... would be a nice thing to see would it not!
Well I just read a bit of good news. It appears that the condition of one of the New York State Troopers, who is believed to have been shot by then escaped prisoner Ralph 'Bucky' Phillips during the manhunt for Phillips, is now improving. The trooper was wounded when shot on August 31 this year; another trooper died of his wounds; this after they were allegedly ambushed by Phillips as they searched for him. Phillips who had spent about half his life in jail, had escaped in April 2006, allegedly shot and killed a NYS Trooper in June 2006, and was being sought by these other two troopers when he is suspected of having shot them. The following is from the 1010 WINS radio station web site at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/96949.php?contentType=4&contentId=217632
"Trooper Donald Baker Jr., 38, and Trooper Joseph Longobardo, 32, were ambushed Aug. 31 by a sniper hiding in the woods outside the home of Phillips' former girlfriend. Longobardo died from his injuries Sept. 3.
Baker, who was shot in the back, remained in serious but stable condition this week at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., said State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett in a written statement released Wednesday.
``Yesterday, for the first time, he went on a short walk in the hospital,'' Bennett said. ``He is more alert and communicating with his friends, family and doctors. He has been participating in rehabilitative physical therapy.''"
Hopefully Trooper Baker will make a full recovery, and he will play an important part in the trial and hoped for conviction of Phillips. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, to the fallen troopers, and to their families and loved ones.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
So North Korea says it is about to...
...test a nuclear weapon; and the United States has sternly told North Korean officials that the USA will not live in a world with a nuclear capable N. Korea. Oh dear!
If you don't believe me, read it for yourself at FoxNews.com in the article:
Chief U.S. Envoy: 'We Are Not Going to Live With a Nuclear North Korea' at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217882,00.html
"The United States passed a warning to North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, the chief U.S. envoy to stalled disarmament talks with the communist country said Wednesday. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," he said."
Now I have to wonder, does N. Korea actually have a bomb to test. maybe and maybe not. My guess is they are probably getting close, but heck I really don't know. I imagine no one really knows except for them, but we will find out if they do in fact test it. Then what are we going to do now that we have told them we won't live with them?
Will we declare war against them? Will we send in invading fleets of ships, waves of planes ,and multitudes of troops; or will we just start tossing nukes at them. Or will we do what we have done in the past and posture, and hem, and haw, and squawk, and maybe even effect sanctions or a naval blockade. My guess is we would do one of the silliest with the least negative outcome, but one that still shows we are the mighty power that we are. So I am guessing that a naval blockade would be in order. Of course I mean in order as per politicians, not as per me.
You see a naval blockade would not accomplish all that much except to maybe cut back on how far out N. Koreans could fish, and to make it look like we mean business. All of their trade would just get routed to them through China. Hell where have they gotten all that nuke technology from anyhow - whoops that right they did not get it all from China, Bill Clinton gave them the know how on the nuke power plants, didn't he?
As for our saber rattling, it will not accomplish much since N. Korean leader Kim Jong is a whacko. If they do test a nuke, and if it is successful, we need to remember they have some medium and possibly long range missiles that could carry nukes. Japan is worried. You can bet India and Pakistan are worried. Maybe even China and Russia. So should we be; and we should be so much more worried if they actually test a nuke. If they have them, well my idea is that their whackadoo leader, barring assassination or convenient accidental death, will use them before he passes onto the great beyond. If he gets them, he will want allies. Who might he pick. Let's see Pakistan is a maybe, Iran almost for sure, Venezuela likewise, China - what the heck, and who knows whom else. If he starts throwing those things toward us, you could almost bet an alliance of small piss-ant countries might try to topple us, especially if they get help from an opportunist nation like China.
I am of the opinion, that is we truly believe they are about to unleash a real nuke test, we ought to get ready to do a surgical series of air strikes to disembowel their capabilities. You may think this is just the ranting of a scared middle aged white guy, but I would not want to be around five or ten years after they test their first nuke. By then, they will have shot one or more of them off, and I hope not to be at ground zero or within 60 miles of it when it happens. Of course, it could all be saber rattling on their part; but if they do test one, then we will know for sure. In that case there is no doubt in my mind, we had best hit em hard and hit em fast.
All the best,
Glenn B
If you don't believe me, read it for yourself at FoxNews.com in the article:
Chief U.S. Envoy: 'We Are Not Going to Live With a Nuclear North Korea' at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217882,00.html
"The United States passed a warning to North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, the chief U.S. envoy to stalled disarmament talks with the communist country said Wednesday. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," he said."
Now I have to wonder, does N. Korea actually have a bomb to test. maybe and maybe not. My guess is they are probably getting close, but heck I really don't know. I imagine no one really knows except for them, but we will find out if they do in fact test it. Then what are we going to do now that we have told them we won't live with them?
Will we declare war against them? Will we send in invading fleets of ships, waves of planes ,and multitudes of troops; or will we just start tossing nukes at them. Or will we do what we have done in the past and posture, and hem, and haw, and squawk, and maybe even effect sanctions or a naval blockade. My guess is we would do one of the silliest with the least negative outcome, but one that still shows we are the mighty power that we are. So I am guessing that a naval blockade would be in order. Of course I mean in order as per politicians, not as per me.
You see a naval blockade would not accomplish all that much except to maybe cut back on how far out N. Koreans could fish, and to make it look like we mean business. All of their trade would just get routed to them through China. Hell where have they gotten all that nuke technology from anyhow - whoops that right they did not get it all from China, Bill Clinton gave them the know how on the nuke power plants, didn't he?
As for our saber rattling, it will not accomplish much since N. Korean leader Kim Jong is a whacko. If they do test a nuke, and if it is successful, we need to remember they have some medium and possibly long range missiles that could carry nukes. Japan is worried. You can bet India and Pakistan are worried. Maybe even China and Russia. So should we be; and we should be so much more worried if they actually test a nuke. If they have them, well my idea is that their whackadoo leader, barring assassination or convenient accidental death, will use them before he passes onto the great beyond. If he gets them, he will want allies. Who might he pick. Let's see Pakistan is a maybe, Iran almost for sure, Venezuela likewise, China - what the heck, and who knows whom else. If he starts throwing those things toward us, you could almost bet an alliance of small piss-ant countries might try to topple us, especially if they get help from an opportunist nation like China.
I am of the opinion, that is we truly believe they are about to unleash a real nuke test, we ought to get ready to do a surgical series of air strikes to disembowel their capabilities. You may think this is just the ranting of a scared middle aged white guy, but I would not want to be around five or ten years after they test their first nuke. By then, they will have shot one or more of them off, and I hope not to be at ground zero or within 60 miles of it when it happens. Of course, it could all be saber rattling on their part; but if they do test one, then we will know for sure. In that case there is no doubt in my mind, we had best hit em hard and hit em fast.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
BALLSEYE - WHAT IS IN A NAME?
It's certainly a title that probably can be very deceiving to some who may think it has to do with pornography or something like that. It has absolutely nothing to do with anything that dirty minds have on their minds, well maybe something, but not what they would expect. Allow me to explain the moniker to you. Many years ago, not all that long after I was married (maybe less than a year, pretty certain it was less than two years) I decided to start getting some exercise because I was gaining a bit of weight. Good home cooking I suppose! I figured, what better way to do this than to go for nice, long, good paced, but relaxing walks. One night I went one way, the next time out I went another, the next time I turned this way, the next time that way, then I wound up going the wrong way.
No, I did not do anything wrong, except maybe decide to go
in the direction I headed one cold winter’s night in Queens, NY (one of the
counties in NYC). As I was walking along, minding my own business, a car pulled
up close to the curb in front of me, but not close enough to park. I kept
walking, and as curiosity and training would have me do, I checked out the
occupants. As I approached, from the back of the car on the passenger side, I
noted two guys in the front seat. Both seemed unusually stiff, then I saw the
passenger slowly turning his head, just enough to see me, and as he did so I
could see him trembling.
It did not take a rocket scientist or tactical expert to
realize something was wrong. Maybe many people very well may not have realized
anything was amiss - but I had been trained about things not being quite right
thanks to my LEO training. In another step or two, without realizing I had done
so, I had removed the glove from my right hand and I had placed my hand on the
grip of my 9MM Beretta 92SB pistol that was riding in a thumb-snap holster on
my right hip. I kept walking forward, passed the car, because I did not want to
give them my back, but I also got as much distance between me and the car as I
could on the sidewalk.
As I got even with the passenger door, it opened and a
swarthy young adult male got out of the car. He stood but remained bent over
somewhat, and I saw he was holding a sweater over his hands. He looked up at
me, pulled the sweater back with his left hand with his right hand still
underneath it. It was then I saw what looked like a threaded , white metal, .30
caliber fluted rifle barrel staring at my midsection. At that moment things
kicked into high gear for me, and the world seemed to slow down, just as this guy
was saying "Don't move motherfucker" to me. I did not do what he
said, screw him, I kept moving.
As I moved toward the only cover I could see, a small tree
and a no parking sign pole, I also moved my hands. I drew my pistol, started to
aim, and heard myself vocally yell "Police - Federal Agent, don't
move". I also heard me mentally yelling at myself “don't aim - don't aim -
just point and shoot”. Somewhere in the split second this all took, yes it was
extremely quick but I was aware of an awful lot that happened in that short
actual split second of time, I thought the rifle barrel turned into a plastic
soda bottle (wishful thinking I guess), and I again heard my inner voice
screaming frantically at myself inside my head, this time as loud as an
internal voice can be without fracturing your own skull: "It’s a gun -
shoot him - it’s a gun”.
I shot, from about at the hip, and continued to bring the
pistol up toward my eye level for either a point shooting shot or if need be an
aimed in shot. As I did so I noticed many things. The recoil felt odd, it had
not been normal. I checked the gun visually and started to slam the mag for tap
and rack, but did not get to rack as I realized my glove, the one I had taken
off was between my shooting hand and the pistol grip, that’s why it felt funny.
