Are You In The Spirit Yet?

Christmas is only 9 days and a wake up away, if you include today. I am in the spirit somewhat, that is my brand of Christmas Spirit anyway. What about you?

The only thing I hope for on Christmas morning, except maybe for all of us getting along nicely for a few years at least, is about 1/2 to 3/4 of freshly falen snow on an otherwise bare ground.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Boomers: Sig Sauer 229

I have not posted anything about my boomers lately, so I figured such a post was long overdue. Today's post will be a bit different from those I have posted in the past about my firearms in that the pistol pictured is not one that I own. I do want one badly though, in .40 S&W caliber.

I don't own all that many pistols, heck not even all that many rifles, and only one shotgun. I have a fair number, but nothing extraordinary except that my collection may be smaller than many. As for handguns I own one revolver in .22LR, a couple of pistols in the same caliber, one in .32 Auto, and three in 9MM, as far as I can remember right now.

In .40 S&W caliber the Sig 229 will hold 12 rounds in the magazine. Lucky 13 would be in the chamber. This is drop of 3 rounds from my typical 9MM carry weapon, but three rounds is not that bad a tradeoff for the increased bullet size. Besides liking that, I also like the fact that you can swap barrels to go to .357 Auto if the fancy hits you, or at least that is my understanding. It also has the nice touch of the tactical rail for adding lights if you so choose, although I am not likely to do so. I also like the fact it has a steel slide and an alloy frame as opposed to a polymer frame. For some reason I just don't like the so called 'plastic' guns quite as much as those made from metal. I would prefer it in all steel, but the days of all steel guns are passing.


My employer will soon (as soon as soon can be for the gubamint) be switching our issued sidearm to the Sig 229, but in double action only. I prefer the more traditional double/single action type, and hope to get one as a personal sidearm. We are authorized to carry a personally owned sidearm once again, and I plan to fork out for this one before they change their minds. My understanding is that we (those in law enforcement) can get it for quite a bit less than retail. I hope that is correct as I cannot see spending $800 or more for a pistol right now.

I hope I got it right about the 229 being available authorized as a personally owned carry for my job, and that it is not only the 239 they authorized. I'll check again next week, and if I am correct, money will start to go into my super secret bank account in anticipation of a great buy (and no I am not begging, at least not yet, and hopefully never).

All the best,
Glenn B

Friendships can start in the strangest ways...

..and yet they are indeed friendships.

I used to have a lot of friends. Then I got married! Ha ha.

As things would have it I have not seen some of my friends pretty much since a year or so after my marriage some 20 plus years ago. It is not that they are no longer my friends, but some of them got married to and got busy with the real world, with careers, with families, and such just like me. Since we moved away from the old neighborhood, I sometimes go back and visit and see some of my old friends. It is always very nice to see them.

I also have some friends at work. Not many coworkers are folks I truly call friends though, but the few who are my friends know it; and I know they feel likewise toward me. As far as new friends outside of work go, well I have not really made many since we have lived in our house on Long Island over the past 12 or 13 years. Sure I am friendly with my neighbors, but heck I hardly ever see them socially, what with work and family and such. Yet a couple or a few are good friends.

As far as new friends outside of work, and outside of my neighbors go, I have made new friends at the Long Island Herpetological Society over the years. They are great folks. I see them every now and then, about 12 - 15 times per year. Other than that I have made no new friends, not at the firearms range, not while out fishing, not in a local store, not at sporting events when I was the coach for my childrens' teams, not anywhere really - that is until recently.

Not too long ago, while perusing a web site, I saw that someone needed or wanted to have a pet snake sexed. Strange thing indeed if you do not keep snakes as pets, but par for the course for me. Keeping reptiles and amphibians is a passion of mine. I wrote an email and soon got a reply. Shortly after emailing back and forth a few times, I visited the apartment of two young ladies and a young man, all roomates. One of the young ladies had a corn snake that needed sexing. It was a boy for sure. The other young lady had a snake that was not eating. It has been a few weeks now since we first met. I have been to their place 4 or 5 times (always with a boyfriend of theirs present) to help them out. The little gal, a Dekay's Snake (Northern Brown Snake - I think) finally ate last night, and I got a call today from the happy lady who owned her telling me so.

I am sure I have made a few new friends. It is nice to make friends no matter the circumstances under which you meet; so nice that you should never take friendship for granted. Of course you sometimes may take friends for granted and not treat them as friends should be treated. One set of friendships you should never take for granted is the friendship of your own family. Remember above all they are, or should be, your best friends. But make sure to keep some room for other friends too, even for unexpected new ones.

All the best,
Glenn B

Mitt Romney - A Liberal In A Conservative's Suit?

Deb Schlussel can say it a whole lot better than can I, and I think she has hit the nail squarely on its head when she said:

"And a Romney Presidency will be a total bust, too. He's not a conservative. Just a phony who badly wants to be Prez and will say anything to get there."

For more of her thoughts on whom I believe is a political buffoon masquerading as a conservative or Republican please go to: http://debbieschlussel.com/, and scroll down to her entries for December 14, 2006.

All the best,
Glenn B

Yet another example of many...

...reflecting how those from third world countries routinely treat verbal insults with physical violence. Sure this is not limited to people from third world countries, but it is more common in them than it has ever been in a place like the USA. Well anyhow, read the article at the below link to see what I mean. Pay careful attention to the reasons that the illegal alien beat and killed a woman.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142006/news/regionalnews
/bad_mood_led_to_lethal_rage_regionalnews_leonard_greene.htm

Is the USA Achieving Third World Nation Status?

According to one U.S. Congressman maybe at least parts of our country have already achieved that status. I just got done watching Neil Cavuto interview Representative Tom Tancredo, about Tancredo having called Miami a third world country. Reportedly the Congressman was to have given a speech at a restaurant in Miami today to the Rotary Club or some other similar organization; but after his making that statement about Miami several death threats, bomb threats and other threats of violence streamed into the organization, and to the newspapers in Miami as well as to the restaurant, so the speech was cancelled by the restaurant owner. I don't say that I blame him for canceling Tancredo's appearance out of fear for safety; however, nor do I blame Representative Tancredo for hitting the nail squarely on the head. It is about time we have someone in government who can call a spade a spade.

I think, that in essence, Rep. Tancredo's statement was correct. Places like Miami, because of illegal immigration, have turned into bastions for illegal aliens who came from third world countries and have destroyed once great cities and places like Miami. It is a crying shame that saying so only goes to help prove his point. You see, in the traditionally 'legal' USA such statements would usually get people who disagreed into a mode in which they would want to hold discourse with the congressman. It may get some upset, it may fire up emotions, it may even get people to debate him heatedly on the subject; but it would not usually get a huge number of threats of violence including death threats. If, however, we look to the third world, to such countries as Afghanistan, Brazil, Bosnia, Colombia, Chile, Haiti, India, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico (a possession of the USA), Serbia, Turkey, Venezuela, to name a few, and there are many others, we see that resorting to violence over name calling or over someone telling the truth often results in those who do not want to hear the truth either threatening violence or actually resorting to use of it to squash the truth. Since the exact same thing just happened in Miami in response to the Congressman's claims, well it just add fuel to the Congressman's fiery truth.

