Is Your Krummlauf Complete

Okay, maybe you spell it Krummerlauf, but if you know what it is then it does not matter how you spell it. The one I saw was said to be complete. While I was at the gun show, up in Syracuse, NY, last Saturday, I saw one of the most unusual rifles I have ever seen. Well, truth be told, the rifle - a German MP44 - was not all that unusual except for the attachments added to it. Those attachments were a grenade launcher, a prismatic sighting device and a bent barrel. At first glance, I had thought the barrel had been damaged and wondered why this particular rifle was on display. Then I spoke to the woman displaying it and read the info sheet she had available on her table. The devices were actually used by the Germans during the last year of WWII on the Russian front.

In a moment of pure noxious brain fart attack, I did not immediately pull my camera out of my pocket and take pictures of the whole magilla, as a matter of fact I did not take any pictures inside this gun show, shame on me but I was too busy gawking. I can assure you, if I am again at a gun show, with my camera handy, and see one of these, I will take plenty of pictures. There is a paucity of pictures available on the Internet from what I could find and most are terrible quality and small in size. Nonetheless, I was able to find a couple of pics to put into this post and am quite grateful that someone posted them online and that someone took them in the first place. While the ones in the pics do not appear to be exactly the same as the one I saw at the gun show, they are close to it and will give a good idea of what it looked like.

Much to my surprise, in my 5th or 6th attempt to find better pics, I ran across this video of them in action.

It sure looks like you could have fun with one of these but I am not too sure than any range personnel would appreciate me bringing one of these to a local range. Of course, it might get the same kind of looks as the guy in the above pic is giving the one he is holding, and there would be lots of conversation sure to ensue.

All the best,
Glenn B

Anyone Celebrate Adolf Hitler's Birthday Yesterday?

If you did, then just allow me to tell you - Go Screw Yourself Asshole!

To my readers who know well enough to consider Hitler a vile and despicable creature who was only worthy of miserable death, I applaud you.

All the best (to those who did not celebrate),
Glenn

April 19 - Today In History - Oh What A Day

April 19th has been of very special signifigance for me for many years. It is just another day but I think it is a day, as far as history is concerned, that is very special indeed. I imagine you could look at almost any other day and selectively find things of historic merit that took place but today is a bit more special as I see it. Let me tell you a bit about today by giving a brief rundown of some of the most things that have happened on it throughout history, then maybe you will understand why I see it as so special:

2005 Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, becomes the 265th pope

2000 Air Philippines flight 541 crashes into a hill near Davao, killing 131

1995 Truck bomb at Federal Building in Oklahoma City, kills 168

1994 Rodney King award $3,800,000 in compensation of police beating

1994 Supreme Court outlaws excluding people from juries because of gender

1993 Fire in psychiatric institute in South Korea, kills 40\

1993 The Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas, is destroyed in a fire after 51-day stand-off; 76 people die, including 24 British nationals and 20 children

1991 Evander Holyfield beats George Foreman in 12 for heavywgt boxing title

1991 Greyhound Bus posts $195 million loss for 1990

1989 Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors

1987 Gregory Robertson does 200-mph free fall to save unconscious skydiver (wow, all I can say is, what a man)

1987 Jacqueline Blanc, sets women's downhill ski speed record, 124.9 mph

1987 Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve

1987 U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test

1986 Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1985 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.

1984 Nemesis, death star of dinosaurs 1st appears in Nature magazine

1983 France performs nuclear test

1982 Guinon Bluford announced as 1st black astronaut

1982 Sally Ride announced as 1st woman astronaut

1982 U.S.S.R. Salyut 7 space station put into orbit

1975 India launches 1st satellite with help of U.S.S.R.

1973 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.

1972 "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" opens at Playhouse New York City for 1,065 performances

1972 Bangladesh becomes a member of British Commonwealth

1972 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1971 Charles Manson sentenced to life (Sharon Tate murder) [to bad he was not executed]

1971 U.S.S.R. Salyut 1 launched; 1st manned lab in orbit

1967 "Casino Royale" premieres (one of my favorite movies)

1967 Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years (but they did not stay together)

1967 U.S. Surveyor III lands on Moon

1965 At a cost of $20,000, the outer Astrodome ceiling is painted because of sun's glare, this causes the grass to die (dah)

1962 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 46,900m (my favorite aircraft when was a child, I had at least one toy and one model of it, and I wanted to fly it)

1960 Comiskey Park's famed "exploding" scoreboard begins operating enough with explosions already)

1956 U.S. actress Grace Kelly marries Monaco's Prince Rainier III (what a loss for the rest of us, she was an excellent actress)

1955 59th Boston Marathon won by Hideo Hamamura of Japan in 2:18:22 (I mention this one only because that is the year I was born, there were many - many - many Boston Marathons held on April 19th)

1951 General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career

1949 Yankees dedicate a plaque for Babe Ruth (there were many baseball feats that took place on this date, I mention this because he was one of the greats)

