Happy New Year!

By the time you read this, it will be 2023!

Happy New Year to all.

May we all have a better year in 2023 than in 2022, and may we meet all the goals we have set for ourselves for 2023.

Happy End Of 2022!

On the plus side, as of today, I now assuredly have enough money to live on for the rest of the year.

Other pluses for the year include some accomplishments both personal and familial.

On the personal front for the year the major news was that I got a new hip. 

Downside is the recovery is still taking much longer than expected and the muscles around it still hurt quite a bit.  Still, it hurts less than the arthritis and my range of motion is much improved, but I do wish the muscles would settle down and stop hurting as a daily affair.

On the flying front, I got my instrument ticket and flew quite a bit even after being off for months recovering from the hip surgery and got to fly to quite a few places I've never been before.

On the shooting front, I attended three shooting classes, and took part in multiple competitions. As a result I suck just a little bit less at shooting than I did at the end of 2021.

Familial side, eldest daughter is now at the University, has taken to it like a duck to water, and has finished the first semester of her freshman year, and younger child is prepping for her ACTs.

Work definitely had its ups and downs, but is ending acceptably this year though not quite as well as I would like.  On the upside, the pro per plaintiff and third-party defendant in the case keep adding much hilarity to the process, including filing some really moronic stuff today, including that pro-per plaintiff did an ex-parte communication to the court which is a no-no. You can't send emails to the court and not let the other side know you're doing it, you moron, and even better concluding that email in a reply brief as an exhibit is hilarious.

So yep, overall on a personal level,  2022 while certainly there was room for improvement, was not all that bad.

Playing With Sharks Part 7 - And The Number Of Days Of Thy Counting Shall Be 7, 13 Is Right Out

Welcome to yet another installment of the pro per case that never ends,

As related in part 6, I won a major tactical victory by excluding the testimony of the Plaintiff's girlfriend after she refused to testify.

The problem now lies in getting the order entered.

Courts speak through their written orders and this Court instead of simply taking in an order a the end of the hearing or issuing one itself, requires that either the parties jointly submit the order after a hearing, or that it is entered under the 7 day rule, where a party may object within 7 days if they don't like the order.

Therein lies the rub.

Since they weren't even present at the hearing they can't really object to the order.

They do so anyways, and claim the hearing never actually occurred.

Of course they do so wrongly and not in conformance with the court rules and I do a response pointing out it is defective, and there was indeed a hearing, and they were not just served with it and the notice of hearing but even responded to it and just failed to show up and their objections should be rejected forthwith.

Of course it is now the holidays and the courts are in slow mode.

So what does Plaintiff and his girlfriend do?

They file new objections last night,  kinda sorta fixing the errors I pointed out (but making some new ones too) but still claiming the hearing was never held.

They file this 13 days after the order was submitted.

13 is greater than 7.

So I need to do a response and will be asking for sanctions as this is beyond ridiculous.

A Very Merry Christmas To My Christian Friends And Readers

May you all enjoy and celebrate the holiday with peace, warmth, and among family and friends.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

When Inmates Take Over The Asylum And Then Try To Sue

Apparently, it is now considered by some to be a lack of deescalation problem when a police officer fails to do something other than shooting someone in the act of trying to shoot the officer.

As I had written about the Dearborn Suicide-by-Cop incident, "There have been no protests yet that the Police should have used a social worker in this instance, but as in a recent incident in Detroit that may yet happen."

Sure enough, and it didn't take long, the family in this incident is now protesting and claiming that police should have "deescalated the situation" and hired a lawyer to try and get a payday out of their family member's criminal acts:

The Detroit Free Press: Dearborn police station shooting: New details about man killed by officer, how it happened

Attorney Amir Makled, retained by Naji's family, has acknowledged the threat Naji posed when he pointed the gun at the officer. But Makled argues the killing could have been avoided with proper implementation of police deescalation protocols.

"Officers are trained to and should be skilled at recognizing mental health crises. The deceased was not in a state to know right from wrong," Makled said.

 "At what point did police know that there was someone in the lobby with a firearm? Did they give (Naji) the opportunity and time to comply with the demands of law enforcement? At what point were law enforcement in immediate threat if there's bullet-proof glass? This is what we're trying to find out."

Let's remember for a moment that Naji was shot while he was pointing a gun at an officer and had pulled the trigger. 

