I hope that the new year brings you health, happiness and only truly good things. I know that is never going to happen for everyone but my wish is for everyone.
Now, that I got that out of the way, perhaps it is time to start enjoying the last few hours of 2012 and getting ready for the first few of 2013. I am thinking of a Zombie or two or maybe something much different like some straight Irish. Oh the decisions one has to make; I may even just pop the cork on a bottle of red. As a matter of fact, I am going to do something very unusual to end this year right. I am going to go upstairs, as soon as I post this, to ask the wife if she would like to share a bottle of wine. Then I am going to ask her if she wants to watch 'After The Thin Man' with me, on AMC. It starts right about now.
Happy New Year,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, December 31, 2012
Glock Customer Service and Repair Service
Sometime earlier this year, I sent my Glock 26 into Glock
for a reapir. I had Trijicon night sights on it and the front sight had dimmed
thus making it almost impossible to effectively aim in low light. Never having
realized that the night sights could break or just dim like that was a real eye
opener for me. I decided to use the KISS principle when getting replacement
sights for it and requested that Glock install their standard Glock 26 sights
on it instead of new Trijicon night sights. I mean, what could go wrong with a
nice sturdy set of steel sights right.
When I go my slide back, that is all I had needed to send them for the sight replacement, I noted that the replacement sights were made of polymer. I was pretty disappointed because as far as I had known standard Glock sights for the Glock 26 had always been made from steel. When I bought the gun, directly from Glock a few years ago, the only sights I remember them offering were their standard steel sights, Glock Night Sights and Trijicon Night sights – at least for law enforcement sales. I opted for the Trijicon night sights back then at considerable cost over both the standard steel sights and Glock night sights When I took the Glock Armorers course about 2 years ago, no one instructing us ever even hinted that Glock used polymer sights as their standard sights; so I am guessing their standard sights changed from steel to polymer sometime with the last two years.
With about 3 weeks of wearing the Glock, with those new fangled polymer sights, I had dinged them when I walked to close to a steel door jam and the rear sight slammed against it. Yes, I can be a klutz. No, these sights were not for me. So, after a few to several months of having the Glock with those plastic like sights on it, I finally got around to returning it to Glock to have them replaced with sights to these specs: standard sized Glock 26 sights, manufactured by Glock, made from steel. I also asked for the sights to be without a white dot/outline system if they met the other criteria I just mentioned but if they only had the ones hilighted by white that would be okay.
It only took Glock a few weeks to turnaround and get the slide back to me with the new sights on it. When I opened the box, I took a look at the invoice. It said that “GNS” had been installed. Maybe that is secret code for standard sights but I had always thought it meant Glock Night Sights, so I was a little anxious when taking the slide out of the box to look at the sights. The sights were a white dot/outline sighting system, front sight with white dot the rear sight with white outline. Oh well, at least they appear to be steel. I have no clue if they are of actual Glock manufacture because it does not say on the invoice. I am pretty happy with the new sights, so far. I say so far because I have to see if I can hit the target with them at 25 yards; that was something I could not accomplish with the polymer sights on the size target at which I was shooting. I was about 8 inches off to the left shooting at a 12”x12” target; that was absolutely unacceptable. Since I shot well within that same target with my Beretta 92FS, I figure it was the sights on the Glock that had me off like that. I will get to the range with the new steel ones as soon as I can, maybe this coming Saturday.
I am also not too happy about them sending me an invoice that
seems to me to incorrectly states the service that was performed on my slide. It would be nice to have the proper replacement product listed on the invoice for my records, then again maybe "GNS” is code for Glock Steel Sights but I doubt it. Whatever it stands for, it would also have been nice had they written it out instead of giving an abbreviation so as to leave no confusion. As for
my getting the white outline/dot sights, maybe that is all they offer that is made
by Glock as to steel sights (and hopefully the new steel sights are actually of
Glock manufacture).
When I go my slide back, that is all I had needed to send them for the sight replacement, I noted that the replacement sights were made of polymer. I was pretty disappointed because as far as I had known standard Glock sights for the Glock 26 had always been made from steel. When I bought the gun, directly from Glock a few years ago, the only sights I remember them offering were their standard steel sights, Glock Night Sights and Trijicon Night sights – at least for law enforcement sales. I opted for the Trijicon night sights back then at considerable cost over both the standard steel sights and Glock night sights When I took the Glock Armorers course about 2 years ago, no one instructing us ever even hinted that Glock used polymer sights as their standard sights; so I am guessing their standard sights changed from steel to polymer sometime with the last two years.
With about 3 weeks of wearing the Glock, with those new fangled polymer sights, I had dinged them when I walked to close to a steel door jam and the rear sight slammed against it. Yes, I can be a klutz. No, these sights were not for me. So, after a few to several months of having the Glock with those plastic like sights on it, I finally got around to returning it to Glock to have them replaced with sights to these specs: standard sized Glock 26 sights, manufactured by Glock, made from steel. I also asked for the sights to be without a white dot/outline system if they met the other criteria I just mentioned but if they only had the ones hilighted by white that would be okay.
It only took Glock a few weeks to turnaround and get the slide back to me with the new sights on it. When I opened the box, I took a look at the invoice. It said that “GNS” had been installed. Maybe that is secret code for standard sights but I had always thought it meant Glock Night Sights, so I was a little anxious when taking the slide out of the box to look at the sights. The sights were a white dot/outline sighting system, front sight with white dot the rear sight with white outline. Oh well, at least they appear to be steel. I have no clue if they are of actual Glock manufacture because it does not say on the invoice. I am pretty happy with the new sights, so far. I say so far because I have to see if I can hit the target with them at 25 yards; that was something I could not accomplish with the polymer sights on the size target at which I was shooting. I was about 8 inches off to the left shooting at a 12”x12” target; that was absolutely unacceptable. Since I shot well within that same target with my Beretta 92FS, I figure it was the sights on the Glock that had me off like that. I will get to the range with the new steel ones as soon as I can, maybe this coming Saturday.
I am kind of on the fence about the quality of the service
performed by Glock. While I was pretty happy with the communication that Glock
employees gave me and for the short
turnaround and that the sights seem to be steel and appear to have been
installed properly (they took out the pin system and converted to a screw in
sight I think) there are some disappointments. The first time the sight change
was free but not this time. While the charge was only $20.00, I felt it should
have been done for free. Those night sights that needed to be replaced and were
still under warranty; that according to Glock when I sent them in to be replaced
the first time around. Back then, I asked for replacement with standard sights
and had their standard sights been changed, I think they should have advised me
of it. When I bought the pistol it came with steel or night sights – nothing else
as far as I can remember. They never told me their standard had changed and
thus I had no way of knowing they would install polymer sights as standard. Yes,
the steel ones I just got replaced the polymer ones but all due to them not
letting me know the standard had changed otherwise I would have specified steel
the first time round to replace the failed Trijicon night sights. Those
Trijicon night sights cost me a whole lot more than $20.00. I could have just as
easily asked for them, the first time around and they would have had to put
them on for free at a much higher expense to them than for the both sets of the
other sets of sights combined. I would have thought they would have understood
the confusion over my asking for standard sights and not wanting standard polymer
sights and thus would have replaced them with steel for free to keep me a happy
customer. I guess I was wrong on that one.
I am also not too happy about them sending me an invoice that
seems to me to incorrectly states the service that was performed on my slide. It would be nice to have the proper replacement product listed on the invoice for my records, then again maybe "GNS” is code for Glock Steel Sights but I doubt it. Whatever it stands for, it would also have been nice had they written it out instead of giving an abbreviation so as to leave no confusion. As for
my getting the white outline/dot sights, maybe that is all they offer that is made
by Glock as to steel sights (and hopefully the new steel sights are actually of
Glock manufacture).
Maybe those are small gripes but it is getting the small details
done right that I think is indicative of excellent work and outstanding service.
Glock's customer and repair service averaged out to being fair to good, somewhere around a B- to a B, overall by my own personal estimation.
All the best,
Glenn B
One Of The Best Videos Ever To Address Gun Violence???
Watch it if you can bear it.
Scroll over the below white area, all the way to my closing, while holding down the left mouse button to highlight it to see the words.
Okay, if you tuned it off midway through, or there about, I do not blame you. It looked pretty disgustingly ultra left to me, that was even after I realized that I kept seeing the people whom I know to be against gun rights in clips of themselves shooting guns in both movies and real life. I just did not get it and I almost could not stand watching it. I wanted to either punch or shoot my laptop's monitor or just throw the laptop at the wall. Then I saw the end and my blood pressure dropped so fast, from the 200 over 120 that it must have been, down to normal, that I almost fainted. I was so upset watching it that I really cannot explain why I watched it all the way through except maybe because I found it over at Kenny's site: Knuckledraggin My Life Away. I guess, in the back of my mind, I must have figured if he had posted it, it was worth the watch. It was indeed worth the watch, so if you turned it off in disgust, watch it now all the way to the end.
Tell me, what do you think about that video now that you have seen it all!
All the best,
Glenn B
Scroll over the below white area, all the way to my closing, while holding down the left mouse button to highlight it to see the words.
Okay, if you tuned it off midway through, or there about, I do not blame you. It looked pretty disgustingly ultra left to me, that was even after I realized that I kept seeing the people whom I know to be against gun rights in clips of themselves shooting guns in both movies and real life. I just did not get it and I almost could not stand watching it. I wanted to either punch or shoot my laptop's monitor or just throw the laptop at the wall. Then I saw the end and my blood pressure dropped so fast, from the 200 over 120 that it must have been, down to normal, that I almost fainted. I was so upset watching it that I really cannot explain why I watched it all the way through except maybe because I found it over at Kenny's site: Knuckledraggin My Life Away. I guess, in the back of my mind, I must have figured if he had posted it, it was worth the watch. It was indeed worth the watch, so if you turned it off in disgust, watch it now all the way to the end.
Tell me, what do you think about that video now that you have seen it all!
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The Crisis of Our Time
So, today, President Obama said he will make gun control a
priority in 2013 (source). Diane Feinstein, in essence, has pledged to introduce new
anti-gun legislation that would basically be a super-strengthened version of the 1994
federal Assault Weapons Ban (source). NY State’s Governor Cuomo has said that in NY it may come
down to registration, mandatory buybacks or forced confiscation of currently
legally owned firearms (source).
The NRA says one thing, Gun Owners of America another and
this, that and another group all have something to say about our rights to keep and bear arms and thus remain a nation free from tyranny and enslavement. One man though, 236 years ago back in December 1776, may have said it best. He was Thomas Paine and the words to which I refer are the opening words of The Crisis:
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine
patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he
that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with
us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain
too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its
value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be
strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated..."