Still though, there is a lot more evidence of this nation if not actually becoming a third world country, then leaning toward becoming one, and doing so in a fairly rapid manner. When Ronald Reagan was president he made the mistake of granting amnesty to about 2 million illegal aliens. This in effect opened up the flood gates if only because other potential illegals started to stream toward our borders. Eventually the flood gates broke and they (illegal aliens) enter our country now at over one million per year. It is estimated we have anywhere from 10 to 20 million illegal aliens living within our borders. These folks are not usually from countries that are industrial giants like Australia, Germany, or Japan; they are from some of the poorest countries in the world. They lack education, they have substandard hygiene, they often have multiple health problems - some of a serious and contagious nature, and they are much more prone to responding to those who are unlike themselves with violence.

If you do not believe the thing about violence then just look to Iraq where they kill themselves over sectarian violence. Look also to Ireland where the same was done for years. Look to India where violence often goes unreported in the USA but is a frequent occurrence based upon things such as religious differences. Look to Colombia where a soccer player was killed for scoring a goal into his own net a few years back. look to the drug violence in South America. look to the military coups throughout South America, and Asia. People stand up and tell the truth in such countries and they often disappear forever. That was not the history of this country, though surely it has happened, but not with regularity like in third world nations.

There are other things though, besides violence caused or threatened by illegal aliens, that would tend to indicate the USA is slowly but surely turning into a third world nation. Some of those things are the increases in certain diseases that have been relatively under control for decades but are now again causing outbreaks. Things like measles, mumps, cholera, are on the increase. Why - well because many people who come here illegally do so because they cannot afford to come legally. They are the dirt poor of the world. The dirt poor often do not receive proper medical benefits such as inoculations. others don't receive proper medical care because it goes against their religions or superstitions. We do not need to feel guilty over this, their own governments need to take care of them. Heck we dole out hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars annually to help such people; it is about time the people who pocket the money start using it where it belongs instead.

Disease rates are not the only negative things that are going up. Something else closely related to disease rates is climbing, disease vectors are having population explosions. Wherever in this country that there is a huge number of illegal aliens from south of our borders you can find booming populations of things like Lone Star ticks, Deer ticks, dog ticks, bedbugs, internal parasites such as tapeworms and roundworms. Is there no correlation between the two. About 10 or 15 years ago, the lone star tick was almost unknown in the northeastern USA. Now it is running (or crawling) rampant in many areas. Where did it come from, and upon whom did it hitch a ride in order to move in that direction? I was generally known as a tick within the USA with a southern range, from the Southeastern USA west to Texas (I do not know if they went south in Mexico). Now they are commonly found in pockets throughout the northeast such as in NYC, Long Island NY, New Jersey, and Providence, RI. These are all places where these ticks find suitable habitat but they were not native to these areas. How did they get here. One wonders, and my suspicions go toward them having hitched rides on the bodies of illegal aliens who came north from the Mexican border. They transmit such diseases as Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI). I do not recall hearing of a locally obtained case of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever in New York until I was well into college, or in other words until the third world tide from down south had already reached as far north as New York.

Other things that have been unheard of in the USA, for the most part, over the last few decades have been bedbugs. Well, at least until the last decade when they made a reappearance throughout many parts of the USA - almost all though where illegal aliens were to be found in great numbers. Is there a correlation - you bet there is. These creatures are still living in booming populations in third world countries. Now they are just about booming here too. If you doubt me, here is what Wikipedia had to say on this topic:

"With the widespread use of DDT in the 1940s and '50s, bedbugs all but disappeared from North America in the mid-twentieth century. Infestations remained common in many other parts of the world, however, and in recent years have begun to rebound in North America. Reappearance of bedbugs in the developed world has presented new challenges for pest control, and, without DDT and similarly banned agents, no fully effective treatment is now in use. The industry is only beginning to develop procedures and techniques."

Now note, they are not suddenly booming here because we do not use DDT. We have not used that for decades and bed bugs were only again discovered in large numbers over the past decade. Why, well just look to the correlation between them arriving within our borders, and the number of illegal aliens arriving within our borders. I suspect therein lies the answer.

I have also heard of several cases of Pork Tapeworm over the years, all apparently contracted by people who had close contact (as in eating food prepared by the initial carrier) with illegal alien maids from Central and South America. All of these pests spread diseases to humans because they feed on humans.

Of course there is another less apparent disease vector that has landed upon our shores. These are the mega cruise ships. It is no secret that over the past 15 to 20 years, there have been numerous breakouts of fatal, near fatal, and otherwise nasty diseases that have broken out on cruise ships. Within the last couple of years alone, I seem to recall at least a half dozen or more such outbreaks. Sometimes people are severely sickened, other times people die. Why is it that these diseases are breaking out on cruise ships. All these ships look glamorous, people pay thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to party and vacation on them, yet all to often we discover the cruise ship as a source of some deadly or very severe disease! My guess would be that we need to look no further than the health and hygiene of the crew members on these ships. If you have ever taken a cruise anywhere, on a many a large cruise line ship, you would realize that many of the crew member son these ships came from third world countries. The population of third world country citizens as compared to those from advanced countries is quite a large ratio when compared to all the illegals in the USA in comparison with the legal residents. Therefore it may be a contributing factor as to why a greater percentage of the people on the ship come down ill. Don't worry though, as illegals in the USA multiply, so to will the incidences of us coming down with third world diseases.

Do you still doubt this? If you do, then look to recent outbreaks of E. Coli. Where are all the suspect sources of these outbreaks? They are in agricultural areas, on ranches and farms that hire numerous illegal aliens and third world citizens who have extremely poor hygiene. Sure no one has proved an illegal was the original disease vector in any of these outbreaks, but I wonder, have any of the ultra liberal politically correct doctors checked this out. Even if another human was not a carrier who spread the disease, then what about their hygiene. When reports indicate that contaminated water may have been used to irrigate fields - where did the contamination come from in the water. Was it there because some illegal just peed or crapped in the water source. don't tell me it does not happen commonly in third world countries - I saw it in Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico first hand many times. I also have seen it hundreds of times in the 4 years I was a U.S. Border patrol Agent, for instance an illegal alien Mexican field worker puking onto a head of lettuce then throwing it in the collection container with all the rest. Think that could spread disease?

E. Coli outbreaks have zoomed in recent years, yet very few people want to examine the possibility that there is a correlation between the rise in disease outbreaks and the tens of millions of illegal aliens - with poor hygiene habits - who are within our country, and who are working in agriculture, food processing plants, and in places like fast food servers.

It is about time people woke up. We are becoming a third world nation by default. How can we avoid such here, by making sure illegal aliens are removed, making sure others do not enter illegally, and by making sure that legal aliens are required to Americanize in order to stay here and be granted citizenship. They need to learn out history, they need to learn our political customs, they need to become educated in our schools legally, they need to learn English, they need to learn proper hygiene habits, they need to obey the law. many of them do just that already, but all too many do not. If they do not do so after a certain amount of time, if they fail a citizenship test after say 5 years of being here, then deport them immediately, and use their own money to do so. Make them want to be Americans, don't allow them to be displaced and disloyal (to the USA) foreigners.

If you want to know what you can do to help along a cause like this, one of keeping the USA out of becoming a third world nation, then you need to vote regularly for those who are tough on immigration reform, you need to regularly contact your elected officials even if they are in your opposition party and tell them how you think (not just how you feel) about these issues, you need to write to appointed officials such as the head of the department of Homeland Security and demand action toward removing illegal aliens. There is something else you can do too. You can make legal alien residents feel welcomed to be part of the greatest country in the world, and you can help to teach them how to be good Americans. That way it will be so much easier for them to become good American Citizens who take pride in being just that.

