Want To Read An Excellent Piece...

...then go here to the blog of Penless Writer and read about the 11 most expensive catastrophes in history.

All the best,
Glenn B

6 Killed, 1,000 Wounded In World Trade Center Attack

A local news radio station reports via their website at http://www.1010wins.com/NYC-Marks-Anniversary-of-1993-WTC-Bombing/3923532 on the devastation at the World Trade Center after the bombing. With politicians having their heads up their asses in the clouds, an attack for which we were totally unprepared took place on the World Trade center today in 1993 and resulted in 6 people being killed and about 1,000 being wounded. I have to wonder, why this anniversary is not prominently being reported on, if reported on at all, at Fox News, CNN, MSNBC. I cannot find it on their home pages). Has 16 years, since that 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center been so long that the rest of America, other than NYC, has all but forgotten about it? Only 8 years was enough for us to have forgotten about it the first time around and to become totally lax. The result of our laxness in that short time span of only 8 years was another attack on our soil. The short time of 8 years was what it took foreign terrorists between the bombing on February 26, 1993 until 9/11/2001 when they undertook another much more heinous attack on our soil. Yet somehow, just 8 years after 9/11, we again sit smugly and comfortably in our homes. We allow our borders to remain open as if the dam had burst. We moan and groan that we are in a financial mess of our own making. We worry that there may not be a lot of value left in our homes. Yet we allow politicians to spend as if there is no tomorrow on bailout after bailout and stimuli unfettered in what amounts to the biggest ripoff of the taxpayer ever; all when that money could be better spent protecting us from what is coming that will be worse than losing millions of dollars, but the politicians have us hoodwinked into believing that this is what we must do to remain strong. What we need to do is work at that while never forgetting the other threat that hangs over our heads, but apparently our leadership - even in the department of Homeland Security pretty much has relegated that threat to the back burner. Just watch or read the recent news on the speech given by The Secretary for Homeland Security. It covered home defense from storms, from financial woes, from earthquakes, but very little of it was about terrorism. How is it that we have such short memories, how is it our leaders have especially short memories? Our enemies don't have short memories, they are attacking us for things that took place as long ago as centuries past! They hate us, they see us as something to be destroyed so they can reign supreme.

Stay alert, remember the WTC attacks, remember the Pentagon, remember a field in PA, remember all those attacks abroad, and bear in mind they are coming here within our borders to attack us again. Mark my words on it, it is a surety against which I fear we are ill prepared.

All the best,
GB

Biweekly Gun Shots - The Beretta SO10 EELL

Today I pretty much have to let beauty speak for itself. I do so not only because there was scant information on the Beretta website about this shotgun, but more so because the two pictures I am about to show you say it all. In what ways can two pictures say it all, here let me give it a try: Fine craftsmanship, hard work, attention to detail, form, fit, function, beauty, appeal, beauty, utility, luxury - I need not go on, just take a look for yourself (click to enlarge). Wow! Here another shot, this one of the whole gun.

These are some of the finest examples of the gunsmith and engravers work that you will ever find. I cannot even begin to guess at the actual price, but should I venture a guess I would say that one of these easily must be well above $50,000, and I would not doubt they are well above $100,000. Probably worth every penny of it too. Note the designation EL stands for extra luxury and the EELL stands for that level brought up to the highest level attainable. I can believe it looking at this gun! More info on this one can be found at:

https://www.berettausa.com/e2wShoppingCatalog.aspx?parentID=3100001375&parentLink=2100000084:3100001362:3100001375

Yeah I know, you and I will never be able to afford one; but you can bet that in a minute or two I am going to check my Megamillions tickets. One can dream, yes indeed one can dream.

All the best,
Glenn B

Why I Carry A Gun

The following is something I received in an email tonight. As it says at the end, the author is unknown, but is obviously brilliant. I don't know if the author actually is brilliant all of the time or not, but from the below words I can deduce that he or she loves freedom and liberty, is a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms and knew how to put things into words in a pretty fine manner, in fact in a brilliant way at least this one time. My belief is that the author should write more often:

"People Ask: Why?

Why I Carry A Gun

My old grandpa once said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'.

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because, unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves. Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'. "

..author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

I guess this has probably been around on the Internet and Gun Blog sites before, but I figured why not pass it on again. There are a few things I would add to this, but not many, and since it was the brainchild of someone else I will leave it just as it was sent to me. I would sure like to meet the author.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It Something In The Water...

...that could make someone ask the question that was recently asked at a Town Hall meeting in Salinas, CA? The meeting had been called concerning recent gang violence in or around Salinas, CA that has already resulted in the deaths of 6 people there this year (yes that would be in less than 2 months). The very first question reportedly was asked by Peter Valdez of Salinas who in essence asked: "why gun locks couldn’t be enforced in the city – forcing gang members to lock their guns in order to transport them". Get that? Read it again if you don't because the implications of what this man believes are there indeed. Does this person actually believe that gang members, who are quite possibly responsible for 6 homicides due to gang violence, are going to obey a law that tells them they must utilize gun locks when transporting firearms that they already own illegally and with which they kill people? Does he actually believe that because the government says to do something that gang members will all immediately obey? Does he think that because Obama was elected all things will now be rosy and we have been saved and gun control will prevent all violent gun related crimes? Did he think that was an intelligent question to have asked? Did he think at all before asking it?

My guess would be he sure thought it a good idea otherwise why ask such a question. Why would he believe that to be a good idea? Well probably because he was edumacated within the pUblik skuel sistem of kaleeforneeah where they taught him that the government has the power to do anything, and the peons must obey the government in all things about gun control, and that gun control is the end all be all to put an end to violent crime. After all, isn't California one of the states with the toughest gun control laws. They have a law or regulation to cover just about all aspects of whatever legal firearms ownership they allow, so does it not stand to reason that criminals should follow those laws and regulations too!!! Well maybe that makes sense to Mr. Valdez and to millions like him who have drunk the Kool-Aid (no offense to Kool-Aid intended, I love the stuff) from the everlasting fountain of ignorance. Maybe someone does not understand what it means to be a gun toting criminal because the government of California tries to make all gun owners appear criminal, and they who legally own firearms do follow the laws - so why wouldn't honest gang members do likewise! Oh it hurts to even think of what was going through this man's mind when he asked that question.

There is no note about any follow-up questions asked by Mr. Valdez in the article (at the Californian.com) from whence I gleaned this information, but the article does say that: "Salinas police Cmdr. Dino Bardoni was the first official placed in the hot seat tonight as a town hall meeting kicked off...". Now tell me what does a line like that tell you about the reporter writing up this event. Hot Seat? Whom is kidding whom here? Was that supposed to have been a tough question to have answered because the question itself was, in the mind of the reporter, such a cunning one; or was it just getting hot for the commander because he had to try to remain polite, civil, and informative in the face of what to me was an absolutely stupid question that probably made him want to burst out with laughter? As for the commander, he handled that question with kid gloves as he explained: "Gang member(s) are not going to adhere to the law". I have to wonder if Mr. Salinas understood how that answered his question.

