A Son, A Shotgun, and Some Shells...

...are a combination that amount to a good time at the Trap Range. I had expected to spend a good part of the day at the range today, but as things would have it I wound up having to watch my mom last night and for part of today. My sister-in-law came out to relieve me today and brought my son Brendan with her. Brendan and I then headed to the range. We only had just over an hour to shoot so we went to the Trap Range.

We only have the one shotgun, an 870, so Brendan shot the first round. He only hit 4 of the clays. I shot next and hit 10 out of 25. Brendan then shot the next two rounds and got about 6 on his second round, but improved to 12 on the last round. He changed his style a bit by that third round and it seemed to make a good deal of difference and he improved considerably. This was the first outing to the Trap Range for us this year. Hopefully we will get to shoot there at least a few times during the spring and summer.

It sure was a nice day for this today. Temps in the low to mid 50s, slight breeze, blue skies; and some quality time spent with my son. Brendan got some color; and the freckles started to come out on both of us. Things don't get much better than that! If we had had more time, we would have hit the rifle range too, but things just did not work out that way. Maybe next time for the rifle range. All in all though it was a great time if only a short one; but then I guess we have to take happiness as it comes to us.

All the best,
Glenn B

Great Deal on .35 Remington Ammunition at Sportsmansguide.com

I just went shopping online for some .35 Remington Ammunition. In the past I have used 200 grain Remington Core-lokt and Winchester Super X with good results. I bought some last year when I saw the prices going up, and I have a hundred or so rounds at home, but I figured since the weather is getting nice, and Brendan and I will be spending more time at the range, it was time to shop for some more so we can shoot as we please. Last year the least expensive I could find in stores, and online, was going for about $15.00 to $17.00 a box.

This year it seems the price has jumped to about $18.00 or $19.00 per 20 round box at most places, up to what I believe to be an astounding price of $32.25 at one website http://www.outdoorsuperstore.com/product.asp?prod=286861. So, you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that Sportsmansguide.com had Winchester Super X PP at 13.97 per box, or $13.27 per box if a club member - which I am. I bought 200 rounds which equals a case. If you have a rifle chambered in .35 Remington, you may want to check this out at: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/b...spx?c=96&s=962.

The total price of my order for just the ammo would have been as follows: $132.70 for the ammo plus $15.99 for shipping = $148.69 minus $10.00 coupon = $138.69. This would be a bottom line of $13.87 per box. I think this is not a bad deal, in fact I think it is a great deal, from what I have seen of the prices on this exact same ammunition at other sites and in stores, and no tax charged. (Note I said the price would have been because I also ordered something else, so it was abit higher. The actual ammo price though, with shipping, and with the discounts, was just as I have shown.

By the way, no I do not receive any compensation in any form for posting stuff like this. I just figured that at about $4 to $5 saving per box of 20 rounds, this is one tough deal to pass up. I also thought that since I have bought as much as I can afford right now, why not let other .35 Remington lovers out there get in on it. In this day and age of anti-gun nuts, we who appreciate firearms and shooting need to stick together.

All the best,
Glenn B

Chocolate Jesus...

...is getting an awful lot of media coverage by the mud slinging media as Michelle Malkin points out @ http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007208.htm. As she mentions, the media would not likely be posting irreverent pictures or representations of Mohammad just before Ramadan, but they are all to ready to post pictures of this insult to Christianity just before Easter. Now I could understand a Chocolate Jesus as being a piece of art that ACTUALLY SAYS SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO CHRISTIANS WHO THINK EASTER IS ALL ABOUT EASTER EGGS AND CHOCOLATE BUNNIES, AND WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE CHRIST PART OF IT, but I do not think this the intent of the person who sculpted this piece. One reason that I do not believe such is because of the lack of a loin cloth in the depiction. I cannot understand why this current representation has to be one in which Jesus' private parts are left uncovered, and the overall depiction of Jesus is rather ugly, or is ugly at least in my opinion. It seems to have been sculpted not just to arouse religious devotion, or to make people rethink Easter, but to insult. So my guess is that the so called food artist, who at other times has reportedly covered walls in cheese, does not give a hoot about Christianity and only wanted to get maximum shock exposure for this, as I see it, lurid work.

As far as making a big stink about it, I believe that the offended Christians are going about this all wrong. Sure they can be offended, the depiction seems meant to be insulting, in my opinion, or at the least to be offensive; but I believe it inappropriate for them to try to boycott the show, or the place in which it is shown (as I remember reading that they are calling for as explained on www.FoxNews.com). I believe it would be much more appropriate, if actually legal, for them to flock to see this exhibit in great masses this Palm Sunday, and then (if legal) smash it into pieces and eat it until there is not a morsel left over. This way they would accomplish a few things. They would give the media more to chatter about, they would give the so called artist more exposure, they would get rid of the offensive piece before Easter (when by the way, I believe it is scheduled to stop showing), and they would enjoy some chocolate thereby making sure food does not go to waste.

All in all, the biggest accomplishment, as I see it for Christians, would be getting rid of the sculpture in a more Christian, or at least less violent, manner as opposed to rioting, killing, maiming, and calling for a Crusade. Now, please mind you, I am not advocating that anyone do anything illegal, and I oppose any illegal actions; but the thing about smashing it and eating it simply seems to me to be a figurative just dessert for the artist and a fitting end for his so called art. As it is though, I am willing to bet that Christians, in large numbers, will not do anything illegal like destroying his work, nor do I think that they will riot in the streets, kill others, injure others, or threaten to begin a holy war over this depiction of Christ! This is not because they are weak, but because they - for the most part - are indeed Christian. They live by a morality that they apply not just to outsiders but also to themselves - unlike the followers of another religion which readily comes to mind in these trying times. This makes Christians an easy mark for the media, who for the most part, are seemingly much to squeamish to offend anyone whom they believe might actually take violent action over being so offended. The media, and other groups, should be careful though because, as I believe it, you can only push even folks like Christians just so far before they stop turning the other cheek.

All the best,
Glenn B (a used to be Catholic)

Anticipation can be agonizing, but well worth it.

I have had this unfamiliar feeling over the past week and a half ever since I was interviewed for a teaching job in the New York City Teaching Fellowship program. I cannot think of anything in many years that I have faced with so much anticipation, anxiety, hope, and dread since my first few weeks flying as an Air Marshal just after 9/11. This time around the feelings of dread are much less, life will go on if I don’t get the job, because I will still have my current job if I do not get the new one. Whereas, as an Air Marshal, my life sort of depended on me getting the job done right.

Still, though I have been on an emotional roller coaster. If I don’t get the new job, I am stuck at the old one from which I am ready to retire. That’s okay but the job stinks. Heck, I would say that even ¾ of the people who are not yet eligible to retire are ready to retire; that is how messed up the job has become over the last few years. So the thought of not getting the new position gets me down. Then again, the thought of being selected for a teaching spot has me about as happy as one can be. I have not felt so much anticipation ever since waiting for that first kiss, from a very special gal, so many years ago. When I got it, the kiss that is, it was all worth waiting for; and so to I am sure would be a teaching job. I hope I get it, I do, I do.

If I do not get it, I have options. I am eligible to go out on retirement, and to collect my pension. The lure of that Siren’s song is almost too much to bear. I would almost be willing to crash my ship ashore with no hope of getting another, or in other words I am just about ready to retire with no second career job waiting for me, because the allure of retirement is that strong. I have not retired though because I have a family, and I have obligations, and those bill collectors get pretty upset if you don’t pay your bills on time. So even though the retired life calls my name in a sultry voice, I have tied myself to the mast; and I will wait until I get a second career lined up. Like Odysseus, there will be no falling to the lure of the Siren’s song for me; not just yet anyhow.

As for my reasons to keep on working until I can get a second career, no I am not madly in debt. In fact, if I retired now, my debts are pretty minimal, but I do want to continue to lead a comfortable life with my family, and a meaningful one at that, so I figure I’ll keep working. Teaching seems like a way to do something I want to do toward leading a meaningful life after retirement. I want to be able to help guide our nation’s youngsters down the road to becoming contributing members of our society. For the past 27 plus years, I have arrested quite a few of them who did not make it down that road by the time they had met me. Instead they tried to take the short cut down Easy Street, only to wind up on that bumpy back road called Hard Knocks Drive. At first I thought being a counselor would be the way to go, but after thinking about it, then discovering the NYCTF program, I decided that teaching would help me get to more of them, and therefore I could do something on a grander scale than just one on one counseling sessions. Heck I could reach them not only before they were arrested (or after the arrest) but even before they thought of going out to commit a crime. Giving them a better chance would be giving our society a better chance. I kind of like the idea, and I am no air headed idealist, I am a practical guy, and practicality is what has turned me toward teaching as a choice for my second career. The better educated kids our schools turn out, the better off for the USA in the future.