All the best,

Glenn B

There are meat eaters, and then there are...

...meat eaters; just as there are hunters of different sorts. I hunt, and I eat the meat for which I hunt. If I get a trophy I would consider having it mounted if large enough to be a real trophy, or if unusual enough to draw lots of attention. As for the meat, almost none of it ever goes to waste. I love deer, squirrel, almost any type of bird for which one normally hunts in the USA, and I love bear meat. Despite my love of venison, I don't know if I would have been quite up to eating the deer that was recently taken by Rick Lisko.

It is not so much that the deer he took was one he had run over with his vehicle, I suppose fresh road kill can be as good as any animal killed with a gun or bow; but rather the deer itself that makes me wonder if I would have had the guts to consume it. You see, it was reported that the deer Mr. Lisko ran over, and later ate, was one with seven (count em) legs, and as if that was not weird enough, it also was reportedly transgendered. Of course before he ate it, he did what any law abiding hunter would do, he had the take registered with the state Department of Natural Resources. The game warden, Doug Bilgo, was rather amazed, saying: "I have never seen anything like that in all the years that I've been working as a game warden and being a hunter myself,".

This does not seem to be a hoax, it was all reported on FoxNews.com in this article: Wisconsin Man Runs Over, Eats Seven-Legged Transgendered Deer, which can be found at this address: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236483,00.html.

I know, I know, you are thinking 'Hey I've bagged and eaten bucks before, and I've done the same thing with does - so why not a he-she deer too'? Well I guess if I was poor and hungry enough, I would go for it with gusto; but there is just something about it having both sexes and seven legs that would sure make me think twice about eating it, especially since I could always go down the road to McDonald's for a Big Mac instead. Of course, had I run it over myself, or otherwise bagged it, it would in all likelihood have been mounted and then placed up for auction. Can you say Ebay? As for the meat, well maybe it would be in my freezer, and then again maybe not.

Happy hunting,
Glenn B

The Phantom of the Opera and St. Andrews Restaurant...

...were a definite winning combination! If you recall from my last rant, I said this was only the second Broadway play that my wife and I would have seen since we were married, the first being Sweeney Todd, last year. Sweeney Todd was excellent, but The Phantom of the Opera was a bit better. Of course, both are rather comedic in some regards, Sweeny Todd much more so; and the other (The Phantom) was a sad twisted love story (then again so was Sweeney Todd), and both were macabre - maybe I just like this type of thing.

The Phantom though was absolutely spectacular, much more flare on stage, better or more intense stage settings, great singing (as had Sweeney Todd), great plot (same as the other), great acting, tear jerking emotionalism; and the Phantom had a bit more in that it included opera, ballet and musical theater all in one. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially as a surprise treat for their other half. My wife never stopped smiling until the near final scene, when I thought she and I were about to bust out in tears. The woman seated to my other side certainly did start bawling. A play moving me to near tears has got to have something good going for it, I can tell you that for certain. I was duly impressed.

All of the cast was great especially the leading lady Jennifer Hope Wills, what a voice, what acting passion, what standing ovation she received. The Phantom was played by stand in: Stephen R. Buntrock, who deserved every second of the extra long standing ovation he received. All of the players were magnificent; and my wife thought so as well as I.

As for St. Andrews, we got there an hour and a half early, cutting out some shopping I had planned for after the theater. My wife was obviously pooped. We were seated immediately, by a smiling and cordial hostess, in St. Andrews as soon as I had explained we had later reservations but hoped to be seated right then. As luck would have it, we were seated at table 13, and as we were seated, the hostess noted such and that my wife had been given coat check number 13. I pointed out that the date was the 13th. (Sadly I missed being able to play that number later on, maybe tomorrow as there is just too much coincidence to it all - and remember my son got that limited edition knife 17 out of a 1,000 for his 17th birthday. What is it with these numbers lately?)

Back to dinner. I started with an Orkney Red Macgregor Scottish ale. It was nice, smooth, nutty and somewhat hopsy. My wife being the good woman she is had a diet coke. It took us a while to decide on our choice of meals, then when we had just about decided, the waitress came by and told us the specials. That changed the main course for both of us.

I started with an appetizer of Haggis. Very interesting, and I am unaware if it was of the traditional type, but the finely minced lamb's liver and lamb's heart betwixt mashed was delicious. My wife held off on the appetizers. She ordered the Codfish over crabmeat and sauce laden risotto, with a side of creamed spinach (yuck to that last). I chose the Porter House steak in a reduced Madeira sauce, medium rare, and it came with garlic mashed and asparagus. I also ordered a side of 'Bubble and Squeek' - or cabbage, potatoes and bacon sautéed together. The meals were heavenly, and I mean it. The steak seemed tough to the knife, but was tender to the teeth, almost like melted butter; and it was delicious and somewhat bloody (just like the two plays had been). My asparagus were done to perfection, and the mashed were quite tasty. The Bubble and Squeek was left half eaten because I was about to burst; it was a simple side dish, easy to make, yet interesting in its taste combinations and a complete meal all on its own - there was a lot of it too.

As for my wife's dish, she offered me none and spoke nary a word while eating it. She loved it, but I finally managed to get a taste of it. Excellent fresh codfish with lots of real crabmeat. I would have preferred a plainer tasting sauce, it had some Thyme I think, and maybe some Rosemary (not one of my favorites) but tastes are different; and the other half gobbled it up. As for her creamed spinach, well tastes really differ there, she gobbled that up to, without me asking for a taste of it.

Seating was comfortable in the rear restaurant area. The lighting was fairly bright for a restaurant, but not overly so; and that meant I could read the menu without a mini-maglite. The decor was pub like, but classy refined pub like. As for the service, the tartan kilt wearing waitresses were splendid. All the service was top notch from the hostess, to the waitress, to the busboys. Very courteous, and attendant. Even the lady who had taken my original over the phone reservation had been very courteous. This is one of the rare times that my wife and I have enjoyed a restaurant together that had both excellent service and excellent food.

All in all the meal, with drinks came out to $102 and change, plus a generous tip. Not bad considering the specials were a bit more than most other things on the menu, but well worth every extra penny.

I had a second ale, well half of it anyhow, and was preparing to have one of the many types of Scotch Whiskey they offer when my wife yawned again. For some reason she had slept poorly the night before, and she was zonked. It appeared I would have to drive home, meaning I had to settle for those two ales, and that meant no Scotch Whiskey for me. I sorely missed out on trying a glass of Port Ellen Scotch, dated to 1979. That one struck me as appropriate as that is the year I started my career, which will end fairly soon as the years go by. They had older ones, at least one dating to 1968, and a couple to 1969. Of course, they also had those of more recent distillation, such as many 12, 15, 17 and 18 years olds, with quite a number of those in their 20s. By the way, if you just want to stop by for a drink, the bar is huge, no happy hour though, and some of the ales were somewhat pricey, but not too bad considering all things such as the great selection and atmosphere.

I will be going back there for sure, St. Andrews at least has another meal or three for me: a couple more with my wife, and maybe one or two with coworkers. There also has got to be a Scotch Whiskey or two with calling out my name and patiently waiting for me to come back. If you are interested, here is their web address: http://www.standrewsnyc.com/. Well worth the stop.

I could not have had a finer afternoon and evening out with my wife (or anyone else, and who better than my wife) than the one we had; and I am pretty certain she felt the same way about it.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: I almost forgot to mention this - to top it all off, we stopped at the Porto Rico Coffee Company in Greenwich Village to pick up some of their fine coffees for later enjoyment. My wife had never been there and was duly impressed. It was one very nice day for the two of us.