The short article goes onto state that "he is one of six panelists...". For sanity's sake I hope that meant that the Police Commander is one of the six panelists and not that Mr. Salinas is one of them.

My hat doff to Another Gun Blog which brought this to my attention.

All the best,
Glenn B

Blog List Edit & New Blog List Added

I just finished editing my blog roll. Some of the folks who were in one category are now in another, a few from one blog list or another were moved up to the Grumps, Geeks, Gun Guys, and Geniuses - All Worth A Read And Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link list. That is because after carefully perusing every blog to which I link, I discovered that quite a few bloggers had links back to my site that I had not been aware of before. Those links back to my blog deserve extra recognition in my esteem, thus they were moved up to the blog link list at the top that notes they gave me the courtesy of a reciprocal link. If you have given me a reciprocal link and I did not move you up to the above mentioned blog list, please let me know.

I also added a new list of bloggers. The list I added is of those who appear to have gone missing in action due to infrequent or no current blogging. By infrequent I mean that usually more than a month and often a longer period passes before you know they are still alive and typing. By no current blogging I mean just that, it appears a blogger has stopped blogging altogether. If they come back to life in the Blogoshpere, then I'll bump em back to another place on the blog roll.

All the best,
GB

Biweekly Gun Shots 5 - Polizeipistole Kriminalmodell

I have always wanted a Walther PPK or PPK-S. Maybe it is the influence from all of those spy movies when I was a kid, I mean didn't James Bond carry one of these for a few movies/books! Then again there is the Walther name that is imbued with quality - well at least such was the case years ago. If I understand correctly they are now being produced for the U.S. market by Smith & Wesson and sadly I feel the quality is just not the same as it once had been. I have not heard too much about Walthers as of late except for when their products fail. For example there is currently a recall on some models of Walther PPK and PPK-S pistols; and I have heard they make a pistol in .22LR that is - well let's just say I would not own it.

Nonetheless, I would still like to own a Walther PPK or PPK-S. Preferably an older PPK in either .32 auto or .380 auto, and not a PPK-S as pictured (note this was in in .32 auto) since someone who is just dreaming can afford to be choosy. Since I do not own any pistols in .380, that would probably be my caliber of choice for one of these pistols although the .32 auto would also be okay by me. The Walther PPK was introduced in 1931. The PPK-S was introduced subsequent to the enactment of the Gun Control Act of 1968 in order to comply with anti-gun laws within the USA. There were those Democrats screwing us over even way back then! There is not much difference between a PPK and a PPK-S except for weight and as I understand an additional one round capability of the PPK-S; but you can bet I'd prefer the PPK - one that was made in the Deutschland, one that was unfettered by gun control laws.

The current production specs for a PPK in .380 follow:

Model: PPK
Caliber: .380ACP
Barrel Length: 3.35"
Dimensions: 6.1"L/3.8"H/.98"W
Weight (without Mag): 20.8 oz.
Sights: Fixed
Magazine Capacity: 6 Rounds
Trigger: DA/SA
Trigger Pull: 13.4 lbs./6 lbs.
Internal Safety: Firing Pin Safety
External Safety: Manual Safety with Decocking Function
Action: Double and Single Action Trigger

The specs for the PPK-S in .380 are as follow:

Model: PPK/S
Caliber: .380ACP
Barrel Length: 3.35"
Dimensions: 6.1"L/4.3"H/.98"W
Weight (without Mag): 22.4 oz.
Sights: Fixed
Magazine Capacity: 7 Rounds
Trigger: DA/SA
Trigger Pull: 13.4 lbs./6 lbs.

The Walther PPK is quite concealable and is a good candidate for either on the belt in a holster carry, or for carry in a pocket. Personally I do not like carrying pistols in my pockets, and much prefer and feel safer with one in a holster on my strong side hip. They are available in blued or stainless steel finishes. I like the look of blued steel guns better and would probably but not necessarily go with that. Stainless has the added advantage of being much more corrosion resistant so I would have to consider such when making up my mind. As for carrying it using mags with the thumb extension, as pictured above, no thanks, I could do without and prefer flat bottomed magazines.

Though small pistols, they do not have a small price tag. The suggested retail price for either of the PPKs mentioned above is $605.00. My guess would be that currently they may be somewhat more expensive what with the anti-gun crowd we now have in Washington, DC.

All the best,
Glenn B

Computer Upgrades

I just ordered four 1 gigabyte memory sticks for my computer from Dell. Only about $88 for all four memory sticks. Wow 4 GB of RAM for $88 bucks. Pretty good if you ask me. Now I suppose I could have found it at an even less expensive price somewhere but I like buying upgrades for my Dell XPS from Dell.

As for this PC, I currently have two 512MB sticks in there and will replace them with the four new memory sticks. My Dell XPS will hold a maximum of 4GB of RAM and that is what I am putting into it. So can someone tell me, what is this going to do for my PC's performance? I figure to be buying a few nice PC games in the near future and am hoping the extra RAM will make them play at their best or at least better than with less memory.

Next up, a new operating system from Windows, no not VISTA but whatever comes out next.
My PC is 4 years old, or just a tad older, but I figure I'll get at least 2 or 3 more years out of it therefore the upgrades. I may buy a new one next year, and if I do then this upgraded one will go to my son who currently is using one that is about 7 years old.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Birthday Calculator

Here is something neat to give a try. It is an astrological and astronomical calculator concerning the date of your birth. Go here to give it a try:

http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp

Don't be confused when you get to that linked page because there are more than one thing on the page, such as a link to a site that supposedly tells you your real age based upon a test you take. The birthday calculator simply consists of three drop down boxes into which to enter your birthday and a submit icon. Once you enter your exact birthday, then click submit, you will be sent to a page that tells, among many other things:

The probable date and day of the week of your conception

On which day of the week you were born

How old you are by years, by months, by days, by minutes and by seconds (yes this last one will make you feel ancient)

Titles of, and links to, hit songs on your birthday, American celebrities with whom you share a birthday, a lot of nonsensical information about your: horoscope, birth signs, lucky numbers, your personality based upon your birthday and so forth (which amazingly enough was pretty right on for me), U.S. population and birth and death rates during the year of your birth, the phase of the moon on your birthday,a lot of other information about things related to your birthday.