If the government attempts to seize your weapons or
ammunition, or those of your neighbors and or if the government enacts
obviously unconstitutional anti-gun laws requiring registration of certain
weapons, banning of others, restrictions on magazines and ammunition, and what
in essence will be a total violation of the 2nd Amendment, are you
actually going to be willing to stand up for your rights? I don’t
necessarily mean in court either because once they take away your guns, so what if
you win in court if they decide to ignore the judicial rulings. Who will make them heed
any such rulings if they have all of the guns and thus all of the power, power that once had been that of an armed populace to keep the government reigned in! Will you
be willing to band together with other citizens who are supporters of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and of our right and liberty to keep and bear arms? Are you going to be ready, even if seemingly not able, to
face down the Goliath of government oppression and tyranny - even if it means you may lose
everything in defense of our rights, liberties and Constitution?
I am not sure I am ready or able but I am pretty sure, that
should the government order unconstitutional measures to seize the arms of the
People and thus institute unconstitutional, illegal, oppressive and tyrannical rule, I
would be willing - as was spelled out in our first legal document - The Declaration of Independence - to band together with others of like mind in opposition to the tyrannical usurpers of our Republic. That said, I pray it does not come to such and
that our right to keep and bear arms is not infringed one step further than has
already been done. To be quite frank with you, I am petrified with fear at the prospect of what this president and this year may bring upon us but being scared by tyranny and a tyrant is no reason to back down and every reason to stand ground and fight in order to survive as an unenslaved and free citizen. I took this oath, on September 28, 1979, and I see no reason to shy away from it simply because I have retired from federal service:
I, Glenn B------, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and
that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am
about to enter. So help me God.
Note, there was no time limit or other restriction as to how long the oath would bind me in my support and defense of the Constitution of the United States and no mention or hint that such would terminate upon my retirement from federal office. I may no longer be a federal employee and I may be little more than an old, retired, worn down, cancer survivor and a family man but:
I still bear allegiance to the United States of America and her Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and the 2nd Amendment. I have sworn by oath, and remain so sworn, to "...support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic...". I hope to do my best to honor that oath.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Where In The World Are The Journal News Employees?
Well, for now it just seems like I should ask 'Where in NY are the journalists and other employees of the Journal News'! An intrepid blogger, at the blog Talk Of The Sound, has come up with an answer to the Journal News' interactive maps showing the locations of pistol license holders in NY's Rockland and Westchester counties. The Talk of the Sound has posted its own interactive map. This is how Robert Cox touts it in his blog: "The map indicates the addresses of all Journal News Employees in the New York Tri-State area." Click on the below link, to see the map in question:
http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/map-where-are-journal-news-employees-your-neighborhood
As I am given to understand, some of the newsies are in a panic and reportedly have closed and or restricted their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts (source). So, while you may not be able to contact some of these cowards, via online means, who apparently have virtually run and hid, you can still have the chance of conversing with them by chance. You see, the great thing about the map produced by Talk of the Sound is that it also includes many photographs of the Journal News' employees.
This gives all law abiding gun owners, and non-gun owners, in the area, the opportunity to say 'hi' to any of these reporters they recognize from the photos, whom they may inadvertently encounter during the course of a normal day. You know, like maybe you will see and recognize one of them by chance: at the supermarket, when picking up the kids from school, when at the public library, while walking down the street, when stopped in traffic and one is in the next car over, when in a barber shop, at church, or wherever and whenever you may encounter them. You see, you are one up on them, you can ID them by having seen their pictures. I am not suggesting that anyone do anything illegal such as stalking or harassing them. Yet, if you encounter one of them by chance and recognize them because you saw his or her photo on the map - how could it be wrong to: politely say hi, and nicely tell them you are a legal gun owner or not, respectfully tell them you think what they did was pretty abhorrent and with a reporters curiosity (but while remaining respectful) ask them how they feel about having had likewise done to them?
I imagine this is going to give them something to think about and also maybe give them a moment to pause and think about the potential outcome of trying to screw with another group of law abiding citizens.
Hat tip to Charlie F for the link to the post at Breitbart.
All the best,
Glenn B
http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/map-where-are-journal-news-employees-your-neighborhood
As I am given to understand, some of the newsies are in a panic and reportedly have closed and or restricted their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts (source). So, while you may not be able to contact some of these cowards, via online means, who apparently have virtually run and hid, you can still have the chance of conversing with them by chance. You see, the great thing about the map produced by Talk of the Sound is that it also includes many photographs of the Journal News' employees.
This gives all law abiding gun owners, and non-gun owners, in the area, the opportunity to say 'hi' to any of these reporters they recognize from the photos, whom they may inadvertently encounter during the course of a normal day. You know, like maybe you will see and recognize one of them by chance: at the supermarket, when picking up the kids from school, when at the public library, while walking down the street, when stopped in traffic and one is in the next car over, when in a barber shop, at church, or wherever and whenever you may encounter them. You see, you are one up on them, you can ID them by having seen their pictures. I am not suggesting that anyone do anything illegal such as stalking or harassing them. Yet, if you encounter one of them by chance and recognize them because you saw his or her photo on the map - how could it be wrong to: politely say hi, and nicely tell them you are a legal gun owner or not, respectfully tell them you think what they did was pretty abhorrent and with a reporters curiosity (but while remaining respectful) ask them how they feel about having had likewise done to them?
I imagine this is going to give them something to think about and also maybe give them a moment to pause and think about the potential outcome of trying to screw with another group of law abiding citizens.
Hat tip to Charlie F for the link to the post at Breitbart.
All the best,
Glenn B
Enjoying and/or Sweating - The Little Stuff
People are often fond of saying: "Don't sweat the little stuff". Well, it is the little stuff that gets me going. I am usually much better when facing a major problem than a small nuisance. On the flip side of that same coin, I also often like some of the smaller good things over the larger ones. I am impressed by folks with good manners like when I hold a door for someone and they say thanks, or when they hold a door for me.
The same thing applies to gifts. Don't get me wrong, I would love to receive a few million as a gift from someone (as in dollars) but I am often very pleased by smaller gifts that I get from loved ones than by big ticket items. For instance, this Christmas, my son got me a few things related to firearms. Specifically he gave me two Remington brand 1911 magazines and a set of rosewood laminated grips, for my Remington R1-1911, with the manufacturer's medallion set in each grip panel. I was more than pleased as they were the perfect gift for me as were other gifts from my daughter and wife.
A very nice looking set of grips were they, that is until I took them out of the package. Then I noted that each had what appeared to be slight tool marks on their backs around the screw holes. I guess that would have been okay by me although the ones that came with the pistol, to which these would mate, did not have those tool marks. In addition though, the right grip had pieces of wood chipped out at each screw hole. For a moment, I though they had been used, returned and repackaged for sale but then I saw the mark. There was a white mark, as if made by chalk or crayon, on the back of the right grip panel, the one with the chipped wood. I am guessing that was an inspectors mark but somehow these got out of the factory anyway. Remington makes sure to note on the packaging not to tighten the grip screws too much or you may damage the wood but seems to have taken little care not to assure the same while making them.
Talk about a major disappointment. Yeah, I know, it is the little stuff but that little stuff made me very happy big time and thus also very disappointed big time once I saw the defects. Luckily, my son still had the order confirmation email in his laptop's trash can. He is not good at saving receipts but still had this one even though he had deleted it. I fired off an email to Remington asking them to arrange for an exchange for the same thing, but this time in pristine condition. Hopefully they still have them in stock. It will put the smile back on my face when Remington makes the switch as I am pretty sure they will do without delay. But oh how it sucks for this to have happened in the first place!
So, for now, no new gun pron as I had planed to post tonight. That will have to wait until they send me the replacement grips.
All the best,
Glenn B
The same thing applies to gifts. Don't get me wrong, I would love to receive a few million as a gift from someone (as in dollars) but I am often very pleased by smaller gifts that I get from loved ones than by big ticket items. For instance, this Christmas, my son got me a few things related to firearms. Specifically he gave me two Remington brand 1911 magazines and a set of rosewood laminated grips, for my Remington R1-1911, with the manufacturer's medallion set in each grip panel. I was more than pleased as they were the perfect gift for me as were other gifts from my daughter and wife.
A very nice looking set of grips were they, that is until I took them out of the package. Then I noted that each had what appeared to be slight tool marks on their backs around the screw holes. I guess that would have been okay by me although the ones that came with the pistol, to which these would mate, did not have those tool marks. In addition though, the right grip had pieces of wood chipped out at each screw hole. For a moment, I though they had been used, returned and repackaged for sale but then I saw the mark. There was a white mark, as if made by chalk or crayon, on the back of the right grip panel, the one with the chipped wood. I am guessing that was an inspectors mark but somehow these got out of the factory anyway. Remington makes sure to note on the packaging not to tighten the grip screws too much or you may damage the wood but seems to have taken little care not to assure the same while making them.
Talk about a major disappointment. Yeah, I know, it is the little stuff but that little stuff made me very happy big time and thus also very disappointed big time once I saw the defects. Luckily, my son still had the order confirmation email in his laptop's trash can. He is not good at saving receipts but still had this one even though he had deleted it. I fired off an email to Remington asking them to arrange for an exchange for the same thing, but this time in pristine condition. Hopefully they still have them in stock. It will put the smile back on my face when Remington makes the switch as I am pretty sure they will do without delay. But oh how it sucks for this to have happened in the first place!
So, for now, no new gun pron as I had planed to post tonight. That will have to wait until they send me the replacement grips.
All the best,
Glenn B
Ammo Conspiracy Theory?
I am not all that much into conspiracy theories although I
readily admit one should be prepared for things like tyranny, government abuse
of our rights, civil unrest, a police state, military takeover of our nation and so forth.
Yet, I do have a kind of, a sort of, a maybe conspiracy theory of my own and I cannot
figure out why the conspiracy theorists have not been jumping all over it for
months already. My theory, simply put, is that the current government
administration, or someone else, has somehow conspired to cause a shortage of certain types of
ammunition for commercial sales to the public. If not them, perhaps the ammunition
industry has conspired to cause the shortage of ammo that we have been facing
for well over the past several months.
