not say anything.

“Bailey is carrying a loaded AR-15,” Charles Nielsen told lawmakers. “People live in fear, terrified of that which they do not understand. She's been shooting since she was 5 years old. She got her first deer with this weapon at 9. She carries it responsibly. She knows how not to put her finger on the trigger. We live in fear in a society that is fed fear on a daily basis.”

He said Bailey was an example of someone who could responsibly handle a gun, and lawmakers should extend that to non-residents.

“When they come to Idaho, they should be able to carry concealed, because they carry responsibly,” he said. “They're law-abiding citizens. It's the criminal we have to worry about.” ...

[BigV]

Who are the polite members of that slice of society there?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Evidently bad people don't visit Idaho so it's OK for any visitor to carry.

[Griff]

It's weird how this debate is really between two terrified groups of people. I guess a lot of politics is like that? #armedandliberal

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Griff

It's weird how this debate is really between two terrified groups of people. I guess a lot of politics is like that? #armedandliberal

You've noticed I tend to see the debate as between the people of freedom and the people of slavery.

Me, I've seen a lot of that thing nameable as state barbarism... I can tell you stories about the fear it brings.

On a related note regarding fear, have you heard that what allows Mexican cartels their reign of terror is that Mexico has very strict gun control laws? No wonder the cartels, too, exercise rampant tyranny -- south of the border. They have trouble gaining that ascendancy north of it.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Evidently bad people don't visit Idaho so it's OK for any visitor to carry.

Originally Posted by sexobon

… a proposal that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits. ...

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Evidently bad people don't visit Idaho so it's OK for any visitor to carry.

They tend not to survive in their badness.

You know, like even if Feds come to Ruby Ridge...

Seriously, ce bon Bruce is incapable of understanding that you get, have, and maintain those rights and liberties -- for that matter good manners -- that you, me, and that gal behind the tree can enforce, in our hundreds of millions, which makes the work of enforcement a light one for any individual. Enforcement of individual rights and liberties by means of killing-tools works, regardless of whatever force, fraud, or advertising may be militated against them by those who find individual rights and independence inconvenient -- to any degree from slightly to severely. (e.g., authority from modern Japan to Nazi Germany). Not that I'm going to tell you it's a nice thing, for it is not. Bruce's incapacity, though, does not place anyone else here under the slightest obligation to follow him in his tyranny-acquiescence, his devotion to, even undying love for, the way that is less than liberty. One suspects Bruce lacks a needed degree of self-awareness -- or good grades in Civics class.

Jesus Christ himself understood how necessary killing tools are; Luke 22:36 reads "Let him who hath no sword sell his cloak and buy one." Knew what was coming, he did. Also gives you an idea of what you could get an iron sword for in first-century Palestine.

I would not be surprised to discover Bruce was raised from boyhood under the Sullivan Acts, in NYC, which has not enjoyed the full suite of human rights since their 1911 enactment. Warps the perspective towards a non-free mentality -- and worse.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by BigV

Who are the polite members of that slice of society there?

Rhetorical Q I'm sure, but it gets an answer: everyone in the picture. I can say that from experience.

[xoxoxoBruce]

...

[Urbane Guerrilla]

If you're going to use the seldom amusing Pearls Before Swine as your philosophical guide...

a) Nine Chickweed Lane might be better food for thought
or
b) God help you.

At least, it might rid you of that whining quality.

[sexobon]

Michiganers Charged for Killing Dollar Store Officer Over Face Mask Dispute

… Now, the three aforementioned family members face a different number of charges. All three have been charged with first-degree premeditated murder and felony firearm possession. The son and father also each faces charges for carrying a concealed weapon, and the father faces additional charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for violating the governor's executive order. ...

OMG, someone's been charged with violating the governor's executive order! Assemble the firing squad!

[sexobon]

US Mint is literally begging for spare change

Uncle Sam wants YOU to dig under your couch cushions and unearth your spare change.

The United States is in the midst of a nationwide coin shortage brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, making life difficult for banks, retailers and anyone who regularly pays with cash. The US Mint, which is in charge of producing new money to replenish the country's supply, is working on addressing the issue, and now it's asking Americans to help out, too.

The Mint is asking people to pay with exact change and to find other ways to return coins they may have lying around to circulation, it said in a press release Thursday.

"We ask that the American public start spending their coins, depositing them, or exchanging them for currency at financial institutions or taking them to a coin redemption kiosk," the Mint said in the release. "The coin supply problem can be solved with each of us doing our part."

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke about the coin shortage during a virtual hearing with the House Financial Services Committee last month. He explained that since more people have been staying home, shopping online and avoiding physical currency because of the pandemic, the normal flow of coins through the economy was interrupted.

"The places where you go to give your coins, and get credit at the store and get cash ... those have not been working. Stores have been closed," he said. "The whole system has kind of come to a stop."

The US Mint also briefly slowed coin production to implement safety measures for workers, though it says it resumed regular production in mid-June.

In response, the Fed convened a US Coin Task Force to work on restoring the coin supply chain. And in the meantime, companies have come with ways to manage — some retailers have warned customers they may not be able to receive change in coins and one bank is even paying people to bring in their spare change.

The shortage could be especially painful for low-income consumers, who are more likely to pay in cash — potentially exacerbating the impact of the coronavirus crisis, which has already hit low-income communities hard. It may also be a burden to some retailers, for which accepting credit and debit card purchases can come with fees that cash transactions don't.

Third-party coin processors and retail activity account for the majority of coins put in circulation, according to the Mint. Last year for example, those sources accounted for 83% of coins in the supply chain.

"There is an adequate amount of coins in the economy, but the slowed pace of circulation has meant that sufficient quantities of coins are sometimes not readily available where needed," the Mint said Thursday. "We are asking for your help in improving this coin supply issue."

[xoxoxoBruce]

"The places where you go to give your coins, and get credit at the store and get cash ... those have not been working. Stores have been closed," he said. "The whole system has kind of come to a stop."

That had already stopped for me. I used to dump a bunch of change in the machine and give the receipt to the cashier when I paid for my groceries.
Then they started charging 12% to do it. Fuck that, fuck them.

[glatt]

It’s been a year since I have done it, but the coinstar machines at our local store gave you the best deal if you bought a credit on Amazon with the balance. The receipt had a number you typed in to your Amazon account. It may have even been zero fee.

[Clodfobble]

Our grocery store had a Coinstar machine for years, then they got rid of it. I guess no one was ever using it, or else the store felt they weren't getting a big enough cut to justify it.