Off to the Theater and then a Scottish Restaurant...

...today, with the wife. We are going, I hope much to her surprise, to see The Phantom of the Opera. She thinks we are going Christmas shopping (and we will do that too). This will only be the second time in over 20 years of marriage that we have gone to see a Broadway play together. I guess I really have been getting nicer in the last year or so like my profile line says, because we went last year for the first time. We saw Sweeney Todd back then, and I highly recommend it to anyone who might like comedy musicals, albeit violent comedy musicals. Lots of blood in that one, but a great play. I am hopeful the one today will be half as good in which case I will be happy.

After the play we have reservations at St. Andrews Restaurant on 44th Street. I mention this because it has a Scottish flare to its menu. That menu includes a list of well over 150 varieties of Scotch Whiskey, with some Irish thrown in also. Imagine that, I may just have to have a taste of one or three. See http://www.standrewsnyc.com/scotchlist.html for the most impressive list, that I have ever seen, of available Scotch and Irish Whiskeys.

I was going to recommend this place to an internet acquaintance of mine who came to New York fairly recently with his wife, but since all he did was to moan and groan about, among other things, the expensive sandwiches (in rip off Times Square delis) and the smell in New York Fucking City (as he called it) I decided it was a secret best kept to myself at that time. Though I offered to give him some suggestions for dining places, and I would have gladly treated them to dinner at the time, they did not want to accept my suggestions for a good time in New York Fucking City; so I'll take them myself, and I’ll have a wonderful day with my wife, I am sure. Too bad, at least for him, as he claims to be a connoisseur, or a lover, of Scotch Whiskey. If the food turns out to be excellent, then too bad for his wife too, who claims to be a lover of fine foods. If it turns out good, good for us, we will enjoy it! Since I work in NYC daily that makes sense, doesn't it? If for some reason you ever have to be here too, it makes sense that you may as well enjoy the good things it has to offer instead of making yourself miserable or letting the crappier aspects of NYC make you so. Oh well, I digress, so back to our day's plans..

As for me, I have been meaning to check out St. Andrews Restaurant/Pub for a while now, and was just waiting for the right time. Dinner, after taking the wife to see a Broadway play will the perfect time. I don't know about the Scotch list prices, but I can tell you that after visiting their website, dinner prices seem to be pretty good for the theater district. I am figuring a full three course meal will run about $80 for the both of us, without drinks - and that is for some of the most expensive items in the appetizer and dinner menus. With the drinks, who can tell what it will cost, maybe around $100 total, but I will not have too many because I will be driving - that is unless the Frau is the designated driver. As for a meal there, you could get away with much less expense sticking to the grill menu, or even on the dinner menu with the less expensive meals and appetizers. If you are going to be in NYC and are interested in seeing the menu, go to their main web page and click on the menu icon, see: http://www.standrewsnyc.com/

I'll let you know, sometime over the next day or so, how it all turned out. As for me, I am guessing I'll enjoy the restaurant as much as or more than the play, but only time, and the right choice of Scotch, will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

Suffer the Children!

Read the article Three Children of Palestinian Officer Killed in Drive-by Shooting
and make up your own minds about whether or not the people involved are animals of the most vicious type. This shooting, in my opinion, highlights my contention that Islam is a violent religion, that anything involved with Islam should be broken down, dismantled, and rebuilt at the very least, if Islam is to survive at all. No, there is no one specifically saying this was a crime based upon religion, but it was most probably based at least in part upon sectarian violence. Please don't dsay it was political without remembering that the religion in the area runs the politics. Also don't try to make excuses by saying the hitmn could not see into the car and they did not know about the children inside, remember they had no regard for the children on the streets either, and there were shooting victims of this crime who were passersby. This was one horrendous crime, but horrendous and Islam seem to go hand in hand.

That there is such a disregard for the lives of innocents among Islamists is seen daily in how often they set off bombs that kill and mangle those of their own faith, of any age, any sex, and any ethnic background. The one thing in common throughout the Middle East besides the violence, is that almost all of it is perpetrated by the followers of Islam. The one thing seemingly in common about religious violence throughout the world is that the majority seems to be perpetrated by Islamists. It is not a religion of peace, hell it is not a religion at all as I see it. Rather I see it as a plague that needs to be cured, but that is just this man's opinion.

Be safe,
Glenn B

Ever Wonder Why We Have the 2nd Amendment...

...you know the one that says our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed so that there will be a well regulated militia. It is not saying that we have the right to keep and bear arms in order to form militias, it is saying that said right will not be infringed in order for us to be able to form militias for the security of a free state. Get that, in other words it means the right to keep and bear arms was there for us regardless of the 2nd amendment, but that said, the 2nd amendment specifically insures us that said right cannot be infringed by our government (like they ever paid attention to it). Now the solicitor general of DC (District of Columbia), a politician who is not federal and not even part of one of the 50 states in our great nation, wants to have that right stripped from the people of all 50 states by saying it is a right that applies only to militias. If that was so it would not specifically state in the 2nd Amendment that it was a right of the people. Read it see if I am right or not:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Then read this article: D.C. Argues Gun Rights Only For Militias found at this link:
http://www.wfsb.com/politics/10485690/detail.html and see if the solicitor general of DC is out of his mind as I suppose he must be.

Well, regardless of what I believe, the solicitor general of DC should read the news. Look to Asia in the Pacific region. Look to the country of Fiji. Look to the coup that just took place there. Read this article, Fijians divided over coup outlook @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6209620.stm and say: 'Hey, wow, sounds a lot like a nice guy who took over because he wants to promote tolerance for other groups'. Of course, as the opening lines point out: "Fiji's coup leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama sees himself as the great protector of his country's multiculturalism."

Note it does not say that the rest of his countrymen see him that way, that is as a nice guy. As it turns out, maybe that is because he is not so nice. Go to this article and have a look: Post-coup Fiji warns dissenters @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6166779.stm. You see the majority of people oppose him. Those who are brave enough to speak out against him are brought into the police stations for "questioning".

"When we hear or it is reported that some individual is attempting to make some statement that we see as inciting or could create problems, we will call the individuals in and speak to them," said Maj Neumi Leweni, a military spokesman.

You see multiculturism is okay only if you agree with his brand of it. If they do not agree with him, they are sought out. Then if they do not agree to go to the police station for questioning when ordered to do so, they are persuaded by other means. Imagine that happening here in the United States of America. Hmm, do these types of tactics sound familiar? Let's see, in recent history it could be like people being forced to allow police to enter their homes in New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina, so police could search for legal firearms to confiscate them, or being kidnapped in Israel by Palestinian terrorists because you profess another religion than Islam, or it could be like what used to happen under Saddam Hussein - you spoke against him and you vanished, or it could be like what happened in Pinochet's Chile same as with Saddam, or it could be like what happened in Nazi Germany, like when children ratted out their own parents to the Gestapo if they disagreed with Hitler. It happens again and again around the world but not here in the USA - so why not? Look to Fiji and ask why.

The people there, in Fiji, who had been under a democratic form of government are now under a military dictatorship. Suddenly, overnight as a matter of fact, they no longer have the right to assemble, even if they did they would no longer have the right to free speech once assembled. You can bet the same goes for freedom of the press, it has disappeared. Do you know what right may have prevented this from befalling Fijians, what right may have prevented this military overthrow of the justly elected government? Yes, that's the one, the one that is written about in our own Constitution's 2nd Amendment - the right to keep and bear arms by the people. The Fijians were not armed as are American citizens in the USA. There was nothing to prevent a military overthrow of the government, of the people.