1948 Chiang Kai-shek elected president of Nationalist

1947 French ship explodes in Texas City harbor, kills about 522

1945 U.S. aircraft carrier Franklin heavy damaged in Japanese air raid

1943 Revolt in Warsaw Ghetto under Mordechai Anielewicz (I left out quite a few other events of WWII)

1940 "Lake Shore Ltd" derails speed killing 34 near Little Falls

1939 Connecticut finally approves Bill of Rights (148 years late and always makes me wonder why)

1936 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Palestine

1934 Shirley Temple appears in her 1st movie, Stand Up and Cheer

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt announces U.S. will leave gold standard (commie socialist destroyer of America who created Social Security the biggest lie of the 20th century)

1932 President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week (I can live with that but 4 would have been better)

1928 Japanese troops occupies Sjantung-schiereiland

1921 Funeral of last German Empress, Augusta Victoria

1919 Leslie Irvin of U.S. makes 1st parachute jump and free fall

1910 Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (as if one comet sighting on this day was not portent enough for me, it was also seen in the year 607)

1904 Much of Toronto destroyed by fire

1897 1st American Marathon ran, John J McDermott wins in 2:55:10 (Yep, you guessed it - in Boston)

1897 1st Boston Marathon won by John McDermott of New York in 2:55:10

1892 Charles Duryea takes 1st American-made auto out for a spin (Mass)

1874 Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire

1864 Naval Engagement at Cherbourg, FR: USS Kearsage vs. CSS Alabama

1863 Union troops/fleet occupy For Huger, Virginia

1861 Baltimore riots-4 soldiers, 9 civilians killed

1861 Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War)

1782 Netherlands recognizes U.S

1775 Minutemen and Lexington Militia Leader Captain John Parker orders his men: "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." at Lexington Common and soon after The Shot Heard Round The World was fired and the War For Independence had begun in the American Colonies. (This has always been one of, if not the most, significant historical event of this day for me, well sort of, you will see what I mean below.)

1770 Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia (the land down under or the 18th century version of Land Of The Lost)

1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain and sinks Spanish fleet

607 Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 AUs of Earth

There were lots of other events that took place on April 19th throughout the history of the world. This day is also significant, not so much for an event per se, but because, in 1889, it was the last day that the people of the earth would not know one of our worst nightmares. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. So, today is significant because it is the anniversary of the last day of his nonexistence.)

As you can see from all of the above, this day in history has been one of tremendous importance, probably a lot like any other day but then again, there are a lot of rather catastrophic events that happened on April 19th and they seem to overshadow the good things that happened on this day.

Still though, all of those things don’t make it as important to me as one rather small, insignificant (for the rest of the world) only slightly historical but very happy event that also took place today in 1986. I married the most beautiful woman in the world - Linda - now my wife of 25 years! It has not all been days of wine and roses, nor a bowl of cherries. We have surely had our ups and down, and just like history has shown that this or any other day can be tumultuous there are also good things that can come of any given day. I have to say - she made me a happy man when we were married and 25 years later I can say: Life, with her, is just another day in Paradise. I love you dear!

All the best,
Glenn B

Reference:

http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/april_19.html

http://todayinhistory.com/m04-19-event-results.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_hitler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Parker_(captain)

Opening A Russian (or other Communist Bloc) 'Spam' Ammo Can Without The Can Opener

Have you ever bought Russian, or other Com-Bloc, military surplus ammo, such as 7.62x54R, that comes in the so called spam can, then found yourself without the specialty can opener made for the job of opening those cans? If you have, then you know those cans can be darned difficult to open and you may also have learned that there are plenty of ways not to open them. Prying them open with the wrong tool, in the wrong way, can result in damage to the ammo. Worse yet, you could get cut in the process.

I just ordered 440 rounds of this ammo sealed in a spam can. It will not be coming with the opener so, tonight, I looked around online for one for sale. I am not about to pay the $15.00 plus shipping at which I found one available. Not satisfied with doing that, continued my search and wound up on YouTube where I found a very informative video that was posted there by Oldcarjunkie. The video shows, what I think is, a pretty good looking way to open these cans with a hammer and screwdriver when you don't have the proper can opener. About the only things I might do differently would be to wear work gloves while doing it, especially when pulling the lid off of the can. I also suggest being very careful when taking out the packets of ammo because the cut edges of the can are sure to be pointy or sharp in places. Of course, I'd also be careful not to hit my foot with the hammer. Safety glasses are also a good idea.

Here is the video, enjoy and please leave a nice comment at YouTube for Oldcarjunkie cheeverracing89, whose video replaces that of oldcarjunkie who seems to have closed his YouTube account:


Simple, but apparently effective.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy Pesach (Passover)

And if your son asks you in the future, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, that the LORD our God commanded you? You will say to your son, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The LORD gave signs and wonders, great and harmful, against Egypt, against Pharaoh, and against all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out of there to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised our fathers. -Deuteronomy 6:20-23

To all my Jewish friends and readers, I wish you a happy Pesach (Passover). I hope the upcoming days are filled with hope, happiness and peace for you, your families and your loved ones. Pesach Shalom.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The Last Day of Peace In The Colonies & A Ride For History

April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren instructs two men to ride and it was a ride that would go down in history as one of the most famous ever. Those two men were William Dawes and Paul Revere. They were to ride from Boston to Lexington, MA to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of the movements of the British Army who it was believed would march on Concord, MA to seize arms stored there by the colonists' militia. Though called the midnight ride, it actually began late on the night of the 18th at about 11PM just after the British crossed the Charles River headed toward Lexington & Concord. Because of Revere and Dawes, many other riders took up the call: "The regulars are coming out". The next morning, at the battles of Lexington & Concord, the colonists were ready. The first shots of the Revolution were fired at Lexington where the militia fell back but the British troops were repulsed at Concord by the militia though outnumbered by the Brits. After a fierce battle the British retreated back toward Boston and the war was on in full force.