I also saw that almost instantly, the guy had raised up on his toes, his face
looked shocked, his eyes widened, and two ripples of flesh emanated from both
eyes outward, until meeting and forming a larger ripple inside of which the
skin around his eyes turned from a olive swarthy look to milky white and he
doubled over. I immediately looked to the car, saw the other guy with a
revolver in his hand about to get out. I fired another shot, it hit the
windshield at head level of the driver. Then the guy afoot tried to get back
into the car but two things prevented him, the door closed as he bumped into
it, and the car left. The car sped off backwards, the guy who had been holding
the rifle took off running after the car and me after him. I was commanding him
to stop - silly me. The car stopped, its engine revving, and I realized the
danger of the situation. I ducked behind a parked car lest the driver try to
run me over. The guy who had the rifle hopped into the car, and the car and 2
bad guys sped off.
Neighborhood folks heard me calling out, asking, begging,
for someone to call 911 and give them the location and to tell the 911 operator
10-13 and shots fired. That code, 10-13 is the New York City Police
Department's code for officer needs assistance. I knew, that with 'shots fired'
added, it would get a lightning quick response. It did! The boys in blue
arrived, en ,masse, quicker than I have ever seen them respond.. After some
interviewing of me and of witnesses, a detective walks over to me with a pen in
his hand. On the end of the pen is perched a white metal, fluted pipe, with
about a .30 caliber hole in it. He asked if that was the gun I had seen. I said
"It’s definitely....eh, err, eh - NOT".
As it turned out, that had been “the rifle” that I had
thought the guy was holding. He was found at a hospital some miles away a couple
of days later. He said a crazy white guy walked up to him, while he was with
his cousin and some friends on a street corner in Brooklyn, and suddenly the
white guy just went crazy and started shooting. Strange thing though, how the
cousin and the friends all had a different story that they gave to the police.
They could not get their facts to agree.
Also strange how he refused to allow doctors to remove the bullet;
especially after police told him they could trace it to the gun that had shot
him, and they believed that said gun belonged to a federal agent. Then he did
something I thought even stranger but for which I am forever grateful. He
confessed. Said he and his cousin were out trying to get money to buy crack.
His cousin saw me and told him something like: "Do this guy.” He said,
something like: "I held the bicycle pipe like a gun but I didn't mean to
hurt nobody". He was arrested, so was his cousin; they went to jail for at
least a few years each. The rifle turned out to have been a pipe.
Maybe a day or two after they found this guy in the
hospital, one of the NYPD detectives called me and told me to pick up a copy of
the Ridgewood Times, a small local weekly newspaper. In the paper was this line
(or something extremely close to it), that I foolishly read as I was driving
down the street: "According to police, doctors said the subject was barely
holding his own". I almost crashed my car because I started to convulse
with laughter. I guess you see where this is going, and are beginning to see
how I got my nickname. The detectives told me my first shot had hit the bad guy
in his right thigh - remember I kept moving and had only pointed it at him from
about hip level when I fired the pistol. The bullet traveled from the center
front of the thigh, to the inner front of the thigh. It then exited the thigh
and it entered his scrotum passing into the right testicle. It passed through
his testicle into the other one, and exited the left side of the scrotum. Then
it entered the left thigh on the inner thigh and traveled down toward his knee,
where it came to rest just a micron or so away from his femoral artery. One
bullet, five bullet holes. Some days, or a week or so later, while my
co-workers talked this over in the office, one of them told me I had a new nickname
- Bull's-Eye Bartley. One of the other agents in our group had been diligently
writing a report and seemingly not paying attention. Suddenly, he snapped his
head upright, said something like: "No - no - not Bull's-Eye, it should be
Ballseye"; and a legend was born - even if only in my own mind.
There was a little more to the story, like my identifying
the car once the police found it, it had a bullet hole right in front of where
the driver's head had been. Too bad windshields often deflect the first shot or
two, then again, I do not know how I would have coped had I actually killed
another human even if a dirtbag. Oh well, the other guy was unscathed except
maybe for yellow stains, and skid marks, in his pants. Another note, the mugger
duo had also robbed another guy that same night. Of course, it had been earlier
than their unsuccessful attempt on me but they were successful with the other
robbery. The police received a call, about that mugging, about 30 minutes after
my incident. The guy they robbed was an older guy, who took 45 minutes, or so,
to walk home after being mugged (not a lot of cell phones if any back then).
Then he took a break and then called the police. I was in the stationhouse by
then being interviewed again and again. My story was always the same. As I was
being interrogated, every cop in the precinct house ran out and as one passed
me by he said: “I guess you missed them, they just robbed someone else”. Well,
they interviewed that victim and he said the driver had had a revolver in which
he, the victim, had actually seen the bullets in the cylinder because the
driver held it right up in front of his face. I guess I had been lucky it had
not been him to point at me. Oh well. Then the police realized that this other
mugging actually had happened before the one in which I had been targeted. One
thing led to another and they found the guy in the hospital as I said above.
They never removed the bullet from the bad guy whom I shot.
As far as I know, he still carries my memento today. Me, I still carry
something from that day too, some bad dreams now and again about shooting
wherein my gun fails me. They used to be terrible nightmares, I guess there was
a certain amount of guilt in my having shot someone, even someone as deserving
as was the criminal whom I shot. Thankfully though, I don’t wake up panicking
anymore, now they are just mild dreams and always turn out okay. Of course, I
also brought something else with me, through my life, because of that day. I
wear the title of Ballseye. In fact, I wear it with some small amount of pride
and that is what is in this moniker.
So you see - nothing pornographic at all - but yes
"balls" did refer to that which those of you with dirty minds had
thought, just not the way you thought it did!
All the best,
Glenn B
PS:
Gil P, if you ever
read this, thanks for that title.
Whoopee - look at the Dow Jones close...
...and you may think it looks to be pretty impressive as it closed at its all time high closing today.
"Nevertheless, the index held onto enough of the day's gains to finish in record territory at 11,727.34, up 56.99 points."
from FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217361,00.html
I am a bit impressed myself, even though I know painfully little about the market, mostly because I have no to little money to invest. I have about 24 grand in a retirement plan, that is split between a safe government option, and some iffy stock things, and that is about all I know. Yet despite knowing very little about the market, I am about to make a prediction based upon it.
My prediction is a straightforward one, and fairly simple. If oil drops a bit more, slowly but steadily over the next month, better yet if it drops another 15 to 20% over the next month, then the market will continue to be upbeat and maybe even continue to soar, so long as there are no major catastrophes like a terrorist attack on our soil. It has been a pretty conservative market from what I understand, not one built on the phony hopes of the dot.com companies of the 90's, so it may be able to maintain itself even if oil does not go down and the interest rates stay where they are. I doubt that oil will stay where it is, and I doubt that interest levels will rise, they may even fall a bit. So I am pretty certain that the market will do better. If the market does much better, with oil dropping quite a bit, and interest staying the same or dropping more, THEN THE REPUBLICANS REMAIN IN CONTROL AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
The trick is, can the market maintain itself. Is big business beholden enough to GWB and to the Republican Party to keep the market going, oil dropping and inflation down? You bet it probably is so long as nothing related to Mr. Murphy comes along to screw it up. It almost seems as if a plan is coming together. No this is not a conspiracy theory, just me thinking it almost seems as if there was a plan that was laid out, worked on, and now being fulfilled - not a bad plan at that if indeed it was a plan. Strange thing is economics - especially when looked at in the eerie light of politics. It almost makes the plan about revealing Foley's emails & IM's, when they were revealed to the public, look second rate amateurish.
Yes the Republicans may indeed know how to win an election. Time will tell.
All the best,
Glenn B
PS: Of course the plan could be to let it (the market) drop again, and then rally like crazy a week or two before the elections; but I think a steady pace on an upbeat note will do it better and I imagine so too do the strategists. Then again it could all flop. Maybe there is no plan. Yet, it is nice, at least for me, to think that the Democrats, at least most of them, may not stand a chance to take away Republican seats in the Congress, and maybe even lose some.
"Nevertheless, the index held onto enough of the day's gains to finish in record territory at 11,727.34, up 56.99 points."
from FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217361,00.html
I am a bit impressed myself, even though I know painfully little about the market, mostly because I have no to little money to invest. I have about 24 grand in a retirement plan, that is split between a safe government option, and some iffy stock things, and that is about all I know. Yet despite knowing very little about the market, I am about to make a prediction based upon it.
My prediction is a straightforward one, and fairly simple. If oil drops a bit more, slowly but steadily over the next month, better yet if it drops another 15 to 20% over the next month, then the market will continue to be upbeat and maybe even continue to soar, so long as there are no major catastrophes like a terrorist attack on our soil. It has been a pretty conservative market from what I understand, not one built on the phony hopes of the dot.com companies of the 90's, so it may be able to maintain itself even if oil does not go down and the interest rates stay where they are. I doubt that oil will stay where it is, and I doubt that interest levels will rise, they may even fall a bit. So I am pretty certain that the market will do better. If the market does much better, with oil dropping quite a bit, and interest staying the same or dropping more, THEN THE REPUBLICANS REMAIN IN CONTROL AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.
The trick is, can the market maintain itself. Is big business beholden enough to GWB and to the Republican Party to keep the market going, oil dropping and inflation down? You bet it probably is so long as nothing related to Mr. Murphy comes along to screw it up. It almost seems as if a plan is coming together. No this is not a conspiracy theory, just me thinking it almost seems as if there was a plan that was laid out, worked on, and now being fulfilled - not a bad plan at that if indeed it was a plan. Strange thing is economics - especially when looked at in the eerie light of politics. It almost makes the plan about revealing Foley's emails & IM's, when they were revealed to the public, look second rate amateurish.
Yes the Republicans may indeed know how to win an election. Time will tell.