The military in this country while greatly out gunning the public with military hardware still would not ever likely try a coup if only because there are so many of the people who are armed. Our Founding Fathers were wise men indeed. They made certain that after they had enumerated several rights of the people in the 1st Amendment, they then enumerated some others in the 2nd Amendment - those rights that would keep us a secure and free nation. The solicitor general of DC should eat a copy of the U.S. Constitution and choke on it as far as I am concerned, because as I see him he is a traitor to his own government, and an ass at that.

The right to keep and bear arms is a right we enjoy with or without the second amendment, our right to form militias is likewise, our right not to have either of those rights taken away from us is the one written into the 2nd amendment. It makes the right to keep and bear arms the most secure right we have, yet politicians just don't get it; or should I say do not want to get it probably if only because it is the right that keeps them best in their places as servants of the people, it keeps us living in a secure and free state, and it prevents them from becoming tyrants and from taking that all away from us.

All the best,
Glenn B

Love, Loyalty, and Longing to Live...

...are attributes that can make people do things above and beyond what they normally would attempt. Such was the case with James Kim, the 35 year old husband and father, who set off through deep snow in an attempt to rescue his stranded family. As it turns out, authorities misread a map, and they then miscalculated on just how far he had walked through the wilderness while without proper food, or clothing. (See this article: Calif. Man Walked 16 Miles Before Dying @ http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Dec10/0,4670,MissingFamily,00.html.

Over the course of the days he was alone, on foot in that bitter cold wilderness, he walked a total of 16 miles from his car in an attempt to find help. Now 16 miles may not seem like much; but when it is freezing cold, when you are hopelessly lost, when you don't have sufficient food to keep you going, when you don't have proper clothing to keep you warm, well then such is an outstanding feat. In fact, it is quite possible that he walked much more than 16 miles if he meandered about while lost. He was one heck of a good father and husband to have taken that chance, sadly he paid with his life.

There are some lessons to be learned by the rest of us when we travel, especially when, but not only necessarily when, we travel that far from home. Keep supplies in your car. The supplies should at least include road flares, flashlights with extra batteries, drinkable water, food stuffs, protective clothing (for the season), blanket(s) preferably wool, a compass, a good knife, a survival rifle (where legal), matches, a first aid kit, a cell phone with charger. It does not matter if you are a city person, or from the country, carry this stuff in your car, and your chances of survival will be better.

Another lesson to be learned is - when lost, do not leave the area in which you are lost. If anyone had any idea of the route you would be traveling, or the place you were last seen, then help is more likely to find you if you stay in one place. Of course there could be reasons to set out to look for help, such as someone in your party requiring medical assistance, but if no one is hurt, your chances maybe better just waiting for help, that is if you have supplies as outlined above.

There is one other lesson to be learned from this man's story. It is a harsh lesson about how things in life that seem trivial are quite possibly inexplicably interrelated, and how a little thing to some can later lead to a big disaster for others. Yes, I am talking about the reported fact that vandals had apparently cut a chain that had secured a gate across the road down which the Kim family had turned when they got lost. The road is normally closed for the winter, apparently because it is dangerous to travel during winter months. That act, by someone who wanted to get onto that road for whatever reason, left that gate open. It left the road accessible to the Kims; and as fate would have it, the Kims turned down that road and got stuck. Had it not been for those vandals opening that gate, the chances are that the Kims would never have turned down that road, and that Mr. Kim would have survived, and that his wife and children would have enjoyed his company for many years to come. I hope they catch the bastard(s) and convict them of negligent homicide or something to the effect. Even if they never catch them, whoever cut that chain and opened that gate is aware that he, she or they did just that, and that it led to Mr. Kim’s death. I hope it haunts he, she or them forever.

Think about that, the terrible feeling of guilt you would have to live with if you were the one who did it. Think of that the next time you are about to do something that seems just a little bad, because in the end it could lead to disaster for someone else, and to a life filled with guilt for you.

My sympathies go to the family and loved ones of Mr. Kim, a very courageous man who obviously loved his family very much.

All the best,
Glenn B

An Oreo of a different sort...

So some of you may remember I am into reptiles and amphibians (herps) as a hobby, though I don't post much about them here (that may change soon). I have kept all sorts of herps since I was a kid. I don't usually give them names, at least not since long ago. They just are not pets like a dog or cat, not responsive if you call them. One I acquired recently though has struck me so much as for me to feel the need to name it; I'll just call it Oreo - you can see why. I may have to waste of bag of Oreo cookies to get some amusing shots of this guy as he crawls amidst a pile of the cookies. Got Milk??????

All the best,

Glenn B

Thanks...

to my readers, the few of you who there are, this site will achieve a thousand hits today. I know it is not much as other sites go - some with millions of hits, but certainly you guys make it worth my while to keep on writing. We have all got to start somewhere, and you folks have helped me get this going. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep writing. Any suggestions for topics are always aprpeciated, you can leave em in the comments section if you like.

All the best,
Glenn B

Now I feel better about myself...

...if only because ones I have used have always fit me. Not that I am overendowed or anything, but none has ever been too large on me.

Not a clue about what I am writing about; well just go to the article at this link: Condoms 'too big' for Indian men and you will see why I am feeling good about myself. While I feel for them, I have got to say, this article sure made me laugh a long time. In short (pun intended) the article tells just what the title says, most condoms are too big for men in India. Apparently they have what was once referred to as the Irish curse; but now I can just imagine the celebrations that will take place in Ireland.

Now if you think this discovery concerns the Indians all that much, think again. As one was quoted in the article:

"It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters," he said.

"From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well.

According to the article. that statement was made by Sunil Mehra, a past editor of an Indian version of the men's magazine Maxim. He makes a good point, to him I say: Touché.


All the best,
Glenn B

Victory Could Be Ours In Iraq...

...as evidenced by the recent raid on al-Qaeda terrorists in which 20 of them were killed by coalition forces (U.S., British and Danish troops), and a number of weapons caches were discovered. Of course, one has to wonder, if this was orchestrated as a political ploy since it happened just after the Iraq Study Group report was issued saying that we should cut and run from Iraq, and that we should appease the Iranians and Syrians and bring them in as negotiators. The findings of that report are ludicrous at best. There are other ways to handle the situation in Iraq and to improve our position there while at the same time improving life for the Iraqis.

The best way I can think of to improve the overall situation in Iraq would be for the coalition forces to start acting like we were actually at war in Iraq. I will readily admit, I have zero military experience; however it can still be obvious to even an inexperienced people like me that there are other options than cut and run. One of those options would be to fight the war on an offensive front while utilizing intelligence that has been developed. That we have not been doing so is evidenced by the conditions in Iraq and by the words of a coalition spokesman, Major Charlie Burbridge. See the following quote from the article Iraq 'al-Qaeda militants' killed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6220518.stm

"This was the largest operation of its kind that we have conducted since the invasion. By that I mean the number of soldiers involved and the complexity of the operation."

Think about those words folks. The war has been ongoing since March 2003, it is now December 2006. Thousands of U.S. and coalition troops have died, many more have suffered horrendous injuries; even more Iraqis have suffered similar fates, and this killing of 20 terrorists is the largest operation that has been carried out since March 2003! Why aren't operations like this being carried out on a regular basis. Why aren't we kicking ass and counting the bodies of our dead enemies. Why are we taking hits like sitting ducks.