What I liked best was my Fortune cookie, but of course I always add two words at the end of any fortune I get. What words? "In Bed" - what else! If you ever want a good laugh, try that next time you eat at a Chinese restaurant and get fortune cookies at the end of the meal.

The Birtday Calculator = Just an interesting and fun piece of curiosity.

All the best,
Glenn B

In With The New - Out With The Old - Goodbye Old Friend

It was a sunny crisp February day two days ago when I drove up to the NYPD range at Rodman’s Neck for my agency’s quarterly qualifications on Tuesday. I was up that way early enough though to make a stop to fortify myself with a hearty breakfast (brunch for you yuppies), so I stopped at the City Island Diner first for a nice helping of bacon and eggs, home fries, toast and coffee. With that all inside of the old furnace I was able to better withstand the cool air at the range over the next several hours. The thing about the range is that even when a day is sunny and has little humidity, it is kind of damp because it is on the water front; and it is virtually always windy or breezy at the least.

As for the business at hand that day, I had to turn in my issue Glock 19. I suppose it was ceremonious on my part, but on Monday night I gave it a good cleaning. It had already been cleaned recently, but certainly not as thoroughly as I did on Monday night. I got into every nook and cranny in my search for fouling, and although there was not much to be found I did come up with a somewhat dirty patch and q-tip or two. Then I packed away the Glock 19 into its original box, with its original set of instructions and warranty paperwork, and with the cleaning rod and feeding device that had come with it. Out of the few folks who had not yet converted to the new issue SIG 229 DAKs, I was the only one who had his Glock in its original box. It really didn’t matter, the head primary firearms instructor took the old pistol, made sure it was unloaded and literally tossed it into a large cardboard box with a bunch of other ones. Then I was handed another gun box, this one containing a supposedly brand new SIG 229 DAK (in .40 S&W), with four 12 round magazines, a gun lock and an instruction manual.

I sat down and took a look inside the box as instructed. Everything was there; but when I checked on the pistol I saw it has a ding on the slide, and further inspection showed it to have an awful lot of fouling and unburned powder residue inside of it. I noted this to the PFI who just told me maybe it was a test gun. I have to wonder if it had been issued and returned for some reason, but will admit that as I shot it that day I could not figure out any such reason so I imagine he may have been right about it being used as a test gun. We got a lecture on the workings of the SIG 229 DAK a double action only pistol. I had heard that scores overall had dropped some when switching to this pistol. I will not name the source but he has been a reliable one and definitely is in the position to know about all of the range scores in my office. During the lecture we were told that was all BS and that scores had improved with this pistol. I found t hard to believe at that moment that scores with a long travel DAO trigger pull would improve over those achieved with a Glock, but time would tell.

After the lecture inside the fairly warm classroom, it was off to the outdoors chill of the range. The temp had already dropped a bit or so it seemed to have done and it was only about 3PM. Once at Frank Range we got to the business of cleaning the new pistols, and especially the mags which had a light coat of something akin to Cosmoline on them. Then we picked up 6 boxes of .40S&W ammo and loaded for some introductory familiarization drills. Even if someone already had been issued one of the SIGs over the past quarter or two, they had to repeat the familiarization drills and that is probably a good idea since the triggers on these things will sure take some getting used to, especially for those of us who had been issued Glocks before. I can say without a doubt that I dreaded the prospect of the long trigger travel necessary to shoot these pistols, and now that I have fired them I dread ever having to use one in a bad situation simply because of the split second longer it seemingly takes to fire each shot as compared to firing a Glock. One thing that we were notified of was that in order for the trigger to reset, it only had to travel about halfway forward, and once a click was heard and sort of felt, the shooter could activate the trigger from that halfway mark and refire the pistol. Of course that would be a good feature in any DAO pistol but then again you would either have to be able to feel or hear that click reliably each time you fired to know when the trigger had rest. What with the added recoil of the 40S&W cartridge, I had a hard time knowing when the trigger was actually reset, and it traveled fully forward at least 75 percent of the time before I realized it had reset. I do not like the amount of trigger travel required from the fully forward trigger position without knowing when the trigger first reset, and I still do not like the amount of trigger travel required even from about the midway point once it has actually reset. In short I do not like the amount of trigger travel required for this pistol.

Other than the amount of trigger travel required, I did not find any fault with this pistol on my first try of it but I must point out that 300 rounds through it is not enough to satisfy me of anything as to this pistols reliability. I much prefer to shot at least 500 rounds through any pistol on its first outing. I had asked for more ammo so I could practice on my own, but we all got the news that ammo is in short supply and that the PFI expects a shipment of about ¾ of a million rounds to come in soon. Once it arrives we will supposedly be issued ammo for practice; and I hope that is correct as I’d like to put it through some of my own testing. As for my day at the range, I will admit I got used to the trigger pull, if not to the recoil, very quickly. Now mind you, I am not a wimp as to recoil, it is simply that firing this will take some getting used to after having fired primarily a 9mm for the past 15 to 20 years or so with the Glock. Man has it been that long, I suppose so, maybe even longer! But I digress, so back to the SIG.

Mine functioned flawlessly. The guy next to me had some problems. He kept getting failures to eject leading to double feeds. I think that was shooter induced, in fact I hope it was, because no pistol costing as much as a SIG should have problems like that. As to cost, how much did they go for? I don’t know, but if you go to this link,  there is an article about the DHS contract with SIG. The price shown for the pistols in a sidebar is over $900 apiece. I cannot believe that is the government price and will have to read the article more than I have already done to see if it mentions the contract price. Yet, even if that is retail, that is darned expensive as compared to something like a Glock which would probably sell at government contract for about half of that by my guess. Again I digress, so let me get back to the shooting of this rather large pistol. Did I say large, funny how the uniformed inspectors at CBP reportedly got smaller versions, and we who work in plain clothes and conceal our pistols got larger ones. Go figure but that is the gooberment for ya.

Like I said, while shooting it, it worked flawlessly, at least mine did. Luckily I had no problems with inadvertently dropping the mags while shooting. What is that about you wonder! Well the PFI explained in the classroom that these have a large overly sensitive magazine release button. As it turns out I had to make a concentrated effort to keep the thumb of my right hand off of it while shooting. In fact we were even told not to take a normal grip of this pistol to avoid hitting the mag release. That is fine at the range, but how many will remember to take that extra step if under fire in a shootout? Leave it to the gooberment to order something that is broken before it ever gets touched! I do not know if anyone on Tuesday dropped any mags because of the design, but to me that seems a design flaw that needs to be addressed immediately, in fact that should have been addressed before the pistol every went into production and if discovered only after production then it should have been remedied before they were ever issued. The other thing I see as a design flaw is the slide stop since it reportedly, again according to our PFI, can be activated by the thumb of the left hand when shooting from a two hand hold unless you hold this pistol differently than I have ever held any other pistol I have fired. I had no problem with that, and I held it a few different ways just to see if I would have the problem. I cannot attest to whether or not anyone else had problems, at the first shoot, but I can tell you there sure seemed to be an awful lot of alibi shots fired, more so than on previous range days when everyone was shooting pistols other than these SIGs.

