No Blog Posts Yesterday And Maybe No Others Today

I spent at least a few hours yesterday, in online chat and on the phone, with HP Tech Service. Seems my video controller/adapter is not working properly, so I got in touch with them. The guy in online chat could not figure it out and had me update the BIOS. As I explained to him, I tried to update the BIOS last month through HP Support Assistant when it notified me that a new BIOS was available. The computer did not start properly after that, I got a blue screen telling me the BIOS was not "...fully ACPI compliant...:. That led to HP Tech Service helping me try to do a system restore. That did not work. Then the tech rep had me do a rollback to the previous BIOS which did work. The next thing I knew was the laptop had the graphics card problem.

Well, the tech service rep insisted I try another BIOS update yesterday. I did as he said and again wound up at a screen telling me there was a problem starting Windows and that gave an option to start normally or to have the computer fix the problem. He said start it normally and again it wound up with the blue screen and the not fully ACPI compliant stuff. Of course, by then, I could no longer use the laptop and thus lost all connection to the HP Service Tech that had been in the chat with me.

I called HP Technical Service. I explained everything above to the tech service rep at least three times. He suggested a system restore. It did not work just as it had not back in January. Then he asked for permission to do a system recovery which would have wiped out any unsaved files on the computer. I asked if first we could do a BIOS rollback, and I explained that if it worked, I would save my files and then we could do the system recovery. He said he would put his supervisor on with me. Then he came back on the line and asked how to find the BIOS rollback. Funny, he had to ask the customer how to fix his company's product. So much for high quality tech service from HP. Well, I told him that I remembered the PC had to be restarted, while tapping F2.That brought up System Diagnostics and one of the options was BIOS Management. Under that, one could find BIOS Rollback. Wound up, I did the rollback and it worked at least to get me back to a working laptop although that did not fix the graphics card problem. The tech service guy said I should backup my files and he would call again the following morning at 10 AM. I backed up my files last night.

Somewhere in there (cannot recall if it was before or after the BIOS rollback) the tech service guy had me run a hard disk short DST test and some others. It passed all of them.  Well, today, while waiting for the promised callback from tech service (which never came), I decided to run some tests myself. There was a Hard Disk Long DST Test that he did not have me run. I ran that test, and a battery of others like a memory test, a couple of different tests of the hard disk and a WLAN test, under system tune-up that as one of the  options within System Diagnostics. All the tests except two were passed. One that was not passed was apparently not run as the result showed: Not Available. Tat was the Hard Disk Optimized test or something like that. The other test failed. That was the Hard Disk Long DST. My guess would be I have problems on the hard disk. Funny, once again it is the customer who figures it out and not the tech service reps.

As for tech service, I am still awaiting a call from the HP Technical Service representative to whom I spoke yesterday. I guess his 10AM is different than mine and maybe he plans on calling me at 10AM his time. Yes, I did tell him to call me at 10AM New York time. Oh well, time and a ringing phone will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

Expect The Price Of Coffee To Rise

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/08/guatemala-declares-national-emergency-to-deal-with-spread-fungus-devastating/

Most of the coffee we have been drinking at our house, since I retired, has been Kirkland brand but when I can, I go into Manhattan to Porto Rico Importers and buy different coffees from around the world there. In recent years most of that has been from Sumatra and Tanzania but I have gotten coffees quite a few times that were produced in other countries - one of them being 
Guatemala. Guatemala produces some excellent coffee and all I can think is, since so many countries have been effected, prices are going to soar if this gets worse.

All the best,
GB

Two Good Shootings...

...as far as I see them with what I know right now.

The first shooting was done by a homeowner who reportedly entered his home to find four men ransacking it. At least one of those four came at him and he drew a handgun and fired - killing the suspected bad guy. The other suspects fled.