More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere#The_Midnight_Ride_of_Paul_Revere

All the best,
Glenn B

Buy A Gun Day 2011

So, I am curious, did any of my readers celebrate BAG day and actually buy a gun? Leave comments either way, yeah or nay.

All the best,
GB

Last Minute BAG Day Purchase

I just added one more thing to the list of BAG Day purchases. It is not a another gun but a sealed tin of 440 rounds of 7.62x54R 147 grain Russian ammo. I ordered it from Military Shooters with whom I have good dealings before. They had the best price I could find with shipping added on. Too bad I did not think to buy a tin up at Syracuse yesterday, probably would have been less expensive, then again, maybe not.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Big Syracuse Gun Show - Is Tomorrow...

...and to tell the truth, I am none too sure I'll be able to sleep tonight with the anticipatory butterflies that have been flying around in my innards. Normally, I don't lose sleep over thinking about a gun show, I just can't sleep as it is. Being I have not slept all that well over the past few nights I was due for a fairly good sleep tonight but as I said, those butterflies have been doing there thing. Of course, maybe it's not butterflies but a remnant of tonight's dinner that hasn't settled in just quite right. Whatever, I can sill hope I get a good rest tonight because I want to be at my haggling best tomorrow. It certainly is not everyday, here in New York State, that one gets to attend a thousand table gun show and I want to make the best of it!

Both Brendan and I will be attending and each of us has a decent sized chunk of change. He keeps thinking about getting himself a deal on a bull-pup design like an Aug and I keep telling him the bull-pup design sucks. being young, he does not want advice and I have to admit it is high time he makes up his own mind about what he buys with his own money and learns his own lessons as to whether or not it was money well spent. That just may leave him seeking my advice again, sooner or later, should he actually waste spend his money on a Steyr-Aug or similar gun. Then again, he may buy one and love it.

As you are probably already aware, I am hoping to get myself either a Remington 700 VTR in .308, or a Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington, or a fairly decent AK-47. I have not had much luck down in my neck of the concrete jungle and am thinking it may be a bit different here in Syracuse since his gun show is about 3X bigger than anything they hold within a hundred miles of my house. If they actually have 750 tables with guns on them, as opposed to beef jerky, knives, books and military surplus junk, I will be ecstatic. if they have 500 tables actually selling guns and virtually nothing else, I will be happy. Less than that and both Brendan and I will feel that we have been ripped off.

I am hoping to spend a busy 2 to 3 hours at the show, then to take off and maybe get in a couple to a few hours of fishing closer to Binghamton along the way home. With a little luck we may each pick up a nice rifle and each catch a nice fish. We will be in no great hurry to get home and ruin my wife's all girl wine party Well, wine party at least until hey find my vodka, two kinds of rum, Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor or Irish Whiskey - or maybe even my hidden bottle of champagne. Oh well, more fun for them I suppose and less of a hangover for me! As for me and Brendan, we will take out time for the drive home and probably stop for a good meal along the way. As I said, I am in no hurry to walk in on that party - especially when they are all loopy and we are (hopefully) carrying in our newest firearms.

All the best,
GB

The Man-Purse, The Alternate Gun Carry???

Recently, while pursuing one of my favorite manly pastimes - surfing the firearms forums of the Internet, I came across a term that seemed a bit funny, then a bit scary in its implications. The term was being used in a forum discussion that in essence asked the question what do you carry in your man-purse. Man-Purse - is that how absurdly far fetched political correctness has become for some men of America. Do they really have some politically correct need causing them to call a butt pack, a carry bag, a shoulder bag, a small backpack, or a change/cash purse, a Man-Purse? I would think, wouldn't you, the use of the term Man Purse in all likelihood implies there is something called a Woman-Purse or at least that at some time only women were allowed to carry purses and now it is okay for a man. (Well it is now okay for 'real' men anyhow, you know the he-man type I mean -the brawny hunter, firearms enthusiast, fisherman, who will only do and use manly things that fit his macho character.) Yet I have never heard that one before – I have never heard the term Woman-Purse. In fact I have never known the use of purses to be in anyway restricted to one sex or the other in my lifetime and, historically purses have never been restricted for use by women only, although many so called yet insecure he-men would have wanted you to think otherwise. In fact, purses were in likelihood first used by men who were the bearers of money and other small valuables in the business world of the past, such as back in the Renaissance. They just called it a purse back then, not a man-purse; and the word purse was a good thing. It implied that they had something valuable with which to fill it. Of course, little valuables bags were around long before the word purse was ever used to refer to a little bag. Purse first meant an amount of money, as the amount of a wager or a dowry! Aah, there it is - the hidden reason for mean to start calling their little valuable bags purses way back in past centuries - it was because they too were probably being politically correct. My guess is that sometime before they started to call there little bags 'purses', the women of the Renaissance had already gotten some sorts of freedoms over what they had suffered in the dark Ages and before. They also figured they had brought the dowry with them – hence they had right to carry a purse. So they too had taken on the manly habit of carrying little bags with implied valuables inside. Of course this was most likely a blow to the male ego hence they had to think up some way of making their little manly bags more manly. So since men were still the masters of the business world at that time, they named them after something to do with business and therefore with men - they named them purses (remember that purse first meant an amount of money as in the amount of a wager).