Police Officers, if made to adopt this ridiculous standard suggested by his attorney, would be in an impossible situation.

If someone is pointing a gun at you and pulling the trigger, you're somehow supposed to in a nanosecond evaluate if they're having a mental health crisis - as if this implies someone with a mental health crisis is somehow less of a threat when committing a deadly act - and then apparently try to talk them down while they're trying to kill you?

Sounds like an eminently sensible standard right there, then aagin there has yet been any proof provided that Naji even was diagnosed with a mental illness at the time he committed his act of attempted murder.

What next?  Perhaps demanding that Police Officers must be shot first before they can shoot back?

I daresay the attorneys for Naji have jumped the shark in their misbegotten quest to get the family a payday.

Just A Little Jan 6 Committee Irony

A bit of weirdness out of the January 6 Committee report regarding Ryan Kelly, a Michigan Republican politician that was running for Governor in the 2022 election, was present Jan 6 and running for office and thus arrested by the FBi on misdemeanor charges to hamper his gubernatorial run - nothing at all political about that, of course.

Here's where it gets a tad interesting: The Detroit News: Under oath, Ryan Kelley refused to identify himself in Jan. 6 videos

The Detroit News story, and the committee report, is all agog and aghast that Ryan Kelly refused to identify before the committee if a video did in fact show him at the Capitol doing stupid stuff.

Now, Kelly did sorta, kinda, take the Fifth before the Committee on that quesiton, but not exactly correctly, as you can read in the article. But, regardless, he refused to answer the question to identify if the person on the video was him all the same. 

So, there's all this umbrage about the failure of Kelly to identify himself by a committee official.

So, now that you have the background, the story gives a nice bit of irony:

"Mr. Kelley, how would answering that question impede your ability to peaceably assemble? It's a video of a thing that happened more than a year ago," an official with the U.S. House committee asked him at one point during the exchange.

Later, an official with the U.S. House committee said Kelley was stating his "opinion of what the Fifth Amendment is."

"But I will again note for the record that the witness has refused to answer the question, and he's refused to raise a recognized privilege as a reason for refusing to answer the question," the official said.

The official's name was redacted in the transcript.

Yep,  all this outrage over Kelly's failure to identify himself, and the "official" asking that line of questions has been redacted and unidentified in the report and their identity is a complete mystery.

You can't make that kind of irony up.

News of The Weird: Rectum? It Damn Near Killed Him!

In news from France today, it does turn out that French 88-year-olds can not only get frisky in a weird way, but that anything can indeed be a sex toy if you're brave or crazy enough.

Fox 10: Hospital evacuated over elderly man with explosive lodged in his rectum 

A French hospital was reportedly evacuated after an 88-year-old arrived with an artillery shell lodged in his rectum.

...

The French publication Var-Matin reported the elderly man had a World War I artillery shell partially inside him.
...

The shell was about eight inches long and two inches wide.

Not to sure what his explanation will be, perhaps confusing the artillery shell with the nearby bidet perhaps?

Well, the shell was older than he was, so at least there were no age of consent issues involved. The shell was successfully removed and defused if not defunked.

Verily, some people may love artillery just a little too much.

Surprise: Not Only Do Michigan Roads Suck, But The Quality Control Does Too!

Well, surprising no one really, there's a very cozy relationship between the state road agency and the contractors that "fix" the damn roads.

That cozy relationship extends to a lack of competent quality testing, resulting in you guessed it - roads that don't even meet the already low quality standards in this state.

The Detroit Free Press: MDOT fails to ensure quality of gravel used in Michigan road projects, audit shows

I mean, our current road construction and quality standards are great - if this state was Georgia.  

For Michigan, however, with our winters even our current standards are not enough, and the state can't or will not even enforce those basic standards. 

So much for Gov. "Fix the damn roads" Whitmer - it's now over four years and she can't even ensure her own agency is holding the (union) road construction companies to the bare minimums, or her own state agencies to do their own damn jobs.

This is but one of the reasons why Michigan has some of the highest gas taxes and spending on roads, and yet continues to have some of the worst roads in the nation.

Dearborn Suicide By Cop Incident

This incident that occurred on Sunday had a bit of twist on the more typical suicide by cop incidents.  