I supported our governments decision to invade Iraq. I even supported the president after we found out the intelligence about WMDs was probably incorrect. I still support the war effort if only because it has centralized the fight against al Qaeda for the most part, and when they are centralized they should be easier to find, and therefore our forces should should be able to destroy them. That we can do just that, was evidenced by the above mentioned operation. That we need to do more of it, well folks if you don't know why we need to do more of it, then maybe you are all as out of it as are those who wrote the Iraq Study Group report, or as out of touch as seems to be our president George W. Bush in that he thinks it an interesting idea to bring Syria and Iran into negotiations on Iraq.

The fact is we can win in Iraq without super high casualties, but the fact is also that our government and military leadership as to allow the troops to fight to win - just as they did in this operation with zero coalition casualties according to Major Burbridge. In order to win, we need to be on the offensive, and we need to bull doggedly seek out intelligence, then use it to attack and destroy our enemies, and the enemies of those in Iraq (and the rest of the world) who seek freedom. We are not going to win a war by sitting around waiting to be blown up, nor are we going to win a war by rebuilding Iraq (let the Iraqis do that, it will keep them busy) - we will win it by destroying our enemies, with help from our allies.

Call your elected officials, urge them to support such actions now. Urge them to persuade the president not to follow the suggestions of the Iraq Study Group report, which in the long run will only allow our enemies to strengthen and make it worse for us. Urge them to seek victory in Iraq and over terrorism, otherwise we may get the opposite, and there is only agony in defeat.

All the best,
Glenn B

Remember...

...that 65 years ago today, the Japanese launched their attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Remember they who served, and those who fell on that day defending the USA. Remember that back then, when we were attacked, we responded with an overwhelming oneness in a desire to defeat our enemies and to avenge our losses. Too bad we are not like that today when it comes to defending our nation against terrorism.

But before I go off on a tangent about today - just remember Pearl Harbor - and remember those who lost their lives or limbs defending America, and hold a dear place for their memory in your heart.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Mother Said She Did Not Know What To Do...

...to her son, a 12 year child mind you, after he allegedly opened a Christmas early at his grandmother's home. She said, when he was confronted and questioned about the missing present, her son denied knowledge of how it went missing or where it was hidden. Then she reportedly threatened him with her calling the police and he fessed up, said he took it, and returned it to her.

The mom then called the police anyhow, and she had them arrest her 12 year old son. Why did she do that? Well according to the report in this article: Mother Has 12-Year-Old Son Arrested for Opening Christmas Gift Early at FoxNews.com today,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234638,00.html, the mother said she did not know what else to do. She reportedly said the boy has had problems with shoplifting, stealing money from his mother, and that recently he hit a police officer at school. According to the article she also said this: "I'm trying to get him some kind of help".

Is this what Dr. Spock did to our country with his, in my opinion, namby pamby method of parenting that precluded any form of corporal punishment being inflicted by parents on their misbehaving children? Is this what the American Civil liberties Union has done to our country with their ridiculous law suits, it would not surprise me that they would have filed against the mother in favor of the child had she spanked him.

Now truth be told, I have a bit more information about this case. The boy is reported as having "...attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but that his medicine does not seem to help..." according to an article at CNN @: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/05/christmaspresent.arrest.ap/index.html.

Okay so the kid has the catch all childhood mental health disorder of the 20th and now 21st centuries, one that I believe to be a big cop-out (on the part of those who diagnose it). Telling the child to be good does not work, counseling probably would not work, medication reportedly has not worked (and I wonder why if the malady was actually diagnosed correctly or was it misdiagnosed as a cop-out, when maybe it is just that the child has never been correctly disciplined), and having the boy expelled from school will likely not help (and according to the CNN article he faces expulsion soon). Guess what else I would bet will not work - having the boy arrested and wasting the time of the local police department, prosecutor's office and courts.

I think I know what would help. I have a possible cure right here with me at this very moment. Maybe it will not cure attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but I am willing to bet it will cure some of the penchant toward bad behavior that this boy seems to have. I am talking about being able, through use of my own mind and willpower to be able punish this boy as a good parent. I am talking about being remanded to ones room, under lock and key every day after school, for a week or two. That is the child is restricted to his room, except to go to the bathroom, except to eat meals, except to go to school , and except to do assigned chores and so on. I am talking about no television for that same period. I am talking about no computer use for just as long. I am talking about no special or extra snacks for the same time - just regular meals. I am talking about the parent, sitting with the child each of those days, during some good portion of each, and discussing the problem with the child as a responsible adult should do. If all of that fails, I am talking about a good hand to the buttocks (bare skin against bare skin). For those of you who think that too sexually provocative, then a good hand to the thighs. I am talking about a belt or paddle if the hand does not work (not on bare skin but through jeans). I am talking about a size 12 to the arse (yes mine are size 12 in most shoes). No severe beatings please, just enough physical force to make them realize, ouch that hurts pretty bad. I am talking about the parent explaining to the child, after a good spanking, that changed behavior on the part of the child will result in privileges being restored.

Of course all of this could have happened already. Maybe the mother is at her wits end. Maybe she and the grandmother could figure out no other way. Yet, I doubt it to be the case that the mom did all of this, I think she is trying to push off the responsibility of taking charge of her son onto someone else like doctors, school officials, the grandmother, or the police. Now, maybe that is just my cynicism speaking, but it seems to be all too often the case with American parents nowadays. Too many of them seemingly slough off the responsibility of being a parent, and want others to take over large parts of that role for them. Too many child welfare workers and police officials would have the parent arrested if the parent actually acted responsibly and spanked, within reason, the child. Too many very confused psychologists, and confused social workers, advocate never spanking a child, or punishing them severely. As for me, I strongly advocate the old time Catholic school method of discipline. It worked on my parents, it worked on me, and even though my children did not attend Catholic schools, that same type of discipline seemingly has worked on them. They have had there problems, but the proper amount of punishment, including corporal punishment, doled out at the correct time, along with the proper rewards being given likewise in a timely manner, both appropriately based upon whatever behavior preceded them has worked well to date.

Neither of my children gets a spanking any longer. Heck, my son at 17, would probably beat me senseless if I tried it now. The point is though, all kidding aside, my daughter and son respect me and their mother. Sure they both can get rotten at times, but then we apply some punishment, just as we reward good behavior. That is all part of parenting. I don't need doctors, schools, or police doing that for me; although the help of grandparents, and other family members, is always welcome within reason. My kids stay out of trouble for the most part; yes my son has had a brush with the law over a pretty minor offense, but it taught him well; and I did not have my own son arrested, instead I talked to him about what he had done, and I punished him because of it after our talk. Our kids do what other teens and youngsters in their 20s will do, they don't always think about what they do, and this can get them into some bit of trouble. Yet, for the great part, they stay out of trouble because they learned long ago causing trouble is not the desirable, or best, way to get their parents' attention or love. They learned getting into trouble over a moment of thrills is not worth the risks of getting punished by their parents; or by the law, now that they are old enough. They learned to think before they act, and if they have a question about whether something is right or wrong, they had best not do it. They learned it is better to do things right because life is more rewarding and pleasant when you do so. They will turn into fine upstanding, responsible, and productive members of our society; heck my daughter and son are already there - where has the time gone!

