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Howard

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Howard last won the day on October 27 2017

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About Howard

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    Howard - NJ Escape
  • Birthday June 26

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    http://dad12s.wix.com/howard#

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    Male
  • Location:
    St John's, FL
  • Interests
    Photography
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    FOP Range 113 St Augustine, FL

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  1. Hey all, have not been here is quite a while since I have been in the Free State of Florida for three years now. My Dad in Long Island is looking to buy a Pistol just to have in his home. I thought the laws in NJ were crazy, but it seems NY is trying to out do NJ. He sent me the following e-mail a few minutes ago: "I took your advise and went to my local gun dealer, Hunters Essentials, on Willis Ave., Albertson. They are very nice. This is where I bought my rifle last year. This isn’t New Jersey! There are now only 3 dealers in Nassau County. They told me that now that I’ve had my final “interview” it could take a month or several until my permit is ready for pick up! It took me 9 months to get to this point. He told me that if someone applies today, this wait is now 16 months!!! I asked if I could “try on” a few models to see “how they fit”. He laughed, saying that I can no longer put my hands on an unloaded pistol without a permit. Can you believe this?" The permit my dad is talking about is not a carry permit, it is just a permit to buy a handgun that you keep in your home.
  2. In his search for the made up LCM and Ghost guns, maybe the AG will finally capture this rare creature. Sorry for the blurry picture, but this is the best image ever taken of the Glockness Monster.
  3. NJ should take a lesson from Brazil's new approach to stopping gun violence. To combat this huge problem they are rolling back many gun laws, yes your read this correctly. Finally some sane government actions: Bolsonaro Further Eases Brazilians’ Access to Guns New rules boost access to foreign-made firearms and ammunition and raise limits on how much ammunition a gun owner can purchase Lawmakers made finger-gun hand gestures as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree on Tuesday night in Brasília that further eased gun restrictions. PHOTO: ERALDO PERES/ASSOCIATED PRESS By Paulo Trevisani May 8, 2019 3:46 p.m. ET BRASÍLIA—New rules relaxing gun-control laws took effect in Brazil on Wednesday, boosting access to foreign-made firearms and ammunition, raising limits on how much ammunition a gun owner can purchase and letting gun enthusiasts carry loaded weapons to shooting clubs. “Public safety begins at home,” President Jair Bolsonaro said at a decree-signing ceremony here on Tuesday night. Celebrating before photographers, the far-right president and lawmakers simulated the finger-gun gesture he used in last year’s presidential campaign. The controversial measures were part of Mr. Bolsanaro’s ongoing campaign to end an epidemic of homicides by loosening gun laws in a country that recorded nearly 64,000 gun deaths in 2017, more than any other country. Mr. Bolsonaro’s measures allow hunters, collectors and sports shooters to transport ammunition in their firearms, which had earlier been prohibited. The rules loosen once-tightly restricted ammunition purchases, raising the annual limit from 50 to 5,000 cartridges for many types of guns. And they end import restrictions on foreign-made weaponry that were banned here if a Brazilian company made a similar product. Gun enthusiasts and gun shops celebrated the measures, which drove up shares of Taurus SA, a Brazilian gun maker. “Unarmed Brazilians are at the mercy of criminals,” said Mario Chimanovitch, 73. A long-time shooting enthusiast from São Paulo, Mr. Chimanovitch said he was always afraid of robbers when going to the shooting range with his .380-caliber Glock automatic pistol unloaded. “Now if they attack me, I will fill them full of lead.” Critics of loosening gun restrictions say the widespread presence of guns in Brazilian households risks further empowering criminals. Most guns used by criminals in Brazil had been held legally only to be stolen or otherwise smuggled to gangs. “More guns in the hands of civilians mean more guns available for criminals,” said Rafael Alcadipani, an expert in urban crime at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo. “This type of legislation is a shot in the foot for Brazil.” In January, Mr. Bolsonaro’s government eased gun-buying restrictions on Brazilians living in rural areas or regions with high homicide rates, as well as business owners. Mr. Bolsanaro’s campaign is already having an impact in an industry that has been at a near standstill for years. “Sales are going through the