While all such incidents are terrible as they require the Police to take a life in order to protect themselves, the idiot at least made it somewhat more convenient for the police, as he came to them rather than having them called out to go to him.

Detroit Free Press: Police say Dearborn man pointed gun at officer, pulled trigger, but it failed to fire

A Dearborn man who was shot to death in the lobby of the city's police department Sunday suffered from mental illness and tried to shoot directly at an officer — but the gun failed to fire, police said.

He pointed a stolen 9mm pistol at a police officer and pulled the trigger, but the gun malfunctioned, Lt. Mike Shaw, a Michigan State Police spokesperson, told the Free Press on Monday.

The Dearborn man was then shot by the officer multiple times.

“He was trying to kill a police officer, or whoever was in that lobby at that time," Shaw said.

The man's family identified him as Ali Naji, 33.

So, he apparently stole a handgun earlier that day, and likely didn't know how to use it, which turned out to be a very good thing in this instance.  The police officer then demonstrated the appropriate technique and properly ended the threat.

There have been no protests yet that the Police should have used a social worker in this instance, but as in a recent incident in Detroit that may yet happen.

No, Don't Do That

A completely avoidable death from lousy gun-handling:

The Detroit Free Press: Man kills himself in Hamtramck parking lot, police say it was an accident

As the news notes, a man sitting in his car prior to heading into a marijuana store managed to shoot himself in the leg while removing his handgun from his holster. While he missed the draw, he likely successfully hit the femoral artery and he subsequently bled out.

We will leave for the moment that if he's using marijuana, he cannot under federal law posses a firearm, regardless of the fact that the electric lettuce is now legal in Michigan.  Federally that's still a no-no. We will also note that marijuana use tends to make you less than fully present at times.

My bet is the marijuana store had a no-firearms policy which is why he was trying to remove the firearm from his person.  I'd also bet he had on a flimsy nylon type holster and he managed to depress the trigger while trying to pull out his firearm while seated, with tragic results.

Quick Tip:  Have your handgun in a good quality holster that covers the trigger.  Then, if you're removing your firearm in a car,  or anywhere else for that matter, remove it and the holster together.  

Don't take it out of the holster, keep it in the holster with the trigger covered in nice solid kydex (or high quality leather in good condition if that strikes your fancy). There is no need to remove the gun from the holster when you are out and about unless your life or someone else's life is in imminent danger.  

Keep the gun where it belongs - in the holster.  The life you save may be your own.

Happy Hanukkah 2022!

Happy Hanukkah 2022!

The celebration of Hanukkah has officially begun.  The Hanukkiah has been lit, latkes have been made and eaten, and presents presented.

 Not a bad start to the Hanukkah festivities and this holiday season.

May the light of freedom shine brightly for all in the upcoming year.

Hassan Yehia Chokr Gets Federal Charges

On top of the Ethnic Intimidation charge at the State level, and his outstanding felony case in Wayne County, he's managed to get attention from the federal level.

In addition to state charges, Islamic-Warrior-Wanna-Be Hassan Yehia Chokr just picked up a federal felony charge for lying on a Form 4473:

The Detroit News: Dearborn man accused of antisemitic threats now faces federal charge

Hassan Yehia Chokr, 35, was charged with lying on a federal firearms form when he tried to buy a shotgun, rifle, and a semi-automatic pistol at Dearborn Outdoors on Dec. 2, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Detroit. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison.

Likely, I expect the charge is because he failed to answer yes to his being already under indictment for a felony charge in Wayne County, in which case he has added to his list of already exemplary respect for the judicial system by mooning the judge at his Wayne County hearing. 

Clearly, Chokr has failed to read how to Win Friends and Influence People.  As a result, he's now bail revoked in that case, so even if he gets out of Oakland County Jail on bind, he'll end up being transported to the Wayne County Jail.

Nice to see they're actually prosecuting a criminal for lying on a 4473 Form. Would that this was a regular occurrence.

It sure looks like this guy was about to go past death threats to a full-on attack, so he got stopped just in time.

But Muh Raights!

Call from a potential client:

His adult kid was driving a pickup truck, license suspended, for forgetting to pay a ticket. Big Ooops #1.

He was pulled over and kid happens to have a handgun in the unlocked glove box. Big Ooops #2.

He gets arrested and charged with both DWLS and a CCW violation.