All the best,
Glenn B
PS: Of course the plan could be to let it (the market) drop again, and then rally like crazy a week or two before the elections; but I think a steady pace on an upbeat note will do it better and I imagine so too do the strategists. Then again it could all flop. Maybe there is no plan. Yet, it is nice, at least for me, to think that the Democrats, at least most of them, may not stand a chance to take away Republican seats in the Congress, and maybe even lose some.
Before I lose Any More Sleep...
...I think I'll stop blogging for now and try to go back to catching some Z's. I have to be to work by 1000, and it is already 0400, tonight has been almost as tough as work was for me yesterday. I've got to get some sleep sometime - may as well be now - more blogging later.
Goodnight,
Glenn B
Goodnight,
Glenn B
Major Moron Alert...
...and if you guessed I am about to write about a politician, well good for you!
Today I read this article Frist: Taliban Should Be Part of Afghan Government at FoxNews.com @ www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217198,00.html
Yes folks the title gives you a good clue as to what the whole article is about, and as to how crazy, I believe, are some of our government officials. According to the article:
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government. "
Frist reportedly went on to say:
""You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful.""
Now if you will just take a moment to think, you may recall that, after 9/11/2001 the United States government determined that the terrorist group known as al Qaeda was responsible for the terrorist attacks on that infamous day. The U.S. government also realized that al Qaeda had their power base located in Afghanistan where the Taliban was their military arm that essentially enslaved the population of that nation making them follow the extremist Islamic beliefs of al Qaeda. Those were the same beliefs that guided al Qaeda to attack the USA on 9/11 and on other occasions.
In other words folks, the Taliban is the avowed enemy of the United States of America, they are an avowed enemy of Israel who is our ally, they are an avowed enemy of anyone who does not follow the extremist form of Islam as practiced by such vile scum as Osama bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda. They are the avowed allies of al Qaeda, al Qaeda being the worst enemy we have right now.
Suddenly, a rocket scientist (sarcasm alert big-time) in our senate wants to reinstate the Taliban into the government of Afghanistan. Not is he just a senator, he is the senate majority leader! This has got to be one of the most moronic ideas I have ever heard. It would be akin to asking the SS or Gestapo to take a major role in post WWII government of Germany. That is except for one thing, that thing being we are currently at war with the Taliban. At least we had defeated the Germans, so had we asked some Nazis to join the post WWII German government maybe they would have bowed to our wishes on how to run things with us as their masters. If we put the Taliban in a position of power now, we only legitimize them, make them stronger, and lose any ground we have gained in defeating them. They gain power because we showed weakness, and eventually they wind up back in full control and what did we accomplish - not a darned thing except to go to war in Afghanistan for absolutely nothing. Right now we are winning, we have a just cause to be there, why screw it up and undo it all.
I vote almost exclusively Republican, but I may have to find that third party soon, real soon as election day is almost upon us. I just cannot see voting for, whom I consider to be morons, those like Frist. Heavens forbid he runs for the presidency.
All the best,
Glenn B
Today I read this article Frist: Taliban Should Be Part of Afghan Government at FoxNews.com @ www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217198,00.html
Yes folks the title gives you a good clue as to what the whole article is about, and as to how crazy, I believe, are some of our government officials. According to the article:
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government. "
Frist reportedly went on to say:
""You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful.""
Now if you will just take a moment to think, you may recall that, after 9/11/2001 the United States government determined that the terrorist group known as al Qaeda was responsible for the terrorist attacks on that infamous day. The U.S. government also realized that al Qaeda had their power base located in Afghanistan where the Taliban was their military arm that essentially enslaved the population of that nation making them follow the extremist Islamic beliefs of al Qaeda. Those were the same beliefs that guided al Qaeda to attack the USA on 9/11 and on other occasions.
In other words folks, the Taliban is the avowed enemy of the United States of America, they are an avowed enemy of Israel who is our ally, they are an avowed enemy of anyone who does not follow the extremist form of Islam as practiced by such vile scum as Osama bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda. They are the avowed allies of al Qaeda, al Qaeda being the worst enemy we have right now.
Suddenly, a rocket scientist (sarcasm alert big-time) in our senate wants to reinstate the Taliban into the government of Afghanistan. Not is he just a senator, he is the senate majority leader! This has got to be one of the most moronic ideas I have ever heard. It would be akin to asking the SS or Gestapo to take a major role in post WWII government of Germany. That is except for one thing, that thing being we are currently at war with the Taliban. At least we had defeated the Germans, so had we asked some Nazis to join the post WWII German government maybe they would have bowed to our wishes on how to run things with us as their masters. If we put the Taliban in a position of power now, we only legitimize them, make them stronger, and lose any ground we have gained in defeating them. They gain power because we showed weakness, and eventually they wind up back in full control and what did we accomplish - not a darned thing except to go to war in Afghanistan for absolutely nothing. Right now we are winning, we have a just cause to be there, why screw it up and undo it all.
I vote almost exclusively Republican, but I may have to find that third party soon, real soon as election day is almost upon us. I just cannot see voting for, whom I consider to be morons, those like Frist. Heavens forbid he runs for the presidency.
All the best,
Glenn B
Schoolhouse Cowards make me sick...
...so much so that I make them an offer. If any of you big brave (sarcasm alert) shooter types wants to shoot up little defenseless schoolgirls and execute them, or do so to other schoolkids, to prove your manhood (sarcasm alert) or whatever, why not get in touch with me first for a little get together (no sarcasm here at all). I would be more than glad to meet you to allow you to try and show your courage (sarcasm alert) against me instread of in the face of defenseless shcool children. I am sick of your kind, of your actions, of the puny, slimy, creeping, hideous brand of cowardice that makes you seek out defenseless kids to murder.
The executions of those helpless little girls in Amish Country today has got my blood boiling, and as Kim du Toit would say, a RCB (red curtain of blood) has fallen across my field of vision, this because when I think of the events that unfolded today I am figuratively just that angry as to see red. If you are unaware of what I speak, please go to
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217170,00.html
My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those who were killed or injured today by this monster who is, thanfully, no longer among us. He was, in my opinion, such a coward he was not even brave enough to allow the police the honor of dispatching him, he killed himself. My heartfelt thoughts and prayers even go out to his family and loved ones; I am sure he did them almost as big of an injustice as he did to the familes of those he shot.
With sadness,
Glenn B
The executions of those helpless little girls in Amish Country today has got my blood boiling, and as Kim du Toit would say, a RCB (red curtain of blood) has fallen across my field of vision, this because when I think of the events that unfolded today I am figuratively just that angry as to see red. If you are unaware of what I speak, please go to
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217170,00.html
My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those who were killed or injured today by this monster who is, thanfully, no longer among us. He was, in my opinion, such a coward he was not even brave enough to allow the police the honor of dispatching him, he killed himself. My heartfelt thoughts and prayers even go out to his family and loved ones; I am sure he did them almost as big of an injustice as he did to the familes of those he shot.
With sadness,
Glenn B
A Tough Day at Work...
...had me missing any chance to rant yesterday. Right now it is about 0300, I just woke up, and figured I'd give it a few minutes right now.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Bobblehead Muhammed
I stopped by
http://MichaelSavage.com]MichaelSavage.com
tonight and saw a link to an article called Bobblehead Muhammed over at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/457350p-384785c.html.
I read the article and was a bit disappointed not to see a link to the site selling the bobbleheads. Well a bit of Internet detective work got me there in virtually almost no time. The address of the site selling these toys is: http://www.dashboardmohammed.com/store.html
I imagine that some people may actually put these into their cars here in the USA. I also imagine that some punks will then try to torch the car, but of course most likely under cover of dark, or while wearing a scarf over their faces. Or if by daylight, then I see it likely to be a crowd violence sort of thing, when someone drives down the wrong block with that on his dashboard.
I doubt very much they will have the courage it would take to confront the person, one on one, who is displaying this toy. If they do so, that person may just have to defend him or herself with a firearm or other legal means. That is what I see maybe coming if this thing starts to get put on dashboards; of course I see it more likely to be midnight torchings or crowd violence as oppposed to real one on one stuff.
I am not opposed to anyone buying one of these, or displaying it on their dashboard, though I understand how it could be considered offensive - just as I understand how calling jesus Christ a minor prophet (as Islam refers to him) could upset Christians, or how beheadings could upset some people, or how mob violence could uspet people, or how calling for jihad ahgainst the rest of the non-Muslim world could upset someone. I think this should be much easier to get over, but doubt that Muslims will get over it easily. So allow me to say,I am opposed to anyone getting so pissed off about it as to take violent or other unlawful action just because it is displayed. Those folks who get so offended should get what they deserve, and if it is to get hurt or even killed by someone defending his or herself because some whacko terrorist goes as far as violently assaulting that same someone for dispalying a toy, then well so be it.
If of course, this toy is seen as it should be, then those folks who are truly peaceful and tolerant of others by way of their religion, will just shrug it off as what it is - a toy - even if a disrespectful one at that. Yet while it maybe a disrespectful toy, it is not showing a true direspect for Islam, the so called religion of peace. It does, however, show a disrepectful attitude toward those who do not deserrve any respect, they who terrorize in the name of Islam and of Muhammed. Those are the ones who truly are disrespectful of the religion and of the prophet and his words. They are thin skinned, and hatefully violent, and only care about their own agenda, not any religion. Very thin skinned they have been indeed, and I imagine this again will just go to show their extreme hatefully violent nature.
All the best,
Glenn B
http://MichaelSavage.com]MichaelSavage.com
tonight and saw a link to an article called Bobblehead Muhammed over at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/457350p-384785c.html.
I read the article and was a bit disappointed not to see a link to the site selling the bobbleheads. Well a bit of Internet detective work got me there in virtually almost no time. The address of the site selling these toys is: http://www.dashboardmohammed.com/store.html
I imagine that some people may actually put these into their cars here in the USA. I also imagine that some punks will then try to torch the car, but of course most likely under cover of dark, or while wearing a scarf over their faces. Or if by daylight, then I see it likely to be a crowd violence sort of thing, when someone drives down the wrong block with that on his dashboard.
