Bizarro World Is Upon Us

If you doubt the title of this post, then just read this article Police: 29-Year-Old Sex Offender Conned 2 Arizona Men Into Thinking He Was 12, Attempted to Enroll in School FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245065,00.html.

When a 29 year old man attempts to enroll in a school as a 12 year old, and the police have to SPECULATE that such: "may have been an attempt to lure children into sexual abuse" you know something is terribly wrong. When the 29 year old man was reportedly living with two other men, with whom he reportedly was having sexual affairs, after conning them into believing he was a young boy, you know things are really getting weird. When one of those other men, a 61 year old, allegedly tried to enroll the 29 year old in grammar school as a 12 year old, he said he was the so called "boys" grandfather - it is going over the edge. When you realize that school officials caught this, realizing the so called boy looked a lot older than 12, you almost come back to the land of the sane, until you read on to find out that the 29 year old man may have actually already been enrolled in other schools where he pretended to be a child - and that folks is back into the realm of being out and out bonkers - how could anyone enroll this guy as a 12 year old - are they blind? Finally, when the two older men, the 61 year old, and a 43 year old, whom the 29 year old had conned into believing he was only 12, were told by police that the supposed 12 year old with whom they had been having sex was actually a 29 year old, they got upset about that - and that folks is absolute BIZARRO WORLD.

All in all 4 men were arrested, I do not see where the 4th guy came into it all, but am actually glad they did not say, or that I missed them saying it, just in the event it is beyond bizarro world, and therefore even too much for me to take.

So now tell me, what would be a fair sentence for these guys if convicted, maybe banishment to a leper colony, or being thrown into an active volcano. Certainly there is little place for them in the world of the quasi-normal even in a place like San Francisco, let alone the rest of the world. It just boggles the sensibilities that alleged monsters like these are out there.

I've been busy...

...at work, and at home; and just on the tired side when I have gotten home from work each night. Add to that I have not been sleeping all that well, and I have been too tired to post. Furthermore, the job sucks, I mean really sucks, and has me down a bit right now, and I have been debating retirement.

The result of all this has been that I haven't left a good rant since Tuesday. I will try to make up for it this weekend, and will try to be more regular, at least in my posting, in the future.

All the best,
Glenn B

Cody

Cody was pretty cool, very mellow. He came to us from a neighbor when she was moving away to Florida about 14 or 15 years ago. When my neighbor asked if we wanted to adopt one of her loved ones, I turned to my wife and told her it was her decision. My wife sort of cringed, felt compelled to say yes to her friend and neighbor, and we had a cat named Cody. She was pretty mad at me later on, and demanded to know why I had left it up to her instead of just saying no. I don’t know why for sure, maybe I just figured she and Cody would be good for one another, and besides that I liked cats – and liked Cody. Cody was already about 5 or 6 years old when we got him. All these numbers are as best as I recall, I may be off on how long ago we took him in, or how old he was when we took him in, but the one set of numbers I have pretty much right is his age. He was either 19 or 20 years old, when much to the sadness, we had to have him put to sleep.

Over the past 2 year, Cody was a thin eating machine. He could eat 3 full cans of cat food a day and not gain an ounce, some sort of old age ailment he had for the last 2 years of so. In fact he was very thin, very skinny. The vet could not figure exactly what was wrong with him. Maybe a cancer, maybe thyroid, maybe this or that, but the tests all came back okay a few times. So for the past two years we just fed him more than we had over all the other years he was in our company. Yet he got around okay though slower, was still friendly, played with the dogs, loved his catnip, and had a fairly good life right up through and including his old age.

That was until lately, a few weeks ago, when he started having some problems. He would sometimes do his dirty deeds in odd places in the house, and he looked dazed and confused oft times lately. He walked right into the fridge a few days ago. So my wife, Linda, had scheduled a trip to the vet for today to euthanize him. No one in the family, of course, was happy about it. I guess we were all sort of dreading it. As it wound up, Linda found out she had to work at the time of the appointment, so I was going to be the one to bring him in tonight. So yesterday, since I had off for MLK day, I spent some extra time with him in the house alone except for the dogs and us, and I fed him a nice meal of solid white meat tuna fish, and I gave him some cat nip to enjoy.

It is funny how fate takes a hand in things. No one in the family, not Celina, Brendan, Linda or I was ready to see him depart – he seemed okay most of the time, but I’ll admit that all to often he was failing in his abilities. Then yesterday, while he was eating his tuna dinner, he fell off the ledge where his cat bowl was kept to be out of reach of the family dogs. I went to investigate the tumbling noise on the stairs that had set all 3 dogs to yapping; and I saw him struggling to right himself. Cody seemed dazed, but he went right back to the tuna. He finished most of it. Then he went into the living room and I noticed he was swaying, he did not seem able to control his back legs all that well. That was one of his symptoms a couple of years ago when he first got ill and lost weight, but we had not seen that in quite a long time. After awhile he went back to finish the tuna. Some time after that I noticed he was really walking/falling like a drunken sailor. I picked him up and I laid him in one of his favorite spots for a nap. Soon after he was up and stumbling again. I got him, held him petted him, and he slept for while.

Somewhere in there my wife called me and I had to pick her up from work. I told my wife she must have had some timing to have made an appointment for Cody for the following day because he had gotten really bad that afternoon. On the way back home, Brendan, our son, called to say Cody was at the bottom of the cellar stairs not moving. That was where I had left Cody sleeping. Brendan had gotten home from a friend’s house while I was out, and found Cody in his poor state. Linda told Brendan to call the vet, which is what I had figured to do when we had gotten home, but since Brendan works there I guess it was better for him to call.

When Linda and I got home, Brendan and I were soon off to the vet. We checked in, were told we would have to wait a long time, then decided to wait at home for the vet to call us in since we only lived a few minutes away. This gave Linda and Celina a short while more with Cody, and gave Cody a short while more in the comfort of home. The call back to the vet came too short a time later; and Brendan and I found ourselves back at the vet’s office. My wife had tears in her eyes each time we had left with Cody, and my daughter seemed pretty upset too. We waited in the reception are a short time, then Brendan was called into one of the examination rooms with Cody. He came out a few seconds later. A minute or so after that he was called back in to see Cody, already gone then, for the last time. At least it was very quick, and I suppose painless.