This went on for centuries, well at least decades, until the word 'purse' was replaced by another name in the history of small bags carried by men. Women started to call their bags purses without reservation because they had finally wormed their way into the business world as far back as the 1800's to a small extent; then they started that darned women’s suffrage thing. What was a man to do, he had to think how to keep his bag as a ‘manly’ bag. So he thought, and thought and for a while as he thought of all the possibilities he decided to call it a “possibles-bag”. The thing about this was that the guy who gave it this name was a wild Mountain Man and while the name caught on with the fur trappers of the day, it just never caught on in the rest of the civilized world. So man, the regular Joe who was not away howling at the moon in the mountains of the west, paced back and forth trying to figure ‘what do I still have that a woman does not after which I can name my bag’ and as he plunged his hands into his pants pockets – it hit him – the term pocket-book was born. Of course women are not satisfied to let men have their own thing for long and soon it was the rage in the fashion world for women to be carrying pocket books too. As fashion changes from year to year, month to month, even day to day, the name of the bags carried by women changed back and forth from one to another. They did not mind that the terms were reused over and over again as fashions came and went. All they cared was that they had stolen this from man and to them that was good. On the other hand, man was at the end of his rope. He had no clue as to what to name his new bag, so he tried a trick the women had used. He called the bag by a large number of names like: butt-pack, fanny-bag, hip-bag, backpack, daypack, survival kit, and the like - but woman always wound up using those names to describe the bags they too carried. Was there no way to label his little bag as his bag?

I guess, that just recently, man must have finally figured out a way to keep women (most woman anyhow – as you cannot count on the more manly of them not to steal this term too) from using the name he would give to his little valuables bag. He named it a Man-Purse. So there all you thieving and scheming women, take that, go ahead if you want it – go ahead and call your bag a Man-Purse, I dare you! Maybe that is what man was thinking, or at least that is what the 21st century politically correct male of America was thinking but, it is not the way I think. I guess I am just too old school for such political correctness about my purse. I wonder, are we, the American male, that far gone that we really have to call it a Man-Purse? Can’t we just call a purse a purse and leave it at that. A purse by definition is not limited to use by men or women, nor does such a distinction need to be made, unless maybe for some reason you find it below your manliness to just call it a purse. While Man-Purse has a certain ring to it, it is unnecessary as can be seen from the definition of the word purse:

1 a (1) : a small bag for money (2) : a receptacle (as a pocketbook) for carrying money and often other small objects b : a receptacle (as a pouch) shaped like a purse
2 a : RESOURCES, FUNDS b : a sum of money offered as a prize or present; also : the total amount of money offered in prizes for a given event

Because I am quite the old school manly-man, an original member of the reformed but unofficial He Man Woman Haters Club - Brooklyn Chapter back in about 1961, who cannot stand the thought of anyone thinking me effeminate, I choose to carry a purse only if completely out of sight of prying, ridiculing, desirous,or critical eyes. While I think the term purse is quite befitting a manly-man, based upon the definition & history of the word purse, I still keep my purse out of sight. Why? Well, to avoid he-mannish ridicule such as: “What kind of a wimp are you anyway carrying around a purse?". Then again, I also try to avoid the fashion curiosity questions from women such as “Oh my that’s a nice bag, is that Louis Vuitton?” or fashion inquiries from gay men such as “Where did you get that simply marvelous purse, I simply need to know right this minute”. Of course it is also best to keep it out of sight so that those same gay caballeros don‘t get the wrong idea about a man with a purse and try to pick me up. Then there are ruthless little bastards the neighborhood children to hide it from. It’s not that I am afraid they might laugh me to death but that maybe they will try to poke and beat me with sticks as they chase me down the block calling me sissy-boy as I run for my life. Heck, I work in NYC, it can be tough for a guy who blatantly carries purse even a man purse – all sorts of people get all sorts of ideas about what that means...and in my case they would be wrong even if this is the 21st century!

Seriously though, I never carry my primary firearm in a bag of any sort, let alone one called a purse even if the prefix ’man’ is attached to it. If it can be avoided, I will not carry a firearm,especially a primary handgun, in a bag of any sort during my daily routine. It is just too easy to forget someplace, too easy to pick up then put down, too easy to then do something else, then too easy to move on and forget to pick up the bag. Yep, just too darned easy to set it and forget it.