I doubt very much they will have the courage it would take to confront the person, one on one, who is displaying this toy. If they do so, that person may just have to defend him or herself with a firearm or other legal means. That is what I see maybe coming if this thing starts to get put on dashboards; of course I see it more likely to be midnight torchings or crowd violence as oppposed to real one on one stuff.
I am not opposed to anyone buying one of these, or displaying it on their dashboard, though I understand how it could be considered offensive - just as I understand how calling jesus Christ a minor prophet (as Islam refers to him) could upset Christians, or how beheadings could upset some people, or how mob violence could uspet people, or how calling for jihad ahgainst the rest of the non-Muslim world could upset someone. I think this should be much easier to get over, but doubt that Muslims will get over it easily. So allow me to say,I am opposed to anyone getting so pissed off about it as to take violent or other unlawful action just because it is displayed. Those folks who get so offended should get what they deserve, and if it is to get hurt or even killed by someone defending his or herself because some whacko terrorist goes as far as violently assaulting that same someone for dispalying a toy, then well so be it.
If of course, this toy is seen as it should be, then those folks who are truly peaceful and tolerant of others by way of their religion, will just shrug it off as what it is - a toy - even if a disrespectful one at that. Yet while it maybe a disrespectful toy, it is not showing a true direspect for Islam, the so called religion of peace. It does, however, show a disrepectful attitude toward those who do not deserrve any respect, they who terrorize in the name of Islam and of Muhammed. Those are the ones who truly are disrespectful of the religion and of the prophet and his words. They are thin skinned, and hatefully violent, and only care about their own agenda, not any religion. Very thin skinned they have been indeed, and I imagine this again will just go to show their extreme hatefully violent nature.
All the best,
Glenn B
Belated Happy Rosh Hashana, and a wish for a spiritually fulfilling Yom kipur...
...to all who celebrate them.
I am not religious myself, not in any conventional sense, but I see no need to be against those who are so long as they are not trying to convert or kill me in the name of their religion. As long as your religion is tolerant of others religions that are likewise tolerant, that is fine by me, and it is a reason to wish you well on your holy days. So to all those who celebrate, at this time of the year, these two religious holy days, I say shalom, and sorry I was late.
All the best,
Glenn B
I am not religious myself, not in any conventional sense, but I see no need to be against those who are so long as they are not trying to convert or kill me in the name of their religion. As long as your religion is tolerant of others religions that are likewise tolerant, that is fine by me, and it is a reason to wish you well on your holy days. So to all those who celebrate, at this time of the year, these two religious holy days, I say shalom, and sorry I was late.
All the best,
Glenn B
Police get it very right again...
Well it looks as if the police have yet again gotten it very right, this time by shooing and killing a knife wielding suspect who allegedly had slashed one woman’s throat and had just grabbed hold of another woman. This time it was in New York City, in Brooklyn to be exact. Reportedly, as per this article: Cops Shoot, Kill Knife-wielding Psycho in Brooklyn @
http://1010wins.com/pages/94825.php?contentType=4&contentId=215244
the police officer involved did it all right. Reportedly: Police responded to some “frantic” 911 calls only to find a man holding a knife to a woman’s throat. They ordered him to drop the knife and he slashed her throat. Then the man took off still holding the knife and police pursued him on foot. He then grabbed another woman, and police ordered him to drop the knife; but when he did not the police officer fired. A single shot to the neck was all it took. I wonder if he was aiming for the neck, or maybe the head, being that the bad guy seems to have been holding that second woman and the officer may not have had a body shot.
I guess it does not matter. The single shot did its job, it got the bad guy to stop being a threat.
One other thing I did not mention, that I am sure some will make a big stink over later. The suspect was reportedly wearing some sort of hospital wrist band. Does this matter. Does it matter if he just escaped a psych ward, or was just released from one or some other health facility. No it does not since the threat was immediate. I was even a bit surprised to read that the officer gave him a second chance to drop the knife, this one coming after he had grabbed the second woman, by commanding the bad guy to drop the knife before the officer fired. If I could see anything wrong in the officer’s actions, it might have been that, but it worked out well regardless. Thank goodness, training, and the officer that his aim was true. A job well done indeed.
Oh, by the way, the first woman, the one whose throat was slashed will apparently be okay.
All the best,
Glenn B
http://1010wins.com/pages/94825.php?contentType=4&contentId=215244
the police officer involved did it all right. Reportedly: Police responded to some “frantic” 911 calls only to find a man holding a knife to a woman’s throat. They ordered him to drop the knife and he slashed her throat. Then the man took off still holding the knife and police pursued him on foot. He then grabbed another woman, and police ordered him to drop the knife; but when he did not the police officer fired. A single shot to the neck was all it took. I wonder if he was aiming for the neck, or maybe the head, being that the bad guy seems to have been holding that second woman and the officer may not have had a body shot.
I guess it does not matter. The single shot did its job, it got the bad guy to stop being a threat.
One other thing I did not mention, that I am sure some will make a big stink over later. The suspect was reportedly wearing some sort of hospital wrist band. Does this matter. Does it matter if he just escaped a psych ward, or was just released from one or some other health facility. No it does not since the threat was immediate. I was even a bit surprised to read that the officer gave him a second chance to drop the knife, this one coming after he had grabbed the second woman, by commanding the bad guy to drop the knife before the officer fired. If I could see anything wrong in the officer’s actions, it might have been that, but it worked out well regardless. Thank goodness, training, and the officer that his aim was true. A job well done indeed.
Oh, by the way, the first woman, the one whose throat was slashed will apparently be okay.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sometimes the police do get it right, and very right at that..
Well it appears that the police officers, who fired the shots that killed cop killer suspect Angilo Freeland, fired 110 shots at him, striking him 68 times. The Polk County sheriff does not seem all that concerned as per the article Florida Police Shot Suspected Cop Killer 68 Times @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216898,00.html
Here is a quote from the article:
“ Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he was not concerned by the number of shots fired.
"You have to understand, he had already shot and killed a deputy, he had already shot and killed a K-9 and he shot and injured another deputy," Judd said by phone Saturday. "Quite frankly, we weren't taking any chances." “
Though I have to say that the next statement by Judd was rather irresponsible, and could wind up causing quite an investigation if the officers agree this is why they fired 110 rounds:
"I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had," Judd said. "We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."
It possibly was a silly thing to say; but I understand the sentiment behind it. You see it may have been a foolish thing to say because the police, like anyone else, usually are allowed only to fire until the threat stops (though this could be different in FL). A total of 110 rounds fired by 10 officers (this is how many the article reports had surrounded the suspect) is 11 rounds each. First of all, if they all fired, then they likely had more than 110 rounds between them in their weapons. Even if it was all they had, that does not matter so long as they fired to stop, and not to kill. Firing to kill would quite likely wind them up in big legal trouble, but then again maybe Florida law allows for such; most states do not. Hopefully I am worried about nothing. I believe they were justified to fire, to get this guy to stop. If it took 110 rounds before they reasonably thought he had stopped, and if it took killing the suspect to get him to stop, well then tough noogies for the alleged cop killer. I guess he should not allegedly have: killed a cop, wounded another, killed the K-9 dog; and then he should not allegedly have pointed a pistol at the SWAT team members.
Sometimes the police do get it right. It is nice to see, as far as my opinion goes, that this dirtbag did not live. There is not too much more I can say on this one except I think it was a good shooting, sort of a public service. Now we will not be involved in years of criminal proceedings against the suspect, he will not be in jail for years on the tax dollar and so forth, and those sharks commonly referred to as lawyers will not be making millions off of the tax payer to defend this guy. Yet I do think the officers could use a little practice; I mean their having missed with 42 shots, but then there is the pucker factor.
All the best,
Glenn B
Here is a quote from the article:
“ Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he was not concerned by the number of shots fired.
"You have to understand, he had already shot and killed a deputy, he had already shot and killed a K-9 and he shot and injured another deputy," Judd said by phone Saturday. "Quite frankly, we weren't taking any chances." “
Though I have to say that the next statement by Judd was rather irresponsible, and could wind up causing quite an investigation if the officers agree this is why they fired 110 rounds:
"I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had," Judd said. "We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."
It possibly was a silly thing to say; but I understand the sentiment behind it. You see it may have been a foolish thing to say because the police, like anyone else, usually are allowed only to fire until the threat stops (though this could be different in FL). A total of 110 rounds fired by 10 officers (this is how many the article reports had surrounded the suspect) is 11 rounds each. First of all, if they all fired, then they likely had more than 110 rounds between them in their weapons. Even if it was all they had, that does not matter so long as they fired to stop, and not to kill. Firing to kill would quite likely wind them up in big legal trouble, but then again maybe Florida law allows for such; most states do not. Hopefully I am worried about nothing. I believe they were justified to fire, to get this guy to stop. If it took 110 rounds before they reasonably thought he had stopped, and if it took killing the suspect to get him to stop, well then tough noogies for the alleged cop killer. I guess he should not allegedly have: killed a cop, wounded another, killed the K-9 dog; and then he should not allegedly have pointed a pistol at the SWAT team members.
Sometimes the police do get it right. It is nice to see, as far as my opinion goes, that this dirtbag did not live. There is not too much more I can say on this one except I think it was a good shooting, sort of a public service. Now we will not be involved in years of criminal proceedings against the suspect, he will not be in jail for years on the tax dollar and so forth, and those sharks commonly referred to as lawyers will not be making millions off of the tax payer to defend this guy. Yet I do think the officers could use a little practice; I mean their having missed with 42 shots, but then there is the pucker factor.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Ballseye's Boomers: Smith & Wesson Model 17-8
I picked up my S&W model 17-8 at a gun show some years ago. It was being sold on consignment, and just about as soon as I saw it, I knew it was for me. It looked to be in just about pristine condition, and when I hefted it and checked how it operated, I liked it. What else could I do but let it follow me home.Since then, it has been a good companion. It has not been all that demanding of me. It always takes everything I feed to it, no malfunctions caused by ammo and that is good. It is a straight shooter with me, and I hit the targets reasonably well with all sorts of ammo that I have fired through it. Yes indeed, I like it a lot!