It is hard to lose a friend of many years, even when the friend was just a cat named Cody. Remember how I said Linda had cringed, then got mad at me, because I said it was up to her as to whether or not we took in Cody from our neighbor. Well guess who cried the most that Cody was gone? She loved him an awful lot, they had been good for one another indeed! How could we not love him? Cody was a good cat, friendly, and he loved my kids a lot. He used to sleep with each when they were younger. As one grew older, he slept with the other. Then last year he started to sleep downstairs. I guess old age was catching up, or was it because our newest dog, a baby Chihuahua slept downstairs, and Cody wanted to sleep with the youngster in the house. I think that may have been it, because that is where he slept, with the puppy. He always got along pretty good with our dogs too, once he was introduced to them. He liked to curl up on our laps when we watched TV; that is when our Dachshund was not already in his spot. He was just an all around good family cat. It may have been our imaginations, but yesterday even the dogs seemed to know something was afoot with Cody. They seemed to be paying more attention to him just before we left for the vet, and seemed somewhat skittish. We are all going to miss him very much, but we will also remember the long and good life he had with us with some happiness in our hearts.

All the best,
GB

"We will kill all Thai Buddhists"...

... was the content of a note found after two people, both apparently Buddhists, were killed in Thailand, according to the article: Three killed in southern Thailand @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6260245.stm. As per the article, a third person was also killed, apparently in a separate, but yet related, incident; at least related in my eyes. The things, I think, that relate the killings are that:

1) It is suspected they were committed by Islamic Militants (in other words Muslim Terrorists).

2) The killings all took place in Thailand.

3) The killings follow a predictable course of events following the spread of Islam.

The predictable course of events of which I wrote above is that: Wherever Islam has spread or attempted to plant itself, violence has erupted; and the violence is virtually always that caused by Islamists who are seeking to spread Islam. In that course of events, if one examines it, one will find that the violence is primarily directed at those who are not Islamic. Muslims around the world simply do not tolerate other faiths or those who practice faiths other than Islam. Islam has sought to spread itself around the globe at the cost of the lives of those who do not believe in its tenets. This has been seen time and time again since shortly after the inception of said so called religion.

Examples of what I just said can be found throughout the history of Islam. Islam has conquered many nations and faiths through use of force and is trying the same in many more today: Spain was conquered by force. Kafiristan, or land of the infidels, now Nuristan was taken over by force. Afghanistan was held captive by a certain brand of Islam through use of terror and force. Much violence was needed to acquire Pakistan. Violence started by Islamists has taken place recently in the following, which is certainly not an all inclusive list: Israel, Palestine, India, Nigeria, England, Thailand, Malaysia, Iraq, France, Turkey, Denmark, England, The United States of America, Bali, Australia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Russia, and on and on. Even China recently raided an Islamic terrorist training camp within its borders. Islamic violence has taken place, within the last year, on every continent with the exception of Antarctica and the possible exception of South America (and maybe has taken place in SA unknown to me).

In other words, wherever Islam takes root, it commences violence. This violence is usually of an abhorrent nature to those of us who are not Muslim. Beheadings, torturing before killing, targeting and killing of innocent children and other innocents, killing of the religious, and so forth are all par for the course once Islam has arrived in a country. Furthermore in the aftermath of Islam arriving in a nation, sectarian violence then breaks out once Islam is established, in order to determine which sect or branch of Islam will be in control. Apparently, unless a country is governed by an iron fist, there is no peace in an Islamic nation; and therefore peace is only maintained through threat of violence.

Are you getting the picture about Islam? If you doubt at all, who is our enemy, just look at an unbiased history of Islam and how it has effected its own spread around the world. If you doubt for a moment that Islam wishes to conquer the world, then go back and read that history again. Despite anything that any Muslim tells you to the contrary, the history of Islam is one of violent conquest of other faiths and of nations. I believe that Islam needs to be dealt with accordingly. Either a reformation, a Renaissance of sorts, or through warfare to defeat it. Make no mistake about it, change to Islam is needed, needed quickly, and in immense proportions, before we all fall victim to it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Bearded Dragons are among my favorite dragons...

...yes I said bearded dragons; and for those of you who think I am talking about something out of the Hobbit, or a fairy tale by the brothers Grimm, well - think again. What I am talking about is something just as fabulous, maybe even more so because what I am talking about is a real living, breathing (not fire), dragon, even if of a diminutive size.

These lizards, for lizards they are, make one of the best all around reptile pets that money can buy; or that you can catch if you are lucky enough to live in Australia where they are indigenous. Instead of chasing down and eating knights in armor, or dwarves and elves, these critters eat things like crickets, super-worms, leafy plants like red leaf lettuce, mustard greens and the like, and other vegetables like green beans, lima beans, cauliflower, broccoli, shredded carrots, corn, tomatoes, and some fruit (that is at least in captivity).

These are a desert species so like their wild kin they like it hot. They need a basking spot under a heat lamp where the temperature will reach about 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and of course they need a cooler area in their enclosure down to the 80's during the day; the whole set up can get to the low seventies at night. Despite being a desert lizard, they do need water, at least a misting every other day so they can drink.

Their temperament is one of the best of the lizard species normally found available in the pet trade. They rarely, if ever, bite in defense, though sometimes bluff with gaping mouth if alarmed. They normally calm down and take very well to frequent handling. They are fairly easy to care for so long as you supply them with a large enough enclosure - about a minimum of a 35 gallon long tank for a sexed pair (don't keep males together they are extremely territorial with one another), a UV light source such as a florescent reptile bulb, a heat source (such as a ceramic heat emitter or incandescent bulb), a timer for the lights, a branch on which to bask, some stones or bricks on which to bask and keep their nails trimmed, play-sand or another suitable substrate, crickets, vegetable matter, and water. I would also highly recommend buying a book on how to care for them, and reading it in full before even seriously considering purchasing one or more. A good care sheet can be found on the Internet @ http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/sheet16.htm.