He has no Concealed Pistol License because, you see, they don't believe in CPLs, they believe in the Constitution [yes that's his emphasis right there].

I'm sure you can see where this is going.

I note that while I, too, love and believe in the Constitution, Michigan law is really clear that it requires him to either choose to have a CPL, or not have the pistol in the glove-box, and he's now facing a 5-year felony. 

Based on the information provided, it sounds like they have the kid dead to rights (so to speak), and damage control is now needed.

Dad is like, "Well what about the Constitution, we have the right to bear arms and that's what should be argued!"

That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works.

That argument has been made before and lost many times before by others. Michigan law is real clear, crystal clear, that you cannot have a pistol in the glove-box of your vehicle if you don't have a CPL. Period. Flippin' Dot. Full Stop. Go To Jail. Do Not Pass Go.

I stated I can't make that argument in court because it is a losing argument and I know it is a losing argument. To even try and make that losing untenable argument is thus malpractice.  If I make it, his kid is going to end up with a felony on his record and probably some jail time which would not be a happy-making result.

Not what he wanted to hear, so nope, not being retained on that one.

Nailed It.

Not in a good way either:

That doth suck.

Quite a large nail, but interestingly, it held pressure pretty good and did not deflate the tire. 

 I only saw it when refilling all the tires as a cold snap made the low pressure light come on and all tires had dropped in pressure and it was face up staring at me as I came to fill the tire.

Sadly, it is apparently not a repairable nailing incident, and the tire needs to be replaced, which means replacing two tires as that tire model is no longer manufactured.

Highly Recommended Reading

While at the conference last week, I was able to see a presentation by Chris Voss.

Mr. Voss is the former top hostage/kidnapping negotiator for the FBI.  To say he has been there and done that is an understatement.  He has a wealth of techniques for effectively communicating and negotiating as well as lots of captivating stories that demonstrate each of his points.

He's a riveting speaker with a great manner, sense of humor, and immense knowledge that he imparts in a very effective teaching style. 

He notes that kidnapping is a business, with the commodity being human bodies and generally follows a business approach in many ways. Effective negotiation techniques do carry over to not just business but everyday life, whether talking with a spouse, child, opposing counsel, or potential client.

He's also the author of Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

To say it is a great book is an understatement.  The techniques he discussed on the presentation are outlined, exemplified, and expounded upon in the book.

Yes, I got an autographed copy:

I've already read it once, and am reading it now for a second time as the book is full of material and techniques to be absorbed and tried.  Yes, the techniques do work, especially with practice.

One amazing idea is to not make the other side say yes, but instead to have them say no.  Seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? 

But, as he explains, it really does work and leads to effective negotiation, rather than a "yes" that really means "quit bugging me" or "quit being a manipulative salesman".

An absolutely fantastic presentation, and the book is top-notch, and highly recommended.  I've already learned a lot and changed some of my methods in response to the techniques in the book. 

Even if you think you never do any negotiation, everything you do in life does contain elements of negotiation - whether with you spouse, kid or others, and this book helps you communicate more effectively. 

The book is very much worth reading and you'll more than recover the time invested in it in improvements in your communication and results.

A World Cup Soccer First

Did you hear that history was made at the World Cup this year?

Since I'm not a soccer fan, this did not get my attention until now.

NPR: The first all-female referee team makes history at the World Cup

Yes, it was a historic moment having an all-female ref squad for the Costa Rica v. Germany game. 

This really affected the game-play because:

Not only were these referees calling penalties that occurred during the game, they were penalizing the teams for what they did in past games over the last 20 years, too!

Playing With Sharks Part 6 - Sometimes, The Rules Actually Apply To Pro Per Parties

 T'was a good day in court this morning.

In the never-ending case of the Pro-Per Plaintiff and Pro-Per Third-Party Defendant against my client, I made a significant tactical victory.

You see the Pro Per Third-Party Defendant, girlfriend -- and now wife -- of the pro-per plaintiff who we pulled into the case basically on the theory that if the Plaintiff gets anything against my client, she is liable to indemnify my client for any loss.

When I took Pro Per Third-Party Defendant's Deposition, she decided to get cute and refuse to answer a number of questions, claiming privilege because they are now married.