Basically this gun is a 10 shot revolver (older ones were 6 shooters), made from blued (or blackened) steel, it has a 6 inch barrel, adjustable target sights, rubber grips. It has a smooth trigger face, and a diamond cut hammer surface. I recommend it highly.
By the way, just in case you were wondering, yes it makes a fine rabbit gun, but please don’t shoot the Easter bunny.
All the best,
Glenn B
700 Miles of Border Fence - will it be enough?
So the Senate finally caved in, over the last day or so, and voted for 700 miles of double wide border fence. It is about time they listened to the citizens of THEIR OWN country instead of to illegal Mexicans.
I agree the whole border needs a fence, and I also agree that we can do it in parts. I think it is great that 700 miles worth of double fence is going up. If placed strategically, then the aliens who would illegally enter the U.S. will have to do so at very remote and quite possible very harsh locations. This will likely lessen the amount of crossings somewhat. It will make it easier for us to enforce border regulations, Immigration and nationality laws, and to round up those already here to remove them. This is truly a good thing for the USA, very good, no kidding.
Of course, it also could be good for Mexico. If one was a Mexican entrepreneur, one would immediately locate to a desert area, and start building a small town with a couple of cantinas, a motel or two, a brothel (at least one of those motels), and then have at least a good dirt road maintained between the new town 'Sueno del Norte', and whatever is the closest fairly large Mexican city. Another entrepreneur could establish bus service. They would make millions even after the mordida, and the local authorities would be living large. In addition some local peasants would also have jobs in town. The U.S. Border Patrol could concentrate on these areas, catch the illegals easily, then deport them back to the city where the bus service is available for them to go back to Sueno del Norte for another try. Of course some would still make it north. They would earn money and eventually be caught and deported, or they eventually would leave themselves to bring money to their families. This would keep the whole thing going and it could be just the boost the Mexican economy would need. As time went by, we would keep building more and more fence with the resources saved because we did not have as many wetbacks here to suck down our tax dollars. Sooner of later the entries would be just a trickle. The Mexicans in those border towns would have realized that prostitution is a great way to attract tourists from the US, and they would become self sufficient. Problem solved all because we started with 700 miles of fence.
All kidding aside, as for the 700 miles of fence, I like it.
I agree the whole border needs a fence, and I also agree that we can do it in parts. I think it is great that 700 miles worth of double fence is going up. If placed strategically, then the aliens who would illegally enter the U.S. will have to do so at very remote and quite possible very harsh locations. This will likely lessen the amount of crossings somewhat. It will make it easier for us to enforce border regulations, Immigration and nationality laws, and to round up those already here to remove them. This is truly a good thing for the USA, very good, no kidding.
Of course, it also could be good for Mexico. If one was a Mexican entrepreneur, one would immediately locate to a desert area, and start building a small town with a couple of cantinas, a motel or two, a brothel (at least one of those motels), and then have at least a good dirt road maintained between the new town 'Sueno del Norte', and whatever is the closest fairly large Mexican city. Another entrepreneur could establish bus service. They would make millions even after the mordida, and the local authorities would be living large. In addition some local peasants would also have jobs in town. The U.S. Border Patrol could concentrate on these areas, catch the illegals easily, then deport them back to the city where the bus service is available for them to go back to Sueno del Norte for another try. Of course some would still make it north. They would earn money and eventually be caught and deported, or they eventually would leave themselves to bring money to their families. This would keep the whole thing going and it could be just the boost the Mexican economy would need. As time went by, we would keep building more and more fence with the resources saved because we did not have as many wetbacks here to suck down our tax dollars. Sooner of later the entries would be just a trickle. The Mexicans in those border towns would have realized that prostitution is a great way to attract tourists from the US, and they would become self sufficient. Problem solved all because we started with 700 miles of fence.
All kidding aside, as for the 700 miles of fence, I like it.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Representative Mark Foley Resigns, is he a monster among us?
"U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote to a former male page who was 16 years old at the time."
The above quote is from an article at FoxNews.com @
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216699,00.html
but you can probably find a similar article at CNN or other new websites. It is one of the headliners on the evening news too. Now I read the article, I also went to a website that claimed to have the emails that Rep. Foley sent to the boy. They were not all that explicit, and could easily be construed to be either improper or innocent. Yet, when you read them you get the feeling all was not well.
Of course, when I heard it reported on Fox News on cable TV, that there had also been a number of instant messages between Rep. Foley and the boy. According to the televised news report on Fox, more than one of those instant messages was explicit, I would guess they meant sexually explicit in some form, but they did not say. What they did do was read off one set of the instant messages that was allegedly sent between the boy and Rep. Foley. As per Fox, in the messages, Rep. Foley asked the boy what he was wearing. When the boy replied that he was wearing certain clothing items, Rep. Foley allegedly replied to the effect that he would like to slip them off of the boy.
Well folks if these allegations are upheld, I imagine that former rep. Foley will soon be arrested and facing felony charges of some sort. Something like this is sad in any case. It is, in my opinion, a disgrace for the representatives family, and a trauma for them, just as it is for the boy's family. This one though, if true, is a further disgrace still in that Rep. Foley was a co-chairman of the House Missing and Exploited Children Caucus! How convenient for him if indeed he was preying upon children. It the allegations are found to be true, then in my opinion, this guy is one of the worst types of monsters we have, one that preys upon children. co-chairman of the House Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. Of course, I stand strongly for the presumption of innocence, but being that he resigned over this already, I think that something was probably astray with his communications with the child. Time and the courts will tell. If he is guilty of any form of pedophilia, or child molestation, or endangering a child, I think he should get the maximum sentence, and even that may not be suitable enough.
All the best,
Glenn B
The above quote is from an article at FoxNews.com @
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216699,00.html
but you can probably find a similar article at CNN or other new websites. It is one of the headliners on the evening news too. Now I read the article, I also went to a website that claimed to have the emails that Rep. Foley sent to the boy. They were not all that explicit, and could easily be construed to be either improper or innocent. Yet, when you read them you get the feeling all was not well.
Of course, when I heard it reported on Fox News on cable TV, that there had also been a number of instant messages between Rep. Foley and the boy. According to the televised news report on Fox, more than one of those instant messages was explicit, I would guess they meant sexually explicit in some form, but they did not say. What they did do was read off one set of the instant messages that was allegedly sent between the boy and Rep. Foley. As per Fox, in the messages, Rep. Foley asked the boy what he was wearing. When the boy replied that he was wearing certain clothing items, Rep. Foley allegedly replied to the effect that he would like to slip them off of the boy.
Well folks if these allegations are upheld, I imagine that former rep. Foley will soon be arrested and facing felony charges of some sort. Something like this is sad in any case. It is, in my opinion, a disgrace for the representatives family, and a trauma for them, just as it is for the boy's family. This one though, if true, is a further disgrace still in that Rep. Foley was a co-chairman of the House Missing and Exploited Children Caucus! How convenient for him if indeed he was preying upon children. It the allegations are found to be true, then in my opinion, this guy is one of the worst types of monsters we have, one that preys upon children. co-chairman of the House Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. Of course, I stand strongly for the presumption of innocence, but being that he resigned over this already, I think that something was probably astray with his communications with the child. Time and the courts will tell. If he is guilty of any form of pedophilia, or child molestation, or endangering a child, I think he should get the maximum sentence, and even that may not be suitable enough.
All the best,
Glenn B
Reptiles and Amphibians, ...
... keeping and breeding them, is among my favorite of hobbies. If any of you out there share this affliction with me, and if you are going to be in the Long Island, NY area (or the NYC area) on the weekend of October 7th, why not stop by the Long Island Herpetological Society's 17th Annual Reptile and Amphibian Show on the campus of SUNY Farmingdale on Saturday October 7th. For more information, and for directions, go to:
http://www.lihs.org/files/events.htm
Just getting on a roll...
...as far as ranting away goes, and the wife tells me I have to go to the bank to pay our mortgage. Since she is under the weather with a virus, probably a cold, I am off to the bank. Those folks want their money promptly - or else! Later for more blogging.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Let's hope this was not something lethal...
...because if it was, then we may be in for a new spate of terrorist attacks, this time again on our own soil. I tend to think it may just have been something done by a lone whacko, maybe with pepper spray, but that is just a feeling I have right now. I hope it was not by a terrorist group, but then again there was just a call by some terrorsit leaders for other terrorists to unleash on us with chemicals or biologicals if they have em.
I am referring to the incident on the New York City Subway System's L train today. Apparently someone may have sprayed a substance that caused noxious fumes into the train as it was at one of the stops. A few people felt ill, one was taken to a hospital.
See the small article at 1010WINS.com at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/94194.php?contentType=4&contentId=214506
All the best,
Glenn B
I am referring to the incident on the New York City Subway System's L train today. Apparently someone may have sprayed a substance that caused noxious fumes into the train as it was at one of the stops. A few people felt ill, one was taken to a hospital.
See the small article at 1010WINS.com at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/94194.php?contentType=4&contentId=214506
All the best,
Glenn B
My award for the dumb quote of the year...
...tentatively goes to Oliver Stone (tentative because we have a few months left yet). Folks, I have heard what I consider to be some stupid things come out of the mouths of other people, all too often even out of my own mouth. We all say silly things now and then; but when you are talking about really important issues you really ought to put your brain into gear before opening your trap, otherwise you wind up trapping yourself with your own foolishness. For example, see the below quote, that according to an article: Oliver Stone: 'I'm ashamed for my country' at tis
Get that folks, terrorism can be lived with! I guess if you are talking about the IRA who was out for Irish independence and not to conquer or destroy all of the world, let alone just great Britain - well then maybe it can be lived with for those who survived the violence. I wonder how the families of the dead victims of IRA terror campaigns feel about it though?