While you may think that due to people buying it up for whatever
reasons, it seems strange to me that not one major manufacturer seemingly has
supplied new stock to the market or if they have done so then it seems odder
still that the distributors are not offering it for sale. For example,
TheSportsmansGuide.com has several offering of 5.56x45mm ammo shown on their
website but all are shown as either back ordered or out of stock. In fact they
show some different brands as not expected to be back on the shelves until
March, July and October of 2013. I checked with at least 10 major ammunition
retailers, to see if they had 5.56x45mm ammo available in bulk with these
results: NatchezShootersSupply
(out), Ammoman.com (store
closed due to number of orders, none available), MilitaryShooters.com
(none available), AmmunitionToGo.com
(all sold out), CMP (unavailable), Sportsmansguide.com
(all on back order), SGAmmo
(nothing available), Brownell’s
(out of stock), MidwaUSA.com
(either unavailable, out of stock or on back order) CheaperThanDirt.com (one brand in stock in bulk). CTD advertised Lake City Ammo in a 1,000 round case at $999.00 which as far
as I remember is about two and a half to three times what it was selling for 6
to 9 months ago and is well above 100 percent more than it was selling two months ago at most dealers.
Manufacturers not making more of it and sending it to
retailers, when it is selling as if their will never be any ever available
again, just does not make sense unless there is something preventing them from
manufacturing and distributing it. I have checked the news sites and have not
seen any reports of shortages of the raw materials, I have not seen us get
involved in any new conflicts requiring more for the government, I have not
seen foreign manufacturers nor domestic manufacturers complain that they cannot
keep up with the demand, they just are jot doing it. I still think that
maybe the government has been involved somehow but its only a thought. Maybe some new Customs restrictions on
imported ammo preventing such from entering, maybe secret UN dealing to which President Obama has agreed, maybe contractual restrictions placed on domestic manufacturers
between the manufacturers and the government preventing them from selling it to the public (this would be fiscal suicide for those
companies), maybe just DHS and other federal departments and agencies buying so
much of it that there is none left for the private citizen and yes they have been contracting for an awful lot of it lately.
Or maybe the conspiracy, if a conspiracy at all, is not so much one effected by the
government or the manufacturers but by they who fear that ammo will soon be unavailable. That would be anyone who believes the
government is destroying our Constitutional rights and our liberties and buying it like crazy. Whatever it is that is responsible, one thing is certain, there is a definite
shortage of 5.56x45mm NATO spec ammo (as well as run of the mill .223) and the well is almost bone dry. It
has not been getting any better either.
This issue is not limited to 5.56x45mm and .223 ammunition. Another caliber of ammo with similar shortage problems is 7.62x39mm. Is it a coincidence that both are the most popular calibers in so called "assault weapons"? I recently placed an order for a 640 round 'span can' of this caliber ammo, that was "In Stock" when I ordered it to find out, today as I wrote this blog post, that my order is on back order! A check with the company from which I ordered it shows that no ammo in this caliber is available (except for blanks).
My guess would be that soon other calibers will also be in very short supply but not in my ammo locker. We are now in conservation mode around here just waiting for whatever tomorrow will bring and wondering where is all the ammo and where are all the conspiracy theorists on this one.
This issue is not limited to 5.56x45mm and .223 ammunition. Another caliber of ammo with similar shortage problems is 7.62x39mm. Is it a coincidence that both are the most popular calibers in so called "assault weapons"? I recently placed an order for a 640 round 'span can' of this caliber ammo, that was "In Stock" when I ordered it to find out, today as I wrote this blog post, that my order is on back order! A check with the company from which I ordered it shows that no ammo in this caliber is available (except for blanks).
My guess would be that soon other calibers will also be in very short supply but not in my ammo locker. We are now in conservation mode around here just waiting for whatever tomorrow will bring and wondering where is all the ammo and where are all the conspiracy theorists on this one.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, December 27, 2012
KALASHNIKOV HOSPITALIZED
 |
| Kalashnikov in 2009. Copyright: www.kremlin.ru. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Kalashikov.jpg |
While we have two versions of that rifle in our house and enjoy shooting them immensely, I cannot forget that they were initially manufactured kill enemies of the Soviet Union and thus would have been used against us had war ever broken out between the USSR and the USA. Knockoffs and genuine AK-47s sold to other nations have most definitely been used against out troops. So, while I have mixed feelings about that and thus about him, I still find myself wishing him well since the Cold War died along with the USSR but the AK-47 and Kalashnikov both live on.
Source: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20121226/DEFREG01/312260004/Russia-8217-s-Kalashnikov-Intensive-Care-Report?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
All the best,
Glenn B
I Am Writing For The Firearm Blog
Not all that long ago, I posted that it seemed I was
selected, from a large field of candidates, to write for another blog. I wanted
to make absolutely certain it was going to happen before posting more about it.
It has happened. Today, I posted my first draft blog post for that other blog. I imagine
that if you check on The Firearm
Blog (TFB), either later today or tomorrow, it should be there. It's not
there yet, it needs to be published by the site owner before you get to see it.
TFB is a firearms oriented blog - period. No politics at all. Well, I think that writing about guns is, in essence, being political whether or not anyone else thinks it is such but TFB does its best to keep any discussions of politics out of it and does pretty well. Most of the blog posts at TFB cover firearms industry news. For instance, there is a post there today about a free gun disassembly / assembly application from Noble Empire. Well, it is free up to a limit. I think they have 'unlocked' the disassembly plans for 7 different firearms and beyond those you will have to pay for any pothers you want to view. I clicked on pistols, in the revolving selection that shows on their main page and then on the Beretta 92FS which is not one of the models with 'free' plans. The cost came up as $4.99 for that one; I do not know if the price varies by model. They offer discounted app purchases when you buy more than one. In addition, they offer a lifetime access to all disassembly plans for currently listed models and all those that will be listed in the future; right now that unlimited access goes for $99.99. But I digress so let me get back to me being chosen to write for TFB.
I am going to have to do some homework to find topics about industry news; too bad I just missed 'media' registration for the upcoming Shot Show in Las Vegas. That would have been a great opportunity to make the necessary connections to assure a continuous source of such info.
As far as my having been selected as a writer for TFB, there were around 150 applications from people who wanted to write for TFB. Somehow I was picked from among them all. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised that I was given that honor. So, from now on, I will be writing one article per month for The Firearm Blog. I will also continue to post my daily or almost daily blather here on Ballseyes Boomers.
All the best,
Glenn B
TFB is a firearms oriented blog - period. No politics at all. Well, I think that writing about guns is, in essence, being political whether or not anyone else thinks it is such but TFB does its best to keep any discussions of politics out of it and does pretty well. Most of the blog posts at TFB cover firearms industry news. For instance, there is a post there today about a free gun disassembly / assembly application from Noble Empire. Well, it is free up to a limit. I think they have 'unlocked' the disassembly plans for 7 different firearms and beyond those you will have to pay for any pothers you want to view. I clicked on pistols, in the revolving selection that shows on their main page and then on the Beretta 92FS which is not one of the models with 'free' plans. The cost came up as $4.99 for that one; I do not know if the price varies by model. They offer discounted app purchases when you buy more than one. In addition, they offer a lifetime access to all disassembly plans for currently listed models and all those that will be listed in the future; right now that unlimited access goes for $99.99. But I digress so let me get back to me being chosen to write for TFB.
I am going to have to do some homework to find topics about industry news; too bad I just missed 'media' registration for the upcoming Shot Show in Las Vegas. That would have been a great opportunity to make the necessary connections to assure a continuous source of such info.
As far as my having been selected as a writer for TFB, there were around 150 applications from people who wanted to write for TFB. Somehow I was picked from among them all. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised that I was given that honor. So, from now on, I will be writing one article per month for The Firearm Blog. I will also continue to post my daily or almost daily blather here on Ballseyes Boomers.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Oh Doggone It, It Hurts...
...and it sure is difficult trying to sleep while bandaged up like a purple mummy in the making.
Just a few pics of Mimi showing the aftermath of her trip to the emergency vet after she was attacked by our larger mutt Roxie. Mimi weighed in at 13.5 kilos at the vet last night or 29.7 pounds. Roxie is easily between 60 to 65 pounds and may be heavier as she has gained weight recently. Roxie was relatively uninjured with a couple of what seem to be superficial wounds on her forelegs. Mimi has at least 7 stitches in wounds to the skin's surface layer and also has more subcutaneous stitches, in at least two spots that for some reason the vet did not number in his report. So at the very least 9 stitches. One of those was not bandaged on her left hind leg. The rest are covered by the purple bandages. The red bandage, on her right foreleg, covered where she had an IV (I removed that today). She also had some other puncture wounds they did not stitch, and she has two drains, one in the inguinal area and another in her neck. I am guessing that a lot of her flesh, under the skin, was crushed and possibly torn by Roxie's gripping bite.
We are hopeful she will heal up okay and get back to her normal sprightly self again but she sure looks and acts like a very 'sore' loser right now. She has not moved much since I brought her home last night. She can walk but only with difficulty. I picked her up to let her out to do her thing and just about anyway I hold her it hurts her. Hopefully the pain pills the vet gave me to give to her are working. She is pretty young at about 4 or 5 years old, well maybe older but not by much. We got her when she was a very young adult from the NY City animal shelter. So, my guess is that within a week or two she will be pretty much all better; I wish I healed as fast as I expect she will heal. She took one heck of a beating and has been laying around with that far away look in her eyes since I brought her home. I don't think she has gotten up once except to turn around to try and lay back down in another position. The only time she has walked is when I carried her outside and put her down to answer the call of nature. I guess for now, the best we can do is pamper her a bit and let her rest and keep giving her those happy pills to kill the pain. As for my daughter and wife who were both bitten while trying to break up the dogfight: My daughter's finger is okay or as okay as it can be right now. My wife's hand may be another story. It was pretty swollen and very painful this morning and I recommended she go to a doctor to have it checked again because of the swelling and to ask for some pain meds because there is no way that Motrin is going to be enough at least over the next few days. Of course, she hasn't done that because she knows better.
As for Roxie's, she is back home but is locked up in the biggest bedroom for now. She will not be allowed free reign in the house for an indeterminate period and we are considering getting rid of her - maybe adopt her out to someone who would have her as their only dog or maybe something else. Who know, we may keep her but will have to figure out what led up to this fight and how to tame it. I am thinking if we do keep her, my wife will have to start carrying pepper spray in case this ever erupts again. It has happened twice, with only minor injuries the first time a year or two ago. Both times it happened it was when my wife had them just outside in the yard as she was putting on their leases to go for a walk. They get pretty excited before their daily walks but I am pretty sure that even if in another tear em up kind of a brawl, the pepper spray in their faces would end it quickly.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Dog Bites Dog, Other Dog Bites Back, Dog Bites Wife, Dog Bites Daughter...