I did note then that that is not how it works as they weren't married at the time, and I wasn't even asking about communications but even observations of his claimed health status. I did ask about communications as well, and got blocked there too.

No that's not how the privilege works, but fine, go ahead and not answer then.

So I did a motion that argued per the court rules she can't change her  ind and now talk about that stuff at trial:

A party who claims a privilege at a deposition may not at the trial offer the testimony of the deponent pertaining to the evidence objected to at the deposition.

So, since she refused to answer at the deposition, I file the motion and argue she can't testify at trial to everything she refused to testify to at deposition and attach the pages of the deposition transcript showing her refusing to answer and claiming privilege. 

She then files a reply claiming I'm lying and she didn't refuse to answer, and she didn't really understand what she was doing by raising privilege, and who is the court gonna believe: Her or the Court's own lyin' eyes reading the transcript?

For those who are interested, the legal version of "Bitch, please" is "The Third-Party Defendant is being rather disingenuous".

 As in "Third-Party Defendant is being rather disingenuous when she now claims in her response that she did not raise privilege and refuse to answer when the transcript of her deposition clearly shows her refusing to answer and stating on multiple occasions "I'm refusing, also privilege" (Ex A p.#); "I'm not waiving privilege"Ex A p.#); and "I'm not going to answer, privilege" (Ex A p.#).

The Court decided to side with my argument, the law, and it's own eyes over the Pro-Pers, about time.

So, the Court actually held one of the Pro-Pers to the rules and now you can't testify to anything she refused to answer during the deposition. This really puts a hole in their case as they don't have much in the way of witnesses to testify to his alleged condition, and it pretty much knocks her out as a witness for him, but keeps her in nicely for our claim against her. Going to be a lot harder for him to present his case as a result.

This trial is gonna be lit.

Flying Doggo!

Returning from a work conference in Tampa yesterday, I saw a Doggo on the plane as I was getting off back in DTW.

Said doggo was very calm and well behaved the whole flight, and walked happily through the terminal after deplaning.

The flight back to Detroit started off on quite a funny note and was a reminder that yes, you were on a flight to Detroit.

The steward doing the passenger boarding announcement stated it was a very full flight.

The Detroit specific part:

He then stated that everyone should put their put their bags in the overhead bins on their sides like a book going back on a bookshelf to fit, and there’s a diagram inside the bin if you’ve never seen a bookshelf.  Ouch.

The Biden Admin's WNBA-Level Negotiation Performance

The only WNBA trade to raise anyone's interest, is that of Anti-American druggy Brittney Griner for Russian Arms Dealer Extraordinaire Viktor Bout.

American Paul Whelan (falsely accused and convicted of Espionage) was not part of the deal and is still left behind in Russia. Interestingly according to NBC apparent Russia offered one or the other and then NBC edited that this offer had occurred.

Apparently the Biden Administration asked nicely for Whelan to be released, Russia said "No", and Biden apparently said "Ok then".

Biden said: “Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up ”

"We will never give up" he says, while giving up by trading away the best leverage the US had in the deal by not insisting Whelan be included for Bout as Bout clearly has a higher value than Griner, and indeed more than Griner and Whelan combined.

As a result, there was a  trade of a high-value infamous international arms dealer with blood on his hands and a tool of Russian foreign policy for an avowed anti-American, intersectional, progressive, drug-using, and mediocre ball player to win domestic popularity points.

Biden's negotiators clearly missed out on their negotiation 101 skills and were playing checkers as the Russians played chess or just wanted a quick success for domestic consumption while losing their main chance at freeing Whelan.

So, any one know if there are other Russian criminal masterminds with ties to the Russian regime in American jails at the moment?

Training Jiu Jitsu: Hoodie Choke Week

This is a very fun week at the training center.

Hoodie choke week happens once a year.  

Instead of wearing Gis or the standard no-Gi outfits, you show up wearing a hoodie along with your Gi pants.  

Showing up while wearing only a hoodie would make people a tad concerned, just sayin'.

As the name implies, you're gonna get choked with your hoodie when you're playing the attacker.

The Hoodie acts as a rope and you can control someone's movements via their hood, and it gives your arms some nice leverage to effect chokes on an attacker.  Note that these are blood chokes - cutting off blood to the brain, rather than air chokes where you prevent people from breathing. 