He also made reference to Basque separatists. This group of folks has been seeking independence for many years. As I recall they mostly carry out attacks against Spain, but if I remember right they have also attacked France on some occasions. The thing about the Basque terrorists that really sets them apart from most other groups, is that they call in their planned bombings to authorities or the media ahead of time. Now why would that be, do you think? It is most likely because they are out to make the government of Spain look bad, and to show while the Basques mean business they are not necessarily out to kill folks to do so. Still though, I am pretty darned certain that there have been some victims who have not been able to live with some of the bombs they set off; in other words people who died because of them.
I note that Mr. Stone is virtually comparing raisins to watermelons. The terror groups he selected, in order to bolster his claims that terrorism is manageable, and that we can live with terrorism, are groups that were/are relatively very small when compared to Islamic terrorists groups or Islamic terrorism on the whole. Not only were the groups small, but so were their intended targets small or very limited in scope when compared to the target of Muslim terrorists who wish to either conquer the population of the world through conversion, or kill those, all of those, who do not convert to Islam. Besides what I just said, let me give you some factual information that I found at Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_IRA_campaign_1969-1997
According to the Wikipedia article: Provisional IRA campaign 1969 -1997, which cites the CAIN research project, the IRA was responsible for about 1,821 deaths up through the year 2001. This is just over half the number of people who were killed on 9/11/2001. In one day, the Islamic terrorists killed almost double the amount of people that were killed by the IRA in all the years of its existence. As for the Basque separatists, under the guise of the ETA which is their militant or terrorist branch), Wikipedia has an article List of ETA attacks, at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks
that shows the Basques terrorists are believed responsible for a total of about 813 deaths, from their beginnings, through 2003. That is about 1/3 the amount of victims killed in the attacks on 9/11/2001, and the deaths caused by the Basques took place over about 4 decades. I surely don' t think the brand of terrorism practiced by the islamist terrorists compares to that of these other groups, not in magnitude anyhow.
Yet Oliver Stone reportedly says that terrorism is manageable, and that we can live with terrorism, even though the brand of terrorism today is Islamic terrorism, and it is more ruthless and terribly violent than any we have ever seen in our lifetimes, except maybe for that of WWII, yet that while being terrible was not terrorism per se.
Does Mr. Stone forget the atrocities carried out both before and since 9/11/2001? Does he think that all the victims of beheadings in the name of Islam were something that folks can live with? Does he think that those who were killed in the attacks on the USS Cole, the barracks bombing in Lebanon, the US emabassy in Kenya, the night club attacks in Bali, the religious violence in Pakistan, the religious violence in India, the killings by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the riots throughout Europe, the bombings in England, the attacks on Israel, the passenger planes brought down by explosives like the one over Lockerbie, Scotland, the daily killings of Iraqis, and all the other horrible deaths that have been caused by Islamic terrorism is a thing with which we can live. Sure I guess if we are survivors we have lived with it; but what about the thousands of dead victims who died at the hands of these terrorist monsters who hide behind the words and robes of their prophet; and what about all thoe rest of us whom the terrorists still desire to kill?
My question for Mr. Stone is this: Just how long do you think we can live with these terrorists, and with what they want to do to us, if we don't try to deal with them now by defeating them, through full out war against them? He just does not get it, and apparently neither do many of you out there in the world wish to get it! They are out to get us, supposedly by conversion, but to me I have not seen them really try to honestly convert anyone lately, and who says we want to be converted! So my bet is they just really want to kill us. The way to stop them may just be by killing them first, and in that regard terrorism may well be manageable. Then we may be able to live with the results, because the terrorists will be dead. That though is obviously not what Mr. Stone meant, not at all from what I saw. So yes folks, in my opinion, that quote from Mr. Oliver Stone is the dumbest thing I have heard so far in the last year, without a doubt in my mind.
All the best,
Glenn B
Get that folks, terrorism can be lived with! I guess if you are talking about the IRA who was out for Irish independence and not to conquer or destroy all of the world, let alone just great Britain - well then maybe it can be lived with for those who survived the violence. I wonder how the families of the dead victims of IRA terror campaigns feel about it though?
He also made reference to Basque separatists. This group of folks has been seeking independence for many years. As I recall they mostly carry out attacks against Spain, but if I remember right they have also attacked France on some occasions. The thing about the Basque terrorists that really sets them apart from most other groups, is that they call in their planned bombings to authorities or the media ahead of time. Now why would that be, do you think? It is most likely because they are out to make the government of Spain look bad, and to show while the Basques mean business they are not necessarily out to kill folks to do so. Still though, I am pretty darned certain that there have been some victims who have not been able to live with some of the bombs they set off; in other words people who died because of them.
I note that Mr. Stone is virtually comparing raisins to watermelons. The terror groups he selected, in order to bolster his claims that terrorism is manageable, and that we can live with terrorism, are groups that were/are relatively very small when compared to Islamic terrorists groups or Islamic terrorism on the whole. Not only were the groups small, but so were their intended targets small or very limited in scope when compared to the target of Muslim terrorists who wish to either conquer the population of the world through conversion, or kill those, all of those, who do not convert to Islam. Besides what I just said, let me give you some factual information that I found at Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_IRA_campaign_1969-1997
According to the Wikipedia article: Provisional IRA campaign 1969 -1997, which cites the CAIN research project, the IRA was responsible for about 1,821 deaths up through the year 2001. This is just over half the number of people who were killed on 9/11/2001. In one day, the Islamic terrorists killed almost double the amount of people that were killed by the IRA in all the years of its existence. As for the Basque separatists, under the guise of the ETA which is their militant or terrorist branch), Wikipedia has an article List of ETA attacks, at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ETA_attacks
that shows the Basques terrorists are believed responsible for a total of about 813 deaths, from their beginnings, through 2003. That is about 1/3 the amount of victims killed in the attacks on 9/11/2001, and the deaths caused by the Basques took place over about 4 decades. I surely don' t think the brand of terrorism practiced by the islamist terrorists compares to that of these other groups, not in magnitude anyhow.
Yet Oliver Stone reportedly says that terrorism is manageable, and that we can live with terrorism, even though the brand of terrorism today is Islamic terrorism, and it is more ruthless and terribly violent than any we have ever seen in our lifetimes, except maybe for that of WWII, yet that while being terrible was not terrorism per se.
Does Mr. Stone forget the atrocities carried out both before and since 9/11/2001? Does he think that all the victims of beheadings in the name of Islam were something that folks can live with? Does he think that those who were killed in the attacks on the USS Cole, the barracks bombing in Lebanon, the US emabassy in Kenya, the night club attacks in Bali, the religious violence in Pakistan, the religious violence in India, the killings by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the riots throughout Europe, the bombings in England, the attacks on Israel, the passenger planes brought down by explosives like the one over Lockerbie, Scotland, the daily killings of Iraqis, and all the other horrible deaths that have been caused by Islamic terrorism is a thing with which we can live. Sure I guess if we are survivors we have lived with it; but what about the thousands of dead victims who died at the hands of these terrorist monsters who hide behind the words and robes of their prophet; and what about all thoe rest of us whom the terrorists still desire to kill?
My question for Mr. Stone is this: Just how long do you think we can live with these terrorists, and with what they want to do to us, if we don't try to deal with them now by defeating them, through full out war against them? He just does not get it, and apparently neither do many of you out there in the world wish to get it! They are out to get us, supposedly by conversion, but to me I have not seen them really try to honestly convert anyone lately, and who says we want to be converted! So my bet is they just really want to kill us. The way to stop them may just be by killing them first, and in that regard terrorism may well be manageable. Then we may be able to live with the results, because the terrorists will be dead. That though is obviously not what Mr. Stone meant, not at all from what I saw. So yes folks, in my opinion, that quote from Mr. Oliver Stone is the dumbest thing I have heard so far in the last year, without a doubt in my mind.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Nassau County, NY Police Sued over alleged false DWI arrest...
Law suits are often frivolous as far as I am concerned. I don't think many of them should have ever been allowed to enter the courts with any serious consideration. Instead they should have been dismissed right off. Just the same, the amounts awarded in some lawsuits are just as ridiculous as the law suits themselves, I seem to recall a woman who spilled hot coffee on herself suing MacDonald’s and winning about $40 million dollars (thank goodness it was either reduced or reversed as I recall). Still such things are products of the Bizarro World in which we live.
Yet, despite all of the frivolous law suits, there are ones that merit consideration by the courts. There are ones in which, it is obvious that such a wrong done to someone, that it should indeed be corrected somehow. Sometimes money is the answer, sometimes other things.
For instance, allow me to point to a current case in Nassau Country, New York. Reportedly, the Nassau County Police Department made a vehicle stop on a limousine driver because his vehicle was moving erratically on the highway. According to an article: Court Permits Lawsuit After False DWI Arrest, found at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/93510.php?contentType=4&contentId=213679
when he was stopped, he reportedly told the officers:
"he did not feel well and was unable to control his movements."
The officers apparently gave him a field sobriety test. You know the type, the one they give to people to see if they are drunk. According to the article the test results were negative. In other words the test was passed by the limo driver.
Now I do not know about you, but if the guy passed such a test that I may have given him, I would wonder if there was actually something to his claim that he was feeling ill, and that he had for some reason (other than driving while intoxicated) been driving erratically. Maybe, and this is almost a definite, I would have thought he was having a medical problem. Had this thought crossed my mind, I most likely would have sought medical attention for the driver.
Instead of doing what I very likely would have done, what is it that you think the Nassau County police officers did with the driver? If you guessed that they arrested him, you would be 100% correct as per the report. The limo driver was arrested, taken to Nassau County Police Headquarters, and was handcuffed to a bench for about 2 hours before (YES THAT SAYS BEFORE) any further testing was done for drugs and alcohol. Apparently, when those tests came back negative for the presence of intoxicants, just as had the field sobriety test, the subject was only then brought to see medical personnel at a local hospital. Once there, doctors determined he had had a stroke.