As for hitting the target, I did well. We shot three qualification courses. Since I also have a Glock 26 as a secondary firearm, I shot twice for qualification with the SIG and once with the Glock. I scored 247 and 249 respectively with the SIG (out of a possible 250). I scored 249 with the Glock. A friend of mine of many years shot 3 perfect scores with the SIG. Some others did well, but it seemed a bunch did not shoot as well, and at least three shooters had to requalify, one at least two extra times before he achieved a passing score. There will be some teething issues with the changeover for some shooters for sure. As for my shooting, since it was getting markedly colder by the time we got around to the quals, I put on leather gloves for the 2nd qual with the SIG. With the gloves on it made the trigger travel seem much less on follow-up shots. The gloves fit well into the trigger guard of the SIG, nowhere near as tight as they went into the Glock trigger guard. I did note that after having fired a good number of rounds through the SIG and then firing the Glock, some of my shots with the Glock were going several inches higher than usual. I attributed this both to wearing gloves and to having been somewhat effected by the long trigger pull of the SIG. What I mean is that once the Glock had fired, as I followed through and came back toward a firing position, I had already tightened my trigger finger somewhat on the trigger (I suppose due to muscle memory of the longer trigger pull on the SIG, and due to the fact that I had on gloves which already had pressure on the trigger a bit with the Glock and its smaller trigger guard area). So I wound up firing when on target but before fully following through on recoil – thus a bit high for some shots. Thus when switching from the SIG to the Glock in the future I will have to make a conscious effort to remember the qualities of the trigger pull on each. Although I don’t think would have happened without my having on gloves, it did happen nonetheless. Things likes this are one reason that I strongly recommend carry a backup pistol that is essentially the same as your primary handgun in almost all respects; that way there is no adjustment that you need to make between firing one or the other. As to other operation of the Glock as compared to the SIG, everything else is similar enough to not require any drastic change in how to operate one from the other when shooting.

Taking the gun down for cleaning is a breeze, and I much prefer the method used to disassemble the SIG as compared to that of the Glock. Yes it is also very easy to disassemble a Glock, but the Glock requires that you activate the trigger to be able to field strip it. This is not good in my estimation and can lead, and probably has led, to unintentional discharges of Glocks. With the SIG, you take out the source of ammo (the magazine), then empty any round out of the chamber that might be in it, then lock the slide to the rear. Once the slide is locked back you can operate the disassembly lever on the left side of the frame and then pull the slide off of the frame. Remove the recoil spring and guide rod, then take the barrel from the slide, then clean it. Reassembly is also a snap. Where as the Glocks did not like it wet, the SIG reportedly likes it wet so a good application of oil was recommended to all metal parts that move against one another.

I have noted one thing about the SIG that is of some concern to me, and just noticed that this morning. While it is a DAO pistol, and the hammer is bobbed so you can not manually cock it with your thumb, and the interior section of the hammer apparently has no full cock notch, the SIG can be set at what amounts to half cock by partial activation of the trigger. That in itself is of little concern to me as it seems the amount of trigger travel required to fire the pistol from half cock is the same as if it were fired from an uncocked position. What is of concern is that if someone inadvertently places enough pressure on the trigger to have the hammer go into what seems to amount to the half cock position, there is no way to decock the pistol from that position without activating the trigger to its full extent. That is at first glance. I have to check the manual on that, but I did not see any decocking or safety lever on the SIG, and we were not given any instruction about that at the range or in the classroom. Of course, I plan to point this out to the firearms instructors as soon as feasible. I imagine the biggest risk with the pistol being at half cock would be if it was dropped and could fire from that position. Our instructors told us that these pistols have been drop tested repeatedly and have not fired, but I wonder if they were first set in the half cock position and dropped in that condition, or were just drop tested with the hammer fully down! The other problem I see with the pistol being able to go into half cock, is that some shooter not as familiar with guns as another, might see the pistol in that condition and then try to remedy it or get it back to hammer down position and may wind up pulling the trigger on a live round having been distracted by the problem of how to drop the hammer. Yes that would be an idiot, but they are out there, a few even working for government law enforcement agencies. I need to make a phone call on that pronto, so my article ends here.

Edited on 02/21/09 to add: Okay, so it did not end there where I just said it ended the reason being that I have some info on the half cock thing. It is a normal feature for this pistol, albeit a very confusing one at least for me. One of the range officers told me it is normal, and they forgot to mention it in the classroom the day I was there. He was happy I brought it back to mind because they want to make sure everyone knows it a normal feature of these pistols. The thing that confuses me is there is no reason I can see for having the pistol go into half cock when you pull the slide back and then let it slingshot forward. I guess it could be looked at as an indicator that you just loaded the pistol if you had a mag in it when you pulled back and slingshotted the slide, but why bother? Now you are left with a half cocked pistol, with no way of lowering the hammer except to unload the gun and squeeze the trigger. Yep, that is right, there is no decocking mechanism. Now mind you, the hammer being partially back does not indicate there is a round in the chamber, you can do the same thing without any ammo in the gun - so again I say why bother. All I see the half cocked hammer as being is a place into which lint and other debris can gather to screw up the works. It seem ridiculous to me to have this gun go into half cock each time you activate the slide. Of course maybe SIG has a good reason for this, but if they do I have to wonder why it is not mentioned in the manual.

Edited on 01/25/2011 to add: After a good long while of shooting the SIG 226 DAK, there are some issues with it that I would like to point out or reiterate. Quite a few of the other agents, with whom I qualified, inadvertently hit the magazine release while shooting it (and a few did so while holstering or drawing it) causing the magazine to fall out our at least pop out part way. This was a problem for several shooters and happened again and again. Another problem was with the slide stop being activated while shooting. It happened over and over again throughout several qualifications for some of the shooters and took a long while for them to adjust their grip to avoid doing so. Then there are the grip screws and the frame material. The screws are steel and the screw holes are in an aluminum alloy frame. They were easy to over tighten and thus to ruin the threads in the frame. In addition, the screws became easily rusted in normal use of the pistol, much more easily than in any other pistol I have owned .(I am guessing because of the quality of the steel or the finish or both as I am talking rust while being worn in the holster without a lot of sweat getting on them.) As I think I said earlier, I also do not like the trigger pull, too much travel and too heavy. I got used to it but much preferred the trigger on my previously issued Glock 19 and personal Glock 26.