Of course, as I said, maybe the mom tried all she could do, maybe she was at her wits end after having tried all the above. Maybe she did the best she could do. If so, well then my hat goes off to her for trying something radical. It is just that, all to often, parents don’t act a responsible parents, they all too often want to pass the buck of parenthood onto others who can do their jobs as parents for them. Parenting is hard, it is one of the most difficult things in life to get right. Heavens know I have screwed up many times at being a parent, but when it comes right down to it, the only people responsible for good parenting, and therefore for good children as a result, are the parents.

All the best,
Glenn B

Lest I forget, before I lose them...

...here is a picture of my marbles.

On Losing Ones Marbles...

I imagine we are almost all familiar with the term "He lost his marbles", or the other "she is as sharp as a marble", but I have to wonder how many of us realize the sharp truth that can be discovered in a group of marbles as we lose them one at a time. It is something to think about, in fact for many of us there could be years of thought involved in the process, but I never gave it much thought at all.

The truth be told, I never gave it any thought, that is until yesterday. Then the real significance of losing one's marbles hit me like a ton of bricks, or should I say like one thousand marbles, and I realized that a marble indeed can be extremely sharp - especially in its loss.

No I am not talking about losing ones smarts or sanity, I am talking about something that may be more precious at least to those of us who have our wits about us whether or not we are exactly sane. You see, yesterday, I received an email from a friend of mine, and a person who is a good man at that - at being a friend. In his email was a story about a man and his marbles, one thousand of them to be exact, or maybe give or take a few; the exact number probably does not matter all that much. I don't know who wrote that story, if it was my friend or someone else. I tend to think it was passed onto him, and he passed it onto me, just as I then passed it onto my other friends. Whoever it was that wrote it though was a wise person. I hope that person does not mind me sharing it with you, all of you, because it is something that should be shared, something from which each of us should learn, and maybe something that will change the way each of us lives our lives if only because of the sharpness that a thousand marbles can bring to us as we lose them one at a time.

Unless you have heard the story before, then by now you must surely be wondering about what I am writing, and maybe you are wondering if I have lost my marbles. The truth is quite to the contrary you see, as last night, I did some math, and I went out and I bought just over a thousand marbles, exactly 1,145 of them (at least those that were not cracked in the 12 bags of them that I bought - I had been hoping for closer to 1,200). Then I put them in a 2 1/2 gallon fish tank I had on hand; the marbles filled that tank only just about half way.

I am 51 years old, and soon, all too soon when this coming weekend rolls around, it will be time for me to start losing them one at a time. As I said though - you are probably scratching your heads by now - wondering what this is all about - so let me just show you the story that my friend sent to me; then you can either laugh at me and call me a fool, or you can go out and by some marbles for yourself.


"MARBLES:

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say:

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy five years. "

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight." "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

***

That was the story I received in the email from my friend, but not the end of my friend's email to me. The email continued on just a bit with the following:

"A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

And so, as one smart bear once said..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.

Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to the person that sent it to you."

Then the story of the marbles really sank home. I am 51 years old, and if I live to be an average age, that means I have somewhat less than 24 years, exactly 23 years and 10 months from today, by my reckoning. Or in other words, I have about 1,188 weekends or marbles to go. It is a sobering thought, but not too sobering yet, I have a lot of marbles to go; although I am sure it may become more so as I begin to lose my marbles. Hopefully it will not be too bad, and I will lose each of those marbles with aplomb, and enjoy losing them at that, if only because they will help make living my life so much more precious.

Are you headed to the toy store yet? If so, give it a second thought! Toy store marbles can be expensive so I got my marbles at a .99 cent store. I want my money to go to better and more fun things as I lose my marbles, so maybe this weekend I'll take my wife out to breakfast and buy her flowers. That should be a good start to losing my marbles!

Thanks Thor for sending me that story; losing my marbles may just help me to make things a whole lot better in my life, and in the lives of my loved ones. Time and the marble count will tell. Thanks again my friend.

All the best,

Glenn B

Persistence Pays off...

...at least for the U.S. marshals Service which is our nations governemntal version of Dog The Bounty Hunter (yeah right).

While deputy U.S. Marshals are not usually very flamboyant, don't run around with pony tails flaping, while wearing leather vests with nothing under them but muscles and tattoos, are are not convicted felons themselves, don't have wild television shows to highlight their adventures, they are, if nothing else, persistent.

After 33 years of being on the run, so to speak, Billy Wayne Hayes, a convicted and then escaped felon, was captured by the U.S. Marshals Service in Alabama. It seems, according to the article Escaped Convict Captured After 33 Years, at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Dec03/0,4670,InmateCaptured,00.html that Mr. Hayes had been convicted of second degree murder, way back when in about 1968, and he escaped from work release in December 1972. I don't know about yours, but my calculator makes that 34 years, not 33, oh well I guess the guys at Associated Press need a math refresher, but I am drifting away from the point here, so let me get back to it.

The point is my hat goes off to the U.S. Marshals Service, especially to the deputies who got this guy, for getting this guy off the streets. It is not like he became a reformed angel while on the run either. While he was working (reportedly) under his real name (go figure why it took 34 years to nab him, or even 33); when he was arrested the marshals found crack cocaine on his person.

This was a job very well done by our law enforcement, as opposed to one that was totally screwed up. I like to give credit where it is due, and say great work guys...

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Boomers: Rem 870 in the hands of The Deer Hunter

Yep folks, that is Brendan all geared up and out in the woods on his first deer hunt. He is all duded up in his brand new blaze/camo hunting coat, and with the shotgun and daypack, he was ready for just about anything.

He is carrying my tried and true Remington 870. What can I say about the Remington that has not already been written; probably not much. It is a great all purpose pump action shotgun. It holds five rounds total of 2 3/4" shells (although others are chambered for up to 3" shells, and some come in magnum configurations). This is a Remington 870 Express combo. In other words it came with a subdued finish and 2 barrels. One barrel is a slug barrel, with rifle sights. The other is a 28" bird/trap/skeet/sporting clays barrel.

As for the young man, he is unique, and he is one great guy. Of course, I am a bit partial toward my son, so what could you expect me to do except say he is the greatest hunting buddy a guy could have.

All the best,
Glenn B

Remember those 6 Muslims pulled off the USA Air flight...

...I think it was last week just before Thanksgiving. A lot has been said about how they were embarrassed, about how they were targeted because of their religion or their ethnicity, about how they were wronged. You hear those things mainly from them, their lawyer and the Muslim community - of course you also hear it from the good old ultra liberal leftist media in the USA. As usually you do not hear a lot of the fact, or so it has become apparent to me. These guys were not removed from an aircraft, then detained and questioned for 5 hours for nothing, that is not how the FBI operates. There had to be a reason, but who has reported it? Not many to none from what I can tell.

If you want to read some of the interesting alleged facts of this case, coming mostly from a first hand source, then go to Debbie Schlussel's site and look at the entry dated December 1, 2006 (you may have to scroll down as she adds other blogs. You can get to her site via this link: http://debbieschlussel.com/ It would not surprise me to find out the allegations made in the letter that Ms. Schlussel present us with were true, and therefore would not surprise me either that US news media did not report on it because they are truly, in great part, leftist to the extreme.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Big Move To Verizon Fios, Part 2...

Well they came, they uninstalled (my Cablevision), and they installed (the new Fios system). It took about 7 hours. The installer was a nice guy whos eemed to know what he was doing, although he did leave some things undone , and also left behind something that has not been resolved.