I am still far from my goal of becoming a teacher, they have not offered me a position yet. I am very hopeful that they will. It has sort of been like waiting to see if I would be able to get that first kiss oh so long ago from the gal I married. Hopefully the wait for the teaching fellowship will wind up with a similar result of my wait for that kiss. The result of that kiss was a long lasting, loving relationship, with my first, only, and current wife. It has been a relationship that has taken an awful lot of work to keep it going, and one for which I needed a deep rooted passion to keep alive. Married life has been quite the good thing; and so, it has been well worth the effort. I can only hope - that just like waiting for that first kiss was well every moment of agonizing anxiety filled anticipation that I suffered through - my waiting to hear the results of this job interview will work out in a similar fashion.

All the best,
Glenn B

Nice Day At The Range

I spent most of the morning today cleaning my issue H&K MP5, my issue 870 and my issue Glock 19. Only the shotgun needed cleaning, but it was a job I enjoyed doing on all three weapons. Make no mistake about it, these three firearms are my weapons when I am working. Hopefully I'll never have to shoot anyone with them, but I like to keep em ready to shoot well, even if only at the range.

This afternoon, I spent most of my time at the range for quarterly qualifications. I disappointed myself a bit with the Glock 19. I shot for score twice, the first time getting a 141 out of 150, the second time around I got a 147. Should have been a 150 second time around, but I made mistakes. Then I shot perfect with the shotgun, 5 out of 5 - yes we only shoot 5 shots at 25 yards to qualify. It was a fairly nice group as usual with the 870 in my hands. Then I shot a 247 out of 250 with the MP5; that really was a disappointment because I was shooting right on all the way, then my glasses fell off while shooting a few three round bursts. I kept shooting just like if it had been the real deal in the street, and put three rounds just out of the center ring losing 3 points. Oh well, stuff happens, and you have to keep on going.

All in all it was a great day. The weather was fine with temps in the mid fifties to low sixties, a slight breeze, and bright blue skies. The range officers were pleasant as usual, and that makes for fun shooting. Besides the qualifications we shot tactical stuff from behind cover. First though we ran about 40 yards or so, just enough to get a little bit pumped, then into the range sort of blind. Had 6 targets face, had to get behind cover, then fire at the bad guy targets. Only had 6 rounds per mag, but had to empty all the mags, so reloading would get done .I got em all, and did not shoot the good guy target. I also had a failure to extract, then the next round failed to feed. Did the tap rack, but did not reengage because it was obvious I had to strip out the mag, and reload a new one because it had not cleared. The range officers were quite pleased in how I handled the malfunction, and said so to me; that was nice of them. I am wondering why this one happened in the first place. It is not something that happens with any regularity for me, so I'll have to check the pistol over tonight. The range officers were quite pleased in how I handled the malfunction, and said so to me. It was nice of them to let me know I did that well, because they sure let you know if you foul up, and so they should do both.

All in all it was a great day, outside, and at the range.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Man has a point...

...and my money goes with the ex-husband. He says he was ordered to pay alimony to a woman who had been his ex-wife, and not to the man into which his ex-wife has changed. Sound weird? Well, yes it is. You can read about it here: Florida Man Says Ex-Wife's Sex Change Should End His Alimony Obligation. I can understand divorce, and I even think that temporary renewable marriages maybe the way to go, but transsexuality is not my bag. Nor my wife's (thank the heavens). I think it is an abomination of humanity, nature, morality, and normality. So yes, I think the ex-husband has a point, especially since his ex-wife now has one too! It is a sick world in which we live.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wolf Ammunition Company...

...apparently stands behind their products. Quite some months back, I bought a 1,000 round case of Wolf military Classic in 7.62x39 caliber from Sportsmansguide.com . It apparently was defective. After firing 100 rounds, I realized that many were having problems with the primers. I emailed Wolf Ammo asking them what to do, they asked that I send them some info. I mailed it to them as requested. Either they never got my letter or ignored. I forgot about it for several months. When I remembered it, I sent them another email reminding them of the problems. They sent me a UPS shipping label at their expense, and I returned the ammunition to them about 2 weeks ago, or a little less, yesterday. I received the replacement ammo last night. I am a little confused as to why I received only 800 rounds in the exchange when I returned 900 rounds to them. There was a fine razor cut in the box, later covered with tape, that could indicate some theft at UPS, but I do not know. I will have to contact Wolf to ask how many rounds they shipped to me. If they shipped more than 800, you can bet I will file a complaint with UPS and with the police; because that would mean someone had sticky fingers. Of course it may have just been a mistake at Wolf, maybe they counted 900 rounds when it was actually 800. If that is the case, I will ask for the other 100 rounds, but if they do not send them what should I do but let it slide since 100 rounds hopefully will not make or break me. I am hoping it was just an honest mistake and not a theft while in transit. I would hate for some dirtbag to be using my ammo!

Oh well, despite the count returned to me, my original point still stands that Wolf Ammunition stood behind their product. I was very pleased with how they handled their customer service, except for the short count, and I am none too sure that is their fault yet. Hopefully they will handle that as nicely if they made a mistake. I will certainly buy their products again in the future.

Now that I have the ammo, Brendan and I can have a blast with the SKS this weekend.

All the best,
Glenn B

Another Day In Paradise...

...is what I say to folks at work when they ask me how things are going. Actually work stinks, but it could be worse. I put up with it mainly because I need the money. I guess being eligible to retire makes things a little easier to handle. Yet, if you were to ask me about how I expect things to go at work tomorrow, I would say 'Another Day In paradise" and really mean it. Quarterly firearms qualifications are tomorrow, and for me that means a good day at the range. Not so good as when I was a firearms instructor, but at least good for a day. I'll be firing the Glock 19, the H&K MP5, and the 12 gauge Remington 870. That always makes for a good day.

Then for this Saturday, I have plans to go out east on Long Island to the Brookhaven Range with my son Brendan. I imagine we will shoot some trap, and then go to the rifle range and shoot the SKS and a few other rifles. That should make for an even better day. I have never enjoyed a shooting partner more than my son or daughter (or my wife the one time she shot). Making it a family day, even if only my boy comes along, is a very good thing indeed.

Getting in some shooting twice in one week will be wonderful too. I am truly looking forward to it. Safe shooting.

All the best,
Glenn B

Prepare to be Boarded...

...may have been a standing order of the British Admiralty to their sailors over in Iraq should they be approached by a hostile vessel; but I doubt it. I mean it just does not seem like a proper military thing to do - that is to just allow a potential enemy to approach to within boarding distance without at least having given evasion a good try. Did the 15 Brits who were seized by the Iranians try to get away. I have not seen any mention of it anywhere in print or on TV, so I will presume,based upon what I have read and heard to date, that they did not. Now I will wonder why not!

After thinking this through, back and forth, up and down, my guess would be (and yes this is a somewhat educated guess even though I have never been in the military) that they failed to have a lookout remain in their boats, therefore the enemy could approach close enough to effect a boarding and arrest before the Brits could make a getaway. I would not want to be in the shoes of the guy who decided not to post lookouts; or as the case may be, I would not want to be the lookout who maybe was not looking. Of course, I guess there is a chance that there was a lookout who was doing a proper job, but that the Iranian vessel(s) that approached them to ultimately seize the 15 British crew members somehow snuck up on them before the lookout could get his crew back into their boats to flee. Then again, maybe, just maybe, they did not bother to think the Iranians would do something like this, but come on now, haven't they done almost exactly the same thing in the past. The Iranians have a track record of arresting British sailors.