The other shooting had a bit of an unusual twist. As per the report, a few guys, in a vehicle containing over a hundred pounds of marijuana, were pulled over by police and one of them fled. The guy who fled then stole a Nevada State Trooper's car to make his getaway. Sometime after his escape, he reportedly fatally shot himself. Somewhere in the interim, the article does not explain it well, he allegedly also carjacked another vehicle. It was reported that the alleged carjacker killed himself with a police shotgun (apparently found in the car he stole from the Nevada State Trooper) and thus it was a stolen gun he used in the alleged suicide. Yet, it still seems like a good shooting to me since it depletes the gene pool of what I can only see as undesirable set of genes.

I imagine someone will want to screw over the state trooper for not protecting his vehicle and shotgun. I also imagine that family members of the deceased, if any, will soon have a lawyer and try to sue the Nevada State Police because they will blame them for giving that guy access to the gun. It certainly would not surprise me in the least if someone is awarded millions after this because such is life in lawsuit crazy America.

All the best,
Glenn B

White Stuff Everywhere...

...around here anyway. I am going to guess that we got 12 to 18 inches of snow throughout the night and early morning.  It was piled higher in drifts here and there, up to three feet. It would have been much more had it not rained for the first several hours of the storm yesterday. We did not get it nearly as bad as eastern Long island, I have heard reports that they got up to three feet or more. I guess CT got the worst of it though; just heard the governor of CT has ordered all roads closed. Several roads around here are closed, for example the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County and both parkways. The roads in Nassau County though are supposedly nowhere nearly as bad. There have been numerous reports though of stranded motorists who spent the night in their cars on some of the major highways on Long Island. My bet is that before this is all over they will find someone dead in their car. Hopefully not but most people around here dress only to go from house or office or store to car and are not prepared for a very cold overnight in their automobiles.

My son is down in Atlantic City. I sent him a text suggesting he stay for another night if he is not broke yet, or that he wait till late in the afternoon before trying to head home. By then the roads in the city and in Nassau County should all be passable.

As for me, I am very happy to have shoveled last night when it was only an inch and a half or so deep. That was very wet, slushy and heavy snow with ice already formed underneath it. Had I left that until this morning I would have had one hell of a job clearing my sidewalk and walkways. As it turned out, shoveling this morning was no easy task. I started at 0500; I worked at it for half an hour, took a half hour break, then worked at it another half hour to 40 minutes or so. Then the plow came by and buried my driveway entrance. I go that cleaned up later, and as soon as I was finished and just waking to my side door, there came the plow again and piled the snow up in my driveway once more. Not so bad that time and I just left it that way. I figure no one is going to try to pull out of our driveway, or into it, for the rest of the day or even tomorrow.

It is a veritable winter wonderland around here. If I can find my camera, I may go out later and take some pics. For now though, I am resting up and digesting. I just enjoyed a nice breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee. Mmmmm, BACON! That was good even though I cooked it instead of my wife doing it. She ate it all with gusto, so I must have done something right. She did not even complain that the coffee was too strong and I made it a lot stronger than she usually does so.

As for my resting up I have to say I am aching in my shoulders, hips, elbows and even my wrists. Man, I need to start working out. I have not worked out since I started cancer treatments last year and even though I lost weight and do not look as flabby as I used to be, a little shoveling of a lot of snow let me know I need to do something to get some muscle tone. Who knows, I may even take one of the a dogs or two for a walk today, that would be a start.

All the best,
Glenn B

New Blog Added To The Link List

I added Bubala's View to my blog roll, under the header of other Bloggers Whom I Have Met, on the right side of my blog. Here is the link: http://bubalas-view.blogspot.com/.

Bubala's View is the blog of a dear friend of mine. I cannot wait until she writes up a post about guns. I don't even know if she owns one, or has ever shot one, but am pretty sure some are owned by her family members. Whatever, she is bound to become one of my favorite bloggers since she has always been one of my favorite friends and loved ones.

Love ya Jo!

All the best,
Glenn B

If There Really Is A God Above - We Need Him (or Her) Now

If this woman is the most popular person in U.S. politics right now, and remains so heading toward 2016, we are doomed when the 2016 election actually rolls around.

See: http://news.msn.com/politics/hillary-clinton-most-popular-us-politician-poll-shows.

