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I lived there for 35 years.

Her Majesty Laurie only bestows a few CCWs to a handful of business people and her buddies. People can apply for CCWs all they want, but she'll never issue them willingly. She's a bureaucrat and a crook keeping the populace defenseless and maintaining LE job security.

https://imgur.com/anZTMPx


Imagining getting indicted for having to bribe a local official to exercise an essential right, specifically listed in the Bill of Rights, and held up repeatedly in the courts (Hello DC v. Heller).

It's a situation where there are two classes, the haves and have nots. If you aren't politically connected in NJ, NY, CA, etc - good luck. If you exercise these rights, you will end up in a prison cell.

Even places like PA - a very gun friendly state - this is working its way through the courts for other reasons. For example, in Philadelphia they have closed the permitting office repeatedly for COVID, bystepping the law which requires them to issue a permit in 45 days, by simply not accepting applications.

That's America.

I can only hope the SCOTUS will take up new cases on this.


> For example, in Philadelphia they have closed the permitting office repeatedly for COVID, bystepping the law which requires them to issue a permit in 45 days, by simply not accepting applications.

This was a HUGE deal in the PA gun community, and I simply cannot understand why.

1. PA extended the expiration date on existing permits that expired after February until Dec 31. It was only new permits requests where the delay actually effected anyone.

2. The delays weren't specific to guns. Government offices closed and then opened at reduced capacity. This also happened for DLs.

3. The remedy provided by the state was also not specific to guns. Again, e.g., expiring driver's licenses were extended.

4. The state's choice not to prioritize streamlining this paperwork was reasonable. It had huge budget shortfalls and more important things to worry about (acquiring/distributing PPE, acquiring/distributing respirators, high unemployment, evictions, running elections, finding overflow space for hospitals, moving schools to remote, figuring out how to safely open up service businesses/schools, and the list goes on...)

5. To the extent that streamlining paper work should have been a larger priority, given the severe stress on logistics networks, I'd imagine CDLs would be the place to spend those limited resources rather than CCW applications.

So, an unavoidable delay happened in LOTS of government processes -- only one of which was CCW issuance -- and the government provided uniform remediation to help partially mitigate the impact of delays in all of those processes.

No one was coming for anyone's guns.

TBH the foaming-at-the-mouth response to unavoidable reasonable delays in processing concealed carry permits during a public health emergency is the sort of thing that makes me (a gun owner) feel completely antagonistic toward the PA 2A advocacy community.


> I simply cannot understand why anyone gives a damn about this.

Because I currently cannot get a LCTF from the city. That's why I give a damn. It is currently effecting me. I had no need for that before corona virus, I do need one now.

Bucks county is issuing it in 15 minutes. Philly does a whole interview process which goes beyond a basic NICS check and they have chosen to be poorly staffed for a very long time.

Again, they set up a complicated process for applications, then shut it down, all of which is of their own (the cities) volition.

It's not reasonable delays. There are people who don't have their appointment until December, 2021. more than a year out.

Anyway, it's all really arguing something that should be moot - A persons right should not depend on the government service choosing to open its office.


> Because I currently cannot get a LCTF from the city... I had no need for that before corona virus, I do need one now.

I'm not questioning that you really do need a LTCF, but with COVID and the protests and the election suddenly everyone "needs" a gun.

So there's reduced capacity + HUGE surge in demand + severe budget shortfalls. It's not a conspiracy. It's just queuing theory.

> Bucks county is issuing it in 15 minutes. Philly does a whole interview process which goes beyond a basic NICS check and they have chosen to be poorly staffed for a very long time.

Allegheny is far less onerous than Philly but also has long wait times.

Also, these super long wait times are a relatively recent development. I expect Sheriff's offices will do what they can to address the problem in the new FY.

> Anyway, it's all really arguing something that should be moot - A persons right should not depend on the government service choosing to open its office.

Again, priorities. Tell that to the people waiting in jail for far longer than constitutionally permissible for hearings because of delays in the courts. Should we reallocate cash from judicial processes to CCW processes and have those folks wait in jail an extra few months so that folks who got all jittery a few months before the election can forget to show up to their CCW appointments?


It's interesting, because with a financial incentive, stores have no problem running NICS checks in a few short minutes.

I am uninterested in the government itself creating onerous requirements to execute basic rights and then complaining when they can't manage it in a reasonable time.

And of course, the courts have ruled there is a reasonable amount of time, that's 45 days. It's been litigated.


> with a financial incentive

I guess it doesn't need saying, but government offices have no such incentive. In fact, we don't want government offices to have such an incentive, and we even make it illegal to construct such an incentive in certain ways. See: the article.