Later for you.

All the best,
GB

Backups??????

Anyone know how I can go about backing up all of my rants in this blog. Is there some way to do it with a few mouse clicks, or do I have to cut and paste every blog I have ever written here individually (I hope not)?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Never mind, I found out myself, and I was very surprised at how easy it was to do. Of course it backed up text and no photos, but that is okay by me for now, although I would like to figure out how to back up those photos along with the text all as one integral blog file.

All the best,
Glenn B

Anyone Want To Guess...

...just how I spent a few hours on one recent afternoon and evening? One look at the pic should give you a pretty good idea. (I actually did not use the oven cleaner although I had thought I would need it.)

What a pain in the behind it was too, especially because once I was done I found out that the gas tube on my newly acquired SKS did not fit right. Yep, that means I finally got a replacement Yugo SKS from SAMCO after returning the one they initially sent me as 'new' but that had repaired damage on it.

This one was supposed to be 'new' too, but I noticed right away that the price was about $20 or $30 less, and then saw the serial numbers on the stock and handguards did not match one another, nor did they match any of the serialized metal parts! No wonder the gas tube did not fit properly. Then there is also the gas valve that has corrosion on it, blued over corrosion at that. Otherwise it is in very good condition maybe even excellent (mind you I said otherwise), albeit refinished condition. It just ain't new - no way - not even 'new' for an arsenal refinish.

I do not understand exactly what is up with ordering from SAMCO - but I am wondering if they have a problem with the word 'new' when they describe their products, or if they think I am a moron, or are they simply inept! I sent em an email requesting either a refund, or a replacement gas tube and if that fits told em I would keep the SKS - but if not then they have to give me a full refund and I'll return it. I don't know if I want to go through this a third time, so if I get a refund this time around I may just cancel the whole order. Then again third time could be the charm. Decisions, darned decisions!

All the best,
GB

Biweekly Gun Shots 4 - Remington Model 1858 New Army (by Cabelas)

What's this? Two revolvers in a row. You betcha! This one is a black powder reproduction of the Remington 1858 New Army. The particular one pictured is available through Cabelas (I believe it is made for them by Pietta). This is one big sized revolver, and I guess a lot of that is due to its .44 caliber. It needs the heft to control the round and load needed to propel it. It weighs in at 2 pounds 11 ounces, is 14" long and has an 8" barrel. An extra nice feature of this revolver is that it has interchangeable cylinders. No not so that you can fire another caliber, but so that you can reload 6 rounds swiftly. I don't know if this is the same model of gun, but it reminds me of the one used by Clint Eastwood, in one of his westerns years ago, where the character changed cylinders to reload. This is available from Cabelas right now at the sale price of $189.99. For a bit more it is available with target sights, and there are other models also available such as one with case hardened steel, and another with a brass frame. Go here for more info on this particular model:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0006195210082a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=remington+army&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1.

I cannot afford one right now (nothing new) otherwise I would pick it up at the sale price . I have owned one or two black powder pistols over the years and I have got to say they are lots of fun. The one that comes to mind immediately was a cap and ball Derringer. I put that one together from a kit. It was a load of fun; but a six shooter in a black powder firearm as opposed to that single shot Derringer, and one for which you can get additional cylinders, sounds like an absolute blast.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Obamessiah Obsession

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell on earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be 'cured' against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with imbeciles, infants and domestic animals. - C.S. Lewis, from 'God In The Dock' (A doff of my virtual hat to Pete K who sent me part of that quote relative to our current financial mess and politics.)

It is a good warning appropriate and applicable to the politics of today, especially so to our current administration under President Obama. Will it be heeded? I tend to doubt it, not at least until it is too late and certainly not before almost irreparable harm has been done to our nation and to our Constitution. Why is this so? Under President Obama, and under politics of the far left in general, too many people want to be among the moral busybodies who need, who are compelled by their own egos, to do good for others, to make sure that we live life as we should but always according to them. Too many believe they are in some way morally, intellectually, politically, financially, ethically, or somehow else superior to the rest of us and they are of the firm belief that they must make life better for the rest of us by ruling over us with the full force of a tyranny. They are compelled by their own conscience, their own inner demons, to do so; now the rest of us must suffer the whims, urges, compulsions, of these demons while they who exercise their will over us take solace from those same demons as if sent from Heaven itself. Sooner or later this form of government, the Nanny State as we call it today, or that of the 'benign' Depot, leads to one thing and one thing alone - revolution! The sad result is that revolution all too often results in the same type of government all over again. With luck though, and with hard work - good planning - a realization that each of us is worth his salt if we have earned it (and earn it we must), then at least for a brief spell in the scheme of things tyranny will be defeated and something akin to our great Republic will be the type of government to emerge from the battle for self rule as governed by law, and for freedom and liberty. One can only hope that someone in Washington will come to the realization that we are more than barnyard animals or mindless imbeciles before it is too late.

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots 3 - The Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible

I cannot recall myself ever owning a single action only revolver, so that would be something new for me. Going with the concept of 'new' I figure that a gun with new in the name would fit right in. The one I have chosen for this edition of Biweekly Gun Shots is the Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible in .45 Long Colt/.45 Auto. Yep it can fire both and comes with interchangeable cylinders one for each caliber. Being that I have never owned a firearm in .45 caliber of any sort, this would be another new addition for me. Now if I opted to be on the frugal side then I'd go for this fine revolver in .357/9mm. It would be a tough choice, but if I had enough money to buy what I wanted, I think I would opt for the .45 first just for a plinker. Of course it would be a pretty good gun to have in hand if some evil doer broke into my home and tried to harm my family or myself although I must admit, in that case I would much prefer a double action handgun, or my Remington 870 to be in hand.

The .45 version of this revolver is available with either 4 5/8" or 5 1/2" barrels. They both come with a blued finish, ramp front sight, adjustable rear sight, have a western style grip. The shorter barreled version weighs in at 42 ounces, and its length is 10 1/2". Its barrel has 6 grooves with 1:16" RH twist. The longer barreled version weighs in at 44 ounces. It has an overall length of 11 1/4". The grooves and twist specs are the same as for the shorter barreled version. The cylinders of each hold 6 rounds. The MSRP is just under $600. (All this info can be found on the Ruger site at http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdResults?function=famid&famid=19&variation=.45%20Colt%20/%20.45%20Auto%20Convertible&bct=Yes&type=Revolver.) By the way, the one shown in the pic is the BN-455XL (the 5 1/2" version) as opposed to the shorter BN-44XL not shown

I could just imagine myself having to get western cut jeans and a pair of decent boots before going out to shoot this one. Nah, not really but the attire would fit right in with the gun, that is for sure.