I picked up a beautiful pair of these last week, the female is up above, the male to the left. I am hoping to either resell them in a quick turn around, or if not, then to breed them if I still have them in 7 to 8 months when adults. They are about 4 months old now. Since a female can produce up to 30 eggs in one clutch, I could make a nice little bit of spare change for my hobby if mine is very productive and all the eggs hatch. I won't count my bearded dragons until then though, that is until the eggs hatch; and I won't count the eggs until they are laid. That is a long way off if I keep them. For now, I am just going to enjoy them, and I figured I share their pics with you.

Oh yeah, one last thing - what's in a name. Bearded Dragons are so called because when excited they tend to puff up a bit and bluff, when they do so, a patch on their throat darkens and puffs out markedly. It looks very much like a beard, especially since there are lots of little pointy scales on the skin there, like stubble of a beard.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reserving Sundays...

...for rants that are not about doom, gloom, terrorism, killing, war and so forth, is an idea that popped up in my head this evening - heck I mean tonight - since it's dark already. I am kind of toying with the idea being that two earlier rants of mine today were wiped off the virtual face of Bloggosphere by whatever computer heebie-geebies are out (or is it in) there. They were about terrorism, so maybe there is some power greater than my keyboard that did not want them posted, though I seriously doubt it. I figure it was just me screwing up. Well anyhow, that sort of helped put the idea in my head, that is along with me doing things I enjoy more on Sundays than I enjoy writing about the nasty side. So I am fairly certain I won't be blogging about the nastier things on Sundays for at least awhile.

What I think I’ll mostly be ranting about on Sundays is stuff that I find to be on the enjoyable side. Those things would include my hobbies, and other interests like: keeping and breeding herps (reptiles and amphibians) books I have read, firearms, shooting, hunting, fishing, movies I have watched, photography, philosophy, beers and ales, other spirits, and so on. More on this later…

All the best,
Glenn B

I have tried to post blogs...

...a couple of times earlier this morning, each time they have disappeared. I am almost willing to bet this silly one goes through.

I don't have any more time to waste trying to get these to post properly, so I'll post something tonight.

Ballseye's Boomers - The M1 Carbine...

...is a shooter that I have always sort of wanted, but I never found one at my price level that was in decent condition. I would even have gone for a newly made copycat edition, but most of them were junk, and when good ones were made I was broke.

I am still rather hopeful that I may be able to get one, and maybe in the not too distant future. You see the CMP says they are about to place M1 carbines up for sale, possibly in March 2007. I almost cannot contain my excitement over this one, they usually have extremely competive prices on real military firearms. Hopefully they will have some decent ones up for sale, nothing fancy, I don't need an M1 made by Singer or anything like that. Just a run of the mill good shooter in nice condition, at a decent price, is all I ask.

Go here for the info straight from the source: http://www.odcmp.com/rifles/carbine.htm

All the best,
Glenn B

A Good man I once Knew...

...was very fond of saying:

The earth has no gravity, it just sucks!

Think about it. Is the saying funny, serious, deep, witty, irreverant, just plain out rambunctious, or all of the above? As for me, I think they were words of a certain sort of witty wisdom from a fun loving guy who had a great outlook on life.

In loving memory of Leo Ladney (aka: Leo The Lad), he has been too long a time gone, and missed much all those years.

All the best,
Glenn B

Does Nifong Think This Will get Him Off The Hook...

...because that is all I can think of as the reason he has finally recused himself from this case by requesting he be taken off of it, and a special prosecutor assigned to it. See North Carolina Attorney General Agrees to Mike Nifong's Request to Be Removed From Duke Lacrosse Case @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243602,00.html. It is absolutely amazing, to me, that the courts did not already remove him from the case prior to his request. I find it hard to believe that he was not been suspended from his official duties by his department. That the physical evidence indicates she had sex with others than the accused and showed no DNA of the accused, that she then reportedly changed her story to say she was unsure if they had actual penetrating sex with her, that she reportedly (as per a Fox News Channel story this morning) now says she is unsure if it was 3 or 2 who attacked her as opposed to the story all along until now that it had been 3, and that the physical evidence and reports were allegedly covered up by Nifong all seem to me to indicate that Nifong should go, be charged adminsitratively, and maybe even be charged criminally. He has apparently, as I see it, just screwed this case up royally, quite possibly for political gain.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sometimes Miracles Happen...

...and in the case of the arrest of Michael Devlin, the miracle was a double one beyond almost all hope.

See Missing Boys William 'Ben' Ownby, Shawn Hornbeck Found Alive in Missouri @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243479,00.html. The double miracle is of course that both of these boys were found alive, the beyond almost all hope part of it was that Shawn Hornbeck was missing since 2002.

According to this article, police serving a warrant on someone else noticed a truck matching the description of one seen in the area where William 'Ben' Ownby disappeared about 5 days ago. According to a report I saw of Fox News (on television) a neighbor of Devlin, living in the same apartment complex, notified the warrant serving police of the vehicle - great observation and great watching out for others by whoever it was). However that vehicle was discovered, the cops then got things in motion, resulting in a search warrant being executed on Devlin's apartment. The result was the discovery of the two boys, a joyous discovery for their families I am sure, and a miraculous discovery at that considering that one of the boys had been missing for over 4 years.

There is another miracle to all of this, and without that little miracle having taken place, these boys would probably not have been found, certainly not when they were found anyhow. That other miracle was that a school mate, and friend, of Ben Ownby told the police that he/she had seen a pick up truck with a camper shell in the area when Ben disappeared. The friend gave police, from what I understand, a good description of the truck. Without the alertness, without the good observation, of that other youngster - these two children may still have been missing for years.

There is a lot more in the article, not just about how the children were found, but on such things as the strain this puts the families of the missing children through. The parents of Ben were obviously still searching for him throughout 5 days of hoping that he would be found alive; the parents of Shawn had gone through 4 years of absolute hell, a hell I am sure would have engulfed the lives of the Owbys too.

As for Michael Devlin, well in my opinion, it is now time to put him on trial and to do so swiftly. If he is found guilty of these abductions, if he is found guilty of sexually molesting these childen, then I believe he should be sent to hell. The only way I know of getting there is through death, and if he is guilty of such crimes I believe the death penalty is what he should receive. If nothing else good comes of his death, we would all be assured he would never commit such crimes again, that is of course, dependent upon his being found guilty.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Harsh Reality of Life...