Remember too, that these British Rubber Inflatable Boats (RIBS) came from somewhere, and I am pretty sure that somewhere was a larger boat or a ship. Where was the captain of the larger vessel with the crew of the larger vessel while the 15 RIB crew members were being arrested. In addition there was a helicopter crew that overflew the event, witnessing it. Why was there no assistance from them, at least none was reported that I saw. Of course, I guess there is a chance that there was a lookout who was doing a proper job, and so too was the captain of the larger mother ship's crew, but that the Iranian vessel(s) that approached them somehow snuck up on them before the lookout or the captain of the larger vessel could respond. Then again, maybe, just maybe, they did not bother to think the Iranians would do something like this, but come on now, haven't they done almost exactly the same thing in the past. The Iranians have a track record of arresting British sailors.


No I would not want to be the guy who had been responsible for the security of those 2 boats and their crews while most of the crew members were searching the other boats. My 27 1/2 years in law enforcement doing all sorts of search warrants, making all sorts of seizures (including on the high seas from a go-fast boat) tell me something about the rules of engagement, and the rules of evasion, stink in this case. Whenever we boarded another boat, whenever we went into a location on a search or arrest warrant, whenever we did controlled deliveries of narcotics, we had back-up officers watching out for our safety. Something quite possibly went very wrong here indeed, it should not be quite that easy to seize 15 sailors in a war zone, when the seizing country is not even involved in that war. Someone was, it seems to me, asleep at the helm.

I guess that will all be addressed by the British government later, after the hoped for release of the 15 British sailors, still though I am happy I am not the guy responsible for this. I do not envy him his just desserts, because it most likely will be a bitter pill to swallow.

For now though, my hope is these sailors will be released soon, and unharmed.

All the best,
Glenn B

Chinese Wheat...

...is a subject that comes to mind this morning as a possible one for my rant. Yet, being that it is Sunday and I sort of promised myself and my readers, some time back, to only write about nice things on Sundays - how do I go about this one. Well let me just say it this way:

It was a very good thing that the contaminated Chinese wheat (if indeed it was the poisoned agent that killed and sickened so many pets) did not get into the human food chain. You know what I mean don't you? Isn't it possible that the suspected contaminated wheat products could have been used in anything from whole wheat bread to Twinkies (nothing bad about Twinkies, I love them, just used them as a popular example of a wheat product)? If it had gotten into the human food supply things would have been worse; so yes I guess it is good that it did not finds its way there.

One also has to wonder, are the Chinese that lax when it comes to use of rodent poisons, or was this intentional? If it was intentional, maybe there was some sort of Divine intervention, or maybe it was just luck (our good fortune) that the poisoned products somehow got diverted for use as animal food rather than as human food. Yes it is a good thing if such is what happened. One has to wonder, even if I am the only one.

Then again, I am not the only one. Michael Savage hinted at something along those lines the other night (I think it was Friday night) on his radio show; and he mentions it on his web site. Just think of what could have happened if terrorists had poisoned our food supply like that, or with something even more lethal. My guess is it would not be that hard to do, nor that hard to get the food into this country for use by the general public. Oh, you think it would be difficult, well it wasn't so difficult to get it into our pets' food was it! So yes we are lucky indeed, and that luck is a good thing.

Something else I wonder about, is what ever happened to the Department of Agriculture at our borders. Oh yeah, something called free trade has made border regulation just a wee bit less enforcement minded since the first George Bush initiated it; and since the son pushed for it even harder than the dad. What is that other thing called; I believe it is Preferred Nation Status. Wasn't that conferred upon China by one of the Bushes or maybe it was by Clinton. It does not matter who gave it to them, it is just lucky that even though they have this status, and therefore can more easily export goods to the USA, this poison did not get into the human food chain. That really is a good thing isn't it?

I wonder though, has this stuff gotten into our food chain. If it is in dog and cat food, is it also in chicken feed, cattle feed, and the like. Naw it couldn't be, could it. Certainly our goobermint government inspectors at the department of Agriculture, or our own Dick Tracys at the FBI, and our own Customs and Border Protection personnel of the Department of Homeland Confusion Security, would have detected such by now - wouldn't they? I am confident that they would have, and that all is under control; and that is a good thing!

Now I am not hoping to create any sort of a panic, because that would not be a good thing, and after all it is Sunday, and time for good thing rants. I am, on the other hand, trying to get you to think; and if by some unlikely coincidence a government Agricultural inspector reads this, then I am also trying to get him/her to think, and maybe to suggest some action up the chain of command if such has already not been accomplished. It would be a bad thing, a very bad thing indeed, if the poison in the pet food also found its way into the food of ranched and farmed animals, and ultimately into the human food chain, or worse still if it got into our food directly in pasta, junk food, or whatever. So maybe getting someone to think about such as a possibility, and having them spurred on to check for it, is a good thing indeed. I hope it is a good enough thing that they actually do it; I sort of like my kidneys in good working order.

All the best,
Glenn B

Another war - doubtful!

Even though Iran has lit the tinder that would have easily been fanned into the flames of war in past times, I sort of doubt that their provocation of England will result in a war this time around. Regarding the 15 British military personnel who were captured by the Iranian naval forces, the European Union has been outspoken, and according to the article Iran: UK Troops Illegally Entered Waters @ http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Mar24/0,4670,BritishSeizedIran,00.html

"The European Union also called for the "immediate liberation" of the captured sailors, according to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency."

Of course, Great Britain has also called for their immediate release, as so they should be released. Yet, I have to wonder, if Iran does not release them immediately, what will be the consequence? It is probable that the EU will do absolutely nothing but grumble more. The UK will also grumble on and on. My guess is also that Iran will eventually (probably in the near future) release them, unharmed. Of course maybe Iran will execute them instead, or imprison them for many years. Then maybe the Brits will feel their oats, and they will retaliate, and there will be another war ongoing in the world. I sort of doubt it though, my guess is that this is all chest pounding, and behind the scenes dealing (of which there is likely already some going on). Who will capitulate the most - my guess is England; and although I would hope that not be the case, I am almost certain it will be so. I also believe that in this matter the EU will be useless, but I may yet be proven wrong - Iran may benefit from the EU's lack of spine after all is said and done.

All the best,
Glenn B

Mother's Day...

...is not until when, May I think. Yet today will be Mother's Day in a way because I will be visiting my mom at my sister's house. I have not seen her in about a month, shame on me, so a trip out east (eastern end of Long Island) is due. Besides that she just had an operation for carpal tunnel whatever and needs cheering up. Dinner together would be nice, or so my sister said, and it does sound like a plan. So this afternoon or this evening, when my sister and her family go out to a birthay party, I'll take my mom out to dinner. I don't know why I am writing about it here, just felt right.

Edited to add: Now that I think of it, I may just have to stop at either the range, or at a gun store or two, while I am headed out east to visit mom. That would make for a well rounded day of time well spent (and probably some money well spent too).

All the best,
Glenn B

6 Arrests Before Prosecution!!!

The following quote is a comment that was made by T.J. Bonner, a union head for border patrol agents.

"Let's be honest, there isn't enough jail space to incarcerate everyone who crosses that border," said Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. "If everyone demanded hearing in front of an immigration judge, it would bring our system to a grinding halt in a matter of days."

That the comment was made, in this article Illiegal Immigrants Require 6 Arrests to Warrant Federal Prosecution in Texas, Memo Says @http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260501,00.html. (Yes that is the spelling of illegal as it was shown in the headline, maybe the article was written by an ignorant illegal. And yes I make mistakes too, but my posts are not edited by a news media staff making big bucks.)

The comment was made in light of the fact that it takes six arrests of an illegal alien before he is prosecuted by federal prosecutors; and that should tell us something else we need to be honest about. We need a drastic change to how our borders are protected, such as the addition of a very secure border barrier along the length of our southern and northern borders, new rules of engagement for border patrol agents, and we need a drastic and sweeping change to our immigration & nationality laws. The first and the third can only be effected by Congress, the second can be changed by the president. As for Congress, they have to allocate the funding for the border barrier, and they have to rewrite the laws. They need to do both now. The president has to agree with them.

Could you imagine that it would take six arrests before a drunk driver was prosecuted. Could you imagine it taking six arrests for a petty thief to be prosecuted. Could you imagine it would take six arrests before a a trespasser into your home was arrested. Could you imagine how bad it will continue to get if we do not do something now to stop the flow of illegal aliens into our country.

Write to your Congress people NOW! Send letter, emails, and make phone calls to their offices demanding they put a stop to illegals crossing into our country, and that they not allow for amnesty for those already here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ah, the First Day of Spring...