I prefer to carry my gun on my hip in a strong side holster. I carry spare magazines in a magazine pouch on the opposite side hip from the gun side (additional ones maybe carried in a backpack or survival kit). I carry a knife or two in my pockets. I carry a small flashlight in my pocket. I carry pepper spray in a pouch on my belt. I carry handcuffs in a handcuff case or in pocket. I also carry my wallet in a pocket and money in another pocket - I keep those separated, I figure if I lose my wallet, I still have some money. Likewise, if I lose the money, I still have my wallet with credit cards - that is so long as I did not lose my pants and both of them in the pockets, so I try to keep my pants on. I also usually have a cell phone in a clip on my belt or in my pocket.

I so carry a bag though. At least almost always while working. It is not even a brief or attache case either. What I carry is a small backpack. I use it to haul around other survival gear. It is a day-pack size that is fairly large but it is by no means something one could construe as a purse. The gear I carry in varies but it almost always contains survival gear like: money, first aid kit, space blanket, water, food, fire starters (candles with wood shavings embedded in the wax), matches, magnesium fire starter, glow sticks, a compass, a knife or two, knife sharpener, small flashlight, extra flashlight bulbs, extra batteries, passport, string, usually some rope, sometimes a gas mask (if there is room for it), extra money in a small change purse (there it is the traditional use of a man’s purse for me, my great-grandfather had one), spare ammunition, a two way radio with spare battery, cell phone charger, spare socks, spare undies and maybe a t-shirt, my medication (no not Prozac just something much more mundane like aspirin and BP medication). There are probably some other things, and maybe some of what should be in there is missing right now, but I check and upgrade the contents of my backpack every couple of weeks to month or so to make sure I have most of the stuff I might need. So if anything is missing, it won‘t be for long.

If you want to carry you gun in a man-purse, a woman’s-purse or any other kind of purse, even one made from a pig’s ear, be my guest. Me, I will be avoiding even the hint of carrying a purse because I am the kind of guy I am and I think a man carrying a purse is just not me. Of course, by some people’s standards, like my mother’s or my Godmothers standards of years ago – one might call my backpack a purse or pocketbook if only because the ladies of their day used to literally carry everything but the kitchen sink in the monstrosities that they lugged around - and they were as big as small packs. I remember being hit in the noggin once or twice with one of those huge carryalls now and again. Made me think that maybe they really carried a kitchen sink or two in them so maybe I had best behave. I can say without a doubt, those handbags of mass destruction sure make most of today’s man-purses look like the choice of rank amateurs when it comes to weapons concealment. No matter, if I need to carry anything in a bag on a regular basis, it will be a pack for me but the gun most likely will be in a holster on my belt and most of the truly essential gear will be on my belt or in my pockets. If I ever put down the pack and forget it, I could go a long way with what I'd still have on my person. As for the man-purse, I guess I am just not man enough for one of those, well certainly not that type of man enough, whatever type that may be, not that there is anything wrong with that, just that I never was and never will be...maybe I had best shut up and leave it at that!

All the best,
Glenn B

Is The Federal Government Still Headed Toward A Shutdown?

The actual budget agreements have not been hammered out, they plan on doing so on Thursday. Then they have to vote on it in Congress. It seems support for the agreed upon plan is wavering and when you look at it in the sensible manner, there really are no budget cuts being made:

Only in Washington can a budget that spends more than it did the year before, with a larger deficit, be portrayed as “cutting.” (Senator Rand Paul April 11, 2011, see this link: http://www.paul.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=332429.) It seems there are quite a few in Congress like Sen. Paul, on both sides, who are opposed to the new budget, see:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/12/reset-shutdown-clocks/.

That makes me wonder if they will actually agree to the finalized version on Thursday. If not, the federal government may well shutdown!

All the best,
Glenn B

Insomnia Sucks

The title says it all. I am going to hit the hay now, maybe I can get 40 winks now that it is almost 2:30 in the morning.

All the best,
GB

An Open Invitation To Paul McCartney (and to the guy who tried to leave the anti-meat video link in a comment on this blog)

Someone tried to post a comment, to one of my blog posts, that contained a link to a video of some guy called Paul McCartney. In the video he is basically whining imploring folks to stop eating meat. I was going to get all nasty toward the person who tried to leave the comment but figured I would be civil about it. So here is an offer to both him or her and to Paul McCartney:

If either of you would like a good, free, meal here in the good old U.S. of A., look me up. I will gladly treat either or both of you to your choice of some truly excellent medium rare and still somewhat bloody beef steak, finger lickin' good BBQ pork ribs, luscious lamb chops, yummy rabbit, delectable Portuguese style goat, a fat bratwurst or maybe just a liverwurst sandwich. Then again, maybe you prefer something still alive like a nice dozen raw oysters or clams (or both) - I love the feel of them going down. Of course, if you prefer something else, I'll go for whatever other dish I can afford to get for you from a creature that has walked on, crawled on/in/under, swam the seas of, or flown above planet earth. Myself, I prefer those I have killed myself, when I have the opportunity, but usually have to settle for slaughterhouse fare. I will gladly treat you to one that has been killed in a slaughterhouse or if you prefer we can go to a live market and have them do the dirty deed and I'll cook it up for you. I'll even throw in a really good beer or ale to help you wash it all down - sorry but it has to be American and of my choosing. Any time you feel so inclined, look me up for a delicious time.