...is that as you grow older, you wind up seeing more and more of the people you know pass away. Death awaits us all, some sooner than later. Now while I am quite understanding that it is our inevitable end, it is still hard for me, as I suppose it is for anyone else, to lose those whom we have known over the years. Growing older is not an easy thing for more than just physical reasons such as your health. The stress of losing loved ones, friends, associates, coworkers is always with you, the older you become, the more you lose.

Last week I lost a pretty good friend, he was a coworker. He was 68 and died of a heart attack. He apparently thought he had indigestion, or maybe he refused to admit to himself it may have been a heart attack. His death probably could have been prevented by going to the hospital or calling 911. He was in pain for many hours before he died, all the classic heart attack symptoms, pain in the chest, tightening, a feeling of indigestion, then pain in the left arm. He died on New Year's day. What a shame. He was a good man.

Another person I knew passed away two days ago, I got word of it yesterday. He was 58, and while he was not a close friend, he had been a coworker of many years who had been retired now for about 6 or 7 years. While we were not close friends, we were on friendly terms, and I really liked the guy. He died of lung cancer, another thing that maybe could have been avoided. He had his quirks but he was a good guy too.

I had not seen either in at least a couple of years for one, and several for the other, yet that does not make it easier when people we know die, sometimes it makes it harder for us to accept, to cope with. Yeah, I know, we all have to go, death is unavoidable, at least for mortal men. It just is damned hard seeing people go like that as you grow older. Heck I thought seeing almost everyone I have worked with over the years retire before me was tough, it does not even compare to seeing them pass away. They will be missed, forever - as long as my forever lasts.

All the best,
Glenn B

More Troops to Iraq Maybe that is what is needed...

...then again maybe it is not. I am not too sure on the president's call to send 21,000 or so more of our brave men and women to that hell hole; but then again I am happy it is not my decision to make; and I do support him having made it. My guess would be that the president himself is not 100% sure this tactic will work either, but he has made the decision. I do not envy him his job right now.

Something else in his plan though, is likely to give our fighting men and women, and the armed forces of Iraq, a much better chance at beating down the terrorists. That will be our changing our rules of engagement. While the president was not very specific about exactly which of the rules would be changed, and to just how they would change, the implication is that the armed forces will now be allowed to act as if they are actually fighting a war and hunt down and kill our enemies instead of trying to be policemen who are overly concerned with getting sued if they do not bend over backwards to honor the civil rights of the criminals with whom they deal. One can only hope so, that is one who truly wishes to see victory in Iraq, and who wishes to see a smashing blow dealt to the terrorist pigs whom we are fighting. If you have not heard his speech or read the transcript, please do so by going to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242958,00.html

Doing something proactive, taking the bull by the horns, is the only way to win in Iraq. Our leaving would be a disaster not only for the people of Iraq, but for the United States and much of the rest of the world in that it would provide a base for terrorists much as Afghanistan had been. We are there now and we need to finish the job we started to protect our freedoms. lease do not doubt this war is helping to do just that since the terrorists have concentrated much of their strength in Iraq. So if we can destroy them there - we do a great deal to weaken them worldwide, and therefore make it less likely they will again attack on our soil. Thus this protects us all.

It was once said that the cost of freedom was perpetual vigilance. When you think of it though, perpetual vigilance is not enough. There is a higher price to pay for freedom. If you are only vigilant without taking action then you will just see your freedom destroyed by your enemies. The cost of freedom requires not only perpetual vigilance, but perpetual willingness to take action to protect freedom. I do not like the prospect of seeing my own son over there, he is 17 and will be 18 before it is all over. He is at the age when duty often calls. Although I hope he goes to college first before entering the military, the choice is his alone. So I know that should my son decide to enlist and go, I would honor his decision as he would be honoring the USA. I like any other loyal U.S. citizen seeing do not like to see U.S. troops being injured and killed, they are all our children or our brothers and sisters, or even our parents. Yet as much as it is abhorrent to see them be injured or die, it is more abhorrent yet to see aircraft full of innocent people slamming into skyscrapers, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania; it is more abhorrent still to hear the cries for help of the innocents as they called 911 saying a plane had hit the building and it was on fire and they needed help; it was more abhorrent still to see people falling through the air after they had jumped out of the burning twin towers to escape the flames, at least one hopelessly flapping his or her arms like wings in a hopeless attempt to cheat death.

Yes, even though I do not know if President George W. Bush is making the right decision, as only time will tell, I have to go along with the decision he has made if only because he is not turning his back, and the back of the USA, away from what needs to be done to protect us all, and to defeat an enemy that has avowed again and again to utterly destroy us, and those vows were made long before we entered Iraq. No I do not envy him his job, but I have faith in his decision and hope it will work out right, after all - we are fighting for our lives and our freedoms, and life is not worth anything without the freedom to live it.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Story About One Heck of A Man...

...who is married to one heck of a woman.

There are all sorts of stories out in the world of which legends are later made, and this has got to be one of them. If a legend or two does not result from this one, then at least a few darned good stories told by dads, and grand dads, to awe struck little boys and girls who dream of adventure will be told. I imagine this will also make for some animated conversations at the local pubs.

You all know that I am in law enforcement, so you may expect me to be a bit biased toward police officers, though in reality I am not; but when you read this story I think you may agree with all I said above. You probably also will agree that this officer was one lucky guy. What I am talking about is the terrorizing encounter an Australian police officer had with death, and his amazing survival. His survival was apaprently due much to his own efforts, but also to those of his wife, also a police officer. You can read all about it at FoxNews.com in the article Wife Rescues Husband from Jaws of a Giant Crocodile @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242501,00.html.

Apparently the officer went for a swim at a beach in Australia. While in the water, he was attacked by a 10 foot crocodile, bitten around the head and shoulders, and dragged under water. Shortly after the attack, they surfaced, and he was able to free himself from the croc's jaws. He was able to swim away from it, and his wife, who was in some sort of a boat, got the boat between her man and the croc. She then pulled him out of the water. That would have been enough for most folks Other people, not police officers, may have thought only of getting out of there after that. Well not the Tanswells (what a name for beach goers - Tanswell). What they did next was to make sure that others in the water got out safely, and Mrs. Tanswell picked up other swimmers in the area.