...as each tries to separate the dogs. Husband snoozes peacefully oblivious to all, hears dogs barking and goes back to sleep. Then hears wife calling for help and saying they are fighting. He looks for gun and asks who is fighting. Wife says dogs, he leaves gun behind and goes outside to get the dogs apart. The 65 pound (at last weigh in but has gained weight and may be 70 to 75 now) mutt was chomping away with sheer abandon on the 25 pound (or so) mutt. Husband gives some commands, bigger mutt does not heed but smaller one tries to back off but bigger one just takes advantage of that and attacks more viciously, and they both go at it again. Bigger one then gets two or three good kicks to ribcage but does not back off. Then grabbed by side of head just under and behind each ear. Still has death hold on smaller mutts neck and crunching sounds heard like windpipe getting smashed but at last is somewhat controlled and cannot shake her side to side now as she was before. Smaller one wriggles out but then the big one locks jaws with her, more crunching and cracking. Some more commands and some tweaking by husband, larger one lets go only to grab belly or groin area of smaller one. Yelping, growling. FATHER TELLING DAUGHTER TO GET BUCKET OF WATER, DAUGHTER RETURNS IN SPLIT SECOND WITH LARGE SNOW SHOVEL RAISED HIGH AND ABOUT TO START SWINGING DOWN MORE LIKELY TO HIT FATHER THAN DOG (and father thinks this would be good way to kill dad in an Alfred Hitchcock presents episode). FATHER GETS THEM APART HE TELLS HER TO DROP IT. SHE DOES - WHEW! Smaller mutt runs toward door to house and father tells daughter to let her in. Larger dog tied up out in yard to chain that is around tree.
Wife inside sitting on kitchen floor looking dazed and in pain, some blood but really that not much - thankfully. Still enough blood to be too much. Father/husband administer first aid. Then he takes daughter and wife to hospital. Wife has fairly deep puncture on back of hand near near wrist, and a couple of other cuts on knuckles. Daughter has sliced and slightly punctured finger tip. Wife gets a shot and prescription for antibiotics, same for daughter. Wife is in a lot of pain and refuses the good pain meds (damn) and asks for a Motrin. (She will regret that tonight when she tries to sleep and rolls over on it.)
Out of hospital, off to vet (while in hospital, son was called to go home, get smaller mutt and bring her to vet). Get to vet and even though they said she was ready to go when called, on arrival they say he is undergoing procedure. Went home, bigger mutt had a couple of small cuts or punctures on front legs. Bigger dog sent away for night to daughter's fiance's house. Husband will go to pick up smaller mutt later. Second time in about two years that this has happened but no humans bitten first time.
Yep, that was our house at about 1715 this evening. I cannot wait to see the vet and hospital bills. Our bigger mutt is lucky that I had been sleeping and was a bit too groggy to lay my hand right on my pistol before my wife told me it was the dogs fighting or there would have been a chance I would have shot the bitch. I had just seen it and was grabbing for it when she explained it was the dogs fighting and I realized it was not some psycho or robber attacking one of them.
I finally got the bigger bitch to let go. with a bit more tweaking. Pain is a good inducer for respect and obedience. I have to admit, her head looked a whole lot bigger during the maybe 10 to 20 (at the outside most) seconds I held her and tried to get them apart. Yep it sure was a bit scary. Scary shit when they are fighting and not listening and biting and growling and biting and yelping and biting. Normally, I would not try that, that is go hands on like I did. I would rather douse em with water or vinegar or whatever, but it was pretty obvious she was hurting our smaller mutt pretty badly. I do not think my wife or daughter will ever go hands on again in a dogfight, not how they tried it tonight where they got their hands too close to the dogs' mouths. At least the way I grabbed her, I would have had some control of her had she tried to bite me.
Oh well, have to hope the wife and daughter do not get infections. Then some serious discussion is in order for tomorrow about getting rid of the larger of the two mutts. She is usually very good with dogs and always good with people (until this) but as I said got carried away once or twice before fighting with out other mutt. I imagine it was a fight for dominance. Had she grabbed one of our Chihuahuas like that she would have killed it for sure and she apparently put a good hurting on the other mutt who is still at the vet. She would likely be better off in a one dog home. As I said, we have some jaw boning to do around here tomorrow on that topic.
You know, it may be Christ's birthday and all but I have to say it, no disrespect meant: What A Merry Fucking Christmas For Us Here In What Amounts To The Manger Of Bizarro World.
Edited at 2056 to add: The vet just called, she will be ready for pick-up at 2300 to 2330. It looks like no Christmas spirits for me until after that and it will be too late to enjoy them on Christmas by the time I get home, though not too late to enjoy the spirits of the day after Christmas, and I am sure to have at least one or three after this fine mess.
Edited at 0007 on 12/26 to add: Since Christmas is a season for giving, perhaps I should not feel all that bad about paying the emergency veterinarian bill, at about 2300 on Christmas night, to have Mimi stitched up, have a couple of drains put into two of her several wounds and for various medicines, anesthesia and other stuff. I just got home leaving them $840 better off and me that much poorer. That is not all of it, they charged my card about $144 more and did not know how to refund it. Hopefully they will get it refunded within the next two days by the time Mimi has to go to our regular vet to have the drains removed. Maybe that refund will cover it. Then in two weeks she again has to go to the regular vet to have the stitches removed. Shit, for $840 it should have been all
inclusive and done at the same place!
I hope your Christmas was a little more blessed than was ours. I must admit though, up until and except for that, ours was nice.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wife inside sitting on kitchen floor looking dazed and in pain, some blood but really that not much - thankfully. Still enough blood to be too much. Father/husband administer first aid. Then he takes daughter and wife to hospital. Wife has fairly deep puncture on back of hand near near wrist, and a couple of other cuts on knuckles. Daughter has sliced and slightly punctured finger tip. Wife gets a shot and prescription for antibiotics, same for daughter. Wife is in a lot of pain and refuses the good pain meds (damn) and asks for a Motrin. (She will regret that tonight when she tries to sleep and rolls over on it.)
Out of hospital, off to vet (while in hospital, son was called to go home, get smaller mutt and bring her to vet). Get to vet and even though they said she was ready to go when called, on arrival they say he is undergoing procedure. Went home, bigger mutt had a couple of small cuts or punctures on front legs. Bigger dog sent away for night to daughter's fiance's house. Husband will go to pick up smaller mutt later. Second time in about two years that this has happened but no humans bitten first time.
Yep, that was our house at about 1715 this evening. I cannot wait to see the vet and hospital bills. Our bigger mutt is lucky that I had been sleeping and was a bit too groggy to lay my hand right on my pistol before my wife told me it was the dogs fighting or there would have been a chance I would have shot the bitch. I had just seen it and was grabbing for it when she explained it was the dogs fighting and I realized it was not some psycho or robber attacking one of them.
I finally got the bigger bitch to let go. with a bit more tweaking. Pain is a good inducer for respect and obedience. I have to admit, her head looked a whole lot bigger during the maybe 10 to 20 (at the outside most) seconds I held her and tried to get them apart. Yep it sure was a bit scary. Scary shit when they are fighting and not listening and biting and growling and biting and yelping and biting. Normally, I would not try that, that is go hands on like I did. I would rather douse em with water or vinegar or whatever, but it was pretty obvious she was hurting our smaller mutt pretty badly. I do not think my wife or daughter will ever go hands on again in a dogfight, not how they tried it tonight where they got their hands too close to the dogs' mouths. At least the way I grabbed her, I would have had some control of her had she tried to bite me.
Oh well, have to hope the wife and daughter do not get infections. Then some serious discussion is in order for tomorrow about getting rid of the larger of the two mutts. She is usually very good with dogs and always good with people (until this) but as I said got carried away once or twice before fighting with out other mutt. I imagine it was a fight for dominance. Had she grabbed one of our Chihuahuas like that she would have killed it for sure and she apparently put a good hurting on the other mutt who is still at the vet. She would likely be better off in a one dog home. As I said, we have some jaw boning to do around here tomorrow on that topic.
You know, it may be Christ's birthday and all but I have to say it, no disrespect meant: What A Merry Fucking Christmas For Us Here In What Amounts To The Manger Of Bizarro World.
Edited at 2056 to add: The vet just called, she will be ready for pick-up at 2300 to 2330. It looks like no Christmas spirits for me until after that and it will be too late to enjoy them on Christmas by the time I get home, though not too late to enjoy the spirits of the day after Christmas, and I am sure to have at least one or three after this fine mess.
Edited at 0007 on 12/26 to add: Since Christmas is a season for giving, perhaps I should not feel all that bad about paying the emergency veterinarian bill, at about 2300 on Christmas night, to have Mimi stitched up, have a couple of drains put into two of her several wounds and for various medicines, anesthesia and other stuff. I just got home leaving them $840 better off and me that much poorer. That is not all of it, they charged my card about $144 more and did not know how to refund it. Hopefully they will get it refunded within the next two days by the time Mimi has to go to our regular vet to have the drains removed. Maybe that refund will cover it. Then in two weeks she again has to go to the regular vet to have the stitches removed. Shit, for $840 it should have been all
inclusive and done at the same place!
I hope your Christmas was a little more blessed than was ours. I must admit though, up until and except for that, ours was nice.
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, December 24, 2012
What An Unexpected Christmas Present - Laurel and Hardy Live On Forever
When I was around 8 to 9 years old, I began to love watching
Laurel and Hardy on television. It was a different time back then and a kid of
that age did not have the understanding of such things as reruns, or about the
immortality of films. Then again, maybe it was just me who did not understand and I guess I believed
that anything on television was live. I said something to my brother one day, I do not
have a clue as to what it was that I said, that got this response from him (or
pretty close to it): 'Don't be stupid, they aren’t alive anymore, they’re
dead'. To which I replied along these lines: ‘How can they be dead, there they are
right now on the television!’ My brother then briefly explained the facts of
life to me about being immortalized on film. I was thunderstruck, I was sad, I
was mad, I was helpless and it looked as if the world was about to end. I got
over it somehow but I never got over Laurel and Hardy.
They were two very funny men. Their shorts and movies are true classics and as far as I am concerned, as long as I am alive, they will never die. I don’t watch them much now, but if they are on for a late night movie, that is what I will watch. They always make me laugh and oddly enough always make me sad because they are gone but the laughter wins out every time.
Something today came as a Christmas surprise when I opened an email a friend, Pete A. had sent me a day or two ago. It was a video clip from YouTube featuring Laurel and Hardy edited into a music video. Not only did it make me happy to see them but it made me even happier to realize that they are still appreciated today. They are still alive aren't they? Just watch this video and try to convince me otherwise. I mean: ‘How can they be dead, there they are right now onthe television YouTube!’