...or should I be more technically correct and say the first evening of Spring as tomorrow will be the first full day of this wonderfully changing, colorful and fragrant season. What to do on a day like today. For starters, I drove my daughter to work. Then, as the previous post showed, I went out to vote; and I wore my brand new Re-Defeat Communism 2008 T-Shirt while voting. Those were good things.

Then I went to get a physical, and to decide if the doctor I was seeing to day would wind up as my new MD. Yes I think she passed muster. She was not as hurried as most, and even though not as ready to take her time discussing things as I would prefer, I decided I will try her at least a few more times. She gave a fairly good physical as compared to others I have had in recent years. She did the blood pressure thing, the visual examination (eyes, ears, nose and throat), the heart and lung check with stethoscope, the hernia check, the gloved hand thing (ouch), asked me when I last had a colonoscopy if ever (which was recent so I do not need another one- thank you very much), checked my weight, told me to lose weight, to cut back on junk food, to exercise, and to cut back on drinking alcohol (although I do not drink much, I guess she felt it best for my BP, which by the way was fairly decent, meaning not high, but not perfect). Of course she also drew blood for the regular slew of tests. I have to wonder though, don't doctors even ask when you last had a chest x-ray? I had one about a little more than a year ago, and it was okay, but that was not a routine check-up. I have not had a chest x-ray in a checkup in many years, are they passe?

After all that I stopped at Dick's Sporting goods. I had a $40 gift card that was burning a hole in my wallet since Christmas (smoldering slowly anyhow). I picked up a pair of Vasque Trail Running Shows, marked down from $89 to only $19.99 plus tax, that are pretty decent looking and fit like a shoe should fit. I checked online for the regular price, and quite a few places had them right at $89.99, none anywhere near $19.99, such a deal! Too bad they only had one pair that fit me, I wanted to buy a pair in another color. They are supposed to be top of the line trail running shows according to the Vasque site at: http://www.vasque.com/products/m-amp.cfm. That is where the pic came from (no copy right notice on that page,a dn it is free advertising for them so I think it is considered fair use), exact same type/color I picked up today. Not a bad deal at all from what I can tell. Now if they last 6 months to a year, or maybe even 2 years, of my heavy weight pounding/running - I will have gotten my money's worth.

As for them being trail running shoes, I don't run on trails right now, but they will probably do on the treadmill in my office gym, or out and about in my neighborhood. Otherwise they will also make fine footwear at the firing range; so they will go along good with the 100 rounds of Remington 12 gauge target ammo I bought to shoot trap. I just showed them all off to Brendan, and he liked both purchases, especially since he was the one who gave me the gift card. I asked Brendan if he remembered how much was the value of the gift card; and he said $40 - just like I had thought. So another bonus today was when the check-out clerk at Dick's told me it was worth $50, and I got change back. About the only way it could have been better at Dick's today would have been if they had told me I was the 10 gazillonth customer, and they had lots of free goodies for me like a nice over and under shotgun, and a nice bass rig, and maybe a nice Goretex rain outfit. Who knows, maybe tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath. What I really look forward to is going to the range with Brendan, later this month hopefully, to shoot some trap or skeet. This first day of Spring, or partial one anyway, was an overall very good day for me, and being that the temps were in the low 50's, with sunny skies made it even nicer. Here is hoping you all had a nice day too.

All the best,

Glenn B

Election Day Today...

Well, it is election day in my village today for the mayoral race. I dropped my daughter off for work, then I drove right to my local polling place to put in my votes for mayor and village trustee. I did not vote along any party lines, heck it is difficult to determine who leans left or right by the names of the parties in my village. One party is the New Line Party, the other is the Hometown Party. I always figured the New Liners were the libs, but was surprisingly told today that our current mayor, whom I voted against, is likely a republican. I am considerate that this may mean the other side was a democrat, I hope not, but in the scheme of things right now on our village level I voted for whom I thought was best; and I find it hard to believe the incumbent is a conservative in any way shape or form. Oh well, that does not matter to me simply because he has been one heck of a tax and spend sort of a guy. In the couple of years he has been mayor taxes have skyrockets in our village as I understand. In addition he placed parking meters on residential blocks that come off of business district streets. To add insult to injury, he tried to push the creation of a local police department and swore all along it would pay for itself, without new or higher taxes!

Right now we pay the county for our police protection, and we get a fair share of it being we have one county police precinct in our village, as well as having County Police Headquarters in the village too. His opponent was against the local PD, and I liked that, among other things about her, enough to vote for her. As a matter of fact, the current mayor tried to push in the creation of the PD and was opposed to a referendum on it. The voters did get their say though, and we voted it out by a wide margin some months ago. In the long run, it would have just increased taxes with no end in sight to those increases. Besides that it was a piss poor plan for a PD, something like 12 to 15 officers to run the whole department, including police patrols, emergency response, traffic violations, and the like; and it apparently did not consider such things as what would happen if a few guys called in sick all at once, or if a couple of them were on vacation, not realistically anyhow. Piss poor planning, that was it. So I voted for the competition. Hopefully she will do a more sensible job.

One last thing, when I arrived at the polling place, my guess is it was about 40 degrees out. Despite the chill in the air, I took off my jacket before entering the polling place. I did so because I wanted to show off my new tee-shirt to anyone who was there. The only comments I got, from 4 folks who worked the polls were essentially: 'what a nice shirt'. Yep not even one negative remark, and I also got a few smiles and nods. I just got the shirt in the mail last night, and I plan to wear it proudly up until the elections in 2008 (no not every minute of every day, but I will wear it a lot), or maybe until just after the Democratic Party's primaries. I feel it is my duty to do so, until communism is re-defeated in 2008. Now while I may not be much of a self portrait taker (I cut off my own head) all you really needed to see was my new shirt anyhow. What do you think of it?

A better design may have been one with several images of certain candidates added on, but this one says it pretty well with just the one for now. I certainly think it lets my political sentiment about Mrs. Clinton be known to all; heck that is my political sentiment about communists in general even if her picture were not on the shirt. Listen to Michael Savage sometime on the radio, or check out his site if you do not know what I mean.

That’s it for now.

All the best,
Glenn B

Yesterday I put my best foot forward...

...for my interview with the New York City Teaching Fellows program. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I did well enough to have made the grade; and am also hopeful that I meet their requirements in the first place. You see, they did not ask for my college transcripts until the interview, so they have not confirmed that my achievements in school match their qualifications for the job (although I think they do).

As for my interview, it was more than just an interview. The first thing I had to do was a 5 minute presentation as to a class full of students. The two interviewers and 6 other applicants acted as the students. I ran out of time about a minute or minute and a half before finishing, but I think time was not all that a critical factor - I hope not anyway. The other applicants seemed quite impressed with my presentation, and I hope so too were the interviewers. After I had finished we had a 5 minute break, our only break between 9 and about 1:30 when it ended; and the interviewer who was a science teacher asked me to show off the animals I had brought with me for my presentation. I think in that extra 5 minutes they got the idea I knew my stuff, but I don't think that the extra 5 minutes counted. oh well. As it turned out I did not hand out a homework assignment to my so called "students" because I had run out of time, but when I asked at the end of the day, I was told sure they would take it and consider it as part of my presentation. That was nice of them.

After the presentations, we had a group discussion. I don't know what the interviewer, one per 4 students for that part of the process, thought of my abilities to communicate during a discussion, but later on when she interviewed me individually, she asked me to explain more of my solution to a problem that we had discussed during the group discussion. I figured my solution must have made some impression on her, and she seemed to listen very intently as I described it in more detail, and had a relaxed and sort of pleasant look about her as she did so.

After the group discussion, we each had to write a letter to the parents of the students in our imaginary class. The problem was that students had begun falling behind as the year went on, and it was at least in part due to the teacher, and to some disruptive student s in the class. I wrote a letter expressing partial responsibility as a new teacher; and I promised to depend more upon suggestions from experienced teachers as to how I could improve things. I also expressed that such would be done fairly for each student since a 'parent' had complained about her child being singled out as a trouble maker. Then after explaining my actual plan to improve the students through review, and a mentor program, as well as extra help classes, I asked the parents for positive suggestions that they might have. Hopefully I was contrite enough, while at the same time showing that I was willing to change course to try to make sure everyone would improve, and that I would do so with the help of those more experienced than me, and of the parents too.

