I actually work pretty closely with the fire and rescue equipment industry, am 3rd generation in it and have lots of relations in it too.  Fire departments are embodiments of cronyism and emotional blackmail.  They're also less necessary than supposed as catastrophic house fire are less frequent due to improved building codes and advances in materials (old neighborhoods excepted).

However, disentangling them from public funding is very tricky for a couple of reasons:

1.  Marcus Livinius Crassus:  he started a fire brigade in Rome which had a certain mercenary rep.

2.  Fire companies will be regulated like medical insurance companies - with all that entails.  See Obamacare.

3.  WATER RIGHTS.  This is the biggie.  Neighboring fire departments are well known to deliberately use different fittings from their neighbors.  Yes, even public fire departments can be territorial jerks, making hydrants incompatible with each others' trucks, and these are supposedly public servants.  

Would private companies engage in the same behavior?

Not to say that the case shouldn't be made, but these are some of the starter arguments.

My father used to run a manufacturing business (auto industry).  They got targetted by a vindictive OSHA inspector who was collaborating with a disgruntled employee.  Inspector would show up unannounced (which was not allowed at the time) demanding to see some are of the shop where a "violation" had been reported.  Never found the alleged violation, but dang if he didn't spot something else while there.

Fines well into the 5 figures over safety glasses (a worker was alleged to have taken his off to rub his eyes) and mandating a safety harness for a guy on a 6 ft stepladder (mandated harness would not have caught him unless he had fallen at least 10 ft).  Took OSHA to court demanding to know who kept filing false reports.  The judge even sided with my father and ordered OSHA to give names and open records, OSHA never complied.  Took a call to congressman to get the heat off, but then the congressman of course wanted some grease in the form of PR and "contributions to his campaign."

Nasty business all around.

80s?  I thought she was waaaayyy older than that!  Seemed to figure a lot in Grimm's tales...

Yup, throw everything at the wall and hope some of it sticks.  California and the rest are determined to shaft us all.  Not just on guns, talk to some folks in the auto and trucking industries.  CA is responsible for much harm there too.

Great story there.  We carry a huge inventory on key parts (6 - 18 months) because of issues we've had, and times we've been burned.  I would not be averse to liquidating that inventory during a panic if the price was right, though I tend to avoid parking lot deals (Hey, you want some Infineon IPBs?  Fresh off the reel man, still in the foil pack!  No?  I gotta load of ST7s in QFP, 32 AND 44 pin models too..). 

Often it is a cart/ horse issue - did the panic cause the shortage or did the shortage cause the panic.

In ammo my bet has been on the former.

I make apple wine myself, which is a lot of fun as I can make applesauce at the same time, using the peels for the wine.

Friends made "rootbeer" in college, and made some explosive mistakes with 2L bottles and wrong ratios during priming.  Very sticky.

Maryland, WashDC, Mass

I got so tired of hearing about 24 all the time, now I have to hear about it again?!?  Ugh.

I'm looking for cheap lowers too.  My #2 daughter has a birthday coming up.

5. "The moment Obama got elected he changed his mind on federal shield laws for the press, unless they had a broad, and almost unlimited exemption for 'national security."

To which she added "Straight out of the Dick Cheney/double high authoritarian 'national security' neo-con playbook."

And I'll add to that that Barack Obama has kept Gitmo open, continued the war in Afghanistan and expanded the use of drones in the War on Terror.

Bush did not attack the press for leaks.

As for the WOT, Bushie was a liberal, not a "moderate".  He was Clinton with libido control.

The whole drone issue is highly remniscent of good ole Woodrow Wilson, a Progressive thug who never met a small country he couldn't invade.

Except that many senate Rs did not support it even then, and Heritage recanted that position well before Romneycare passed.

Also, Obama railroaded his through well after there was plenty of evidence that Romneycare was a disaster.  In fact, Obama knew Romneycare would break the private market, his entire goal in the first place.  Broken private market = government takeover = socialism.

Your friend sounds like my mother in law.

Wait for the kid to develop, to quote "Ask Penelope", be a mensch.

I think we can guess the answers, and they weren't pretty.  

Based on our earlier conversations, I was right, you really are wine critic :')

But what if you can't tell the difference?  I was talking to a microdistiller on bourbon and the chemistry of the flavors.  What he said is that chemists are getting better at isolating individual flavor compounds and synthesizing them.  Many of the compounds in vanilla, for instance, are also common to oak. 

American distillers, for instance, are attempting to replicate the taste and feel of Scotch whiskey, and they're getting close.  Other chemists are narrowing on the flavors of red wine.  Someday you might be able to order wine made to your_own_taste.

Most people don't have the patience to crack open a bottle and wait.  Anyway spot on.  I personally like to drain a glass or 2 off with the wife, then let the bottle sit loosly corked in the pantry for a couple of days.  The flavor change can be significant.

As for food, I love pairing with cheese.  A good pinot noir with mild to medium cheese makes for a great evening.