That video and that rendition of Bei mir bist du schön (German name), by Ilhama Gasimova, also called Bei mir bistu shein (original Yiddish name) and not scheen, was excellent!
Thanks Pete, for one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received! Knowing they live on because they are still appreciated by a younger generation is absolutely excellent because it means they will live forever even after I am long gone. I guess, in a way my brother was right but how I wish he was still here among us for me to be able to tell him, not so much just how wrong he had been, but rather to let him know the good news that they live on after all. Then again, he probably knew that all along in his adult years, I am pretty sure he remained a fan.
By the way, this song was written in 1932, by Yiddish composers. It was a big hit for The Andrews Sisters (link to Wikipedia info) back in 1937 or 1938 once rewritten with English language lyrics (source). Here is one of the versions by the Andrews Sisters with some great photos of them.
I used to love The Andrews Sisters (link to official website) too, with their angelic voices. I guess I still do because they too live on (and I suspect so too will Ilhama due to her version of this song). They were in a couple of Abbott and Costello movies and were always great. What fabulous memories for a wonderful Christmas morning and what a great fairly new rendition of an old classic! Thanks again Pete. Merry Christmas.
All the best,
Glenn B
They were two very funny men. Their shorts and movies are true classics and as far as I am concerned, as long as I am alive, they will never die. I don’t watch them much now, but if they are on for a late night movie, that is what I will watch. They always make me laugh and oddly enough always make me sad because they are gone but the laughter wins out every time.
Something today came as a Christmas surprise when I opened an email a friend, Pete A. had sent me a day or two ago. It was a video clip from YouTube featuring Laurel and Hardy edited into a music video. Not only did it make me happy to see them but it made me even happier to realize that they are still appreciated today. They are still alive aren't they? Just watch this video and try to convince me otherwise. I mean: ‘How can they be dead, there they are right now on
That video and that rendition of Bei mir bist du schön (German name), by Ilhama Gasimova, also called Bei mir bistu shein (original Yiddish name) and not scheen, was excellent!
Thanks Pete, for one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received! Knowing they live on because they are still appreciated by a younger generation is absolutely excellent because it means they will live forever even after I am long gone. I guess, in a way my brother was right but how I wish he was still here among us for me to be able to tell him, not so much just how wrong he had been, but rather to let him know the good news that they live on after all. Then again, he probably knew that all along in his adult years, I am pretty sure he remained a fan.
By the way, this song was written in 1932, by Yiddish composers. It was a big hit for The Andrews Sisters (link to Wikipedia info) back in 1937 or 1938 once rewritten with English language lyrics (source). Here is one of the versions by the Andrews Sisters with some great photos of them.
I used to love The Andrews Sisters (link to official website) too, with their angelic voices. I guess I still do because they too live on (and I suspect so too will Ilhama due to her version of this song). They were in a couple of Abbott and Costello movies and were always great. What fabulous memories for a wonderful Christmas morning and what a great fairly new rendition of an old classic! Thanks again Pete. Merry Christmas.
All the best,
Glenn B
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to all. Now it's time for me to go HO HO HO, that is, right after I plant the presents around the tree.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
The Best Holiday Of The Year...
...is only just over one month away. It may come in the middle of the winter, at the nastiest time of the year, it may be absolutely meaningless (except maybe for the money it brings to places like Punxsutawney, PA) but it is an all American extravaganza like none other and all about a rodent. How could you not like Groundhog Day! No obligatory or expected: Groundhog Day tree, no tinsel or lights or garland, no spending on presents, no lines in the stores, no pushing, shoving, no mannerless nasty bastard shoppers looking for that special something at the last minute and trying to knock you over to grab out of your hand the last one that you just picked up, no grumpy salespeople who don't give a shit that your wife wants the red ones instead of the black nylons gloves, no Groundhog Day Eve shopping, heck no Groundhog Day Eve anything, no church going (unless maybe it falls on a Sunday), no dressing up, no having to wake up everyone and get their asses in gear early enough to make it to grandma's house on time, no putting presents under the tree on Groundhog Day's Eve, no staying up til just after midnight to give the yearly Ho-Ho-Ho (even though the kids are both adults now), no giving out and opening presents before morning coffee, no cleaning up the wrappers putting away the gifts and maybe saving some of the boxes for next year, not a friggin thing! Nothing to do but sit back, maybe with a with a hot cuppa' Joe, and watch some guy dressed to the hilts in a monkey suit, top hat included, hold up a furball and predict without any true reliability whether or not the winter will last another 6 weeks and of course, it will last that much longer whether or not the little buck-toothed booger is afraid of his own shadow or not. Even watching that is not obligatory but it is fun.
That it is not a real holiday and only a somewhat unofficial one may also have something to do with it being my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving comes in as a not so close second and would have been first except it usually requires cooking or helping in the kitchen and then acting nice with relatives and other guests when they show up to eat us out of house and home and maybe even leave a little (or a lot of) something behind in the way of an aroma I would rather not smell. There is absolutely nothing that anyone needs do to enjoy Groundhog day though and that makes it the best holiday by far.
All the best,
Glenn B
That it is not a real holiday and only a somewhat unofficial one may also have something to do with it being my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving comes in as a not so close second and would have been first except it usually requires cooking or helping in the kitchen and then acting nice with relatives and other guests when they show up to eat us out of house and home and maybe even leave a little (or a lot of) something behind in the way of an aroma I would rather not smell. There is absolutely nothing that anyone needs do to enjoy Groundhog day though and that makes it the best holiday by far.
All the best,
Glenn B
Most of My Christmas Shopping Done
Yes, I said most of it, as opposed to all of it. That means I will b out there again today, on Christmas Eve, fighting through the crowds of last minutes idiots, like myself, who waited until today to get it all done. I might have actually gotten it all done yesterday had I not spent about 2 or 3 hours online looking for a microwave oven to replace our old one that just went belly up two days ago. I started looking, online, for a model that would fit into the nook in our kitchen where we will be keeping it. It took over an hour to find about three models in the size and power range we wanted. I was hoping to find a 1.2 cubic foot oven with the right outside dimensions. There were not many of them made by what I consider reputable companies that have quality merchandise, not even many if you added on the ones made by companies with reputations for lack of quality; the cubbyhole into which it will go is pretty small. Well, after about 1.5 hour, I had found three of them that fit the bill. I had been hoping at least one would be a convection microwave but all of those were too big. So I settled on a conventional one. Then I did some research on Consumer reports to see if they had tested any of those models. They had tested one, a Frigidaire, and it got a good rating.
Of the other two I found, that would fit, one was a Kenmore (like the one that went belly up and was a piece of junk in my opinion) and the other a Panasonic. I figured that Panasonic would make a decent one and found that model available in a Best Buy store several miles from me for immediate pick-up. I do not think that Best Buy lives up to their name, I think they could use the name Worst Buy in a more fitting manner so I also looked for the other model, the Frigidaire, to see if anyone had it locally. I immediately found it for sale at Lowe's, much closer to home, and figured I would by it there. Then I saw that it was only available, for store pick-up, in early February! How they stay in business with that long of a wait is beyond me. I kept looking. Finally, I remembered a very local retailer, a small mom and pop appliance shop pretty close to home. They had it in stock but not in store, it was in their warehouse. They said I could pick it up on Wednesday. I knew my wife wanted it as soon as possible and just figured if she wanted it sooner she could go out and find one. I ordered that one from that shop. The surprising thing is tat they had it for the same price for which owes was selling it. Usually their prices are somewhat higher than major retailers, I suppose it was a good deal and was local too.
Oh well, as I was saying, that cut into my hopping time yesterday and now I still have to g today. I hate it when I have to go shopping today although I must admit I like to shop on Christmas Eve. It is just that I do not like being under pressure today, looking for this or that in particular at the last minute. I prefer shopping on Christmas Eve only after I have already gotten everything I need to get and thus can make it a leisurely shopping day. When I need to find a specific item or three, it can be a miserable day of it. As it turns out, I do not need to find anything in particular and it should wind up making it a nice easy going day of last minute Christmas shopping to make up for some imbalances among whom is getting what. I try to keep it even as to how much gets spent for each of my kids and need to even it out a bit. I also want to get my wife one more thing. Amazingly, since I usually wind up hectically searching for something for her on Christmas Eve, I already got her a couple of things including something I am sure she will love; thus my need to go shopping for anything for her is nil. I am just looking for an icing on the cake sort of a gift for her today, maybe a few scratch off lottery tickets, some flowers, a funny looking pair of socks, a small bottle of perfume - anything that catches my eye but I am in no way desperate in that department as I almost always am every other Christmas Eve. I also need to get my mom both a Christmas gift and a birthday gift, yes she is a Christmas baby. Being that she is going to be 88 years old tomorrow and that she has dementia, she is pretty easy to please, so shopping for her will be pretty easy too. Funny, over all the years I have gotten out to buy Christmas presents on my own, it has almost always been that I wind up frantically shopping on Christmas Eve for either my mother's or wife's Christmas present(s) (Freud would have been fascinated but I think it just typical of sons and husbands who procrastinate like me).
Oh well, I will be headed out early this afternoon to get that done. Yeah, I know it would have been easier had I started this morning but I have a doctor's appointment late this morning for a nasty sore throat. If I am feeling up to it and really adventurous, I may walk to the LIRR station and hop on a train in Manhattan in NYC to go shopping there and to stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the tree at Rockefeller Center and at the Empire State Building. I did not get the chance last year and I miss visiting those places at this time of year, so just may do it tonight after the future in-laws stop by for Christmas Eve cookies.
Merry Christmas.
All the best,
GB
Of the other two I found, that would fit, one was a Kenmore (like the one that went belly up and was a piece of junk in my opinion) and the other a Panasonic. I figured that Panasonic would make a decent one and found that model available in a Best Buy store several miles from me for immediate pick-up. I do not think that Best Buy lives up to their name, I think they could use the name Worst Buy in a more fitting manner so I also looked for the other model, the Frigidaire, to see if anyone had it locally. I immediately found it for sale at Lowe's, much closer to home, and figured I would by it there. Then I saw that it was only available, for store pick-up, in early February! How they stay in business with that long of a wait is beyond me. I kept looking. Finally, I remembered a very local retailer, a small mom and pop appliance shop pretty close to home. They had it in stock but not in store, it was in their warehouse. They said I could pick it up on Wednesday. I knew my wife wanted it as soon as possible and just figured if she wanted it sooner she could go out and find one. I ordered that one from that shop. The surprising thing is tat they had it for the same price for which owes was selling it. Usually their prices are somewhat higher than major retailers, I suppose it was a good deal and was local too.