All the best,

Glenn B

Today In History - The Saving of a Monarch

I am monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;

From the centre all round to the sea,

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

You may have heard or read those words before, I know they are familiar to me, but the truth be told I never knew to whom they referred or the why of them. As a matter of fact, I never read the rest of the poem, and as can already been seen in the second stanza, being monarch of all you survey may not be such a good thing as you might expect:

O solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms

Than reign in this horrible place.

On this day in history in 1709, the reign of that monarch in "this horrible place" finally came to its long hoped for end when Alexander Selkirk departed Juan Fernandez Island off the coast of Chile. His stay there had been a lonely one as a castaway, a long lonely one. He had been on the island for about 4 years and 4 months without another soul to keep him company.

While my guess is that you are not likely familiar with the exploits of Selkirk, or indeed even with mention of his name, you are most probably quite familiar with the name of the fictional character whose time stranded on a desert island was probably based upon Selkirk's real life ordeal. You see, Selkirk was likely the inspiration for Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe. My guess is you have heard the Crusoe name before. After reading the brief account of Selkirk's time on the island, and after reading a poem he supposedly wrote about it, I have to say he was a strong willed man to have toughed it out, especially after twice finding it necessary to hide from possible antagonists who landed on the island before his rescue. Talk about Survivorman - this was the real deal. Check out the references below to learn a bit more about the man, the real Robinson Crusoe!

All the best,
Glenn B

references:

http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk

http://www.poeticbyway.com/xcowper.htm for the complete poem supposedly penned by Selkirk himself.

Ah, The Glories of Socialized Medicine...

...or should that be the 'GORIES'.

Twenty-two (22) people have lost their site in either one or both eyes after free cataract surgery offered by the government of India. Now before you start saying oh that is in India so please do not make an analogy to the USA, please bear in mind all of those doctors and nurses named Patel (or with some other Indian name) - so yes it could happen here too. You see (definitely no pun intended), it is not the fault of doctors of Indian descent, it is the fault of the type of medicine being practiced, and that type is socialized government has the answer to everything medicine. Government control of such aspects of our economies does not work. It does not work in Canada, China, England, Germany, India or elsewhere. This is just another warning from outside of our borders that if we turn to socialized medicine, then our medical system is due to fail catastrophically.

Read the article here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490828,00.html

All the best,
Glenn B

Bad Week For Blogging - So Far (graphic)

...and I can only hope that by some miracle my week will improve. Everything was gong pretty much fine right up until Sunday evening. Well, wait a minute, that is just not right. it was just another weekend last weekend for me. Things were going normally for me, which certainly does not mean everything was fine, I guess I have become rather immune to somethings having to be crappy that I sometimes do not even notice them or otherwise except them as ordinary. On Saturday I visited my mom in the rehab center, and she knew who I was and was happy to see me so that was good. I stayed with her a couple of hours but she just kept nodding off. Before I left though she made sure to tell me to see my Aunt Jackie soon really not my aunt but my Godmother and like my mom very old and in frail health. So before I left my mom, I dialed up my aunt so the two of them could chat awhile, and I could ask her if she wanted me to pick her up someday soon to visit with my mom. My aunt did not answer the phone, so I left a message for her. Later, once home on Saturday night, I kind of felt short of breath and very run down, it was one of those all of a sudden type things.

On Sunday the day was a nice one, I got up and did some things that needed doing. Then I was off to a meeting of the Long Island Herpetological Society. I enjoy the company of some fine friends there as usual, then headed home. By the time I got home I was feeling a bit under the weather, a sore lower back and a headache at the top sides of my head and at the base of my head where it meets the neck.When I walked passed a mirror and took a look, I saw a peaked reflection in the mirror. I guess it was about 7:00PM when unexpectedly the damn burst. The flood cometh and the waters were muddy. I was sick like that until about 4PM yesterday, and was literally ill over 40 times in 2 days. You would think I had dysentery, and I wondered when the waters turned from muddy to black and I had not eaten or drank anything other than water in over 36 hours when that change came about. The most amazing thing of all throughout all of this was that I did not wind up needing to be hospitalized due to dehydration. The second most amazing thing was that I did not eat a single morsel of food in 46 hours. Though I had my first meal last night, a can of chicken noodle soup, and had a small light sandwich later, and a couple of pieces of toast today, I must say I am none to hungry. Matter of fact I am still feeling squeamish about eating, not so much because I dread another bout of the runs, but because after eating I feel sickly and weak again - go figure.

I was not really thinking about anything getting worse last night, but before it started to get better last night, things took a turn for the worse, much worse. Well truth is they had already turned that way, I had just not found out until last night. My Aunt Jackie went in to the hospital for cardiac arrest on Friday, she passed away on Tuesday. My sister called and gave me the news last night. Now we are debating whether or not to tell my mom. I would prefer telling her, even taking her to the funeral parlor if possible. It is a difficult decision to make because my mom is not in good shape either. Finding out will be tough for her, very tough. She and my aunt were long time best friends, since grammar school, and I do mean best friends. They were members of the 24 club, and my mom is one of the few surviving members of the club having been born in 1924. I will regret not having seen my aunt in recent memory, shame on me for that. She was as good a Godmother as one could hope for and helped put some joy into what was an otherwise pretty troubled childhood.

This morning I felt quite the bit better heath wise. I even drove myself to the doctor's office for a checkup. All she told me was that I probably have a bad stomach virus that seems to be going round but that I also seem to be getting better. Heck I could have told her that. I spent most of that day today recuperating. Could things be any worse? Well not really worse but some annoyance added to the mix. This afternoon, I found out my government car parked out front has a parking ticket on it, because we have alternate side of the street parking, and it belonged on the other side of the street on Tuesday. I just moved it to a spot around the block and that was a major effort. Guess who has to pay the ticket - yep me. Usually we get away with it, but my boss decided if I get one parked at home I also get to pay it. Hopefully they will reconsider because I have been so ill, but in the end it is up to the judge here where I live and he is no friend of mine.

So, sorry I have not blogged more this week, but I think you can understand why I have not kept up on it. I'll give you some good stuff by the weekend, I have a new Yugo SKS to write about (yep SAMCO sent me a replacement for the other one that I returned to them).

Its been a tough few days; and even right now things seem to be getting a bit tougher as I type. I am again starting to feel much more run down, weak, and the headache and backache seem to be coming back. I almost cannot believe that moving my car, and now sitting here and writing this have made me feel so weak again. So for now I am calling it quits, I am going to go lay down to rest so that maybe tomorrow I'll have enough strength to attend the funeral parlor services.