So last night, we got to practice chokes on attackers from various positions (standing, mount, guard, backmount, and sidemount) and much fun was had by all. Hoodies give tons of opportunities for both controlling and choking an attacker wearing a hoodie.

I expect it would be most disheartening for an attacker wearing a hoodie to attack someone and then get choked out by their own clothing.

More fun to look forward to as hoodie choke week continues.

More On The Moron Hassan Yehia Chokr

Well, anti-semite Hassan Yehia Chokr flunked the First Rule of Arraignments.

The First Rule of Arraignments:  Don't threaten the judge, nor call her names.

By doing so he failed to both win friends and influence people in a positive way.

Detroit Free Press: Police: Dearborn suspect told people at Michigan synagogue they were 'going to die'

A Dearborn man charged in an antisemitic attack at a historic synagogue in Bloomfield Township remained in custody Monday afternoon after a magistrate set a bond of $1 million at an arraignment where the suspect shouted derogatory and anti-Jewish remarks at the magistrate.

It turns out Chokr on top of his latest threats, has an open and ongoing felony case for assault with a dangerous weapon and assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer dating to 2019 that is finally heading towards a pretrial finally this month in Wayne County.

He also has one heckuva long record with the Dearborn District Court - Over 30 cases including both civil infractions and misdemeanors dating back years.

So, he ended up with a million dollar cash surety bond, so he'll likely get to spend some more time in jail accordingly.

Stupid Criminals - Young Dumb & Broke

This also could have been titled:  Is that a gun in your pocket and now you;re not happy to see me?

Fox 2 Detroit:  14-year-old caught with gun after asking MSP trooper for bus info

A 14-year-old from Detroit asked a Michigan State trooper for help determining when a bus would arrive - only to be caught with a loaded 9mm, according to MSP. 

. . .

the trooper offered a ride, which was accepted.
The trooper asked for a pat down before giving him a ride in his car - which was agreed upon.
That's when the loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson was found in his waistband.

Yes, he not only approached a state trooper while carrying illegally and being in the commission of a nice 5-year felony, he then accepted a ride and a pat down while doing so.  The ride certainly didn't end up going where he likely intended it to end. 

Not sure how the kid is going to live this one down, really. That has to mess with your street cred.

Bloomfield Antisemitic Incident Nicely Downplayed By Local Media

On Friday December 2, a fellow in a white van drove into the parking lot of Temple Beth El Synagogue, while kids were being let out of religious school, and apparently started shouting such pleasantries according to people who were present, as "Death to the Jews"; "Kanye was right"; and that perennial favorite "Death to Israel".

Temple security responded, and police were contacted. 

Bloomfield Township Police stopped and identified him and then let him go.

News reports have actually underplayed this activity as  "arguing about the support of Israel" which is a rather quaint if not absolutely BS way to describe the event.

However, "arguing about the support of Israel", even on private property not your own, doesn't get you criminally charged, and now he has been, and is now identified and charged with ethnic intimidation:  Hassan Yehia Chokr, 35 of Dearborn, Michigan.

Local 4: Man charged with ethnic intimidation after antisemitic incident at Bloomfield Hills synagogue

Oakland County Prosecutor, Karen McDonald, says the charges stem from the 35-year-old making antisemitic and racist threats to parents, young children, and security personnel at a preschool and synagogue. 

Yep, that's not "arguing about the support of Israel" at all, now is it?

Well, he is now getting the pleasure of spending the rest of the weekend in the Oakland County jail pending arraignment.

Apparently they finally decided to charge him after they found he posted a video of his actions online which apparently doesn't support the just "arguing about Israel" line at all.  Can't find the video yet and it appears he or someone else may have locked down his social media accounts some time after doing so.

Update:  Found his Instagram account with some interesting videos on it:  https://www.instagram.com/freedomfighterhassan/

There's A Reason They Call Them S-Hole Countries

So picture this scenario:

You're a Canadian flight crew about to depart from the Dominican Republic with your passengers. During your pre-flight walk-around, you find someone has shoved eight duffel bags full of cocaine into the avionics bay.

Not only is this hella illegal, it is rather dangerous. The avionics bay is not for cargo and shoving those bags in there creates a fire hazard not to mention the potential for damage and interference to systems that keep the aircraft on course and flying.

So you do the right thing and inform the Dominican authorities and the RCMP about the cocaine.