Oh well, as I was saying, that cut into my hopping time yesterday and now I still have to g today. I hate it when I have to go shopping today although I must admit I like to shop on Christmas Eve. It is just that I do not like being under pressure today, looking for this or that in particular at the last minute. I prefer shopping on Christmas Eve only after I have already gotten everything I need to get and thus can make it a leisurely shopping day. When I need to find a specific item or three, it can be a miserable day of it. As it turns out, I do not need to find anything in particular and it should wind up making it a nice easy going day of last minute Christmas shopping to make up for some imbalances among whom is getting what. I try to keep it even as to how much gets spent for each of my kids and need to even it out a bit. I also want to get my wife one more thing. Amazingly, since I usually wind up hectically searching for something for her on Christmas Eve, I already got her a couple of things including something I am sure she will love; thus my need to go shopping for anything for her is nil. I am just looking for an icing on the cake sort of a gift for her today, maybe a few scratch off lottery tickets, some flowers, a funny looking pair of socks, a small bottle of perfume - anything that catches my eye but I am in no way desperate in that department as I almost always am every other Christmas Eve. I also need to get my mom both a Christmas gift and a birthday gift, yes she is a Christmas baby. Being that she is going to be 88 years old tomorrow and that she has dementia, she is pretty easy to please, so shopping for her will be pretty easy too. Funny, over all the years I have gotten out to buy Christmas presents on my own, it has almost always been that I wind up frantically shopping on Christmas Eve for either my mother's or wife's Christmas present(s) (Freud would have been fascinated but I think it just typical of sons and husbands who procrastinate like me).
Oh well, I will be headed out early this afternoon to get that done. Yeah, I know it would have been easier had I started this morning but I have a doctor's appointment late this morning for a nasty sore throat. If I am feeling up to it and really adventurous, I may walk to the LIRR station and hop on a train in Manhattan in NYC to go shopping there and to stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the tree at Rockefeller Center and at the Empire State Building. I did not get the chance last year and I miss visiting those places at this time of year, so just may do it tonight after the future in-laws stop by for Christmas Eve cookies.
Merry Christmas.
All the best,
GB
Saturday, December 22, 2012
NY's Governor Cuomo - Permit or Confiscate Assault Weapons
New York's Governor Cuomo, speaking on the subject of requiring NY gun owners to either register or acquire a state issued permit to possess assault weapons or otherwise have them confiscated said:
“I don’t think legitimate sportsmen are going to say, ‘I need an assault weapon to go hunting,’” and also said: “There is a balance here — I understand the rights of gun owners; I understand the rights of hunters.” (source)
As for that, this is what I would say to the governor:
First of all Governor Cuomo, with respect for your office, allow me to tell you that not only do you not understand the rights of both hunters and gun owners, you also do not understand Constitutional law because it guarantees that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed and nowhere does it mention hunting in relation to that right. In fact, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights do not say anything in them about the right to keep and bear arms in relation to hunting. What the Second Amendment says is that said right shall not be infringed because a well regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state. In addition, Governor Cuomo, you do not understand current NY State law that has been on the books since 1994. Assault weapons are already illegal within NY State unless they were owned prior to the enactment of the law that restricts them.
As for so called legitimate sportsmen, when did it suddenly become only sportsman who have the right to keep and bear arms. The right to keep and bear arms and the liberty to exercise that right were never meant to be restricted to sportsman. The plain and simply undying truth of the matter is that our Founding Fathers enumerated the right to keep and bear arms so that it would never be overlooked so as to assure us the liberty to exercise that right to control an over imposing government. The architects of our government spelled it out, in about as plain and simple terms as they could, that said right assures the people that they will have the means to protect their rights and thus to overthrow, by way of armed revolution if need be, tyrannical governments and the despots who run them. That was the main purpose of their militia back then and was the main purpose of including the right to keep and bear arms within the Bill of Rights. It remains the main purpose of having an armed citizenry today.
Of course the citizens can and will utilize firearms for other pursuits, for which they are suited, such as self defense, sport shooting, sport and sustenance hunting, collecting and so forth but those activities were never at the heart of the reason for enumerating our right to keep and bear arms. For you to indicate otherwise either shows your near total ignorance of American history and Constitutional law and / or your arrogant disregard for the rights of the People. I believe it the latter and think it goes far beyond merely hinting at, what seems to be, your desire to rule by tyranny. If you want the Second Amendment to be construed as otherwise, and if you insist on violating that right and any other rights of the People, then I think you may well be surprised by what may come from those whose rights you will have attempted to abrogate.
All the best,
Glenn B
“I don’t think legitimate sportsmen are going to say, ‘I need an assault weapon to go hunting,’” and also said: “There is a balance here — I understand the rights of gun owners; I understand the rights of hunters.” (source)
As for that, this is what I would say to the governor:
First of all Governor Cuomo, with respect for your office, allow me to tell you that not only do you not understand the rights of both hunters and gun owners, you also do not understand Constitutional law because it guarantees that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed and nowhere does it mention hunting in relation to that right. In fact, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights do not say anything in them about the right to keep and bear arms in relation to hunting. What the Second Amendment says is that said right shall not be infringed because a well regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state. In addition, Governor Cuomo, you do not understand current NY State law that has been on the books since 1994. Assault weapons are already illegal within NY State unless they were owned prior to the enactment of the law that restricts them.
As for so called legitimate sportsmen, when did it suddenly become only sportsman who have the right to keep and bear arms. The right to keep and bear arms and the liberty to exercise that right were never meant to be restricted to sportsman. The plain and simply undying truth of the matter is that our Founding Fathers enumerated the right to keep and bear arms so that it would never be overlooked so as to assure us the liberty to exercise that right to control an over imposing government. The architects of our government spelled it out, in about as plain and simple terms as they could, that said right assures the people that they will have the means to protect their rights and thus to overthrow, by way of armed revolution if need be, tyrannical governments and the despots who run them. That was the main purpose of their militia back then and was the main purpose of including the right to keep and bear arms within the Bill of Rights. It remains the main purpose of having an armed citizenry today.
Of course the citizens can and will utilize firearms for other pursuits, for which they are suited, such as self defense, sport shooting, sport and sustenance hunting, collecting and so forth but those activities were never at the heart of the reason for enumerating our right to keep and bear arms. For you to indicate otherwise either shows your near total ignorance of American history and Constitutional law and / or your arrogant disregard for the rights of the People. I believe it the latter and think it goes far beyond merely hinting at, what seems to be, your desire to rule by tyranny. If you want the Second Amendment to be construed as otherwise, and if you insist on violating that right and any other rights of the People, then I think you may well be surprised by what may come from those whose rights you will have attempted to abrogate.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, December 21, 2012
End of Mayan Calenday Not The End For Me - How I Avoided Doomsday
Okay, the critters are fed and I can sit back down at the desk and start blogging again for the moment. I still have some chores to finish up, in anticipation of having about 25 folks over tomorrow for a Christmas party, but that can wait until I tell you how I cleverly broke the cipher of the end of the Mayan Calendar and figured out how to avoid doomsday. It was simple really and all the clues were there. First of all the Mayan calendar was ending today, then we had all the kooks who really believed that on this day would commence TEOTWAWKI, or the Zombie Apocalypse, or Armageddon, or the Rapture, or a collision with a huge meteorite, or the return of the dinosaurs (the carnivorous ones and they would be hungry, really hungry), or mass civil unrest, or an alien invasion (from other than Mexico) or WW III, or whatever other silly thing they could think of that would have been a real bummer for humanity. Then there were the incessant warnings from the folks at shipping companies like UPS telling us that today was the absolute last day to be able to ship in time for receipt before Christmas but only if you sent it superspeedyfastdelivery. Then there were all the folks buying up ammo, in a frenzy because of TEOTWAWKI and then after the most recent mass shooting in the face of strict gun control measures looming over us. Of course, there were the decorations everywhere, all reminding me it was the Christmas season.
It all added up and got me in gear and this year by some amazing twist of fate, I got all of my Christmas shopping done before Christmas Eve. Well, all of it for my wife's gifts and that my friends is a good thing. Had I forgotten this or that, well as you could imagine, it may have spelled out TEOTWAIKI - did you catch the change there - The End Of The World As I Know It. Thus I have avoided my own personal doomsday.
All the best,
Glenn B
It all added up and got me in gear and this year by some amazing twist of fate, I got all of my Christmas shopping done before Christmas Eve. Well, all of it for my wife's gifts and that my friends is a good thing. Had I forgotten this or that, well as you could imagine, it may have spelled out TEOTWAIKI - did you catch the change there - The End Of The World As I Know It. Thus I have avoided my own personal doomsday.
All the best,
Glenn B
Life Goes On As Usual And I Am A Bit Disappointed
There I was thinking that today would be a day full of hardship, trying times and adventure due to the Mayan Calendar coming to an end and with its end so too would TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) be upon us. Yet, here I am at my laptop, almost bored to tears, after nothing adventurous at all happened today except maybe me going Christmas shopping and I am just typing away, now thinking that the Mayan tour guide we traveled with last December knew of what she spoke. She said the modern day Mayans believed that the end of the Mayan calendar just meant it would be time for a new calendar. Of course, the day ain't over yet and neither has the fat lady sung for today but it seems so much of another ho hum day as to bring me near to tears. What a let down.
Hark, I hear sirens in the distance - could it mean...but no, it could not be anything all that ominous as doomsday - there are not enough of them. Oh well, I suppose that I will just have more ammo than I had thought left over after today and I can use it for the range. Maybe I will bury some too in the more likely event (more likely than doomsday anyway) that some truly ludicrous gun and ammo control measures will go into place in the not too distant future. What are you going to do with your now surplus ammo? Oh come on now, you can admit it to me that you went out and bought at least a thousand round case of your favorite caliber just in case the shit was truly going to hit the fan today! Leave a comment to let me know what you plan to do with your excess ammo; I promise, I won't laugh, I promise - really I do.
So, when is the next "End of the World" scheduled to take place? We had one today, one last year, probably at least another 3 or 4 between then and the year 2000 - not to speak of the end we purportedly faced with the coming of the new millennium. I am sure the world will end someday. It is even possible people will still be around and maybe some will wake up and even have the chance to realize, "Oh shit, this is really it" but for now I kind of don't see it in the cards. With our short time span here on the earth, my guess would be that it is more likely to end once we have all passed to the great beyond and not one soul will witness it except maybe some roaches.
Speaking of roaches, I have to go feed mine (Blaptica dubia) now; they have not gotten any new slop in the past couple of days. I need them nice and fat to feed to my Crested Geckos and Bearded Dragons and Toad so I had best finish up here.