Was she a hero? I'll bet that Mrs. Tanswell does not think that of herself, but I would bet her husband does. Maybe a few of the other swimmers think likewise. Whatever you think, she was one cool lady, who did what needed to be done when the SHTF; and Mr. Tanswell - well he was one lucky guy.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Insidious Plague of...

Islamo Terrorism just keeps spreading as quietly as it can as evidenced in an article I just read. This article is a really enlightening piece, even though quite brief: Chinese Police Kill 17 in Raid on Al Qaeda-Linked Terror Training Camp. It can be seen on Foxnews. com at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242331,00.html

The interesting thing, the scar thing, the thing that should be setting off alarm bells, is that the Islamo terrorists have now made their way into China, and they have set upr training base(s) therein. At least the Chinese seemingly know how to handle them - with swifteness and with great and deadly force. Of course, the critics of the Chinese government are already saying that the Chinese government uses claims of attacks againt Islamists as a ruse to actually cover up attacks of pro-freedom groups in remote parts of China. As for me, for now, I choose to believe they are actually doing the right thing, and trying to keep their own nation as their own nation. I doff my cap to them for their efforts at eliminating Islamo Terrorists.

All the best,
Glenn B

An Abomination of Natural order....

...is how I view the Ontario (as in Canada, not the speedway) court's decision to declare that a child now has three parents: his natural father, his natural mother, and his natural mother's lesbian lover. This is, in my opinion. a disgrace. It is also an obvious product of liberalism gone berserk. It goes to prove what Michael Savage has said for years: "Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder'.

Seee the article: Court Gives Ontario Boy Three Parents at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242302,00.html

All the best,
Glenn B

Bully for the USA...

...maybe this time around we will get it right in Somalia. It sure seems as if we are headed in the right direction, and I think it is about time we followed the lead of the Ethiopians and the Somalian Government in trying to eradicate the Islamo vermin in that country.

See the article: U.S. Launches Attack on Suspected Al Qaeda Members in Somalia at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242460,00.html

All the best,
Glenn B

Whether they said it or not, whether they really plan it or not...

...the word has gotten out, even if only rumor, and it does not matter at all in the one up-man’s-ship of the New Cold War whether this is a real threat or not. Now it is up to Iran to make its move.

Of course I am talking about Israel denying, a report in the TimesOnLine, that Israel has drawn up plans to attack Iran's nuclear processing sites with nuclear weapons. The denial can be seen in this article Israel Denies Claims It's Preparing Nuke Attack on Iran at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242261,00.htm

The original TimesOnLine article: Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran can be seen at TimesOnline.co.uk @ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2535310_1,00.html

It is all very interesting, and it is quite intense stuff; maybe more intense for the youngsters of today than for us almost over the hill old grumps; but we older folks have all lived through times like these before - yes terrorism running amok, war casualties mounting (much worse than the current one), and a Cold War making us all dirty our panties now and again as our knees shook with fearful anticipation of Armageddon. The Cold War has come and gone for us, but maybe has been born again - and the younger folk among you are new to it as it is new to you. Right now though, let me say, the reported threats in the articles sound a lot like Cold War Rhetoric. Although I must also point out, as history has shown, a lot of the rhetoric of the first Cold War came all to close to: the buttons actually being pushed on both sides, the missiles flying, and the bombers bombing - all with nukes.

Let's hope all this amounts to is rhetoric, but if ever a country needed to be nuked, you can bet it would either be Iran or North Korea. No I am not advocating nuclear strikes if there would be another way to disarm Iran's nuclear capabilities; but if it comes down to the utter destruction of Israel, or to the destruction of Iran's nuclear capabilities, I would opt for the second option. Same would hold true for North Korea if they threaten Japan, or another country, with nukes.

All the best,

Glenn B

Light Ranting...

...will be it for this weekend, and I'll not get a chance to post anything else until tonight. I was out all day yesterday, and when I did get home, I had stuff to do that kept me away from the computer. It will be much the same today, at least until this evening when I'll try to get back to my usual self again with a bit of ranting, moaning, complaining, or philosophizing once again. Until then - later for you.

All the best,
Glenn B

"No More Mr. Nice Guy"...

...is exactly what the USA, and for that matter the rest of the non-Muslim world, should be telling to the Muslim world; and it is about time that when we say it - we mean it. People need to awaken to the reality that the followers of Islam are either hell bent upon the conquest of the rest of the world either by conversion or by killing and destruction, or that they acquiesce to the wishes of those within said faith who strive for such. Sure, there may be a small handful of the faithful of Islam who speak out against the terror tactics espoused by al-Qaeda and other such Islamic groups (note I did not say Extremist Islamic Groups - if only because they seem to me to be the norm and not the extreme for Islam); but for the great majority it seems apparent that they either outwardly take part in Islamic terror tactics, outwardly support them, secretly support them, agree with their tactics, or sheepishly keep quiet and do nothing to stop them. There are very few indeed who actually do anything to fight them. As I see it, this all amounts to supporting terrorism, and religious or not it is still terrorism that needs to be squashed.

This phenomenon of supporting the terrorists either actively and outwardly, or by way doing nothing to stop them, is not one that is limited to those of the Islamic faith. There are many of other faiths, and of other belief systems such as atheism, who do likewise. In the case of those who are not Muslims, the strange thing about it is that they who do nothing are offering themselves up to these Islamic terrorists as the lambs ready for slaughter. With actual lambs, I can understand them coming willingly to be slaughtered. They just do not know better, they are dumb animals after all. With people, it should be another thing. We are, after all, beings with a higher intelligence. Isn't it then about time that we use our intelligence to recognize the threat before us, and then to neutralize the threat, to do away with it to the point where it is absolutely no longer a threat? I think so, and I am flabbergasted that the rest of the world apparently does not yet realize it is time to do so.