I think it quite possible that one could only find him or herself hoping for something to afflict her popularity - like an aneurysm of the brain God increasing someone else in popularity by a hundred fold, hopefully someone of the Libertarian or Conservative ilk.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy Birthday Mr. President (no not you Obama - fuck you)

How did I miss it? Today was the 102nd birthday of President Ronald Wilson Reagan. (Thanks for the reminder to Cap'n Bob and the Damsel.)

How appropriate, he was born in the year - the numbers of which one of the greatest pistols of all time is labelled - 1911. I never realized that before, it just never clicked. From now on, every time I hold a 1911 in my hands, I will be sure to give him a thought. I sure do miss him; he was an excellent president. See more on Ronnie here:

http://www.ronaldreagan.com/

and here:

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

All the best,
GB

I Think I Will Just Have To Carry My .45

With the passing into law of the NY SAFE Act (gun control act), it seems that 10 round magazines will be allowed after all, even after the law goes into full force. The thing is, they have to be owned prior to 90 days after the legislation was signed into law. After that - you would only be able to buy new 7 round (or smaller capacity) magazines. You can still carry 10 rounders that you owned prior to that but will only be allowed to load them with 7 rounds. Any higher capacity magazines would have to be sold or disposed of out of state,, destroyed or turned over to the Gestapo or KGB henchmen of the governor (as in the state police) before the end of a year from enactment of the law. Note, that is all only so in my understanding, check the law yourself to make sure that what I am saying is correct. I got my info here:

http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/topic/58478-ny-safe-act-fact-sheet-for-gun-owners-11813/. 

Looking at the law was, to say the least, a pain in the eyes. The legalese and the manner in which it is presented in broken sentences and broken paragraphs with numbers all over the place, makes it truly hard to decipher. That even after I spent 32 years in law enforcement.

I figure about the best way for me to remain in compliance with the new law is to change what I carry. Instead of one of my Beretta 92 series pistols (I have three of them) with their 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS} and instead of my Glock 26 with 10 round mags and its 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS}, I can just carry my Remington R1 1911 with its standard sized 7 round magazines. I'll just have to carry more mags at all times than I otherwise would have been carrying when I carried a 9mm.
 
By the way, I have already bought 2 bus tickets and plan to be at the rally/protest, of the NY SAFE Act, in Albany on February 28th. Hopefully my son will be using the second ticket. Hope to see some of you there. Yes, I probably will be armed. Last I heard, while Albany is the capital of the Sovietistas' Socialist Repooblik state of New York, it is not yet a gun free zone.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Used To Write For The Firearm Blog - Until The NY SAFE Act Was Passed

I think I sent in 3 blog posts and 2 of them were published. Then the NY SAFE Act was passed and that pretty much took me out of contention as being an author who could do any reviews of firearms offered by manufacturers for reviews. Oh well, I asked to be removed from the list of contributing authors since the editor at that blog had figured that it would be difficult for me to receive any firearms, for review, and then return them to the manufacturer, under the new law. I figured he was right. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
 
FUCK THE NY STATE SAFE ACT, ALL THE LEGISLATORS AND SENATORS WHO VOTED FOR THIS TYRANNICAL LAW, ANYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO HOW IT WAS WRITTEN AND WHAT FIREARMS, MAGAZINES AND ACCESSORIES WERE BANNED OR RESTRICTED, AND MOST OF ALL FUCK GOVERNOR CUOMO WHERE THE SUN DOES NOT SHINE.

If I was a vindictive person, I might be more than just pretty upset about all of this and want to say something nasty about they who supported the bill and about they who passed it into law. As it stands now, I will be participating in yet another protest of the SAFE ACT up in Albany, NY on February 28th. At least this time it is on a weekday and the legislators are scheduled to be in session. How much do you want to bet there are more than just a handful of NY State Troopers and local police there this time as opposed to last month during the first such protest.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hatch Resistor Gloves RFK300