Amazingly this sentence is also included in that article:
"County Attorney Lorna Goodman says the county is disappointed the lawsuit will be allowed."
I wonder, in what light did she make that statement. Was Nassau County disappointed that the law suit will be allowed because they think Nassau County is above having to pay reparations for doing wrong to someone? Or is it that Nassau County believes that this somehow amounted to proper action on the part of the police, and therefore because the county believes this, it should not be subject to a lawsuit. Or is it because Nassau County believes that the Nassau County Police Department is above the law, and does not have to exhibit prudent behavior. Or is it because Nassau County believes it will almost definitely lose this lawsuit and also lose millions of dollars of revenue because of it. You tell me, because I sure don't understand it unless it is the last one, and even then I don't condone any of those reasons.
The police officers in question, in my opinion, may well have been negligent in how they performed their jobs that night. Notice I said how they performed their jobs, I did not say how they performed their duties. There is a difference, a big one. They have, as I see it, a duty to serve and protect, not just to arrest. They have a duty, when they arrest to do so upon probable cause. They may have had probable cause to believe the subject was intoxicated, but they also had probable cause, maybe more so, to believe the subject had some sort of medical problem that required medical attention right away. Sure they, the police, all hear a lot of excuses from drunks who get pulled over. I have a lot of experience in hearing all sorts of excuses from guys who get locked up, as I too am in law enforcement. Yet that does not mean they are supposed to disregard such things as statements like the one made by the subject about his feeling sick and being unable to control himself. They especially should not disregard such statements after getting a negative field sobriety test. Yet to me, it appears they may have done just that, they seemingly ignored the fact that this man was having a medical problem, at least for about 2 hours anyhow.
Yes, of course, a further test or tests may have been needed as to the man's sobriety. The guy could still have been placed in custody to effect them; but should not the police have called for an immediate medical examination of the subject to see if he was suffering from a medical malady; or at least should not the police have immediately conducted those test, then while waiting for the results, have brought the man to see a doctor? I assert that yes, they should almost definitely have done so, but that is just my opinion, based upon what I read in the article. I would like to know more about this case, and my guess is it may never unfold because Nassau County, if it has any smarts at all, will make an out of court settlement with this man. Then again, he may not accept such an offer, and he may bring it to court after all. Time will tell.
Folks, the police are public servants, they are civil servants! THE OPERATIVE TERM IS THEY ARE SERVANTS! THEY ARE NOT OUR MASTERS. They are not here for the primary function of arresting folks, they are here as servants of the communities in which they perform their duties. Sure they have to make a lot of arrests to do so, and it is a great thing when they take the scum off of the streets to send them to jail or to the executioner (when the crime fits); but they had best remember that not all the folks they deal with are arrestable scum, lest the police themselves turn into from what they are tasked protecting us against.
All the best,
Glenn B
Yet, despite all of the frivolous law suits, there are ones that merit consideration by the courts. There are ones in which, it is obvious that such a wrong done to someone, that it should indeed be corrected somehow. Sometimes money is the answer, sometimes other things.
For instance, allow me to point to a current case in Nassau Country, New York. Reportedly, the Nassau County Police Department made a vehicle stop on a limousine driver because his vehicle was moving erratically on the highway. According to an article: Court Permits Lawsuit After False DWI Arrest, found at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/93510.php?contentType=4&contentId=213679
when he was stopped, he reportedly told the officers:
"he did not feel well and was unable to control his movements."
The officers apparently gave him a field sobriety test. You know the type, the one they give to people to see if they are drunk. According to the article the test results were negative. In other words the test was passed by the limo driver.
Now I do not know about you, but if the guy passed such a test that I may have given him, I would wonder if there was actually something to his claim that he was feeling ill, and that he had for some reason (other than driving while intoxicated) been driving erratically. Maybe, and this is almost a definite, I would have thought he was having a medical problem. Had this thought crossed my mind, I most likely would have sought medical attention for the driver.
Instead of doing what I very likely would have done, what is it that you think the Nassau County police officers did with the driver? If you guessed that they arrested him, you would be 100% correct as per the report. The limo driver was arrested, taken to Nassau County Police Headquarters, and was handcuffed to a bench for about 2 hours before (YES THAT SAYS BEFORE) any further testing was done for drugs and alcohol. Apparently, when those tests came back negative for the presence of intoxicants, just as had the field sobriety test, the subject was only then brought to see medical personnel at a local hospital. Once there, doctors determined he had had a stroke.
Amazingly this sentence is also included in that article:
"County Attorney Lorna Goodman says the county is disappointed the lawsuit will be allowed."
I wonder, in what light did she make that statement. Was Nassau County disappointed that the law suit will be allowed because they think Nassau County is above having to pay reparations for doing wrong to someone? Or is it that Nassau County believes that this somehow amounted to proper action on the part of the police, and therefore because the county believes this, it should not be subject to a lawsuit. Or is it because Nassau County believes that the Nassau County Police Department is above the law, and does not have to exhibit prudent behavior. Or is it because Nassau County believes it will almost definitely lose this lawsuit and also lose millions of dollars of revenue because of it. You tell me, because I sure don't understand it unless it is the last one, and even then I don't condone any of those reasons.
The police officers in question, in my opinion, may well have been negligent in how they performed their jobs that night. Notice I said how they performed their jobs, I did not say how they performed their duties. There is a difference, a big one. They have, as I see it, a duty to serve and protect, not just to arrest. They have a duty, when they arrest to do so upon probable cause. They may have had probable cause to believe the subject was intoxicated, but they also had probable cause, maybe more so, to believe the subject had some sort of medical problem that required medical attention right away. Sure they, the police, all hear a lot of excuses from drunks who get pulled over. I have a lot of experience in hearing all sorts of excuses from guys who get locked up, as I too am in law enforcement. Yet that does not mean they are supposed to disregard such things as statements like the one made by the subject about his feeling sick and being unable to control himself. They especially should not disregard such statements after getting a negative field sobriety test. Yet to me, it appears they may have done just that, they seemingly ignored the fact that this man was having a medical problem, at least for about 2 hours anyhow.
Yes, of course, a further test or tests may have been needed as to the man's sobriety. The guy could still have been placed in custody to effect them; but should not the police have called for an immediate medical examination of the subject to see if he was suffering from a medical malady; or at least should not the police have immediately conducted those test, then while waiting for the results, have brought the man to see a doctor? I assert that yes, they should almost definitely have done so, but that is just my opinion, based upon what I read in the article. I would like to know more about this case, and my guess is it may never unfold because Nassau County, if it has any smarts at all, will make an out of court settlement with this man. Then again, he may not accept such an offer, and he may bring it to court after all. Time will tell.
Folks, the police are public servants, they are civil servants! THE OPERATIVE TERM IS THEY ARE SERVANTS! THEY ARE NOT OUR MASTERS. They are not here for the primary function of arresting folks, they are here as servants of the communities in which they perform their duties. Sure they have to make a lot of arrests to do so, and it is a great thing when they take the scum off of the streets to send them to jail or to the executioner (when the crime fits); but they had best remember that not all the folks they deal with are arrestable scum, lest the police themselves turn into from what they are tasked protecting us against.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
A long day...
...it was for me today. I got home from work last night about 11:30 PM, then got to bed about 12:30 Am. I was up at 4:30 AM and shortly after that I was off to work. I picked up a couple of other agents, from my agency's San Francisco office, at JFKIA. I brought them into Manhattan, and soon we and some other agency agents were off the Yonkers where we did seriously dangerous lawman stuff. Got back to Manhattan about 7:00PM. I finally got out of the office at about9:15 PM. Then I took the other two agents from San Fran to their hotel in Queens, where they had not checked into yet. Got them checked in, and I headed home. I got home at 10:35 PM. Its been a long one but a productive one, we did a more than decent job for what the taxpayer pays us. Just another day in Paradise.
Hopefully, I'll be able to hit the hay soon, but strangely enough I seem to have just gotten a second wind so to speak. I hope it wears off soon. I'll try to blog a bit on Thursday, and more on Friday (I am off Fri. and Sat. this week).
All the best,
Glenn B
Hopefully, I'll be able to hit the hay soon, but strangely enough I seem to have just gotten a second wind so to speak. I hope it wears off soon. I'll try to blog a bit on Thursday, and more on Friday (I am off Fri. and Sat. this week).
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
It's Tuesday night at 10:00 PM, I am at work...
...(on a break) and I am working until midnight. Then I have to be back at work tomorrow at 6:00AM. That sucks for more than the obvious reason that I will get only about 4 hours of sleep tonight before again getting up to face another day in Paradise.
The other thing that sucks is that I may very well not get any free time tomorrow to rant and rave in my blog. If you do not hear from me tomorrow, it means I likely had no time - sorry but it would be beyond my control if that is how it turns out.
If so, I'll try to give you a bit more on Friday.
Later for me.
All the best,
Glenn B
The other thing that sucks is that I may very well not get any free time tomorrow to rant and rave in my blog. If you do not hear from me tomorrow, it means I likely had no time - sorry but it would be beyond my control if that is how it turns out.
If so, I'll try to give you a bit more on Friday.
Later for me.
All the best,
Glenn B
Great news from Iraq...
...but for some reason this wonderful news has been relegated to a small link on the side of the FoxNews.com home page instead of as a major headliner.
To see the whole story click on this link British Forces Kill High Profile Al Qaeda Leader in Iraq or go to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215620,00.html.
The gist of the story is just what the headline above proclaims. Here is a piece of it:
"BAGHDAD, Iraq — British forces said they killed a top terrorist leader Monday, identified by Iraqi officials as an Al Qaeda leader who had escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan and returned to Iraq."
It sounds like our allies did a good job of gathering intelligence about terrorists, then acted quickly and convincingly on that intel. According to the article, a spokesman for the British forces said:
"We had information that a terrorist of considerable significance was hiding in Basra, as a result of that information we conducted an operation in an attempt to arrest him,"
and:
"During the attempted arrest Omar Farouq was killed, which is regrettable because we wanted to arrest him."