Then the actual 20 minute interview. During the interview, I was asked to think of something in my life that I had achieved, and then to discuss how I had done so. I told the interviewer that my best achievement was seeing my children turn out to be good kids, and to see them grow up sharing their good times with me, especially my son who at 17 has a lot of the same interests as me. Then I realized this was a double achievement because by doing so, I had also achieved becoming a better father than my father had been (I will not delve into that deeply, but he was not much of father), and I had seen my children grow up to be better children than I had ever been. I told her I did it through hard work, sticking with my family through tough times, sharing good times, and keeping my kids interested in things I liked to do. Of course it turns out my son was more interested in hiking, shooting, hunting and fishing than my daughter, but each had their interest along the way. My son at 17 still hangs out with me on our trips afield, and that is a good thing. He also shares my interest in animals and wants to become a veterinarian, something I had wanted to become except I could not afford veterinary school. As for my daughter she wants to be a lawyer, and I have been in law enforcement for almost 28 years. No the apples of my eyes did not fall far from the tree, did they!

Oh well, 4 weeks or maybe 5 from now, I should know if I have been selected. If I find out I have made it, I need to write up my retirement papers, and get my rear end out of the door at my current government job. It will in no way, shape, or form be able to hit me in the behind as I make my way out. Still it will be a tough thing to do, 27 1/2 years has been a long time, with lots of memories, and quite a few friends made along the way. Enough about that, I cannot count my chickens until the eggs hatch, so I will just sit back and wait through what will seem like an awfully long 4 weeks or so to hear of the results of my interview.

By the way, my thanks to those of you who sent me well wishes before the interview.

All the best,
Glenn B

St. Patrick's Day is sort of...

...a befuddling holiday for many, expecially those who think it is no big deal because it is not celebrated in Ireland with the raucousness with which it is celebrated within the United States of America. In Ireland, St. Patricks day is a holy day for Catholics. It has never been much more, although nowadays that may be changing in that it is becomming a worldwisde reason to party. The true meaning of St. Patrick's day, as celebrated in the United States does not have, I think, as much to do with the mistaken idea that St. Patrick was iIish as it does with his having been an outsider who became accpeted through his Catholicism. He was not born in Ireland, but was likely born in Wales. He was not Catholic at the time of his youth, but he was a pagan. He was taken into slavery, and brought to Ireland as a slave, but later escaped. After that he traveled to France, of all places, studied Catholocism, and then returned to Ireland to teach the word of his God. Ireland was then converted to Catholicism over the next 150 to 200 years or so without a great deal of religious violence. Patrick must have started off the conversion correctly.

So why is it then, if he was not Irish, was not originally Catholic, that celebrating the supposed day of his death has become so important in the USA. Think of the Irish immigrant who came here out of what in essence was slavery in their home country under English rule. Think of how that mirrors St. Patrick in slavery. Think of how the USA mirrors the Ireland to which St. Patrick immigrated. Think of the Irish immigrant coming to the USA with nothig except the clothes on his back, and his religion - Catholicism. Think of how important that made St. Patrick to U.S. citizens of Irish descent in later years. Thus the celebration of St. Patrick's day having such a really important meaning for Americans of Irish descent. That is my theory anyhow.

Happy St. Paddy's day to all.......

All the best,
GB

I spent most of tonight writing a lesson plan...

...for my interview this coming Sunday with the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. It sure is a bit of a pain in the neck trying to figure out how to write up a lesson plan for a 5 minute oral class presentation, especially since I can be very enthusiastic about the subject matter I have chosen. No - I will not be giving a lesson plan on the Beretta 92FS or the Remington 870. What I will be giving it on is the classification of vertebrates (backboned animals). While that particular subject is not necessarily near and dear to my heart, animals indeed are something in whcih I have more than a passing interest. Since this is a presentation as if I were teaching a science class, I polished it up a bit to make it somewhat scientific. I figure my presentation will be on somewhere from the middle to high school level, but I'll have to check with my son on that one. He is, in that regard, the expert being he is in high school. I am keeping my hopes high that I will be selected for a teacher's position, and that I will therefore be able to retire from law enforcement.

If you are not into biology, nature, animals - then don't bother reading on. If on the other hand, you have an interest in biology, nature and animals, read on if you will. It is nothing complicated, but I am hopeful it will do and make the interviewers think I know my stuff; or at least that I know how to present it. Of course, during my presentation, I plan to have several live examples to exhibit of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. If nothing else, it will keep their interest!

As we learned in class last time, living beings are divided into 5 kingdoms. The kingdoms are then divided into smaller more specialized groups called Phyla. The phyla are divided in more specialized groups called classes.

Of all the phyla, the one with which we may be most familiar is that of Chordata, or animals with a spinal cord. Of these we are probably most familiar with the animals with vertebrae (backbones). In class today we will learn the names of all five classes of vertebrates, and we will also learn how to distinguish between three of the five groups found with the sub-phyla Vertebrata.

All of the vertebrates have some things in common such as: a backbone made up of vertebrae, a spinal chord, and a central nervous system controlled by a brain. Typical vertebrates also have eyes, though in some the eyes have degraded or disappeared due to adaptive changes. Despite these similarities there are many diffrerences among the five different classes of vertebrates. These classes consist of: the true fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The fish, amphibians, and the reptiles are typically ectothermic, or in other words their body temperature is dependent upon the surrounding environment. Birds and mammals are endothermic, and can maintain their internal temperature as a function of their metabolisms. Today will will focus on the ectothermic, or cold blooded, vertebrates.

Fish are aquatic. They are typically ectothermic, or as we commonly call them they are: cold blooded. For the most part they breathe oxygen through internal gills. Most have an outer covering of scales, although some lack scales having tough gritty skin (sharks), or slime covered leathery skin (some catfish). Fish do not have ears, therefore do not have ear openings. A fish's limbs consist of fins. Typical fish have a tail fin, anal fin, dorsal fin, paired pelvic fins, and paired pectoral fins. Some fish can, in addition to breathing through their gills, breathe air through small lungs and or through their skin, and therefore can survive out of water for extended periods, e.g. the walking catfish, and the lungfish. These two fish are easily distinguished from other vertebrates, when they are out of water, because they have fins and gill slits. Most fish have teeth though not all have them. Fish reproduce either by laying eggs or giving birth to live young dependent upon the type of fish.

The amphibian class consists of Sirens, Salamanders, Newts, Frogs and Toads. Amphibians are ectothermic. They all lay eggs to reproduce. Typical amphibians lay their eggs in water, or very near to water where they can remain moist. This typically is in fresh water, but some amphibian eggs may tolerate brackish, slightly salty, water. Many but not all amphibians go through a larval stage wherein they must live in water and breath through external gills during that stage of life. Most mature into a different form as adults, such as a tadpole turning into a frog, or a gilled water breathing larval salamander turning into an air breathing adult. Most adult amphibians will breathe air through lungs, but almost all can also breathe through their skin. For the most part adult amphibians have four legs, a protective slime covering on their skin which is scale-less (some like toads may be drier and have warty skin), and need to live at least the larval part of their lives in water, then the remainder of their lives partially in, or at least near water, in some form. Some types of amphibians never come out of what appears to be a larval stage, and they continue living in the water and breathing through gills such as the mud-puppy, or the axolotl. Some amphibians, the frogs, exhibit what amounts to an external ear, or the tympanum membrane. Salamanders have no external ears or openings. Some amphibians have teeth while others do not, for example most frogs do not have teeth while one species the Argentine Horned frog does have them.


Reptiles - The reptile class consists of the crocodilians, lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, and the tuatara. Typical reptiles are ectothermic, though at least one is now believed to be somewhat endothermic (capable of regulating its internal body temperature independent of the outside conditions).All reptiles have scales. All reptiles also have ears, but some such as the snakes have only vestigial ears. These have degraded through evolution to the point where they are useless to detect sound. Lizards have clearly detectable ear openings. All reptiles, with the exception of the Monkey Tailed Lizard, lay eggs in order to reproduce. Although it is a common misconception that some are livebearers as opposed to being egg layers. For example snakes which are referred to as live bearers, such as Garter Snakes, actually lay eggs but the egg membrane is so thin as to burst as soon as it passes out of the mother. These eggs incubate within the mother snake, and the babies are born fully formed but are still born from within, or hatched from, the egg. Many reptiles have fours legs, such as most lizards and all turtles and tortoises. Others do not have legs, such as snakes and legless lizards. Reptiles do not have gills at any stage in their lives after birth. Reptile skin is normally dry to the touch, they do not produce body protective slime as do the fish and amphibians. All reptiles, except turtles and tortoises have teeth; turtles and tortoises have beaks attached to their jaws.