All the best,
Glenn B
Hark, I hear sirens in the distance - could it mean...but no, it could not be anything all that ominous as doomsday - there are not enough of them. Oh well, I suppose that I will just have more ammo than I had thought left over after today and I can use it for the range. Maybe I will bury some too in the more likely event (more likely than doomsday anyway) that some truly ludicrous gun and ammo control measures will go into place in the not too distant future. What are you going to do with your now surplus ammo? Oh come on now, you can admit it to me that you went out and bought at least a thousand round case of your favorite caliber just in case the shit was truly going to hit the fan today! Leave a comment to let me know what you plan to do with your excess ammo; I promise, I won't laugh, I promise - really I do.
So, when is the next "End of the World" scheduled to take place? We had one today, one last year, probably at least another 3 or 4 between then and the year 2000 - not to speak of the end we purportedly faced with the coming of the new millennium. I am sure the world will end someday. It is even possible people will still be around and maybe some will wake up and even have the chance to realize, "Oh shit, this is really it" but for now I kind of don't see it in the cards. With our short time span here on the earth, my guess would be that it is more likely to end once we have all passed to the great beyond and not one soul will witness it except maybe some roaches.
Speaking of roaches, I have to go feed mine (Blaptica dubia) now; they have not gotten any new slop in the past couple of days. I need them nice and fat to feed to my Crested Geckos and Bearded Dragons and Toad so I had best finish up here.
All the best,
Glenn B
There Are Some Real Morons With Guns...
...out there in the world, real potential Darwin Award material (and as you will see the guy in the picture has a lot of potential to win a Darwin Award). One can only hope that they smarten up. Otherwise, it just may wind up that they just wind up removing themselves from the gene pool and actually win a Darwin Award. While smartening up would be a benefit to themselves, I think that either way - getting smarter or removing themselves from gene pool - would be of benefit to mankind. Click on the below link to see what kind of person I am talking about:
http://imgur.com/p8IWx
Hat tip to Deb H for bringing this one to my attention.
All the best,
Glenn B
http://imgur.com/p8IWx
Hat tip to Deb H for bringing this one to my attention.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, December 20, 2012
No Zombies Yet...
...but the day is still long. I suppose a lot could still happen over the course of the next 23 hours and fifteen minutes or so. In the meantime, while waiting for the world to end, I am going to go have a nice belt of something or other since someone finished my last HB Oktoberfest Bier and the basement mini-fridge is empty. Perhaps something with rum or vodka or a Baileys Irish Cream... Wait a minute, did I mention zombies and then rum - sounds like a winner.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
On The Eve of TEOTWAWKI - Farewell and Thanks For All The Bullets
Just a quick post to say thanks to all of my readers and to say that is was nice to virtually have met many of you in the Blogosphere and to have met a few of you in person in the real world too. I am telling you this now because this may be my last blog post ever. No, it has nothing to do with my health (not as of today anyway) nor to do with family or work or with the political atmosphere in the firearms world. I just figure that in case the nuts who say the world is going to end tomorrow are not all that nutty after all, then it would be good to say goodbye in advance.
I am hopeful that the world will not be ending but as you may know, I am ready for a lot of bad situations including: the Apocalypse, a zombie horde, a small meteorite striking nearby, other natural disasters, nuclear winter, global warming, a food shortage, economic collapse, civil unrest, a military takeover, and a bullet shortage. Hopefully nothing will happen tomorrow to make me use up any of my ammo but if it does come down to it, I am ready for that too.
Oh the anxiety and anticipation of what tomorrow may bring. Personally, I don't have any angst about December 21st; I think it is going to bring some crappy weather and not much else. In case I am wrong and the nut jobs are right about tomorrow (and thus not really nut jobs) then I just wanted to say, Farewell and thanks for all the bullets. Had you bought them all, there would have been none left for me!
All the best,
Glenn B
I am hopeful that the world will not be ending but as you may know, I am ready for a lot of bad situations including: the Apocalypse, a zombie horde, a small meteorite striking nearby, other natural disasters, nuclear winter, global warming, a food shortage, economic collapse, civil unrest, a military takeover, and a bullet shortage. Hopefully nothing will happen tomorrow to make me use up any of my ammo but if it does come down to it, I am ready for that too.
Oh the anxiety and anticipation of what tomorrow may bring. Personally, I don't have any angst about December 21st; I think it is going to bring some crappy weather and not much else. In case I am wrong and the nut jobs are right about tomorrow (and thus not really nut jobs) then I just wanted to say, Farewell and thanks for all the bullets. Had you bought them all, there would have been none left for me!
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Russia and Global Warming
Temperatures in Siberia have been at minus 20 degree Fahrenheit with the wind chill making it feel like 50 below. Add to that a couple of feet of snow and that is one hell of a winter so far. To date, the cold spell, across much of Russia has claimed 45 lives and put 270 people into the hospital, more than half of them suffering from frostbite. See:
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16022433-deep-freeze-across-russia-dips-to-50-below-at-least-45-die?lite=
I am sort of surprised that he headline did not read: Flash - Global Warming Kills 45 In Russia. Well, I am sure that is how Al Gore would put it anyhow.
All the best,
Glenn B
ATF Liaison To BOP May Spend A Lot More Time With BOP Than Expected
The ATF Liaison to the federal Bureau of Prisons, George Gillet, a former ATF Assistant Special in Charge, may spend more time with BOP than he ever expected. If the claims in the linked article are true, this is absolutely amazing. Not only did his pistol reportedly wind up at a murder site in Mexico, but he allegedly
gave bad addresses on the required ATF firearms forms (which is a felony if he in fact lied on those forms) when purchasing two guns for himself.
"Gillett purchased the weapon at Legendary Arms, a Phoenix gun store. On the federal form 4473 used to buy the gun, Gillett used the ATF office address, 201 East Washington, and said "Apt 940." On subsequent purchase, Gillett used a commercial address, that of a strip mall."
Is this really the quality of what we have, at the top, in federal law enforcement today! At least he has not yet been charged with exposing himself to little girls, I guess that is pretty much restricted to ICE officials.
By the way, look at the type of firearm it was that they reportedly found in Mexico at the murder scene. It was an FN Five-Seven, a pistol that law enforcement tried to have banned in this country and it seems that a high ranking ATF official bought himself one. I think this just another reason for We The People to be armed folks; to me it look as if way too many of these guys are not working as our servants but at trying to become our masters by any means whatsoever.
See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/19/ex-atf-official-gun-ends-up-at-mexican-cartel-shootout-that-killed-beauty-queen/
Stuff like this makes me almost ashamed to admit to folks that I had a 32 year federal LE career but then, I never did anything that could have wound up with my arse getting thrown into jail.
All the best,
Glenn B
gave bad addresses on the required ATF firearms forms (which is a felony if he in fact lied on those forms) when purchasing two guns for himself.
"Gillett purchased the weapon at Legendary Arms, a Phoenix gun store. On the federal form 4473 used to buy the gun, Gillett used the ATF office address, 201 East Washington, and said "Apt 940." On subsequent purchase, Gillett used a commercial address, that of a strip mall."
Is this really the quality of what we have, at the top, in federal law enforcement today! At least he has not yet been charged with exposing himself to little girls, I guess that is pretty much restricted to ICE officials.
By the way, look at the type of firearm it was that they reportedly found in Mexico at the murder scene. It was an FN Five-Seven, a pistol that law enforcement tried to have banned in this country and it seems that a high ranking ATF official bought himself one. I think this just another reason for We The People to be armed folks; to me it look as if way too many of these guys are not working as our servants but at trying to become our masters by any means whatsoever.
See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/19/ex-atf-official-gun-ends-up-at-mexican-cartel-shootout-that-killed-beauty-queen/
Stuff like this makes me almost ashamed to admit to folks that I had a 32 year federal LE career but then, I never did anything that could have wound up with my arse getting thrown into jail.
All the best,
Glenn B
Could This Be Why Shipping Rates Are So Friggin High
Leave it to a guy like this, who I imagine is an illegal immigrunt and probably a member of the Teamsters' Union, to possibly waste a month of workdays trying to perfect this act instead of doing his job.
Biertijd.com // Media » Forklift vs Coin & Bottle
All the best,
GB
Biertijd.com // Media » Forklift vs Coin & Bottle
All the best,
GB
Can Armed Security Guards (or armed teachers) Protect Our Students - You Bet They Can
It is truly amazing that so many have forgotten Matthew Murray and Jeanne
Assam as the current debate about gun control rages on over the recent school
massacre. If you give it some thought, maybe you will recall that in December
2007 - only 5 years and 5 days apart from the Sandy Hook Elementary School
murders - Murray walked into church during a Sunday service while armed with a
rifle, two handguns and as much as 1,000 rounds of ammunition (source).
Before he went to that church though, he already had killed two people, and
injured another two folks at a mission earlier in the day and also killed two
sisters and injured their father in the church parking lot. Then he went to the
church where it seems apparent that he had been intent on killing many more
than the two he had killed earlier on. Sounds pretty familiar - doesn't it -
almost identical to the weaponry used last week in CT and almost identical in
the way things had been planned out by the two murderers. The rest of the
comparison though is not all that similar.
We all know of the terrible tragedy in the school shooting in CT, all those innocent children and the teachers slaughtered by a madman who first had killed his own innocent mother earlier that same day. Teachers shielding little angels. For many of them, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no real protection from the courageous teachers who shielded their young bodies. No help, for those gunned down, from an unarmed principal who was also shot dead in her over the top effort to stop an armed intruder while she herself was unarmed. All of the teachers and children waiting for the 911 calls to be answered, many waiting and dying while the police responded as fast as they could fly which sadly was not like Superman who could fly "faster than a speeding bullet". (source)
The incident at the church in Colorado Springs back in 2007 had a much different outcome. Murray fired on a family outside of the church wounding the father and killing his two daughters, one 16 the other 18 years old. Then he burst into the church and that moment is when one sees a marked difference between the two incidents. That was because Jeanne Assam was there, inside the church, at the same moment that Murray barged in while armed much like the Sandy Hook madman. The difference was not only that Assam, a security officer working for the church, was there but also that she was armed and trained. She had been hired by the church to, in effect, be the sheep dog watching over the flock of churchgoers, protecting them from wolves who would prey on them as so many sheep led before a slaughter. Maybe there was another difference, she had God as her backup.