roof,” said Welker Costa, owner of a gun shop in Brasília as he read the latest decree’s more than 11,000 words to understand the changes. “Consumers are getting their permits faster and buying more.” Mr. Costa said that since a 2003 law imposed strict rules for gun ownership, he sold only half a dozen weapons per year and had to diversify his business into sports equipment and camping gear. But with the new administration dismantling regulations, his customers take no longer than 30 days to get their gun-ownership permit from federal authorities. People want to buy even though prices start at about $1,000 for a gun, a price tag beyond the reach of most Brazilians. A former army captain, Mr. Bolsonaro was elected last year on a law-and-order platform that included pledges to make it easier for police to kill suspected criminals. Polls show Brazilians are increasingly warming to the idea of permitting easy access to guns. About eight of every 100 Brazilian civilians possess a firearm, according to estimates by the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based research group, fewer than in most other Latin American countries. Citizens also have little confidence that police will solve crimes or ensure their safety, polls show, in a country where less than 10% of crimes are solved. Fabrício Rebelo, a researcher at the public-safety think tank Cepedes, said easing access to guns could have a positive impact in the fight against crime. “Brazilian criminals tend to take advantage of impunity and of their certainty that there will be no reaction,” he said. “This decree helps ensure the right to self-defense.” Write to Paulo Trevisani at [email protected]
  4. Think there is less to this than meets the eye. My understanding is this only allows individual school districts to implement such, it does not force them to. Thus it is up to each district to now approve this. It's a baby step, but I guess it is a start.
  5. Susie and I have decided to move back to NJ. After moving here, we quickly learned that the politicians of St. John's and the state of Florida think they can tax everything. Property taxes are out of control. Don't even get me going on the income taxes and tolls to cross every bridge. The food has to be the worst on the entire east coast. We just can't take it anymore! And Winter, did they lie, we even saw frost on the ground once. If you know of any houses for sale in Randolph, NJ please let us know. PS - Today is April 1st :)
  6. https://www.wsj.com/video/the-secret-to-why-a-tesla-costs-so-much-hint-batteries/65F3A21D-0837-4DA6-B739-612124815603.html Interesting video on Tesla battery
  7. Some food for thought from today's WSJ: Investors Get Burned After Betting on Electric-Car Metals Markets like stocks and oil have rebounded this year, but cobalt and lithium continue to fall Brine pools from a lithium mine in Chile. As investors piled into metals used in smartphones and electric cars, including lithium and cobalt, miners boosted production—contributing to a drop in prices PHOTO: IVAN ALVARADO/REUTERS 77 COMMENTS By Amrith Ramkumar Feb. 17, 2019 7:00 a.m. ET Investors who piled into electric-car metals can’t seem to catch a break. Markets from stocks to crude oil have staged a comeback in 2019 after a tumultuous stretch at the end of last year. But cobalt and lithium—metals that are key to making the rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and smartphones—are missing out on the rebound across risky assets. Cobalt prices have fallen more than 30% in 2019 to their lowest level in two years, according to figures from commodity-price provider Fastmarkets through Feb. 6. Meanwhile, a lithium price index published by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence dropped for the 10th consecutive month in January to a multiyear low. The descent in both markets is a reversal from 2017, when investors sent prices soaring as they anticipated a wave of demand would lead to supply shortages. The slump is the latest sign that once-hot trades can quickly change as major players in a sector shift their behavior in ways investors can’t predict. BludgeonedShares of several smaller cobalt and lithium companies have tumbled in recent months.Source: SIX %First CobaltLithium AmericasCobalt 27Nemaska LithiumJan. ’18MarchMayJulySept.Nov.Jan. ’19-100-90-80-70-60-50-40-30-20-100102030First Cobalt xFeb 4, 2019x-85.9% Miners rushed to take advantage of the excitement in battery metals, leading to steady production of the commodities, which caused prices to tumble in 2018. Slowing growth in China and uncertainty about the country’s subsidy policies for electric vehicles further hurt sentiment. China is the dominant player in the supply chain for electric-car batteries. Battery-metals prices have fallen even as global sales of electric vehicles jumped 64% in 2018 from a year earlier, albeit from a low base, according to data tracker EV-Volumes. Both the U.S. and China logged nearly 80% increases in sales growth, although