You know, the next chance I get, I am going to treat a homeless person to some NYC hot dogs from Gray's Papaya or a similar place and I am willing to bet he or she will be appreciative. Man, they make great franks, my mouth is watering as I write. Something tells me I'll be going to Gray's Papaya really soon and I'll be thinking of Paul and the commenter as I wolf down a couple of dogs slathered with mustard and covered in kraut, all washed down with root beer. I'll also make sure to let the homeless person know that if it wasn't for the commenter and for Paul McCartney's anti-meat video he would not be getting a fee meal. So - in a way - he will have them to thank for it.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Eat Meat - Hopefully Not Meat Glued Together With Meat Glue

I like meat. I like beef, pork, lamb (just had leg of lamb tonight and it was delicious), goat, rabbit, squirrel, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, quail, dove, bear, venison, rattlesnake, frogs legs, lobster, fish, clams, mussels, octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and even snails. What I do not like is when retailers try to pull a fast one. Hopefully this stuff, Transglutaminase (aka Meat Glue), is not legal in the USA. If it is, you can bet I will be inquiring about its safety.



Watching that kind of made me lose my appetite, for all of 3 seconds, but after all, I still will like my meat medium rare. More info on transglutaminase can be found at the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglutaminase

Man, that is kind of scary stuff. Bad enough it may allow for meat to be insufficiently cooked to allow live bacteria to be ingested as described in the video - but tell me what happens if you eat that meat raw. Could that stuff stick your innards together? I would guess not but it is something to wonder about. By the way, it looks as if it is in use here in the USA from what I read in Wikipedia and from what I found doing an online search for a dealer here in America. This place apparently sells it: http://www.forthegourmet.com/, and it is located in the USA.

I am not happy it is sold here in the USA and will be checking labels on certain cuts of meat in the future. Adding water was one thing that upset me, so I try to avoid cuts with added water. This stuff not only upsets me, it scares me and I probably will never buy a cut of meat, in which it was used, if I see it on the label (at least until I am absolutely convinced it is safe).

Hat tip to my friend Harry for an email about this video.

All the best,
Glenn B

Corydoras aeneus, aka: Green Aeneus or Green Corys

I have had numerous Guppies and four Corydoras aeneus swimming around in a 10 gallon aquarium that was primarily set up for my six Blue Tailed Newts. I had been hoping to breed the newts but to date I have not had any success in getting them to spawn. There has got to be a trigger but I have not figured it out. On the other hand, the Guppies breed like...well, like guppies and they keep doing it. The green Corys also bred frequently. I usually do a weekly water change and they usually breed right after that but not weekly. I'd say they have bred about every 3rd week on average. I think I have two males and two females. I used to have one other but it died for some unknown reason.

I have had this tank set up this way for about 2 years, or so I am guessing. About 6 months ago, I added something it did not have, an under-gravel filter. I know that many frown on these nowadays but I like them because they make the tank easier to maintain in my opinion. I remove the upright air tube and then insert a siphon hose and siphon the water from under the gravel when I do weekly tank maintenance. Today though was time to strip the tank down and give it, the gravel and all the accessories a thorough good cleaning. I do that about twice a year with my small tanks. Once I siphoned out most of the water, I scooped out most of the gravel, then lifted out the under gravel filters. Much to my surprise there were several fish under the filters. Even more to my surprise was the fact that about 6 of them were Green Aeneus catfish! The rest were either guppies and maybe one or two very tiny baby catfish. Most surprising of all was that one of the green cory, that I found under the filters, was about 1/3 to 1/2 grown.

I had always figured that my Corydoras aeneus were sterile since none of the eggs they laid ever seemed to hatch. What was happening though seemed to be that the larger guppies of those in the tank were eating them, or at least eating part of each egg almost as soon as each was laid and the remains stayed stuck to the glass. The cory's stick the eggs to the side of the aquarium glass, usually right in the stream of water coming from the power filter. I had mistakenly believed that the eggs were always bad but now see that was not the case. My guess is that when the guppies pecked away at the eggs, some good ones fell to the gravel and were sucked through the under-gravel filters where they hatched and where the babies, at least some of them apparently found enough to eat. I am truly amazed they could live under the filters as the water I siphon from under them when cleaning the tank is always dark brown to almost black. That is a result of anything organic that gets sucked under the filters and then decomposes there.

Well they lived and I now have about a half dozen of them swimming around in the tank. I removed all the guppies except some very tiny babies and am waiting to see what happens next time the catfish breed. Hopefully all the eggs will be fertile and I will get to see them develop and hatch.

All the best,

Glenn B

Today In History - A Beginning To The End of Bloodshed on American Soil

On April 9, a war weary commanding general of American forces said the following:

"It would be useless and therefore cruel to provoke the further effusion of blood, and I have arranged to meet with General Grant with a view to surrender."