There is a homework assignment being handed out, if you have any questions about it, ask now. Have this assignment ready to be handed in to me in out next scheduled class.

All the best,
Glenn B

No Cheer In The 6th Precinct This Week

Instead of cheerfulness over the warmer than usual weather we enjoyed here in NYC two days ago and early yesterday, there was little cheer if any to be found in Greenwich Village or the NYPD's 6th Precinct. Just two nights ago at, at about 9:30PM, a gunman reportedly entered a local restaurant and killed a waiter there by shooting him 15 times in the back. The gunman fled the scene, but two of New York’s Finest pursued him. These two though were finer than one would expect, you see they were auxiliary police officers, volunteers who don a uniform almost identical to that of a NYC Police officer, and then patrol the streets usually afoot to be the extra eyes and ears of the police department. What made them even finer still was the fact that they tried to do their jobs and beyond, apaprently to save others. They did not just observe the aftermath of the above killing, they apparently tried to intervene when they thought the killer posed a threat to others. They approached him attempted to wrest a bag containing his firearms away from him, and when he broke away they pursued him, all the while being only armed with night sticks. Then they were hunted down and both executed by the bad guy. You see, in NYC even the auxiliary police officers are not allowed to carry firearms, nor are they issued body armor. Yes one of them was actually reported to have been wearing body armor, probably a vest he purchased himself; but the sad truth is that it did not help him. So it happened as per the reports I have read so far today. A few links to articles here:


http://www.1010wins.com/pages/302733.php?contentType=4&contentId=373708
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/03/15/2007-03-15_untitled__village15m-3.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/nyregion/15cops.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/N/NY_STREET_SHOOTOUT_BAOL-?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=NORTHEAST (Please note that this last link is to a NY Post article, and the page that comes up will contain a link to actual video footage from a security camera, of one of ther officers being gunned down, it is very graphic.)


These were two very fine young men: Nicholas Pekearo, 28, and Eugene Marshalik, a 19. They gave their lives apparently to protect their fellow citizens from a crazed wacko. Shit - I have tears running down my face as I write this and I did not even know them; maybe it is because I frequent restaurants and shops in the exact area (and I do mean exactly the same location as the streets where this happened - no I don't live in NYC but do work there). Or maybe it because of how bad I feel that these young guys were gunned down and no one else helped them; but then heck - no one else was armed to help them. It is certainly getting me choked up to write this.


The city will most certainly be in mourning for quite some time too; there had not been an auxiliary officer killed in NYC in about 14 years. They will be given full police funeral services if their families want it that way. Those funerals will honor them to some extent, but it is sad that their lives will likely be in vain at least in some regards. Not in vain that they tried to help; they may well have saved other lives by their actions. They were very corageous. Yet their loss will be in vain. You see, NYC is unlikely to arm auxiliary police officers to prevent such from happening in the future. Instead, auxiliary officers will likely be reminded not to intervene in such situations, just to be the eyes and ears and take no action. Yet, that will not change the fact that there are really bad criminals among us. Nor will NYC be likely to change the restrictive guns laws therein. As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that because of these shootings, Mayor Bloomberg will try to enforce even tighter gun registration and gun control laws. The irony there is that it will only further restrict law abiding citizens from owning guns, and will likely make it eve more difficult for people to try to protect their own lives when some dirtbag like that starts killing people. If on the other hand, NYC allowed concealed carry weapons, and made it much easier for regular law abiding folks to arm themselves for self defense, chances are that things like these shootings would soon become much less prevalent than they are nowadays. In fact, chances are, had an armed good guy been seated in that restaurant, the bad guy may have never made it out the door to be able to shoot those two officers in the first place. That is just not likely to happen any time soon in NYC; and as much as I love the city, pardon me while I steal a phrase from Kim du Toit (a phrase by the way which I loathe), and at least just for today, I will use it when I refer to this city as - New York Fuckin City. Things like this should just not happen, and if folks had been allowed to be armed to defend themselves and other innocents it may well have been different.


On another note, if violent dirtbag criminals who kill others were put away for life, or better still, if they were executed for killing another person then these events would be less likely. If any criminals were given an add on sentence of a mandatory 25 years for use of a gun in a crime, then these events would be much less likely. If a criminal was given a mandatory sentence of 20 years for stealing a gun, then such events would be less likely. But it will not happen in good old way too liberal New York Fuckin City, because the mindset there is almost always to see the criminal as some sort of a victim. That is just a plain wrong way to see a violent criminal felon who harms another. They are, as I see them, dirtbags pure and simple. If people began to realize such and enforce tough anticrime laws, against real criminals instead of against good guys who want to own firearms, such events would be much less likely to happen. When will New Yorkers wake up and realize it is not the law abiding gun owner who is the enemy, it is not the gun that is evil, and instead come to the realization that it is the violent felon criminal dirtbag that needs to be put down (as in 'seen to be the bad guy' not as in 'killed like a dog'). I can only hope beyond almost all hope it will happen in my lifetime.


There was one ray of light in all of this, but it came too late for the three victims. The killer was shot down and himself killed by armed police officers when they arrived on the scene. It was reported as being like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. My guess it was nothing like that for the three victims, they were all unarmed. They were executed, without much of a chance to fight back.


My condolences to the families of these two fine young men. My condolences to the family of the other victim who was also killed by this dirtbag. As to the family of the dirtbag, my condolences even to them - not because he lost his life, but for the pain he probably has caused them.
Be safe,
Glenn B

He gets my money...

...at least at this point of the presidential campaign process. Who, you ask! Tom Tancredo, say I.

So far I like what I have seen and heard of this man. I cannot ask you to vote for him, I cannot campaign for him, I cannot ask you to send him money (I am prevented from all that by law because of my job with the government) but I can tell you my personal opinion about him:

I like him and his stance on the issues so tonight I donated money to him via his website at: http://teamtancredo.org/

If he runs in the primaries I will vote for him in the primary in my state. As I understand it, he plans to run if his donations reach 1 million dollars by the end of this month, as per his own words on the John Gambling show, on local station 770 AM this morning.

If he is nominated in the primaries and gets the Republican nod, I will be voting for him come the election.

I believe him to be a hundred times more conservative, and therefore more Republican than McCain, Giuliani, Romney or any other Republican hopeful so far; and as a matter of fact I believe him to be 100 times the Republican all of the other hopefuls would be if they were combined. That is why I sent him a donation tonight.

You do whatever you want to do on this one, but I recommend that you go to his site and check out that for which he stands, see http://teamtancredo.org/issues.php. Then check out the other candidates too, and start to make up your own minds. Read up on him, and his past record, and try to see if he has flip-flopped like some of the other candidates who suddenly have become more conservative and more Republican than their records would indicate. This is the man for me so far. No one else comes close as far as I can see.

As a matter of fact, here is something you might miss that is on his site, on the bottom of his bio page:

"When Tom is not in Washington, you can usually find him either trap, skeet, and clay pigeon shooting, or with his grandsons, building trains, racing cars, riding bikes, or playing ball."

Yes even though not all those hobbies are similar to mine, we all know I enjoy at least one of them and I enjoy it with my son. That he shoots with his children and grandchildren makes him all that much more dear to my heart.

I'll say it again, this is the man I think should be our next president; please check him out compared to the others and see what you think.

All the best,
Glenn B

Bizarre Foods...

...with Andrew Zimmer is fast becoming one of my favorite television shows. Not only that but it is kind of stirring up that long dormant but still smoldering desire within my soul to start cooking again. I used to love to cook and bake, but I never loved cleaning up the mess, and neither did my wife if only because I made such a mess! Nowadays I am better at cleaning up the mess after the wife cooks - well not all the time but I am definitely better at it. If I could only combine my delight at cooking, with my willingness to clean up the mess, it would definitely benefit my love to eat that which I cook.