electric vehicles accounted for just 2% and 4% of their markets, respectively. Anxiety about the future rates of adoption and unknowns surrounding battery technology continue to loom over the sector. The Secret to Why a Tesla Costs So Much (Hint: Batteries) One of the biggest things preventing Elon Musk from releasing a mass market electric vehicle comes down to the vehicle's blessing and curse: its lithium-ion battery. We break down the science and the cost. “Investors want certainty,” said Chris Berry, founder of House Mountain Partners LLC, a New York-based adviser to battery-metals companies and investors. “It’s just going to take some time for that to come about.” The tumble in cobalt prices in particular caught investors on the wrong foot. With lithium, some investors expected oversupply to cool the metal’s rally because it is relatively abundant in South America and Australia. But market watchers had projected supply challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support cobalt prices. The country accounts for about 70% of global supply, and geopolitical uncertainty there was a factor some bet would lead to a supply shortfall. Losing PowerPrices of cobalt continue to tumble amid asteady supply of the metal, used inrechargeable batteries.Source: Fastmarkets .a pound2017’18’190510152025303540$45 Lithium LullLithium prices have fallen lately as morecompanies attempt to increase output.Benchmark Lithium IndexSource: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Jan. ’17JulyJan. ’18JulyJan. ’19200220240260280300320340360 Instead, cobalt output from companies such asGlencore PLC and China Molybdenum Co. was robust. Meanwhile, production from small miners also ramped up, with some of their workers using their bare hands to extract the metal without proper safety equipment, according to previous reporting by The Wall Street Journal. Citigroup projects refined cobalt production will exceed demand this year and annually through 2022. “There’s just so much extra supply coming from all the project expansions in the DRC,” said George Heppel, an analyst at commodity research firm CRU. “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster the last few months.” In ExcessAnalysts estimate refined cobalt production will top demand each year through 2022.Source: CitigroupNote: All figures after 2017 are estimates .thousand metric tonsSupplyDemand2017’18’19’20’21’22’23020406080100120140160180 Shares of several small publicly traded cobalt- and lithium-exploration companies and producers are down 50% or more in the past year. First Cobalt Corp. has tumbled 83%, whileLithium Americas Corp. has dropped 57%. The challenges facing less established players were illustrated last week when Nemaska Lithium Inc., a small Quebec-based producer that secured a nearly $80 million investment from SoftBank Group Corp. last year, said it needs an extra $283 million to finish its mine and meet the conditions of agreements with a private-equity firm and its lenders. Those agreements were used to generate funds for the roughly $830 million project. In a sign of how quickly money rushed into the sector, Nemaska Chief Executive Guy Bourassasaid in an interview with the Journal last year that he had never heard of SoftBank before the Japanese conglomerate invested in Nemaska. Since the company announced SoftBank’s investment, Nemaska shares have fallen more than 75% to about 25 cents each. Nemaska couldn’t be reached for comment. DwarfedLithium total supply is projected to exceed demand in the next several years.Source: CitigroupNote: All figures after 2017 are estimates .thousand metric tons2017’18’19’20’21’22’2301002003004005006007008009002023x572.136 thousand metric tons Write to Amrith Ramkumar at [email protected] Appeared in the February 19, 2019, print edition as 'Electric-Car Metals Let Down Investors Investors Burned on Electric-Car Metals.'
  8. While the parts and expense part are spot on, the rest is either nonsense or pure conjecture. Who knows what batteries will be around or cost in 20 years - way beyond our ability to guess. Much more likely they will cost less, not more, as volume goes up and new technology arrives. I know that Prius batteries used to be a small fortune, now they are cheap and they rebuild bad ones. That said, hybrids are actually the worst of both worlds, and I am not a hybrid hater having owned three of them. You have both the problems of ICE and the problems of electric. Couple that with crazy electronics and software to make the two work together and you have a recipe for huge repair bills down the road. As for your analysis that says old cars will stay on the road that seems unlikely once electric gets to some reasonably high percentage. The problem is gasoline will become very expensive as more and more refineries shut down due to lack of demand. That does not even factor in that there could be increased taxes to drive people away from gasoline. Bottom line though is who really knows. We will have to wait and see.