""It seemed like it was me, the gunman, and God," said Jeanne
Assam, describing her feelings as she confronted a man who charged into her
Colorado Springs church Sunday firing a weapon." (source)
She did what she had been trained to do, what the church and enlisted her to do, what she had volunteered to do and what was the right thing to do. She, without hesitation, took cover, drew her weapon and then engaged a much more superiorly armed assailant. Then she shot him, took him down and ended his evident planned massacre. At the time, while it was certain that Assam had indeed shot down Murray, it was uncertain if she had killed him or if, once downed, he had killed himself. I do not recall, though I think they determined she had killed him but it does not matter. She put an end to the terror that he had planned to unleash on the community. That she saved lives there is no doubt, that she saved many lives is more than merely probable it is almost definite.
Now back to a few other similarities between the two tragic incidents. At each, the intended victims were all innocents, none expected what was about to take place but each institution had planned for unexpected bad situations by each having security measures in place. While those things were similar they were also very different. The big difference was that while one security measure was very effective, the other was virtually worthless when it came to stopping an armed intruder. So, what mattered was the fact that one place had employed armed security officers to protect people while the other relied on unarmed means to do so and that second system was easily defeated by the killer. In the one - many died, in the other two died but many were saved.
According to Assam's pastor: "There could have been a great loss of life yesterday, and she probably saved over 100 lives." (Source)
The murderers' choice of weapons in either situation did not matter. Sure, it matters now that the killers chose firearms, at least it seems to matter after the school shooting. It matters because it has already been politicized by the anti-gun crowd and politicians. In truth, the killer in CT could have used other means, and killed with even more ease than with guns had he used those other means. Yet, had he done so, no one would seek to put an end to the ease at which someone could acquire those other means. Think of how much easier it would have been for him to kill if using Molotov cocktails. Open the door to the classroom with one already lit and toss it inside, close the door, light another and toss it inside, then maybe a third. Certainly a lot quicker than firing all the rounds he fired as he had to reload several times to do so. He could have moved from one class to another doing likewise. In short time the whole school would have been ablaze and even those children who the brave teacher had locked in the restroom possibly would have perished. Or, he could have chained the doors shut and then poured gasoline, or any flammable liquid, around inside of the school and ignited the whole place at once. No, it is not the item used to kill with which we should be concerned but with the killer, with what made him do it and why society seems to have somehow bred so many mass murderers sometime over the past 30 years. Even if we take away all of the guns, that mindset would still be in the making in way too many who would merely find other means to kill as many as they could kill.
It is very sad indeed that the school did not have an armed officer like that church had employed. If armed security can be successfully deployed within churches then why not within our schools. Gun control, it is so much hype. You could rid every gun in the USA and I mean every one (citizens, police, military) and someone would just start making them in their garage. It is not difficult to do even in a mediocre machine shop. Others would smuggle them in across our borders, not all that difficult to do either. Just look at our narcotics problem and the very unsuccessful war on drugs - it has never stopped the flow of narcotics entering across our borders. Guns are not going to go away, it will never happen. Anyway, as I showed above, other weapons that may be even more effective than guns and are easier to obtain are available. They are just as, if not more, deadly. It is a shame that so many critics and anti-gun people have been saying and continue to say that it would be crazy to arm school teachers or to put armed guards into schools. Aren't they the same people who said it would be crazy to arm pilots. They probably would have said likewise about churches if they ever paid them any attention.
Schools are not all that different from churches. Yes having armed guards at school would have very possibly, even very likely, have caused there to have been a very different outcome at Sandy Hook Elementary School. That though is in the past but there are a lot of unsecured schools out there and still plenty of people needing work too. Why not create some meaningful jobs that really might make a difference in protecting our children and our teachers. There also are a whole bunch of guys at TSA who would probably gladly jump ship to do it. If you don't want to create security officer jobs, then train and arm the teachers. Either way, it would protect our children.
By the way, if you think the incident involving he security guard at the church taking down a bad guy is a fluke, then think again. Here is a link to an article about yet another example of a security officer putting down an armed intruder:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Security_guard_for_Scientology_building_shoots,_kills_man
And here yet another although this one not near a church but think about this one if he had gotten through and the station had been open. How many would he have stabbed:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/mta-guard-shoots-man-break-closed-subway-station-article-1.1195061
So: Can armed security guards, or armed teachers, help protect our students? Yep, you can safely bet they can do just that, at least much more safely than can an unarmed buzzer door.
All the best,
Glenn B
References:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/10/colorado.shootings/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316322,00.html#ixzz2FXN972Tz
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/
We all know of the terrible tragedy in the school shooting in CT, all those innocent children and the teachers slaughtered by a madman who first had killed his own innocent mother earlier that same day. Teachers shielding little angels. For many of them, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no real protection from the courageous teachers who shielded their young bodies. No help, for those gunned down, from an unarmed principal who was also shot dead in her over the top effort to stop an armed intruder while she herself was unarmed. All of the teachers and children waiting for the 911 calls to be answered, many waiting and dying while the police responded as fast as they could fly which sadly was not like Superman who could fly "faster than a speeding bullet". (source)
The incident at the church in Colorado Springs back in 2007 had a much different outcome. Murray fired on a family outside of the church wounding the father and killing his two daughters, one 16 the other 18 years old. Then he burst into the church and that moment is when one sees a marked difference between the two incidents. That was because Jeanne Assam was there, inside the church, at the same moment that Murray barged in while armed much like the Sandy Hook madman. The difference was not only that Assam, a security officer working for the church, was there but also that she was armed and trained. She had been hired by the church to, in effect, be the sheep dog watching over the flock of churchgoers, protecting them from wolves who would prey on them as so many sheep led before a slaughter. Maybe there was another difference, she had God as her backup.
She did what she had been trained to do, what the church and enlisted her to do, what she had volunteered to do and what was the right thing to do. She, without hesitation, took cover, drew her weapon and then engaged a much more superiorly armed assailant. Then she shot him, took him down and ended his evident planned massacre. At the time, while it was certain that Assam had indeed shot down Murray, it was uncertain if she had killed him or if, once downed, he had killed himself. I do not recall, though I think they determined she had killed him but it does not matter. She put an end to the terror that he had planned to unleash on the community. That she saved lives there is no doubt, that she saved many lives is more than merely probable it is almost definite.
Now back to a few other similarities between the two tragic incidents. At each, the intended victims were all innocents, none expected what was about to take place but each institution had planned for unexpected bad situations by each having security measures in place. While those things were similar they were also very different. The big difference was that while one security measure was very effective, the other was virtually worthless when it came to stopping an armed intruder. So, what mattered was the fact that one place had employed armed security officers to protect people while the other relied on unarmed means to do so and that second system was easily defeated by the killer. In the one - many died, in the other two died but many were saved.
According to Assam's pastor: "There could have been a great loss of life yesterday, and she probably saved over 100 lives." (Source)
The murderers' choice of weapons in either situation did not matter. Sure, it matters now that the killers chose firearms, at least it seems to matter after the school shooting. It matters because it has already been politicized by the anti-gun crowd and politicians. In truth, the killer in CT could have used other means, and killed with even more ease than with guns had he used those other means. Yet, had he done so, no one would seek to put an end to the ease at which someone could acquire those other means. Think of how much easier it would have been for him to kill if using Molotov cocktails. Open the door to the classroom with one already lit and toss it inside, close the door, light another and toss it inside, then maybe a third. Certainly a lot quicker than firing all the rounds he fired as he had to reload several times to do so. He could have moved from one class to another doing likewise. In short time the whole school would have been ablaze and even those children who the brave teacher had locked in the restroom possibly would have perished. Or, he could have chained the doors shut and then poured gasoline, or any flammable liquid, around inside of the school and ignited the whole place at once. No, it is not the item used to kill with which we should be concerned but with the killer, with what made him do it and why society seems to have somehow bred so many mass murderers sometime over the past 30 years. Even if we take away all of the guns, that mindset would still be in the making in way too many who would merely find other means to kill as many as they could kill.
It is very sad indeed that the school did not have an armed officer like that church had employed. If armed security can be successfully deployed within churches then why not within our schools. Gun control, it is so much hype. You could rid every gun in the USA and I mean every one (citizens, police, military) and someone would just start making them in their garage. It is not difficult to do even in a mediocre machine shop. Others would smuggle them in across our borders, not all that difficult to do either. Just look at our narcotics problem and the very unsuccessful war on drugs - it has never stopped the flow of narcotics entering across our borders. Guns are not going to go away, it will never happen. Anyway, as I showed above, other weapons that may be even more effective than guns and are easier to obtain are available. They are just as, if not more, deadly. It is a shame that so many critics and anti-gun people have been saying and continue to say that it would be crazy to arm school teachers or to put armed guards into schools. Aren't they the same people who said it would be crazy to arm pilots. They probably would have said likewise about churches if they ever paid them any attention.
Schools are not all that different from churches. Yes having armed guards at school would have very possibly, even very likely, have caused there to have been a very different outcome at Sandy Hook Elementary School. That though is in the past but there are a lot of unsecured schools out there and still plenty of people needing work too. Why not create some meaningful jobs that really might make a difference in protecting our children and our teachers. There also are a whole bunch of guys at TSA who would probably gladly jump ship to do it. If you don't want to create security officer jobs, then train and arm the teachers. Either way, it would protect our children.
By the way, if you think the incident involving he security guard at the church taking down a bad guy is a fluke, then think again. Here is a link to an article about yet another example of a security officer putting down an armed intruder:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Security_guard_for_Scientology_building_shoots,_kills_man
And here yet another although this one not near a church but think about this one if he had gotten through and the station had been open. How many would he have stabbed:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/mta-guard-shoots-man-break-closed-subway-station-article-1.1195061
So: Can armed security guards, or armed teachers, help protect our students? Yep, you can safely bet they can do just that, at least much more safely than can an unarmed buzzer door.
All the best,
Glenn B
References:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/10/colorado.shootings/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316322,00.html#ixzz2FXN972Tz
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/16/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/
Don't Worry Signifigance of Mayan Calendar Figured Out
Well there is finally an undeniable explanation as to why the Mayan time lords decided to select December 21st as the end of their calendar. It has nothing to do with it being a stellar event, no cosmic debris will rain down on us that day. It has not even one iota to do with the end of the world. A zombie apocalypse will not take place, the Rapture isn't happening yet and the dead will not rise again. Not even WW III will break out on that day. The only danger will be to those husbands who were foolish enough not to order their wives their Christmas presents on time - for before Christmas delivery.
And to think, I bought all that ammo for nothing! Well, maybe not for nothing considering today's political climate but that is another story. Hurry up, get your online shopping done fast. Only two days to go until the 21st and that delivery deadline.
All the best,
Glenn B
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