Now I did start this off taking about Andrew Zinner and Bizarre Foods, so maybe I ought to give them some time here too. The show is on Monday nights at 9:00 PM eastern time in the USA. It centers around Andrew's love to eat almost anything, and his world travels to accomplish just that. He goes to some fairly far away places, and then takes delight in the local cusines. In tonight's show, he visited Peru where he ate everything from Lemon Ants, to Pirahna, to Coconut Grubs and finally roasted Guinea Pig. In another show he ate roasted bats, and in another a lamb's eye. Of course, he eats things not all that bizarre too, like suckling pig, broiled fish, and on and on. If you have not already noticed, he likes the meaty parts of the meals best, although he does eat a bit of everything. It is an amusing show to say the least, and one that whets the appetite for guys like me who love to travel and try some new foods while getting around.

Nice show, I highly recommend it. Now where is my cook book, I need to see if it has a recipe for calves' brains, or Pig's feet, then maybe a trip to the German butcher again this weekend, and who knows what might wind up on the table for Sunday dinner...

All the best,
Glenn B

TheOtherSideOfKim forums...

...seem to have bitten the dust to be replaced by a new site called the gunthing.com. I am not certain how this will effect the parent site theothersideofkim.com, but that site certainly seems to have been undergoing some form of upheaval due to members disagreeing with the du Toits and getting nasty about it while disagreeing. I am not sure if that is the only reason they shut down the old forums and started the new site, but it seems to have something to do with it. Not really much of my business so I will not discuss the reasons behind the switch more.

As for me, I am not a member of the new site, though I used to be a member of the old one; this all apparently because the du Toits once thought I was a "rude bastard" (their words) in what was a mistaken case of disagreement. After being removed from the membership, and being happy about it under the circumstances back then, I had continued to visit theothersideofkim.com site because regardless of personal disagreements. I found the site quite informative and at times enlightening. Because I know others of you also find it likewise, I basically just want to let you know about their new site and forums located at http://www.gunthing.com/ just in case you cannot find the old site or forum any longer. By the way, it seems they also have been having some technical problems with the new site, I guess the regular bugs asssociated with getting a new site going and transferring membership from the old to the new - so if you cannot connect via the link I supplied, try again later.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Mosin Nagant Bolt...

...all clean and shined up, looks like another animal than it did earlier tonight.


Take a look at the pic in the previous post, then look at it here. A little boiling hot water, Dawn dishwashing detergent, cleaning with a cloth and cotton swabs, scrubbing, buffing, and a light lube with Breakfree CLP did the trick. It took about an hour or a little bit more in all, to disassemble, clean, then reassemble. Not a bad amount of time for the first doing this for me.


I have to admit, taking the bolt apart was a bit scary as I had never done so before.; but I did have the disassembly & reassembly video from SurplusRifle.com, that helped a lot. Still they should have mentioned early on that absolutely assured proper reassembly requires a special tool, of course - one I did not have, but I will buy soon. Nonetheless my bet is it will work just fine as it is now. If anyone thinks otherwise, let me know before I blow up my rifle. Thanks.


All the best,
Glenn B

A Find InThe Basement...

...in my house usually means my wife has found one of my escaped pets (fill in: snake, lizard, frog, mouse, hamster), or that I have found a leak in a pipe, a problem with the toilet, or something else that has gone wrong. Today though, I was rather pleasantly surprised when I looked into a long box in the corner and found this:



No not a bad ind at all. Yes that is a Mosin Nagant M44. Not one with matching serial numbers from what I can tell so far, but one that looks to be complete nonetheless. No it was not left there by the previous owner(s). Yes it is legally mine. I just forgot about having it. If I remember right this was sent to me in lieu of a as credit for sort of an overcharge on a Yugoslavian SKS I had purchased from Inter Ordnance Firearms a few years ago. Actually, I had ordered three SKS's in excellent shape, got 2 in that condition, and 1 in good to very good condition; when I let them know about the foul up, they offered me a credit, or I could pay a few bucks more and get this rifle.
Now I have a job ahead of me, and maybe I'll start tonight. I already had something else to do since I have to prepare for a job interview coming up next weekend, I'm applying for a teaching fellowship and need to write a short lesson for presentation; but my bet is I can fit in both tasks tonight. Well maybe at least part of each, because the Nagant will need a lot of cleaning up and the wood needs to be refinished.


Sorry about the quality of the pics, my digital camera is none to great, and neither am I when I use it. Still, you can see the stock is dinged and scuffed and could use a nice refinish. The metal will just get a good cleaning, once, twice, heck if you know cosmoline then maybe three times before it maybe clean enough to shoot. Then a trip to the range, maybe on a warmer day this month or next.

Oh joy.

All the best,
Glenn B

Kind of all pooped out...

...and no pun intended after having fasted for about 40 hours in total, being prepped, and then having my medical test today. The test was a colonoscopy. One polyp down the tubes - and hopefully that was all it was, time and a biopsy will tell but my doc did not seem concerned, and who am I to worry. I tell ya, I am just past the half century mark and I can't wait until the golden years set in, they must really be fun!

I wanted to rant a bit tonight but this will be it, more to come probably tomorrow evening or night. Maybe if I remember to take some extra ammo to the office tomorrow, I can stop at the range and do up a range report.

All the best,
Glenn B

Arms Smuggling 101

Take a moment and visit Deb Schlussel's web site and see what an airline employee smuggled onto a flight out of Orlando, see:

http://debbieschlussel.com

Scroll to march 7th once on her site.

You can also click on this to see the news article about it:

http://www.local6.com/news/11187701/detail.html

Amazing isn't it. Let me correct myself:

It is not really amazing, but rather sad that it could happen so easily after 9/11. As you know I am as pro-gun as they come, but this was ludicrous on behalf of the TSA and airport security; or was it? Did they know this was happening, have the guy under surveillance, and hope the arms would be delivered at the destination so someone else could also be arrested. Time will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Day Of Fasting...

...is not something I do very often; but I did it today. No solid food at all since about 10PM last night, so I am just passed 24 hours now. I have had 2 glasses of apple juice, a glass or two of water, and two cups of green tea, but that has been it besides some Movi-Prep. Now despite what it may sound like to a connoisseur of old films, Movie-Prep is not something you eat while getting in the mood for the movies, although I guess a video might be made because I used it. You see it helps clear out a certain bodily area, and the video would be made by my gastroenterologist while doing my colonoscopy tomorrow. Pretty much just a check-up sort of thing, and I do not want to dwell on that subject all that much.

What I do want to talk about is the fasting thing. It has always amazed me that people fast for various reasons be they for: weight loss, religion, political statement making, because they are nuts, or whatever. It amazes me even more that it is pretty easy to do - especially for me, but only under certain conditions like the upcoming test tomorrow! It simply has befuddled me, now for the fourth time in my life (once before for a similar test, and twice before for operations), that I can just turn off eating like that. Yet, I am at least 50 pounds overweight at about 218 lbs and 5'11". Why can't I just turn off the desire to eat, or at least turn off the desire to eat junk food more often? If I knew the answer to that, then I might be able to either fast once a week, or at least cut back on the junk food, and really lose some weight.

Today though, yes this day in particular made this all the harder for me to understand. If you like Thanksgiving spreads, with almost all the fixings, and love the smell of roasting turkey, then maybe you can understand what I mean when I say: 'The relative ease at which I avoided food today was mind boggling'. You see, today my wife decided to cook a fresh turkey. Yes of all days, she chose today when I had to fast. Does that mean she hates me even more than I had thought. Well maybe so, and maybe not. She was almost as surprised as me to find out I could avoid eating any of it. Apparently, I had forgotten to tell her about the test tomorrow, and my need to fast today. The smell of that roasting turkey was about the only thing that really made it at all tough, just a bit though, for me to hold off on eating today. Well the smell of it roasting, and then me actually carving it for everyone else. I cannot explain it, I may never understand it, but if I could turn on the appetite suppressant and turn off the appetite, like I did today, at least once weekly, well - I would be a slimmer guy.

Of course I would make certain never to turn on the appetite suppressant when there was a turkey roasting in the oven, and I can assure you that the leftovers will be severely depleted once I get to them tomorrow; but I still wish I could figure out how to do this fasting thing more often - without extremist religion, without making a political statement, without becoming more of a nut job than I am already, just doing it by will power I guess. I had it today, that is will power, now how do I exhibit it on a weekly or daily basis when it comes to junk food and overeating in general???