  9. Just had on the Lame Stream ABC evening news and they are talking about the shooting in IL today talking about the military assault style baby killing laser sights the gunman had on his weapon. Sure the anti fool will now want to ban lasers on guns.
  10. 100,000 is a tiny number in a what is basically a commodity business. You need much bigger numbers to allocate fixed costs. Further, they don't have the distribution network - they are really a very small company trying to convince people otherwise. But even if we accept that they cost more to buy (right now) the life cycle cost should be much lower due to the simplicity and lower maintenance costs. Think how many parts an internal combustion engine has versus and electric motor. I have no skin in this game and really don't care one way or the other - but this is coming and the rate of adoption is accelerating.
  11. Just curious, but what are the government subsidies that Tesla is reliant upon? Are you talking about the same ones that GM got for the Volt or that any company that produced initial hybrids got? Remember these are already phasing out for Tesla and will be gone soon. I think they actually turned a profit two quarters in a row now. I am no Tesla fan, but to claim they are getting some special treatment seems non genuine.
  12. You are comparing low volume nitche products to mass market developed products. The batteries are expensive, but the actual drive train is cheaper to produce and maintain. When you look at the life cycle costing electric will kill ICE. You don't have to believe, but just wait and watch.
  13. I think you guys that think this is going to take 20 years or more are kidding yourselves. It is going to happen a lot faster than that. Electric cars are much cheaper to produce and maintain. There are a tiny number of parts compared to an ICE or hybrid. Hybrids are actually the worst of both worlds, and I am not a hybrid detractor having owned three of them. But think about it, they are probably one of the most complicated forms of propulsion out there effectively combining and ICE with an electric and having lots of technology to make the two work together. Very expensive to build. I have a friend that has a new Tesla, not the model3, one that costs around $80,000. She can get about 300 miles out of it and when she goes to one of the charging stations on the highway charges it in about 20 minutes. Sure it is longer than a fuel up, and less places to fill up right now - but that will change. Yes, Tesla will likely not exist in 2-5 years, either they will fail or someone will buy them. It is just a matter of time till one of the big auto makers takes over this market. As for trucks and big SUV's, well electric makes more sense and will actually work better in them. Think about how they have to get inventive cramming batteries into small cars, at big pickup has lots of room to put batteries. Just think if they increased the height of a truck by say 3" they could come up with a battery pack that fit in the bed of a truck (or under it). That would be a huge battery without taking up needed space. Yes a lot will change with these vehicles, but anytime you introduce new technology it takes a while for the bugs to be worked out, the infrastructure developed and the early adopters to work out the bugs. We are nearing the inflection point where EV is set to take off.
  14. When I sold my house in Morris County in June it was a total shit show with the fire inspection. They could not tell me what was required. My home was built in 1973 so battery smoke detectors was what was required, but we added a large addition in 1990 that was approved with the wired system as part of a central alarm system. When I asked what we had to have in June they were puzzled. They finally decided that we should have battery units throughout, and had me install battery powered units in the rooms that were already covered by the central alarm - how stupid. They claimed that a new owner might disable to central system, but that owner could also pull the batteries from the units I was installing. We had a fire extinguisher on the kitchen counter but they insisted it had to be mounted on the wall. The inspector said they fully know that immediately after inspection it will be taken down and put on a counter. He then went on to say they don't want people using fire extinguishers, they want them to get out of the house immediately and call the fire department. He also said when the CO detectors go off they don't want people to open doors and windows. They want them to exit and leave the house sealed so when they come they can track down the source. Further went on to say that they think it is stupid to require extinguishers because most people have no clue how to use them, which is probably true.
  15. The state has decided they know what is best for you and are mandating you throw away your property and buy new stuff - ARG! Homeowner update for 2019: Please be advised that as of January 1, 2019, the state of New Jersey requires that battery powered single station smoke alarms be replaced with a ten year sealed battery powered smoke alarm. While the State of NJ acknowledges that there will be an additional cost for these units, they determined that the increase was warranted to account for safety. These new units are not required to replace AC-powered smoke alarms or multi station alarms.
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