Of course there are some in the world who realize this, and who have gone at it with some determination. The current president of the USA is one person who has done so, but even he is swayed by public opinion from many who are squeamish about facing down our enemy; many who apparently have become so comfortable in their squeamish ways of life as to wish for nothing else than to close their eyes to the problem and hope it goes bye-bye. The truth of the matter is a bit different though. The problem is not a fantasy boogie-man, it is not a daydream or a nightmare - it is real and it wants us dead and out of the way. No matter how much you hide your head in the sand, the beast is still going to gleefully rip you apart if you are not willing to defend yourself. Hiding will not help, ignoring the problem will not help, trying to shift blame for the problem to others rather than those truly responsible will not help. The only thing that will help, is a swift, concentrated, effort to destroy the enemy. This effort may be bloody. It may well cause us great loss of life, but if done with an unflinching determination, well then it will cost our enemy more in our enemy's utter defeat. What we, as a nation need to do, is to literally stop being Mr. Nice Guy, and start allowing our military, our intelligence agencies, and our law enforcement to do what needs to be done regarding terrorism - that is to literally terminate our enemy in order to preserve ourselves. It is not just we who need to do so, it is the rest of the world that needs to realize such and join us in achieving this goal.

Now you may be wondering exactly what has brought on this rant at this particular time. Well, I submit to you that you read the following article: Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri Calls for Jihad in Somalia at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,241739,00.html. While the title of the article can give you a good clue as to what prompted me to write this piece, let me point out a quote or two from the article that are of great significance:

"A Web video of Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, surfaced Thursday and called on Muslims throughout the Middle East to wage a jihad against Ethiopian forces occupying Somalia."

Okay we have all heard stuff like this before, but as history will show, we have certainly not yet done enough to answer such a threat. These types of threats are made again and again, and for some reason we keep ignoring them, or at least act as they are not pertinent to us regarding our own survival. Several years ago, it was the USA who was the great Satan, and we were threatened. Then we were attacked. Then we responded with a counter attack, but apparently not with sufficient force or determination; you see if we had been sufficiently determined I am pretty certain we would have won by now. Much of the rest of the world hesitated to join us, and they who did also seemed to lack the necessary resolve to end the threat. While we have hesitated, while our allies have waffled, our Islamic enemy continued and continues to attack us, continues to attack our allies, continues to attack they who are neutral to us, and even continues to attack some of our enemies. Our Islamic enemies are not particular about who they attack, so long as their brand of Islam will win out in the end. That would be a brand of Islam that led to the attacks on 9/11, and that conquered and enslaved the population of Afghanistan. It is a brand of Islam that makes statements such as the following quote, words reported by the above linked article to be those of al-Zawahiri calling upon other Muslims to fight non-Islamists:

"You have to use ambushes and mines, and raids and suicidal attacks until you rend and eat your prey as the lion does with his prey,"

Read that, then think about it, then read it again and think some more about it. Then take a good look at a map of the world. When looking at that map try to think of all the countries on the map that have had: Muslim insurgencies, or Islamic terrorist attacks in the past 25 years, then go back 50 years, then keep going back to the birth of Islam. After you think of the ones that you can think of, then go to news archives of any major news reporting service and do a search for Islamic violence throughout the world. The amazing thing that I think you will discover is that Islam, seemingly since shortly after its inception, has been a religion that has sought to spread itself around the globe, and that it has consistently done so by violent means. Not only have they done so by violence, but the violence used is often extremely cruel and abhorrent in that it targets innocents instead of just other combative forces. Each time another group of people be it religious or national is conquered by Islam, it seems that the bodies of those who opposed Islam are piled high. Islam continues this today, it continues its apparent goal of world domination at any cost to those who oppose Islam, and don't get me wrong because by oppose I mean those who have different beliefs than do Islamists. You will not escape by hiding your head in the sand of your own belief system whatever that may be.

Since the track record of Islam seems to be the same for hundreds of years, you would think the rest of the world would have made some unified concerted efforts to stop the threat, yet such is not being done effectively. It really is time to not only say: 'No More Mr. Nice Guy'; it is time to get down to the nasty business of a real war, and attack and destroy our enemy's ability to destroy us. It is a matter of our survival. They, who are not Muslims, have realized this in Somalia and Ethiopia. Some, but few other nations are making at least a weak effort. Some of us in the USA have come to the same conclusion, but we are yet way too divided on the issue despite the continued ranting and worldwide violent actions of Islamic terrorists, and despite the acquiescence of the rest of Islam to stop them.

I don't know how to convince all of those threatened that if we do not terminate the threat, the threat will no longer be a threat, it will instead be a victory for our enemies, and we will be the defeated. I do know I can do my small part by giving you my thoughts on the matter here. You can do your part too, you too can try to wake up those who have buried their heads in the sand, give them a good figurative kick in their asses to bring them around to reality and remind them often of the enemy whose only goal seemingly is our conquest by conversion, or our destruction, at any cost.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reading The News Is Becoming a Chore...

...and not very enjoyable for me lately. It is not because I find it difficult to read because I now wear eyeglasses, nor that the news is boring or otherwise uninteresting. The fact of the matter is, that at least in my opinion, I find many of the news articles written today to be less than pleasurable to read because they are, in my opinion, written so poorly. Allow me to provide a link to an example of what I mean at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6230809.stm, which is a link to an article Somali militia 'still in hiding' appearing on the BBC.com. The article is, in essence, about the hunt by government forces for Islamists in Ethiopia and Somalia. It is a subject that interests me greatly, yet this article just had me shaking my head because of how it was written. Read it yourself, and see if you can guess what it is about this article that bothers me.

Done reading yet? Okay, if finished, now let me explain my discontent. The article is written in bullet format. Their is not a single paragraph from what I can see; instead there are bullets - or single sentences that give bits of stand alone information. Reports like that, ones that use a bullet format, are often used in government circles in order to quickly brief superiors about ongoing events. They are, or should be, backed up by in depth reports. Reports in the written news media should be, in my opinion, in depth reports, not bullet reports. Bullet reports just tend to show me a lack of writing ability on the part of the reporter, a lack of being able to cover a topic in depth, a lack of being able to take all the points of interest in an article and put them together in a story line that flows from one point to another in a connected, and literally well done, sort of way. This is usually done by writing in composition format, with liberal use of the invention called the paragraph. This is the type of article with which I am most comfortable, the type I find most enjoyable to read, and the type which seems to show that the author has actually used some literary skill to write.