> the courts have ruled there is a reasonable amount of time, that's 45 days. It's been litigated.

Courts don't control purse strings, and the remedy you're asking for here is pretty extreme given the circumstances.


A right delayed is a right denied. And it's not just queues, apparently. It's the office is closed. The line isn't moving.


The office was closed back in March when pretty much everything was closed. AFAIK it's been open for months, but there's an enormous backlog because the backlog + reduced capacity (need to do everything by appointment for social distancing and keep appointment slots large enough to ensure physical queues don't form) + increased demand.

People are queuing for hours to get COVID tests, hospitals are reaching capacity, and people are rotting in prison because they can't get an appointment in front of a judge. In normal times I would be more sympathetic. There are greater injustices than waiting a few months for your LTCF, and more important forms of justice (habeas corpus) being delayed.


I suspect the other commenter’s point is that they thing there should not be any procedural requirements whatsoever for concealed carry.


This is one reason why there should be no permitting, just unrestricted carry.


I'll throw out a few things , even though I don't know much about PA. In some places if your permit expires you are now a criminal and breaking the law, which may put your ability to own any firerms at risk, so staying in compliance is a huge deal. Also, lapses in permits may submit you to a whole new round of scrutiny when you reapply. Often, the fees we pay for these permits are meant to fund the work to issue them. It isn't uncommon for those fees to get diverted elsewhere, so now we paid for services we aren't receiving. These things have happened to firearms owners so we are hypersensitized to these issues.


"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."


I don’t think the fact that something is an “essential right” implies that’s it’s okay to commit bribery or other crimes during the procedural steps to exercise that right. Presumably it ought to be illegal to bribe a government official to move your court date up, even though the right to a speedy trial is also protected by the bill of rights.


Given that major strides against Gun Control were originally performed by Ronald Reagan in California ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act ), I have trouble imagining a Conservative Supreme Court will take a textualist perspective on gun control laws, despite their political leaning and assumptions here.

edit: I can't spell :/


Yep, this is one of the best examples of the racism that underlies a large amount of gun control. For other examples, see the laws targeting Saturday-night specials, or even the army/navy laws in the Jim Crow south. Today we're seeing much of this repeated with increased paperwork requirements, taxes, and price increases. Regulatory requirements and ATF overreach decreases supply and helps move affordable firearms out of reach for many working-class or poor Americans. Many people are concerned by increased voting requirements preventing people from voting, but fail to understand that these regulations do the same for gun rights. Or maybe they do, and it's intentional.

Reagan did a whole lot worse than this. He signed the Hughes Amendment, which cut off the supply of new, civilian-transferrable machine guns. I just can't understand how anyone likes the guy in spite of the awful things he did to gun rights. The Republican party is only somewhat less awful for gun rights than the Democrats.


Similar tactics when it comes to voter's rights/vote suppression. This is where the brain breaking schism happens. Same tools used to restrict vitally important freedoms, but the political divide will rabidly endorse one but fight the other. They are all attacks on freedom and democracy.


Basically whataboutism at this point. The conceal carry movement has grown leaps and bounds since the 70's and DC v. Heller wasn't until 2008.


Less "whataboutism" and more "the ship for undoing (arguably) unconstitutional gun control laws has long, long sailed and we're never getting those rights back."

I suppose we _might_ get changes to the CCW laws; but, anything more complicated than that is never returning in the United States.


DC v. Heller specifically in the Decision text does not support or go against CCW laws or prohibitions, rather leaving those to the existing state and federal laws. It was a finding against a ban on private holding and keeping of firearms, and of keeping firearms in the home in a state easily fired.


Keep an eye on Young v Hawaii in the coming months. Should be interesting.


If you know that much, you know that Heller and McDonald do not address arms outside the home :)


I'm an SRE/SRM in the mid six-figures range, but I've had some experiences like anyone else.

I love it when they give you "homework" that they just forget about. They asked me about numerous technologies, and I went to explain them, but wasn't given a chance. The CTO poo-pooed my résumé like it was difficult to read. He must've felt threatened and so sabotage my shot. They ushered me out the door almost like throwing me out by security; so incredibly rude. I didn't get the job obviously but they later asked me to interview again but I told them to "fuck right off." No, you don't get a second chance to unprofessionally dis me, and I won't work with or for such narcissistic slave-drivers. I didn't care about my rep in this instance because they're clowns who would never amount to anything. Don't be unprofessional, even if someone else is.

A few weeks later, I got a $10k/week consulting contract for a funded startup already in acquihire talks.