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gunshots 2 - The Beretta Jetfire

Okay, the first guns that appeared in this feature were rifles, pretty rugged ones at that and suitable for all sorts of jobs from hunting, to home defense, to possible military or law enforcement use. For the second my Biweekly Gun Shots feature I thought I’d stick with a defensive firearm, but a diminutive one at that. So small in fact that many consider it a waste of metal and plastic as far as self defense goes. I beg to differ, and I can tell you I would depend upon one of them as a last ditch backup piece any day of the week. In fact, I have owned at least 4 (and if I recall right actually 5) of these small pistols.

The pistol to which I am referring is a fine piece of craftsmanship whether you are lucky enough to find one of the Italian made ones, or buy a more current production American made edition of it. It is the Beretta Jetfire (model 950) in .25 caliber. Please do not mistake this small pistol with the Beretta Model 21, it is a significantly different pistol. I am not taking anything away from the model 21, it is a good little pistol. I am, however, saying that I wish Beretta could have manufactured the Jetfire in .22LR (as they did with the model 21) instead of just manufacturing it for .25 and .22 short calibers. The Jetfire in my opinion is a much better made and much better functioning pistol than is the model 21 (and as I said the 21 is a good pistol); but for whatever reason Beretta declined to chamber them in .22LR.

All of the ones I have owned were chambered in .25 caliber as I remember; but I owned my last one many years ago and memory may fail me on that. So, I could have owned one in .22 short but I think not. Yes, I know, the .25 caliber round is considered virtually ineffectual at best and totally useless at worst. Again, I beg to differ. The Beretta Jetfire pistol came with blued steel slide and barrel, a black anodized alloy receiver, and black plastic grips. It was able to hold 9 rounds fully loaded, 1 in the chamber and 8 rounds in the box magazine. They can be loaded via the magazine, or individually by operating the barrel pop up feature and feeding single rounds into the chamber (same as the barrel pop up feature on the 21 series). The sights consist of a small hump front sight, and a groove cut into the top and rear of slide. It was single action only pistol and could be carried cocked and locked, though I usually carried mine in a pocket with hammer down on a live chamber. Mind you not the safest way to carry this little pistol as it had an inertia firing pin, but safe enough for me at the time, and safer than with it cocked and locked. With its small size it fit very nicely into a pants pocket, or into a boot holster. In fact it was easy to conceal almost anywhere on the body. I knew one supervisory Border Patrol Agent who had one and carried it exclusively in his boot as a backup weapon. To that end he removed the plastic grips and replaced them with sheet metal grips of his own making. He just cut out two pieces of sheet metal with the same perimeter as the grips and drilled in some screw holes slightly counter sunk. They made it all the more concealable because the grip are was now thinner and flatter. NOTE: Never try this with a model 21 series pistol from Beretta. The Model 21 I owned had its recoil spring set under the grips, and that spring was dependent upon the grips on each side for holding the springs in place. In fact, I do not even recommend this modification with a Jetfire even though the design back then did not make the recoil spring dependent upon the grips.

As for being easy on the draw, it was quite easy to draw from a pocket, or a holster, or a boot, or a handbag, or wherever due to its small size. Once it hand all the controls such as the thumb safety, the barrel release, or the hammer were easy to find and operate. The trigger was smooth and crisp on all of the ones I owned. As for accuracy it was pretty accurate and I could easily place shots, using the sights, into center mass on a man sized silhouette at up to 15 yards. I was able to do the same at 25 yards to, but it was not as easy as at 15 yards. At 7 yards or less it was a point and shoot type of pistol, and for me it always hit that at which I had pointed it.

If the Jetfire been chambered in .22LR, it would have been a much more fun gun to shoot. The .25 caliber rounds are centerfire ammunition and therefore are quite expensive. As for the Jetfire in .22 short, while the ammo was not as expensive as .25, it was at least two to three times as expensive as was .22LR. Despite the ammunition, this is a well made little pistol that is good for a last ditch effort pocket gun. It is made well, and stands up to a lot of abuse but what else would expect from Beretta! As for me having owned 4 or 5 of them, I wound up selling at least two maybe three because I wanted to buy something bigger. Then I wanted something smaller and got another each time. Two other ones – well they succumbed to corrosion, but that was to be expected considering the conditions. One was a constant companion pocket gun in the sweltering heat of Calexico, CA and it got both soaked with perspiration and covered with salt from salt cedars. After a while (about 2 years of that), no matter how often I cleaned it and oiled it, it gave way to some surface rust. I liked the pistol more than enough to promptly buy another. My last Jetfire was in my pocket when on a detail to Key Largo, FL when we loaded bale after bale of seized marijuana onto a boat. First we had to carry it through the water to get it back to the boat from the mangrove swamp in which it had been dropped off. Did I neglect to mention it was saltwater. I forgot it was in my pocket and many hours later (about 10 or 12) finally remembered it. Oh well! Even had that one been stainless steel, it probably would have corroded quite a bit. As I said though great little pistols, I would have another anytime and hopefully not put them through as much abuse as I did some of my previous ones.

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots 1 - The Saiga Rifles

This will be a new feature of my blog, and will probably appear biweekly (as in twice per week - not every two weeks). It will be one in which I present pics of guns I'd like to own (or of other guns of note even including clunkers now and then). That is if I ever become wealthy enough to be able to afford them (maybe once the son is out of college but by then my wife will probably want a cruise around the world, and why not). So lets get right to it.

I am going to start out simple, with a rifle that I'd like to own right now, and one for which I have been waiting arrival at my local gun store. Ever since my purchase of a Yugoslavian SKS through SAMCO fell through because they sent me a rifle in condition other than what I ordered (and I returned it for a refund), I decided to look for something else that would be somewhat similar in price range, design and function to an SKS. I came up with what I think is a fine choice although the design certainly differs somewhat but not all that much for my purposes, and the function is just as good from what I have heard. As far as price goes, well they have gone up in price since the recent election of our 44th president.

The rifle I am talking about is the SAIGA in 7.62x39 (click to enlarge the pic). It sure looks to be a handy rifle for defensive purposes, and I am willing to bet it would be a load of fun at the range. Of course that is it would be a load of fun at the range if the price of 7.62x39 ammo ever comes back down to earth (now $399.99 at CheaperThanDirt.com for a case of 1,000 rounds). Despite the price of ammo, and I suppose due to the fact that I have some on hand in the ammo locker, I suppose I still could have a good deal of fun shooting one if they ever again become available. I mean I'd like to do my share of stimulating the economy and buying one of these for starters would be my way of chipping in to the economic stimulus package. For more info on this model go to: http://www.raacfirearms.com/Saiga.htm

I am patiently awaiting the arrival of an ordered batch of these rifles at the gun store just a few blocks from my house. Now, if they don't get in one of these in 7.62x39 before they get in one in .308, well I may just be tempted to go for one in the larger caliber. Sure it will be more expensive, and so too will the ammo over the long haul, but the Saiga in .308 sure is pretty, well at least the .308 Ver. 21 is pretty, take a look. For more info go here: http://www.raacfirearms.com/Saiga_308v21.htm. They also offer a more mundane version in .308 without the thumb-hole stock.