The installer got it all working but was unable to transfer my AOL favorites and address book to MSN. I wound up doing it; it took me a day to figure out how to do it so it worked. I think it may not have worked because the Verizon guy left behind a virus on my PC. I had checked it not too long before he was there. He installed something called Windows Defender to check for Spyware, and everytime it runs, my Norton AV says there is a virus called Downloader and removes it. Of course this could be a file named 'downloader' on the Windows Defender, but no one at Verizon has a clue in their Tech Service Department. If I do a complete virus scan when Windows defender has not run, the so called virus does not show up at all, its only when I do a scan and the Windows Defender remove spyware, any spyware. Go figure. Right about on par with Cablevision support, dumb as bricks, in my opinion. I am going to remove Windows Defender to see what happens.

As for the actual product, the FIOS is fast on downloads, super fast. The phone service seems the same as usual - yes we had that chaged too. Our television service is great, a better picture, and more channels, with free On demand from the premium channels to which we are subscribed. That sure beats Cablevision hands down.

The jury is still out for me on whether or not the change was worth it for my Internet service, but for the TV and phone it was worth it. If the Verizon tech service folks can figure out the virus thing, then all will be well worth it.

All the best,
Glenn B

On Blogging and BS'ing

Blogging on the Internet can be lots of fun, but that does not mean you have free license to BS people. Well maybe it does mean just that, so let me say it another way: It does not mean you should BS people in your rants and blogs.

Lately I have been surfing around the net looking for other blogs that interest me. Used to be I would visit only one pretty much, but I had a bit of a personal falling out with the person who wrote that blog, so I don't visit his site to contribute any longer. because of that I have had more time to view other people's blogs.

When it comes right down to it, without mentioning any names of bloggers or the addresses of their sites, I can say without a doubt that the Internet is full of people who are legends in their own minds, and maybe also in the minds of some twelve year old wanna be who read their outrageous claims to knowing just about everything, and therefore having done or being able to do just about everything. To me it is just so much more trash.

Sure, lots of folks out there are fonts of book knowledge (or other data) on any given particular subject, and that can be a good thing. Lots of other folks out there have an awful lot of practical experience (are actually well experienced) in a field and could be called experts at what they do, and that is also good. There are also folks out there who have the ability to have a lot of book knowledge on a topic, and also have a lot of practical knowledge on the same topic. This is not too hard to achieve, it would be a akin to a craftsman such as a carpenter or painter knowing their trade.

The thing is though it gets harder to accomplish when you start becoming an expert in multiple disciplines. I mean if you are an expert at the ins and outs of electronics in both book knowledge and practical experience, then it is more difficult to add on other multiple things to your expertise such as quantum physics, firearms, architecture, classical music, mathematics, grammar, gardening, barbecuing, driving, manual labor, self defense, martial arts, diplomacy, war and so forth. You get the picture. The more such topics you add to your repertoire - the more difficult it becomes for you to master them and become an expert - especially if you try to master both the academic and practical experience sides of the discipline. Sure you may be able to add on one or two other fields, but not many more, at which you could truly be considered to be an expert at both the academic and practical ends of the topic.

Of course you may be able to add more to your list of subjects in which you could be considered a true expert if you were to stick to only one type of knowledge for each field such as the book knowledge side as opposed to both the book and practical sides, or if you likewise just stick to the practical side. The easier way to go for most people seems to me to be the academic side; or in other words it is easier to become the armchair warrior, or the armchair stock broker, or the armchair surfer, or the armchair shooter, or the armchair political analyst, or the armchair health nut, or the armchair hiker, or the armchair fisherman, and on an on. This is not necassarily bad so long as the person admits his or her limitations.

The thing is though, it is easier still to bull shit. The Internet is full of self proclaimed experts who claim to be experts in multiple fields not only in an academic manner but also as practical experience gurus. From what I can see, many of they who are self proclaimed experts -you know the type - the ones always tooting their own horns about how great they are at doing this or that and they do about fifty different time consuming hobbies, plus work, plus have a family, plus have a life other than the Internet (well probably not really but they claim to). Not only do they spout off about their great list of practical accomplishments and feats, but they also know just about everything about everything. Yes, you know them, the know it alls on just about every subject. Some folks must believe them, just as some folks are extremely gullible, but I think they are just full of shit for the most part if not the great majority.

When someone tells you repeatedly they routinely carry out a practical exercise in any field, and that exercise (whatever action it maybe) takes a certain amount of hours to complete; then it stands to reason they devote so much time each (let's say) month to it. Then that same person tells you they have done something academic such as they read some books, like all of Shakespeare’s plays, in a month, and they also read a reloading manual and absorbed every bit of information and they often quote it to you, then they say they reloaded so many thousand rounds per month, well those things take time too. Then that same person tells you, 'hey you know I just built a new shed in my yard, and I decided to build a deck too, got it all done in three days; and while I was at it I built a tree house for my kids'. When you add up the time, you see they have used a lot of time devoted to their interests, hobbies, exercises and so forth. That is okay by me, but there is a problem. Then you find out that they work full time, yes at least 40 hours per week, and you remember they said they do all the above types of things religiously each month: like going to the range, and like building things, and like reading; and suddenly you realize they also work full time and they do sleep too - just like the rest of us. You also remember they spend many, many, many hours blogging and doing all sorts of other things on the Internet such as reading news reports (you know the ones they quote endlessly), participating in forums (in their multiple field of interest), and buying things with which they like to play.

When you really give it some thought, you figure out, 'hey wait a minute - it would take someone about 6 months to a year to do all the stuff that this joker just said he did in a month'; and you ask yourself how did he do it! If you did that you are apparently smarter than many because lots of folks just take whatever a blogger writes as hard cold truth. Too many folks just scratch their heads, or maybe their privates, as they read and munch on potato chips and drink soda while at the computer console (the keyboard nowadays) and don't even bother to question any of it because it makes them feel good to believe it all. As for me, I cannot stand self appointed demigods - their drivel makes me want to puke. In case you are not familiar with the term, here it is from Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: demi·god
Pronunciation: 'de-mE-"gäd
Function: noun
1 : a mythological being with more power than a mortal but less than a god
2 : a person so outstanding as to seem to approach the divine

I would much rather read the words of folks telling of their exploits, or sharing their knowledge, who readily and honestly admit their limitations. I prefer dealing with real people not blowhards who claim to frequently have done it all but never have or have done only little of it, or who look things up in Wikipedia (or elsewhere) when you ask them a question, and then claim they it as their own knowledge. Those who wish to attain the status of demigod can keep on blogging, but not wasting my time, because once I realize they are bullshitters I won't trifle with them again.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not that I cannot stand or tolerate those who talk about what they have actually done, or what they actually know, or even those who brag about it, or talk about it incessantly, or maybe even sometimes exaggerate a bit. What I cannot stand are those who have done it all, and who know it all, when in fact they are just about absolutely full of shit.

So when you see a link on my site, to the site of someone else, you cannot rest assured that I agree with them, or that I like them, or that their politics OR philosophies are the same as mine; BUT YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT I BELIEVE THEM TO BE HONEST IN THEIR RANTS WHEN DISCUSSING THEIR ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE, AND I BELIEVE THEY LIKELY HAVE DONE WHAT THEY SAY THEY HAVE DONE. If I think they are outright exageratting bullshitters and little more, well then - there is no place for them in my Grumps, Geeks and Geniuses link list on the right side of my page.

All the best,
Glenn B