Why is it, I wonder, that the media has turned toward use of bullet style reports is beyond me. Don't they think that more than a sentence or two at a time can hold the attention of the reader? Or is it that the crop of reporters and writers today find it difficult to write anything longer than a sentence at a time, that they cannot hold their train of thought long enough to connect things in a paragraph? I ask those questions in all seriousness. I mean, just look at the article to which I supplied the link, it is made up almost entirely one sentence length bullets. There is one, by my count, two sentence bullet - one part of that whole article that is longer than just a single sentence, and that part has a whopping two sentences! I think none of them even barely qualify as a paragraph.

Don't get me wrong; there are times that the bullet format should be used, but the time to use such a format is not, in my opinion, in a lengthy article or other composition. Bullet reporting is quite useful during time of emergency when all the niceties need to be cut away and the point needs to be reached immediately. Bullet style reporting is also great when there is limited space or time to report for reasons other than emergency; for example on radio news shows, on television news when some runs down the headlines, in print when their is limited space to report on a subject, and so forth. It just irks me when I see this type of reporting used on a daily basis in full length articles.

Of course not every news report is written like the one to which I linked, but all too many of them are being written like that, it seems to be a growing trend. It is certainly not just limited to articles found on the BBC either. I have read similar articles at CNN.com and at FoxNews.com, as well as in local newspapers. I don't know where the writers who write like this learned to write, but my bet is they did not get the same type of education that I was given by Dominican nuns in grammar school, and by Franciscan brothers in high school. Had I tried to hand in compositions written like this when I was in grammar school, or in high school, my knuckles would have been raw, and I would have stayed after class, each day for a week, writing compositions using paragraphs, in order to tell a story in a seemingly coherent and flowing format.

I guess times are changing, but my preferences will remain the same at least with regard to the styles of writing I prefer to read.

All the best,
Glenn B

God Has Spoken To Pat Robertson,...

...at least according to Pat Robertson. In what is claimed to have been a divine revelation, God has allegedly told Mr. Robertson of impending disaster in the USA in 2007. As per a report: Religious Broadcaster Pat Robertson Predicts Horrific Terrorist Attack on U.S. in 2007 at FoxNew.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240841,00.html, Mr. Robertson reportedly claimed that God told him there would be a terrorist attack in 2007 that would "result in "mass killing" late in 2007". Apparently God also told Mr. Robertson that "major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack". Of course he does not divulge the type of attack, such as will it be nuclear, biological, chemical or conventional; you would think God would have told him that important little bit of information so we could prepare; but I guess not.

The Fox article goes onto give Mr. Robertson’s track record, I believe only in part, as to his past predictions of, relative to when the predictions were made, future world events. For example they say that in 2004 he predicted that George W. Bush would "easily" defeat Kerry in the elections. Bush won a close one as I recall, but he did win. The thing is that I predicted that one myself, so did lots of other people, and I did it to the best of my knowledge without divine intervention. Heck I had a 50/50 chance, actually even better than that since Kerry was such a loser even before the elections.

The article also points out that Robertson predicted, in 2005, that George W. Bush would appoint conservative judges to the courts. Wow, was that really a prediction for which God had to waste his precious time in divulging the info. I mean, doesn't Pat Robertson think that God has a better way of spending his time than divulging such absolute no brainers to him. Then again, maybe that was not a divine revelation, maybe that was just a prediction that Pat Robertson made on his own. In which case, I would ask: doesn't Pat Robertson have a better way to spend his time than to predict absolute no brainers?

Mr. Robertson is quoted, in essence, as telling us that sometimes he misses in his predictions but has a good track record nonetheless. This comes right after the article tells us that Mr. Robertson got it wrong on a prediction about Social Security, him saying the president's version would be voted in, yet it was defeated. The article ends up telling us that Robertson also predicted storms, maybe a Tsunami would hit the U.S. coast in 2006. No Tsunami, but we did have storms on both coasts as I recall, even heavy ones. We also probably had storms even in Hawaii. Can you imagine that, storms hit our coastlines, and this was a prediction made by Mr. Robertson, this time again based upon divine revelation. It is mind boggling (at least to me) that God is telling things like this to Mr. Robertson isn't it? I mean aren't there many more important things that God should be telling him to tell us.

Now I will not suggest anything about the nature of these alleged revelations to Mr. Robertson, nor will I suggest anything about Mr. Robertson's character. I will let you decide on those things for yourselves. Yet, I will ask that if you wanted to build a track record on predictions, in order to suck in a lot more people and make them believe that God really communicates with you on a regular basis, for whatever ultimate goal, what would you do? Would you make a large number of predictions that were virtually sure things, like about an upcoming election result which the polls indicated, as I recall, would be won by the guy he predicted would win? Or more certain still would you predict that a conservative president would nominate/appoint conservative federal judges? Or maybe you would predict, with even more certainty still, that storms would hit our coastlines? Note that when predictions were made on things less certain like the outcome of the vote on Social Security, and about a Tsunami hitting our coastline, the predictions were wrong, about the only uncertain one was the election result for the presidency, and there was a 50/50chance there - either George W. Bush or someone else.

How does Mr. Robertson get over those seeming inaccuracies in his predictions? He basically says he has a good track record anyway! Well, wait a minute, what is he implying, if anything? The implication I see, or at least the conclusion at which I could arrive is that either: God is fallible, or that maybe God is giving incorrect information to Mr. Robertson (as in lying), or that Mr. Robertson is mistaken in his understanding of God’s word, or that Mr. Robertson is just plain full of himself!

You know, the prediction about the terrorist attacks in 2007 may come true. Then I suppose Mr. Robertson will inflate his chest, and say something like: 'You see, God told me so. God talks to me. I am special.’ Then the money probably will roll into his coffers more and faster than before. The thing is though that many have been predicting such a terrorist attack in the near future, many saying it will come this year - even me. A big terrorist attack may or may not come this year. Chances are, if the terrorists remain in business, and we remain their enemies, then yes another attack will come sooner or later. It will probably be horrific. It will probably affect many, many people. It has all been predicted by others, based upon less than divine revelation - just read the news each day, or look at reports from government agencies, and see what experts in the field have to say, and then listen to the terrorists themselves - their short term goal is a big attack.

