Saturday, December 30, 2017

A Little American History (or not) In NYC

Yesterday, on a very frigidly cold afternoon, Brendan and I headed to Manhattan in NYC to enjoy part of the day together. We made our first stop in Chinatown where we enjoyed a really great lunch at a small local mom & pop type Chinese restaurant. After that we walked down to the Financial District. Along the way, just across the street from the back of the federal Building, Brendan stopped to look at a statue of whom he thought would have been Thomas Paine. I guess his assumption about the statue was a natural one, after all, we were in Thomas Paine Park - a tiny triangular island amid three NYC streets. Not all that surprisingly, the statue had nothing to do with the namesake of the park but was instead a statue of fat cat politician who was a former mayor and governor of NY - Abraham de Peyster. You would think there would be at least a plaque mentioning Thomas Paine in Thomas Paine Park - but of course not in this leftist stronghold would such be the case.
 
The 'or not history' statue in Thomas Paine
Park because  it wasn't in his likeness!

After stopping for a quick pic, we continued our trek to the Financial District. I had recommended a stop for a drink at historical Fraunces Tavern if only because I wanted to have Brendan get to see some things I figured he maybe had never seen before relative to the history of not only NYC but of these United States. The tavern is one of the oldest, if not the oldest building in NYC. Thus it likely is the oldest tavern there too. Although it does have a colorful history, my motive to head to the Financial District was not so much to see the tavern and get a history lesson on it or have a drink there as it was to see some another historical building - Federal Hall. 
 
Outside of Federal Hall. You my have noticed
the babe up above was smiling for my camera,
some friggin women just crave any attention.

I am not sure if Brendan was previously aware of this fact before our visit yesterday - and I am certain that the great majority of American citizens would not have a clue (although I would think many of my readers know) - that New York City was the first capital of the United States of America. In fact, the building I wanted us to see - Federal Hall - was in effect the first capital building and was the place in which George Washington was sworn in as our first president. It was a good feeling to share the experience of being there with my son.
 
He is not merely smiling for the camera, that look on his face was in part due
to being there in that hallowed hall, learning some history of our great nation.
That's the stone on which Washington stood while being sworn in as president.

After Federal Hall, we stopped for a pic with the NY Stock exchange in the background. Then we were off to Fraunces Tavern - where I forgot to take a picture of Brendan in front of the building! At least we enjoyed a drink there. Sadly we kept it to one apiece. I had an Ommegang Nirvana IPA (6.5% ABV) and he had some concoction of a mixed drink. While both were quite tasty and to our liking, the reason we kept it to one apiece was that while my ale was fairly reasonable, by NYC prices, at $8 a pint - Brendan's mixed drink was $15 for nothing special and with at most one shot of booze and too much ice.  It was off t Greenwich Village after that where we stopped and settled in at The MacDougal Street Ale House. Great bar, very good happy hour prices, fair prices after that and excellent barmaids. We had quite a few drinks and then were met by a few of Brendan's friends, the really good ones. of course we continued drinking for awhile until I decided to head home and they decided to move on to another watering hole.

All in all a good afternoon and evening with my son.

All the best,
Glenn B

Only You Can Prevent Bump Fire Stocks From Becoming Regulated As Machineguns

The BATFE (aka: ATF) is currently accepting formal comments from the citizenry (that would be us folks) reference:

Application of the Definition of Machinegun to “Bump Fire” Stocks and Other Similar Devices

Yes, please, go ahead and click on the above link to leave your comment(s). I just did it myself; I have had more than enough government infringement of a right that shall not be infringed!

Please note, you only have up until January 25, 2018 to get this done - either by mail or electronically - so do it now!!!

All the best,
Glenn B

Never Again Or Next Time I'll Take A Real Cab

I took what I am pretty sure was my first Uber ride yesterday(anyway I don't recall ever using them before) from home to the LIRR station. Wanted to walk but because it was so cold my son wanted an Uber cab; we were headed into NYC for dinner and some sightseeing and drinking.

The Uber car arrived promptly - decent and clean car, decent clean-cut looking driver. There was a stink of maybe a little too much of car wash air freshener, one of those friggin trees you hand in the car (this one smelling like eau de urinal cake) but otherwise it seemed okay at first.

When we got close to the station, the guy just kept heading south across the LIRR tracks to the eastbound side of them. We had mentioned we were going to Penn Station (which meant westbound) and we mentioned it again. So, he made a U-turn immediately after crossing the tracks and drove north in the southbound lane of the road we had just been on. He put his left turn signal on just before crossing the tracks and my son urgently told him NOT to make left turn onto the tracks as it appeared he was about to do. We did not have enough time to also tell him he was on the wrong side of the street before a southbound driver blasted his car's horn and slammed on the brakes instead of hitting us head on. The Uber driver finally got the idea and moved to the right lane and proceeded to actually get us to the station without further ado, under our direction, except maybe that it was fairly obvious he was fairly oblivious. Never again came to mind and is still there as far as me and Uber go.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Could Prove To Be Fun

The this is the new Ruger PC Carbine. It is a takedown carbine in 9mm and comes in two versions, one with a treaded barrel and the other without. The without version is legal in states like NY with its ridiculous SAFE Act making threaded barrel long guns into assault rifles (which are banned in NY). Kudos to Ruger for thinking of we gun owners in com-bloc states like NY.



More info on Ruger's new offering https://ruger.com/products/pcCarbine/models.html.

Being its a 9mm peashooter, it could prove to be a lot of fun since 9mm is relatively not all that expensive as compared to other centerfire ammo. Since it is able to switch mag well sizes, using different adapters, from a Ruger SR-Series Pistol and Security-9 and Glock magazines it is going to be somewhat more versatile than other carbines limited to one type of magazine. Being a Glock fan-boy owner who also owns several 9mm Glock magazines that would be a plus for me as long as it accepts double-stack Glock Mags (the info does not specify).

If it is offered at a decent price, I may have to sell off something else to get one of these; that of course depends upon them getting excellent reviews.

All the best,
Glenn B

North Korea Still Getting Oil - Surprised?

You should not be, at least not over the news that:

"Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, according to two senior Western European security sources, providing an economic lifeline to the secretive Communist state." (Source.)
If Russia can sell their own oil to stimulate their own economy they will do so. They do not have arsewipes like a recent former president of the USA trying to stifle their economic development at every step of the way as that president did here with our economy (and with our military readiness).


The fact of the matter is that Russia and China will likely supply North Korea with whatever it needs for as long as it wants because it is an avowed enemy of the USA. Let's face it folks, neither Russia not China are our allies and just may be our enemies. You can rely on it that if North Korea decides to ever start a war with a major power, it will not be with Russia or China but will be with us. You can also rely on Russia and or China to keep on supplying the North Koreans during any such effort and possibly outright allying with them in full fledged war against us.

It is about time the arsewipe politicians in this county realize that and prepare for the worst case scenario. I, for one, truly believe in the maxim - If you want peace, prepare for war. Only through bulldog like determination and superior firepower are we going to keep the peace and keep our nation safe. Do I long for war - hell no - I detest it. I truly long for peace but just not while licking the boot heels of tyrants as will surely be the case should Russia, China and some third world countries like N. Korea join them in a war against us at our current state of readiness. It is a lot like me going everywhere I can go while armed. I am not out looking to kill anyone but you can bet that if someone attacks me, I want to be ready to respond by being able to effectively defend my life.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

I Like The Shovel Method

 
All the best,
GB

The Changing Seasons





May yours hang low and to the left.

All the best,
Glenn B