The yar was 1865, the American general was Robert E. Lee and he would soon surrender to another war weary American general - Ulysses S. Grant. They would meet that morning in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. No not inside a court house, but within the home of Wilmer McLean. Appomattox Court House was the name of the village where that home was located. The "effusion of blood" to which Lee sought to put an end was that of the American soldiers who had fought valiantly against one another during the Civil War, the bloodiest war of our Nation's history. It is estimated by some that there were up to 700,000 human deaths during that war although the more readily accepted number is approximately 620,000. That is more war dead than our nation suffered in all the wars from the Revolution up through and including Vietnam.

My sentiments about the Civil War, its causes, its battles, its end, its aftermath are many but there is one thought about it all, the last line of a book, the story of a southern woman who lived though it, that I believe I share:

"But for us - for Dan and me we could almost as easily give up each other as those terrible, beloved days. They are the very fiber of us." (1)

Those days she mentioned were the days of the Civil War. Yes, in truth, the Civil War has become, in part, the very fiber of our nation, as today we stand one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. In that same book, just above the last lines, the lady's granddaughter was quoted as saying:

"How thankful I am that 'Old Glory' floats alike over North and South, now!"

So too am I. So, today I have taken a few moments to bow my head to pay homage to they who gave their all in the war between the North and the South; we owe them a lot for the shaping of our nation. And, as was the young lass quoted above, I am thankful I did not have to live through it myself and am hopeful it will never come to such again.

All the best,
Glenn B

1. A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861-1865: Being a Record of the Actual Experiences of the Wife of a Confederate Officer: Ed. by Myrta Lockett Avary. Page 384. Electronic Edition, http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/avary/avary.html

Government Shutdown Or Not...

...I can say, without a doubt, I am embarrassed to admit that I work for the federal government, the same one that has put us all through absolutely absurd show of ludicrous posturing to arrive at this point let alone to arrive at whatever will be the conclusion. Man, this is truly shameful that our government, the one we elected into office cannot stop the spending and cut the deficit by balancing the budget or even just agree upon a budget.

You ought to think of firing the government after this poor showing. Start at the top with the politicians and next time around - vote in people with absolutely no political experience and make sure not a single one among them is a lawyer. It will take a bit of time but you can bet that Joe Everyguy and Jane Everygal would do a much better job in the long run - better than the lawyers in government now - because all that politicians (who are lawyers) know how to do is to argue and act like assholes from what I can tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

On Burning The Koran Or Any Other Religious Book

No matter what you think of Koran burnings, maybe you should watch these videos. There is certainly a lot of thought in the first one about our rights as Americans (or simply as humans). I agree very much with what the lady in the videos has to say about our rights and about Islam and about politicians. Yet, I do not necessarily think she made the presentation in the best way for others to take her seriously because of the cursing. Regardless of her shtick, the ideas she presents are in agreement with many of my own on this subject and I cannot fault her that it is within her rights to burn the Koran and it is not within any person's rights to injure or kill anyone else because she or others did so.





So, what do you think? I know what I think and it is that we had best dread the day that the Islamists achieve nuclear capability because they will seek to burn us with the big one. Maybe we had best take care of the problem well before then by taking care of it now. Just in case there is any doubt, I do not mean by bowing down to Allah or by implementing Sharia law but rather by assuring that Sharia law will never rule us.

As for Senator Lindsey Graham, I think he should retire immediately or be booted out of office post haste. The things he said were abhorrent and totally against the grain of our Constitution. While I think that seems to be the norm for him it should not be acceptable to Americans on the whole because without our Constitution and its protections of our rights we would not be Americans. There simply is no way to defend what he said about limiting the freedom of speech, certainly none when you consider the flawless constitutional logic of the rebuttal that was given.

All the best,
Glenn B

Government Shutdown or Not

I am betting shutdown but only because preparations are already being made for one to some degree. My guess is that should the federal government shutdown all nonessential services, almost no one will really miss them - except those who are furloughed. One hopes it does not come to a shutdown but the truth be told it is about time that the Federal Government starts to become fiscally responsible - in my personal opinion.

I doubt I will be told to stay home but if it comes to that I am ready. I took a loan out of my thrift savings at work to hold us over if worst comes to worst. I had to pay a fee to take it out, have to pay my own account interest and am losing interest I would have otherwise received on it - but to know I have it available if needed is well worth it. When the government gets back in gear and has a budget, I will redeposit it to my thrift savings plan. Hopefully they will agree on a budget soon. Not having one, now more than 6 months after the fiscal year began, is a disgrace.

All the best,
GB

NYS Arms Collectors Assn. Spring Gun Show - Road Trip

Brendan and I will be heading up to Syracuse, NY on the 15th of this month so we can attend the NYS Arms Collectors Association's Spring Gun Show. It is a 1,000 table show and can tell you, that is a rare bird in these parts. Rare or not, it sounds like a great time to me. My friends Charlie K & Rob were supposed to come along but cancelled. I am not cancelling if I can help it; I already have made a hotel reservation. Thanks to Hilton Honors points, from my work trips to Arizona over the last 2 years, our stay will be a freebie. I was sort of hoping to stay for 2 nights but Brendan has to work on Sunday and we have to be back by then.