Please, if you know the answer to my conundrum, don't tell me until after about 3PM EST tomorrow. I want to pig out on the turkey leftovers before I find out.

All the best,
Glenn B

Captain America - Dead???

Yep folks, that is what I just read in: Captain America Killed Off in Latest Comic @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257398,00.html. I don't know about all of you, but when I was a kid, Captain America was my absolute favorite comic book hero. That was pretty long ago, but I think that it already showed how I was going to grow up feeling about the USA, patriotism, and so forth. No alien with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men from the planet Krypton, no Metal Men made of iron or tin, no four so fantastic, no one fast as a flash, no one shining a green lantern - as to be better than, more powerful than, outshine, out crime fight, be more moral and honest, or better protect the United States of America than Captain America himself.

Now he is dead! Yes he was only a comic book hero, but he symbolized an America that may be dead or at least dying itself. He symbolized the will of the people, as a whole, of the USA to fight that which was unjust, and outright evil; yet he also symbolized the importance of the individual in that fight. He symbolized what virtually most every American boy wanted to grow up to be when an adult. And now he dies, reportedly shot by a sniper, while he was protecting someone else.

He died the way he lived, as a hero, but should he have been killed off. I will admit I have not read a Captain America comic in quite some years now. As I understand from the article to which I linked above, the comic had become so immersed in the politics of today as to have had a story line that the U.S. government required superheroes to register their secret identities. Then what happens, he gets shot! Does that sound familiar to the rest of you. To me it sounds just like gun control. Maybe, with or without knowing it, those responsible for having him killed off in the comics, have shown just how ludicrous is gun registration and gun control. Those who have to register weapons, get licenses for them, or maybe even have their rights regarding weapons restricted - are not the ones who then do the evil deeds in the world. Had captain America not had his powers restricted, would he have been able to have survived; my bet is sure he would have survived, and kicked some more bad guy butt along the way. The analogy is there whether intentional or not.

Of course, in the comics, anything can happen. Maybe Captain America will return, my bet is he will. (If I ever hit the mega-millions jackpot for enough, maybe I'll buy the rights and then you know he will return, but I am not banking on hitting the lotto.) It is a pity though that it worked out this way. America is in need of heroes who demonstrate heroic deeds, carried out based upon morals, ethics, and patriotism, now as much as any time in her past. Whether they are imaginary heroes or real heroes, we need the inspiration they generate to be instilled into our children so they grow up to help keep America strong. Captain America was, back in the day, the penultimate comic book hero/patriot. I mourn the loss of an American hero - even a comic book hero - whom millions of kids grew up loving, learning from, and emulating as far as patriotism goes. Captain America's death is a symbolic loss, even a real loss in a sort of a way, that we in the United States of America would be better off without.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is Hunting in New York State Doomed...

...to a dismal future and quite possibly a not too distant end. One has to wonder with the nomination of Alexander “Pete” Grannis to the post of commissioner of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Grannis evidently is not hunter friendly. He has opposed many hunting rights in the past, and is also in opposition to firearms ownership. Should that come as a surprise after he reportedly spent 32 years representing the east side of Manhattan as per: the article Too Smart by Half in The Village Voice @ http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0708,barrett,75838,2.html! The Village Voice article goes on not to speak so much about any lack of qualifications on Grannis' part for the job, though it certainly does mention this point, but rather to discuss how he was ramrodded into the nomination for the position of Commissioner of the DEC by now Governor Elliot Spitzer of NY. It seems to be big time politics as usual in Albany with little regard as to anything else but back stabbing and back scratching when some high level and very important positions like DEC Commissioner are filled. Grannis was expecting to be nominated for the post of NYS Comptroller, but Spitzer decided said post should go to someone with a lot of financial experience; so why was Grannis with little real DEC experience pushed into that spot. Seems like payola, or incompetence in the selection process, but those are just my guesses.

My guesses are based upon some facts though and I guess I should spell them out. Fact one was already mentioned above but bears repeating:

1) Grannis represented the east side of Manhattan, not a mecca of issues that are covered by the DEC though there are some.

Now onto the other facts:

2) As per the Village Voice article cited above, Grannis himself testified before a selection committee regarding his hoped for selection as Comptroller: "Noting that there was "no more appropriate place" for an independent reformer like him "than the comptroller's office," Grannis had just finished testifying that his selection would be "the natural evolution of what I have been doing for the past 30 years." " Or in other words Grannis thought the job of comptroller was one for which he was most qualified.

3) Again, as per the same Village Voice article: ""As soon I came back, an aide to the governor called," Grannis later told the Voice. The aide "said the governor would like to offer you the job of Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner." Grannis was stunned. "I didn't put in an application. I didn't ask anyone to advance my name. I didn't even know I was under consideration." " Why would he have believed he had not been in consideration, probably because there were so many others who were qualified more than he, and possibly because he did not see himself as qualified, but that is a guess.

4) Grannis was the chairman of the state's insurance committee for 15 years - see anything related to becoming the head of the DEC yet?

5) Grannis was reportedly picked to lead DEC on his qualifications, were they that he had been a lawyer for them many, many years ago and then had a career shift toward finance? His name had reportedly not been among the top candidates under consideration, those who had already been interviewed for the post, and some of them already having background investigations performed in anticipation of their possible selection. Grannis avoided the interview system altogether. Yet he was selected - go figure.

There are other reasons that make it difficult for me to understand how it is that Grannis was found qualified to get selected for the position of DEC Commissioner:

6) As per a petition to block Grannis from this position, there is an online at: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nogranni. In that petition one can find the following: "Further, Mr. Grannis has worked to DENY access to NYS Residents to public trails and parks, enjoyed by many thousands of hunters, anglers, snowmobilers, ATV enthusiasts, campers, hikers, climbers, et al., while denying basic protection services in the Adirondack State Forest, through his continued blocking of construction of Cell Phone Towers to provide communications coverage to NYS residents and non-residents alike, who enjoy and learn from the natural beauty of this region. Through his actions to block such construction of very non-invasive cell phone towers, two individuals lost their lives as they could not call for help. " Does not sound like Mr. Grannis is very pro anyone enjoying what NY State has to offer, does it?

As per the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association there is even more to make one wonder, what was Spitzer thinking by offering Grannis this position:

7) From the NYSR&PA web site @ http://www.nysrpa.org/ we find actions that Grannis allegedly took: "Sponsored vaguely-worded legislation in the past (A-1850) that would have effectively banned hunting as cruelty to animals." Can you imagine that as being environmentally friendly. If you are an experienced hunter, or an experienced conservationist, or an experienced wildlife biologist, I am sure you cannot. Cessation of hunting in most cases results in excessive habitat destruction by the same species of animals we are trying to conserve through regulated hunting. In addition, the fact is that about 80% of all wildlife funding comes from hunters and fishermen. From where else could the money to support habitat come? Increased taxes most likely - do you think hunters might be missed then.

8) In addition to the above, Grannis is evidently anti-gun. According to the NYSR&PA he: "Sponsored and voted for numerous bills designed to restrict firearms ownership and usage among law-abiding New Yorkers, consistently siding with anti-gun organizations such as New Yorkers Against Gun Violence."

9) Spitzer apparently was hotly opposed to any state legislator winding up on the selection list for comptroller. How to get rid of Grannis may have crossed the governor's mind. He found a way to do so, so as to get what he wanted into the comptroller's office (in other words not Grannis in that position) without regard for the DEC ad its functions (by placing Grannis into the DEC), or maybe with an ulterior motive in mind since as far as I am aware Spitzer himself is no friend of the hunter, fisherman, or NYS gun owners. This can be seen in The Village Voice article as well as in: The Times Union.com at http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=3787.

As I see it this is U.S. state level politics at its worst, and it will almost surely not be of any benefit to the DEC, to the avid sportsmen of any type be they campers, rock climbers, snowmobilers, fishermen, hikers, hunters, cross country skiers, canoeists, or whatever. I strongly support anything in opposition to Alexander Pete Grannis as the commissioner of the NYS DEC; and I would ask other New Yorkers, and those from out of state who enjoy NY State lands for recreation, to do likewise.

All the best,
Glenn B