Don't settle for BS or bend-over backwards for jerks because it will just get worse. It's not worth your mental health.


Homework was already the signal - you can't expect better treatment from the places that start with it.

Note: i'm not arguing about efficiency of homework - it is probably higher than that of short puzzles, yet there is such an asymmetry in it, that any minimally respectful place wouldn't do it despite the supposed higher efficiency.


As a junior SRE, I'm going to need details on how you got to these pay and consulting levels ;-)


It is not easy but it can be straightforward: get into a FAANG company and find a good team you can grow in. Source: am a FAANG SRE.

I also have free community office hours, feel free to sign up if you want to chat at length: https://temikus.net/office-hours


I taught myself for a long time before breezing through a reputable EE/CS program. I always did both software dev and sysadmin. I worked up at numerous big-name shops and universities in multiple fields, starting at 15.5 yo. (I should've lied about my age at 15 to get an IBM Almaden dark matter paid internship job offer, but I was too honest.) I worked on a nuclear reactor simulator, industrial embedded navigation systems, biomedical informatics, HPC, app virtualization startup with a guest driver, email startup, numerous web/internet companies, and sales engineering and consulting.

The most important part is to never get lazy by always keeping skills current, never accepting something is impossible and roll up sleeves to dig deep. Do what other people won't, i.e., confirm/refute root causes with evidence rather than shrugging.


Sensory deprivation. It works.

Basically, reduce all forms of stimulus and let your mind space-out without any intention.


Yes. Separation between church and state (and wealth and mass media and journalism and politics)

Civil marriage and some wills should be replaced with a property and next of kin registered document. This way, any number and type of people can formally-declare what they want to do with property and health, financial, and total power of attorney. Insurance companies and other service products can then determine who is eligible to share benefits based on if someone is listed as a partner or beneficiary, or not. No more titles, relations, or mandates about who is what or how into two boxes: just beneficiaries and partners.

A couple have a kid? No problem.

Two women want to get hitched? Easy.

Three dudes want to live polyamorously and be "married?" Cool. (Obviously, can't let 30 people in a commune share the benefits of one worker.)

A dude and a trans girl? Fine.

The same document solves some problems of inheritance too when it can obviate the need for executors in simple estates.

Telling people who they can love, share their lives with, and depend on goes against individual freedoms.


Hello ad blocker my old friend

I've come to enable you again

Because an ad softly shouting

Left its seeds while I was watching

And the headache, that was planted in my brain... still remains

Within the sound of content

In restless dreams of unskippable ads I walked alone.

Narrow windows of portrait mode

Neath the halo of dark mode

I turned my brightness to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon ad

That split the night

And touched the sound, of content.


I agree in general. Special days for a group seems like a subtle dig rather than genuine gratitude. Plus, aren't there underdog groups like homeless, speech disfluent, ADD, sex workers, struggling immigrants, seriously depressed, bipolar, schizophrenics, absolutely banished sex offenders who can't get housing or work, and dyslexics who need more awareness?


There are plenty of problems that are unique to men, whether that fits your narrative or not. Vastly higher suicide rates, vastly higher workplace deaths, widespread infant male genital mutilation even in developed countries, selective service, court bias (criminal, divorce, and custody), lower life expectancy, vastly higher war casualty rates. Is it really that upsetting to you for these issues to take the spotlight in the context of masculinity for one day a year?

By the way, most of those groups you listed already have awareness days.


>whether that fits your narrative or not.

Why are you immediately lowering the bar of the conversation to petty insults?


Because the bar was already lowered. Hiding disingenuity behind civility doesn't make it any less petty.


International Journalist's Remembrance Day

World Toilet Day

International Men's Day

Citizen's Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_secular_observan...


I don't believe any identity group needs a day because can come across as trite and patronizing. Golden Rule, gratitude, and go forth.


It can be used as an easy PR move to shine a spotlight on some group specific issues, like prostate cancer or breast cancer or etc.

It doesn't have to be negative 'we demand stuff for our group' day.


Yes. Two things might be conflated: innate attribute (ie, biological gender) and awareness (ie, type of cancer). A mother's day#, aunt's day, or a men's day seems to subtly poke at how a group is taken for granted; that doesn't mean they need a day or special help.

I get every PR means can help as part of a holistic strategy for awareness.

# Maybe mostly commercial inventions.


BTW, Whatever happened to DARPA's EXACTO?


I had to buy brakleen, candle wax, candle dye, distilled water, ethylene glycol, dish soap, food coloring, and a capping machine to fix mine. What a PITA. Old lava lamps bought off eBay. I should've just hit the refresh button and waited.


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