We are planning on leaving on Friday. The drive is about 5 - 6 hours or so, not bad with 2 drivers on board. It should breeze right by. I figure that we will get a good night's sleep at the Hampton Inn & Suites. Not a 5 star hotel but not too shabby when it is for free, heck not even too shabby when you pay for it. I was thinking about the Embassy Suites but figured why use double the points by going just a bit more upscale for only a single night. Our hotel will be only about 7 miles from the show site and literally only three turns made on the road to get from one to the other.

When we go to the show on Saturday, we should be refreshed and ready to check out all 1,000 tables and all the guns available. I am planning on getting a rifle, one of the ones I keep saying I want badly - either an AK-47, a Remington 700 VTR in .308, or a Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington. As Brendan told me in an email reply to my sending him a copy of our reservation:
"If we are going up there and its going to take 6 hours one of us better buy something worth a few hundred bucks haha." I agree whole heartedly and really hope I run across one of those rifles at a good price. Even if we don't see one of them, I am going to guess that we will see something worth buying with that many tables. The shows we are used to down closer to us usually have about 325 to 350 tables. So it will be just about 3x as many and thus I am hopeful that will translate to 3x as many guns on sale and some good competition among dealers. It will be a big disappointment if beef jerky, military memorabilia, book and knife sellers out number gun & ammo sellers. Still though it will be a good trip because we are making it together.

Regardless of what we do at the gun show, I hope I remember to bring along a couple of spinning rods/reels, a minnow bucket, minnow trap and whatever else we can use to have some fun at some of the local water holes up that way. Why just spend all our time at a gun show when good fishing is close at hand as well! There sure are a lot of possibilities for fishing up that way and I plan not to miss at least few of them.

All the best,
Glenn B

Southern Fried Stings - What A Show

I have been sitting here, blogging, and half heartedly watching this show called Southern Fried Stings. I missed just who are what are the folks in this group of do-gooders. I guess they are sort of vigilantes who go out and make citizens' arrests or who at least gather evidence then call in the cops to make arrests. All I can say is that each time I look up, one of them is getting knocked on his butt or belted in the face or being hit in the head by condoms full of urine (yes - pee filled condoms that were being sold, by a transvestite right outside a parole office, to parolees to pass drug testing). It is one heck of a wild show. Next time I have it on, I will not be blogging but intently watching.

Oh yeah, its on Verizon's channel 183 in my neck of the woods, something called truTV. I am not sure I ever watched anything on this channel before but I will be checking it now and then from now on.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Tsunami - A Video Link

Tonight, my brother-in-law sent me a link to a video about the Tsunami that hit Japan. I saw some stuff on the news over the days after it happened but never saw anything like this footage. It is several minutes long but I think it is worth the watch.

The power of nature to cause devastation that it shows is truly awesome. It depicts what surely must have been actual loss of life though you do not see anyone actually die because you see it from a bird's eye view but you just know some of the people seen are doomed. They are in cars and trucks and they say one guy is running from it (but it actually looks to me as if he is on a motorcycle he is moving so fast). I am just letting you know so you can choose to watch or not. here is the link:

http://freevideocoding.com/flvplayer.swf?file=http://flash.vx.roo.com/streamingVX/63056/1458/20110311_japan_wave_successions_sky_1000k.mp4&autostart=true

Sorry but there was no way to embed it.

Why am I posting this at this late date. It is never to late to wake up and be prepared. How can you prepare for this? have a plan to evacuate. Have grab and go supplies. If you are ever in any area where they even hint that a Tsunami may be on its way toward you, all I can say is do yourself a favor and get to high ground if you have the time. If not, well - as for me - I would get to the top of the highest point I could reach and hope for the best.

Mind you the point is not to just be prepared for a Tsunami, be ready for whatever can happen. If you do survive the initial onset of any such disaster be it a Tsunami, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, a forest fire, civil unrest - whatever - you will be much better off if you have a plan and some supplies to get you through the next few to several days.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wow, 11PM and No Blog Post Yet

I'll try to think of something soon but only got home from work at about 930PM. Oh well!

All the best,
GB

Military Portraits By Patriotic Artist Kaziah Hancock

The video you are about to see in the below video at the below link is an absolutely amazing outpouring of compassion on the part of an artist by the name of Kaziah Hancock. She paints very special portraits, of very special people, to give yet to other very special folks. This woman is most definitely one of the finest patriots and one of the most wonderful ladies of which I have ever heard and she is one heck of a good artist too. As she says, she cooks!

Well, I tried to embed the video but it did not work, so here is the link:

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/?bctid=51748824001

All the best,
Glenn B

My Son's First Internship Interview

My son is scheduled to be interviewed for an internship tomorrow. I am pretty proud of him to see him taking some of his first steps toward trying to secure a career for himself. I am even prouder to realize that he somewhat wants to follow in my footsteps. You see, the internship is with my current employer. I told him not to get his hopes up too high; I did not tell him I have already set my own hopes too high for both of us combined. It would be a truly excellent feeling accomplishment for him should he get the position and a truly great feeling of accomplishment for me too. If he gets it great but if not, I am sure he will try again until he does get one. I am really quite happy to see he is applying himself in the right direction. It makes me feel that all that parenting stuff was well worth sticking to for all those years.

All the best,
Glenn B