March 11, 2014

Is a bow a "firearm"?

A magistrate judge in Idaho is deciding this right now. The cops in Oldtown, Idaho, hauled someone in for "unlawful possession of a firearm due to felony conviction." The subject was convicted of felony drug possession and of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in 2006, not sure if it was at the same time. (He was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter for killing a man in a car crash, but convicted of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.)

Under Idaho Code, it's illegal for anyone with a felony conviction to possess a firearm. The code also defines a firearm:

"A firearm is any weapon from which a shot, projectile or other object may be discharged by force of combustion, explosive, gas and/or mechanical means, whether operable or inoperable."

So...is a bow a firearm?

March 8, 2014

Putting numbers to the minimum wage debate

I am Joe Storeowner. I have a retail establishment that sells $100,000 worth of good merchandise per day, and employs 100 people. I only have to pay them $7.25 per hour.

If the evil Federal Government raises the minimum wage to $10 per hour, I must increase the pay of my minimum-wage workers by $2.75 per hour. After I do that, the ungrateful slackers I pay more than minimum wage come to my office and demand I also give them a $2.75 per hour raise, which adds $2200 per day to my payroll expense.

Someone has to pay for this insanity, and it's going to be all those worthless liberals who forced this on me. I sit down and do some numbers, and quickly realize I can recoup my losses by raising my prices 2.2 percent. Decimal percents are a pain to deal with in pricing, so I raise my prices three percent.

Strange thing: I raised the prices of my $25 pants to $25.75, and now I'm selling more of them than ever before.

March 8, 2014

Bartcop's Obit

Celebrating the life of Terry Coppage

Terry was born September 12, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri to Joe and Anne Coppage and was the youngest of three children. He began his schooling at Holy Family in St. Louis and graduated from St. Mary's in Little Rock, Arkansas before attending the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Terry married the love of his life Debby in Tulsa on November 20, 1976. Terry was quite the entrepreneur over the years. He worked in the small loan, vending/gaming and restaurant industries. Terry also owned several businesses, including Rock Island and The Train Station, before focusing his time on his current career, Bartcop.com, as a political humorist. Terry was a drummer as a young man and always enjoyed music. He and Debby often traveled to attend the concerts of some of their favorite groups. Travel, mostly to Western states, was one of Terry's favorite things to do with Debby by his side. Northern California weather was an enjoyable destination spot as well as the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. He also enjoyed writing, discussing politics and hanging out at home with Debby and their cats, Rusty and Dax. Terry's motto was "have a good time every day" and he did that most of the time. He was a kind, caring and protective husband who frequently told his wife how much he loved his life, living with her and their kitties and writing the Bartcop.com web page. He was a confident, tenacious man who maybe had a little impatience in him but used those qualities to voice his views on truth and equality and provide a platform for like-minded people.

Terry is survived by his loving wife Debby, his brother Mike and wife Gayle of St. Louis, Missouri, his sister Patty and husband Wally Sieges of St. Louis; his brothers-in-law, Jeff Stephens and wife Angie of Tulsa, and Todd Stephens and wife Breanna of Houston, Texas; several nieces and nephews, several great nieces and nephews, and many friends. Memorial service will be Sunday, March 9, 2014, at 12:30 pm, in the Floral Haven Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Terry’s memory at F&M Bank, acct: #9281096; 1330 South Harvard Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74112.

March 7, 2014

Could we at least get the e-cigarette ads off TV?

If you can't air this anymore...

or



or



then why can they run this?



or



or


?

March 2, 2014

Do people like eating a chemical found in caulk, glue and carpeting?

There are a LOT of chemicals used both in food and industrial products. Salt is used to make sodium hydroxide and chlorine gas, acetic acid is used to make hundreds of different plastics, lye is used to make grits...azodicarbonamide fucks up the environment less than other foam-blowing agents, which is why it's so popular. Turns out it's not legal for food use in Europe because the pure powder is a respiratory sensitizer, and the European Community (which has great worker-safety laws) doesn't want to force bakers to buy the kind of personal protective equipment you need to safely handle it.

If you don't want to eat this, I support that; running around screaming "OMG THEY USE THIS IN YOGA MATS!!!" is a bit counterproductive because there are so many chemicals used in food that also wind up in products.