The result is all your flight crew gets arrested and then held for almost 8 months in the Dominican Republic.

They then were released not from Canadian government pressure, or say the Dominican Republic completing its investigation. Instead the case was dropped when a CTV news crew came to the DR and started asking questions.  

The Flight Crew was apparently not even interviewed once in the over 7 months they were held.

Kudos to CTV's W5 news team for getting their fellow Canadians released.

CTV: Pivot Airlines crew back in Canada after being trapped in Dominican Republic since spring

Early Accident Analysis - That's Not What They Mean When They Say Contact Tower

The accident in which the Mooney caught the three-wire, along with the rest of the Tower,  in Gaithersburg, Maryland drew quite a bit of attention given its rather rare occurrence of the plane hitting the tower, remaining intact, and both occupants surviving the incident.

There is an early analysis courtesy of AOPA which is rather interesting:

In short, the pilot was flying IFR, doing an RNAV 14 approach and had clear issues both getting onto the appropriate heading to reach the initial fix and then handling after hitting the final approach fix.  With weather conditions below minimums and some windshear, the pilot descended below the RNAV vertical guidance and seemed to be off laterally as well to strike the tower.

Apparently, There Is A New And Exclusive Exemption To Michigan's Concealed Carry Laws

The State of Michigan provides for a nominally 5-year felony if you happen to unlawfully carry a firearm concealed without a concealed pistol license (or unless you have another exemption, but let's not race down that rabbit-hole right now).

There appears however to be a neat new exemption from full and final enforcement of this law when you're caught violating it.

Apparently it is unwritten so far in the statutes, but it is now colloquially known as the College Ball Player Exemption.

The Detroit News: Mazi Smith, Michigan defensive lineman, charged with carrying concealed weapon

The Detroit Free Press:Michigan football's Mazi Smith will 'continue to participate' on team despite felony charge

Yes, Wolverine football star Mazi Smith was caught riding dirty with a pistol and no CPL and no driver's license for that matter.

Given this happened in Washtenaw County, home of the UofM and a very progressive and very anti-gun prosecutor, who is publicly all about taking illegal guns off the streets, stopping gun violence, etc, you'd think the law might be enforced to its fullest for such a slam dunk "gun" crime. 

Think again.   

This is the same prosecutor that dropped the CCW Felony charge against B-ball player Emoni Bates. Given the UofM Wolverine's very winning season this year, Mazi Smith is an even bigger name than Ypsi's Emoni, and Mazi Smith is also Black as well, so I reckon he will get the same special College Ball Player Exemption to the felony charge.

Indeed Mazi is also getting the Wolverine special "Let him play ball with pending felony charges" because he's a "tremendous young man". You can't make that up.

Stay tuned, and we will see where this goes, but I know which way I'm betting as to how this turns out.  

Update:  Mazi Smith's charge was similarly dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor with 12 months probation with the entire charge disappearing from his record once he completes probation.

Some Outside Home Wiring Repair

We had an "invisible" fence installed last winter for the dogs. Partially due to my surgery talking me off the dog walking roster. It works pretty well at keeping the dogs in the yard.

Unfortunately it was installed by an idiot.

The wires were buried after it thawed this year, but the burying was pretty crappy. The wires coming out of the garage where they were plugged in had been cut and connected with the standard orange non-waterproof connectors and not buried too deep with two of them not buried at all.  On top of that one of the wires had uninsulated wire poking out of the cap.

Either the dogs or other creatures dug near the wires, and the wires would then short out basically whenever it rained or snowed, which was not good. It would then set off a loud alarm in the garage that the loop was broken. Once it dried outside the alarm stopped and it worked again.

So, I decided to take a shot at fixing it.  I used waterproof connectors, covered then in electrical tape and then put silicon tape for more waterproofing on top of the electrical tape and wrapped it around tightly.

Two of the connectors live in a hole in the ground under a rock that keeps them sheltered from dogs or other predators that might like to rip them up.  The other two don't have a rock above them and are just standing up not buried in the dirt, so I need to figure out how best to rebury them.

So far all four repairs are holding up well, without shorting out even through a snowfall here and a major rainstorm since the repair was done.  I will  need to rebury them soon, unlike how the fellow left them, once I'm sure the fix is still holding up.