Of course, they also offer yet another version, in both of the above mentioned calibers and .223. This one comes with the option of a more tactical looking stock, although I don't know if it is truly tacticool enough for Mall Ninjas. I do like the look of it though, and if this one became available first, I'd likely go for it. Why am I not all that choosy about the one I'd take if they had it in stock - just that - they its the if factor! The if they had it in stock! Right now I cannot find any of these anywhere. I suppose they sold out very quickly after our latest president was elected.

The decision would not be difficult to make if they just get one of em in, but if they get all of the above models in at once with all of the available calibers, well them it may take me all of 5 minutes, a few coin tosses, a quick discussion with Brendan, and a count of cash on hand for me to make up my mind.

All the best,

Glenn B

Two Heroes To Note In One Week.

Earlier this week I celebrated one of the happier days of each of my years for as far back as I can remember, this year it was extra special because the Ground Hog on Staten Island, NY bit mayor Michael Bloomberg. Too bad it did not sever an artery. I got a bit of amusement out of that if only because it showed that even a rodent knew Bloomberg was an enemy.

Today is another day in February that I celebrate, but a much more serious one. Today is the birthday of the greatest president within my lifetime. No, I do not mean Jimmy E. Carter Jr., Barack H. Obama, Lyndon B. Johnson, George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush, Richard M. Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower (you will note I listed them in ascending order as to level of their worth as president in my opinion - but that can change as the current one carries out his term).

I do mean Ronald W. Reagan. He was a true man among men, a true leader of our nation, a guiding light to the rest of the world. He simply was the best who got more accomplished in his tenure as president than any other president I have experienced during my 50 plus years on this earth. Today I salute him and his memory.

All the best,
Glenn B

One Victory For Taxpayers

That victory would be that the alleged tax cheat Daschle is out! Good riddance. Hopefully he will also resign his seat in Congress (edited: My mistake, I guess he is no longer in Congress having lost his last election). As I see him he is probably a crook and a tax cheat, and does not deserve to be in a seat of authority. I heard a democrat senator today saying how wonderful is Tom Daschle's integrity - I guess that means whoever was saying that just has absolutely no clue as to the meaning of integrity!

My bet is that the calls placed to elected officials had a lot to do with this. I tried calling my senators today and got a busy signal about 30 times each. I also tried to write to the White House but the email would not go through. is that because the new President has changed things and doe snot allow The People to send emails, or maybe because they were so inundated by them today that the systems could not handle all of them.

If you contacted a senator, representative or the president's office to oppose the appointment of Tom Daschle - good for you. We won a small victory today.

All the best,
Glenn B

Economic Stimulus - Let's Get Transparent

I tend to imagine that the politicians involved in the economic stimulus dealing in Congress right now are mostly hypocrites, at least they who are trying to get this bailout (or whatever they want to call it) pushed through so they can give away our billions and billions of tax dollars to the already rich. Here is how I figure it:

1. President Obama and most of the Democrats are all screaming at the rich saying they need to pay more taxes, that is not just that they pay more based upon a flat rate for everyone whereby they make more then of course they pay more, but they want an actual higher tax rate for them. There is already such a rate system in place and they already pay more but that does not matter to the Obamites, they want the wealthy to pay at an even higher rate so the poor will have more - or so they say. The glitch of hypocrisy here is that they also want to give hundreds of billions of our dollars directly to the already rich to bail them out. So they have to pay higher taxes but get to use the taxpayers money in order to do so. Yes folks once the government give the the so called Economic stimulus, any taxes they pay can be paid with that money. So they are getting off absolutely free and who suffers. The middle class will suffer most, the class that socialists have always tried to eliminate.

2. All the politicians are screaming that people need to pay their fair share of taxes, and that means a higher rate for those with more money. Yet two people recently in the limelight have not paid their taxes, at least not until they were caught not paying them. Then they suddenly found the ways and means to cough it up to the tax man, but only so they could get into positions of power in our government. If an IRS employee failed to pay some of his or her taxes over a few years period they would likely be fired and have the case referred to the office of the United States Attorney in the relative district for federal criminal prosecution. I have to wonder, since President Obama apparently favors tax cheats, will the cases of Daschle and Geitner go to the office of the U.S. Attorney for criminal prosecution! You can bet not, anyway I certainly am betting that way; and if by some chance they do - you can bet they actually will not be prosecuted.

3. There has been a lot of talk coming from President Obama's mouth about transparency in government. Okay let's see that in action. Let's see if he and every Congressperson (yes every Senator and every Representative) will allow us to see their stock and bond dealings. Most of them are screaming for us to give our money, in the forms of hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, to all sorts of businesses that are failing. Some of those business, apparently the worst off, include two major automobile manufacturers, many banks, many mortgage companies, many giants in the financial industry - all business who sold stocks and bonds. If the financial bailout (aka: the economic stimulus package) is really such a good thing, then politicians should have faith in these companies in that once they have received stimulus monies they will recover and recover strongly. The proof is in the pudding so to speak so lets see some transparency to the pudding. We should demand, and elected officials - each and everyone of them from the president to the vice president, to the senators to those in the house of Representatives should show us their stock and bond portfolios. Why, because then we would see if they truly believed that the stimulus package would work or not because those who believed it would all be holding stocks and bonds in the companies who need stimulus money. In fact if they are not holding stocks and bonds it would be obvious they have little faith in the stimulus plan, and if they recently sold whatever stocks and bonds they had it would be even more proof to that hypothesis. of course a shrewd one may buy up all the stock he can right before the money is doled out hoping to make a killing when his stocks in a particular company are revitalized by a bailout. That guy should just be arrested outright because such would be a felony conflict of interest. No matter how you look at this the criminal mind can prosper.

Hey wait a minute, what did I just say about criminal minds prospering. That thought goes right back to alleged tax cheats being supported by the president and allowed into high power political appointments. As far as I can see, it is all hypocrisy folks, it is all a scam, if you do not see it you are blind. Maybe you have been blinded by all that pudding, well I say let's force them to make it transparent so we can see for ourselves how much faith these elected officials and political appointees have in their own plan. Call your senators and representatives today and demand transparency and also demand that they vote down the economic stimulus package because all it amounts to is robbing the tax payer!

All the best,
Glenn B