No, predicting such does not require divine revelation, not for me, not for you, and not for Mr. Robertson. One has to wonder why God is using his divine time making predictions about things that we already expect to happen. I guess it is God's secret, just a divine mystery of faith, or at least a secret of Mr. Robertson's.

All the best,
Glenn B

So here I am...

...sitting in my office, on Tuesday January 2, 2007. When I got here today, I came in and went straight to my desk. I kind of noticed things were quiet around here. I figured some people were still burning up their use or lose vacation time, so it would be a light day. Then I went around to see some co-workers, and that is when it hit me - a feeling that somehow I was in a Twilight Zone episode. A few to 5 minutes walk revealed there was no one in more than half of the office (yeah took awhile, pretty big office). I started to wonder had I somehow come in on the 1st, the holiday, but I knew that was not right since I had stopped at my bank earlier in the day – heck there was that Twilight Zone music playing in my head again. I was a bit at a loss and was about to check with the office security guys who are always here, when I saw another agent. He clued me in, and man did I ever go suddenly from being in the zone to feeling like a loser. That was because the other agent told me today had been declared a National Day of Mourning for President Ford, meaning federal employees got the day off, to mourn - I guess.
I had been out on sick leave on Friday and had not gotten the word.

Oh well, far be it from me to waste each and every cent the tax payer is paying to me, I decided to stay and get some work done. Not many chances to have a workplace atmosphere like the one I have today - almost no one to pester me, and almost no one for me to pester. Maybe if I am lucky they will throw me a bone in the form of an alternate day off this week, that would be nice but I am not holding my breath waiting. So as it turns out, at least you have the consolation of knowing that at least two employees of ICE/DHS were at work today earning your tax dollars - me and the guy who told me we were supposed to be off. Now back to work for me...

All the best,Glenn B

Internet Sales...

...are something I would prefer to do rather than do Internet begging. I just cannot see myself posting a link to my PayPal account so that my readers, who feel in a giving mood, will send me money for nothing. Yeah, I guess I provide a sort of a service with this blog, but certainly not one worth your money. Besides that I don't need to beg, ask, or wish for it right now anyhow.

Instead of begging for money though, I do find myself, at times, willing to try to earn something by way of selling things I have on hand. No, not like in a business, just like in selling things which I own for which I have little use, or like in a hobby paying for itself. Sort of like selling your old gold clubs, or a painting you no longer want or never liked (but were stuck with until Aunt Ethel, who gve it to you, passed away), or something of which you have more than one and need only one, and so on. What I do is try to sell things to be able to fund my hobbies.

So, since I keep and breed snakes, I sell baby snakes, or try to do so. Since I keep and breed fancy mice, I would sell them to if I could find a buyer. I also like to go to tag sales (in essence estate sales, or complete contents of home sales - not garage sales) and buy things that catch my eye. Sometimes I keep em, sometimes I sell em so I can buy something else. I have also sometimes sold firearms, ones I no longer want for the most part, and in order to buy another. Now and again I sell something else I have on hand. I do not ever expect to become a millionaire by selling through online auction houses such as Ebay.com, GunBroker.com, or my own hobby related site http://hometown.aol.com/gbarthgwt/liherphobbyists.html (especially not that one since it has not produced a single sale for me in well over a year).

In order to get those sales accomplished, I use the above sites for the items I sell. Ebay is probably the best known of them. The thing I like about Ebay is just that, it is well known, therefore it is well used, and if you have good stuff for sale it usually sells quickly. The thing I do not like about Ebay is that they refuse to allow you to sell certain items through use of their service. For example, while I can sell many firearms accessories, and even some gun parts, via Ebay, I cannot sell a firearms using Ebay. Nor can I sell live animals over Ebay.

For firearms sales, heck for most firearms related sales, I use GunBroker.com. I used to also use AuctionArms.com, but to me, it seems GunBroker.com gets the job done better.

As you can see, for trying to sell baby snakes and such, I use my AOL homepage. Not much luck there, but there is lots of competition. I do better selling at local reptile shows, but sure don't sell many there either. Most of the snakes I have bred then are either traded or given away. This year though, I will have to pay some sales tax to NY State as I did sell a few snakes at the New York Metro Reptile Expo, in White Plains, NY. I probably owe the stae of NY about $15 - $20 in sales tax at about a .0850 tax rate (varies based on where the sale was made in the state). So, no I am not getting rich, but these sales, especially the sale of the baby snakes, do help me get money to fund my hobby -when I can sell them. I actually pay sales tax to NY State on most of the items I sell, like those baby snakes. I am not really in business; but in order to sell at the reptile expos, you are required by the show organizer to have a tax ID number, therefore the state winds up getting its bite. I am not too certain though that I am required to pay sales tax on personal items I sell on Ebay, such as the old text books I am trying to sell in order to recoup some money I spent at college over the past few years (yes old timers do go back to school just like Rodney Dangerfield). Heck, I was already taxed on the books, but I guess I'll have to check to see if I get double tapped.

Besides paying for the items I want to sell, and then paying taxes of the sale amount, I have to pay for auction listing fees, auction end of item fees (a commission based upon for how much the item sold) and so forth. It is not usually all that much, since I sell things that don't cost all that much. Registering for the auction sites is pretty easy. I also registered for payPal so i could send and accept payments by credit card, they act as a sort of credit card payment broker for those of us who do not hvae the ability to process credit card payments (to bad I cannot take or make payments on guns though them).

I am trying to sell some items right now. I have ongoing auctions at Ebay and at GunBroker, and I still have a couple of snakes for sale on my own site. If you are interested to see what I am selling, please go to these links:

My Auctions At GunBroker:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.asp?User=26544

My Auctions At Ebay:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZgbarthgwtQQhtZ-1

My Auctions at LI Herp Hobbyists:
http://hometown.aol.com/gbarthgwt/liherphobbyists.html

Of course, all of this also costs me my time, and effort, sometimes my gasoline and other travel money, but since it is a hobby sort of thing, and is fun for me, the expense is okay - especially if I recoup some of the expenses by selling something. Maybe someday I'll find that one in a million antique at a tag sale, and I'll make my million on Ebay or at Sotherbies, but I tend to doubt it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Here Is Wishing That

You Enjoy a Happy and Safe New Year

With Your Loved Ones