Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Remember Ross Perot...

...and don't vote a third party candidate or withhold your vote because if you do then it is almost a sure thing that the Wicked Witch of The White House (remember she has been there before), aka: Mrs. Bullshit, or her Demoncrat rival Mr. Freeshit ,is going to become president. The last time something like this happened, a third party candidate - Ross Perot - got a lot of wasted Republican and Independent votes. Many others decided not to vote at all. The result, the Wicked Witch of Little Rock's (she had not yet been elevated to the White House) husband was elected. Think hard on that before you waste your vote in November.

All the best,
Glenn B

Manly Manhood Achieved

Today, without any doubt (if ever there was any before) I entered the realm of true and utter Manly Men and acquired the state of Manly Manhood. No, I do not mean I had two babes at once been there, done that a few times. (You didn't really think I would admit to that here did you?) While that was (whoops) would have been nice, what I achieved today was painfully difficult to complete.

In my quest to become a truly Manly Man, my right hand's fingers actually were almost totally numbed at one point and I had to shake my hand vigorously to regain sensation. That is because I fired The Beast, my Ruger Redhawk 44 Magnum, for LEOSA qualification this evening. Fifty rounds of shooty goodness accompanied by 50 thumps of grueling agony - qualification achieved - while shooting 300 grain semi-jacketed flat points. I wanted to use the load that I will have in the Redhawk when on vacation in Alaska, in bear country, later this month. I simply refused to lower myself to shooting lighter loads or, what would have been more shameful yet, to use 44 Special ammo. Although I wore a fingerless glove on my right hand, it had little of the desired cushioning and pain preventative effect for which I had hoped. Although, at least my skin was not torn like it was the first time I fired The Beast and it sure made me look tacticool.

As I key this email, my longtime adversary Arthur I. Tiss is with me enjoying every moment of lingering pain and every snap, crackle and pop in each and every joint from my right fingers to my right shoulder and into my neck. What nerve this roguish bastard has had to try to ruin my pride and joy upon my initiation into the realm of manly men, that paradise of utter manliness - Manly Manhood! Not to say that this crippling cad has suceeded but next year I think I will seek to achieve pussified penisless pansy status by attempting to use my 22LR revolver for LEOSA qualification.
One is never to old to learn and tonight even I have learned a lesson. At my age, once is enough to achieve that Manly Manhood crap. Anyway, that should keep Arthur I. Tiss away next time around.

All the best, 
Glenn B

Well Meaning Arsehats Are Arsehats Nonetheless

Some apparently well meaning assholes tourists in Yellowstone National Park picked up a bison calf and put it into the back of their SUV. Then they brought it to a ranger station reportedly because they feared for its welfare. Rangers brought it back to where the well meaning arsehats picked up the young beast but were unable to reunite it with its herd after several attempts to do so. The calf has been euthanized and the arsehats got off with a measly $110 fine (source). I would think they should have been forced to do park service like cleaning bison shit off of the roads for a month while wearing t-shirts with the words Bison Killer on front and back.

Well meaning ain't worth a plugged wooden nickel when you are such an arsehat as to not realize that what you are doing is screwing up more than helping. Wild animals are just that - wild. They do not need your help or want it. For them it truly is eat or be eaten. If you think they truly need help, then call a wildlife expert to take action or tell you what to do. Otherwise, if you are not out legally hunting or fishing, then just take their pictures from a safe distance.

All the best,
Glenn B

Alaska Trip - The One Thing I Am Not Looking Forward To...

...is the anticipated wait we will have at the airport for our departure due both to us traveling on Memorial Day Weekend and to the fact that there reportedly have been delays of up to three hours to get through TSA screening. Just yesterday, I heard on the radio, that the Port Authority in New York has recommended that passengers arrive at New York airports three hours before their scheduled flights! I had already planned to be at the airport with Brendan about 2 1/2 hours early so another half hour will not phase us. What gets me though is that the airline on which we are flying does not open its ticket counter(s) until two hours before the scheduled flight; I just called them a few minutes ago and was given that tidbit of information. Then, when I asked the airline representative if it would make any difference if we arrive only two hours early instead of three as has been recommended. She, after some hesitation and stammering, said no it wouldn't. The airlines are obviously aware of the problems with TSA dragging its butt on screening passengers but seemingly are doing little to help.

It's not like it is the fault of the screeners, it is almost definitely due to two other things. The first is that TSA is down in manpower by about 10% since it's staffing peak in 2013. Combine that with  reports saying air travel in the USA is up by 15% (source) and the math works out to TSA not having enough screeners. The government says it plans to hire about 800 new employees (source) while the union is screaming for them to hire 6,000 screeners (source). Neither likely will help the current problem because they probably will not be in place in time for this year's summer rush. Even if TSA hires almost 800 new screeners in a hurry, remember they are down about 5,000 screeners since 2013 (source). How the bureaucratic wizards of the Obama Administration expect that hiring only about 800 screeners will alleviate the current problem is beyond the scope of my imagination especially since we had long lines, maybe not as long as now but still long, back in 2013 when there were about 5,000 more screeners. Obama is snake-oil seller par excellence though and at least his worshippers will be convinced this additional bit of mesmerizing but worthless chicanery is the cure. 

The second issue causing longer lines reportedly is the fact that most airlines now charge baggage fees for any checked bags. I know that the baggage fees added considerably to our trip's expenses, to the tune of $140 over and above the cost of the airfare and that was for a total of only three checked bags, two for me and one for Brendan and we got a discount for paying ahead of time. People don't want to pay those fees, so what do they do? They stuff as much as they can into their carry-on bags and take one carry-on plus whatever else is allowed as carry-on baggage like a large purse stuffed with undies or an attaché case loaded with socks. How does that affect TSA screening waits? It means that the TSA screeners have more carry-on baggage to screen and more stuff inside of them to wade through when screening them.

I just watched a video over at YouTube, I am not sure which airport it was made but it shows a long, long, long, long line for TSA screening. If our line winds up that long, I would think we maybe will be missing our flight. I sure as heck hope not.

All the best,
Glenn B