Actually, I don't think it so regrettable that he was killed, but that is just my opinion. Yes it may have been better to have captured him to be able to interrogate him in hopes of getting some great info; but we had already lost him once before when he escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan. Why bother taking a chance he would escape again, and maybe kill a few of the good guys the next time around. So we did not get any more info out of him, but the Brits assured he will kill no more. That has got to be a good thing. Good riddance, and good work!
All the best,
Glenn B
To see the whole story click on this link British Forces Kill High Profile Al Qaeda Leader in Iraq or go to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215620,00.html.
The gist of the story is just what the headline above proclaims. Here is a piece of it:
"BAGHDAD, Iraq — British forces said they killed a top terrorist leader Monday, identified by Iraqi officials as an Al Qaeda leader who had escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan and returned to Iraq."
It sounds like our allies did a good job of gathering intelligence about terrorists, then acted quickly and convincingly on that intel. According to the article, a spokesman for the British forces said:
"We had information that a terrorist of considerable significance was hiding in Basra, as a result of that information we conducted an operation in an attempt to arrest him,"
and:
"During the attempted arrest Omar Farouq was killed, which is regrettable because we wanted to arrest him."
Actually, I don't think it so regrettable that he was killed, but that is just my opinion. Yes it may have been better to have captured him to be able to interrogate him in hopes of getting some great info; but we had already lost him once before when he escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan. Why bother taking a chance he would escape again, and maybe kill a few of the good guys the next time around. So we did not get any more info out of him, but the Brits assured he will kill no more. That has got to be a good thing. Good riddance, and good work!
All the best,
Glenn B
Jeff Cooper - A great one has left us...
...but he has left behind works and deeds that will memorialize him for a long time to come. I am speaking of the passing of firearms master John Dean 'Jeff' Cooper. Besides being one of the most well known personalities in the world of shooting, Mr. Cooper was an NRA member and one time NRA board member, a writer for guns & Ammo Magazine, a writer of several books, an avid hunter, sports car enthusiast, a one time history teacher, a husband, a father, and a retired Marine who served in WWII and Korea.
If you want to learn a little bit more about his bio, see The Daily Courier article at:
http://prescottdailycourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=41279&TM=25504.83
He taught an awful lot of people an awful lot about firearms and how to shoot them to defend themselves. He did one heck of a good job at it too. He will be missed.
My condolences to his family and friends, and to the community of law abiding gun owners who learned from him, and who will miss him.
With sadness,
Glenn B
If you want to learn a little bit more about his bio, see The Daily Courier article at:
http://prescottdailycourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=41279&TM=25504.83
He taught an awful lot of people an awful lot about firearms and how to shoot them to defend themselves. He did one heck of a good job at it too. He will be missed.
My condolences to his family and friends, and to the community of law abiding gun owners who learned from him, and who will miss him.
With sadness,
Glenn B
The Global Warming Blame game...
...continues to go on and on, with scientists blaming the claimed current global warming on mankind, on folks like you and me, who have polluted the atmosphere. In one article I read at FoxNews.com titled Scientists: Earth Warmest It's Been in 12,000 Years, they claim the earth is the warmest it has been in about 12,000 years. See the article at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215781,00.html
In another article at CNN, the title of the article is something quite different, see Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/09/25/warming.earth.reut/index.html
I guess it is supposed to be scary. I guess it is supposed to be scarier still that the scientists claim humans are at fault. The thing I don't get though is all this blame stuff. instead of just trying to solve the problem, they have to keep blaming this and blaming that, the this and that always being other folks. Why not just get to the problem solving stage, I mean if we are the ones who screwed it up in the first place, then ought we not be able to fix it!
Then again, it may not have been people that caused global warming, this of course given that the earth is truly warming as is claimed. Let's for the sake of this discussion, just say okay, there is global warming taking place. The earth is as hot as, or close to as hot as it has been in the last 1 million years. Now think about that for at least a few minutes, maybe even a few hours. What do you come up with? Are there any questions we, or better yet, the scientists should be asking?
I think there is something very important which they always seem to overlook. I have to wonder, if the temperatures of the earth have not been this hot in 1 million years, just what was it that caused them to be that hot back then, and what was it that caused the earth to start to cool off back then? Certainly it was not people that caused either. Going by what scientists believe, or by what the creationists and the religious believe, there were no people (Homo sapiens) back 1 million years ago to have caused either the rise or decline in the temperatures. Could this then be some sort of natural process that is not caused by people, and by greenhouse gasses that we produce? Could it be that we are just helping this process along a bit, and not actually causing it?
If the answers to my last two questions above are yes, then the scientists would have no one to blame. because they would have no other folks to blame, they would not be able to deflect the inquiries of those who wonder why the scientists, who supposedly know so much about everything, do not know the answer as to how to prevent global warming from taking place. Their not knowing so, and this being brought to light, would highlight the fact that they are indeed ignorant of a lot of what goes on in nature. It would also mean that mankind may not be as able to effect nature in the short term as they would have us believe. What I mean is that, quite possibly, they cannot effect a cure, and neither did mankind effect the start of global warming in the first place, and this would all become clear as would the fact that they are just playing the blame game to cover their own ignorance of just what is happening.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that scientists are all full of crap, nor am I saying they are wrong most of the time. I believe a lot of scientific theory and knowledge. They know a lot about what makes the world go round. Yet I do not know if global warming is a fact or not. I don't know enough about it. Maybe it is, maybe it is not. I do not know if we have to worry about it as much as the scientists say we do. Maybe I'll have beach front property if the ice caps melt, maybe my home will be washed away by ocean. I do not know, but neither do they for sure, nor with even a good amount of certainty. The thing that is important to realize at this point is neither do the scientists know any of this with a great amount of certainty.
They say the world is warming and will continue to do so over the long term. I'll give them the fact it is getting warmer. I will not allow them to call it fact that this phenomenon is long term. I will not give them the fact it has been caused over the short term by modern man within about the last century or so; they would need a lot more hard core proof to convince me of that. Nor will I believe that we can suddenly reverse it, that is until they stop playing the blame game and actually get down to good scientific FACT, not just a lot of whining theory. Instead of doing almost nothing and whining about the problem a lot, why not do something to reduce or solve the whole problem.
By the way; have you noticed that when scientist play the blame game they blame it on mankind, they blame it on industry, they blame it on too many automobiles, they blame it on air conditioners that used Freon, they blame it on an awful lot of things that they, the scientists of the world, created in the first place. Yet you sure don't hear them blaming it on scientists - do you!
All the best,
Glenn B
In another article at CNN, the title of the article is something quite different, see Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/09/25/warming.earth.reut/index.html
I guess it is supposed to be scary. I guess it is supposed to be scarier still that the scientists claim humans are at fault. The thing I don't get though is all this blame stuff. instead of just trying to solve the problem, they have to keep blaming this and blaming that, the this and that always being other folks. Why not just get to the problem solving stage, I mean if we are the ones who screwed it up in the first place, then ought we not be able to fix it!
Then again, it may not have been people that caused global warming, this of course given that the earth is truly warming as is claimed. Let's for the sake of this discussion, just say okay, there is global warming taking place. The earth is as hot as, or close to as hot as it has been in the last 1 million years. Now think about that for at least a few minutes, maybe even a few hours. What do you come up with? Are there any questions we, or better yet, the scientists should be asking?
I think there is something very important which they always seem to overlook. I have to wonder, if the temperatures of the earth have not been this hot in 1 million years, just what was it that caused them to be that hot back then, and what was it that caused the earth to start to cool off back then? Certainly it was not people that caused either. Going by what scientists believe, or by what the creationists and the religious believe, there were no people (Homo sapiens) back 1 million years ago to have caused either the rise or decline in the temperatures. Could this then be some sort of natural process that is not caused by people, and by greenhouse gasses that we produce? Could it be that we are just helping this process along a bit, and not actually causing it?
If the answers to my last two questions above are yes, then the scientists would have no one to blame. because they would have no other folks to blame, they would not be able to deflect the inquiries of those who wonder why the scientists, who supposedly know so much about everything, do not know the answer as to how to prevent global warming from taking place. Their not knowing so, and this being brought to light, would highlight the fact that they are indeed ignorant of a lot of what goes on in nature. It would also mean that mankind may not be as able to effect nature in the short term as they would have us believe. What I mean is that, quite possibly, they cannot effect a cure, and neither did mankind effect the start of global warming in the first place, and this would all become clear as would the fact that they are just playing the blame game to cover their own ignorance of just what is happening.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that scientists are all full of crap, nor am I saying they are wrong most of the time. I believe a lot of scientific theory and knowledge. They know a lot about what makes the world go round. Yet I do not know if global warming is a fact or not. I don't know enough about it. Maybe it is, maybe it is not. I do not know if we have to worry about it as much as the scientists say we do. Maybe I'll have beach front property if the ice caps melt, maybe my home will be washed away by ocean. I do not know, but neither do they for sure, nor with even a good amount of certainty. The thing that is important to realize at this point is neither do the scientists know any of this with a great amount of certainty.
They say the world is warming and will continue to do so over the long term. I'll give them the fact it is getting warmer. I will not allow them to call it fact that this phenomenon is long term. I will not give them the fact it has been caused over the short term by modern man within about the last century or so; they would need a lot more hard core proof to convince me of that. Nor will I believe that we can suddenly reverse it, that is until they stop playing the blame game and actually get down to good scientific FACT, not just a lot of whining theory. Instead of doing almost nothing and whining about the problem a lot, why not do something to reduce or solve the whole problem.
By the way; have you noticed that when scientist play the blame game they blame it on mankind, they blame it on industry, they blame it on too many automobiles, they blame it on air conditioners that used Freon, they blame it on an awful lot of things that they, the scientists of the world, created in the first place. Yet you sure don't hear them blaming it on scientists - do you!
All the best,
Glenn B
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