A few years ago, while I was still employed as a federal agent, I was issued a pair of Hatch Resistor, RFK300, cut resistant, Kevlar lined, goat skin leather gloves, for use on operations. I was never one to wear gloves while working, unless out in the bitter cold, mostly because of the possibility of them interfering with me being able to operate my sidearm while wearing them. The gloves I had tried before, even many marketed as ‘duty gloves’, were just too big around in the fingers to be able to get the gloved finger into the trigger guard at all or without the possibility of an accidental discharge. The glove simply made the finger too thick so it would invariably press against the trigger when the finger entered the trigger guard. So, after some testing at the range, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Hatch Resistor gloves that my agency had issued did not interfere any way with the safe operation of my issued pistol or my issued long arms. They fit snuggly but not too tightly, except maybe at the wrist and that changed as they stretched slightly after some wear. They were for the most part quite comfortable. Although apparently not marketed as cold weather apparel, they also kept my hands fairly warm even in bitter cold weather; yet, they did not make my hands overly warm in hot weather.  

I was pretty impressed with them and decided to use them on a regular basis whenever I was out in the field in any situation that could call for hand protection. Thus, I wore them while: executing arrest warrants, making warrantless arrests, performing searches of prisoners, executing search warrants, when qualifying at the range (intermittently), running through tactical exercises at the range, during handcuff and self-defense training, climbing fences, and in inclement weather as well. I also sometimes wore them while driving. Since I was assigned to a national security group and then to a narcotics group for at least 4 years of the time that I used these at work, they got a lot of use. It was also inevitable that I also wound up wearing them when off duty and I have used them while in the woods on hunting trips in NY and while out hiking in the mountains of Arizona.

 

As for actual use while shooting, I have been able to safely and easily actuate the triggers, magazine releases, and safeties; extract and insert magazines;  and operate the slides on my: Glock 26, my previously issued SIG 229, my Beretta 92FS, my Remington R1 1911 and other pistols I own. I also have worn these while shooting my Remington 870 and many of rifles I own, all without any problems. 

 

In all, I have had these gloves for several years now. Most of that time was while I was still employed in federal law enforcement and I have continued to use them since I retired in late 2011. They were one of the few issued items I was allowed to keep upon separation from government service and I must say I am happy for it. I still wear them often and still occasionally wear them while shooting. These gloves have held their shape well, have remained a snug fit, all outer stitching is intact, the interior lining is also intact with no holes or rips and the leather has remained supple over all those years. The only care that I have given them in all that time amounted to a quick cleaning now and again and in total only one or two coatings with a leather conditioner.

 

I cannot say that they have no faults. They are not all that easy to get on, or at least were not for me when new, because the wrist opening seemed inordinately smaller than it should be for the size of the glove; note these gloves only go to the wrist. While the wrists of the glove sometimes did feel a bit tight when I first wore them, they stretched a bit with wear and they do go on much easier now and are no longer tight around my wrists. The main part of the glove always fit my hands very well and as I said, while snug they were never tight. Maybe I would have been better off with an extra-large instead of a large and if and when I buy another pair as a replacement for these I may try the larger ones. As it has been going so far though, I do not anticipate needing a replacement for at least a few to several more years –  these gloves certainly seem as if they were made to last.

 

I just bought my son a pair of these this past Christmas and they seem as well made as my older pair. The new pair goes on, over the wrists, easier than did my old pair and fit snuggly just as they should. They still are made goat skin and that results in a nicely supple yet evidently tough leather. As with my original pair, they are Kevlar lined. The new ones seem as well made as my older pair and so far they havbe been a big hit with my son. If you are in the market for a pair of cut resistant duty gloves or shooting gloves or even driving gloves, I highly recommend the Hatch Resistor, RFK300.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Gun Control For Dummies Parts 1 & 2 (Or How Up Are You On The Bill of Rights and Gun History)

All the best,
Glenn B

My Firearms That Could Be Considered Assault Weapons

Dare I say that my firearms have been taken care of, disposed of so to speak, and are out of the purview of the state of NY? Lest I be seen as defenseless by thugs, assassins, muggers, robbers, rapists, arsonists, home invaders or scalawags, bear in mind, I just questioned whether I should speak of my so called assault weapons. I made no mention of any of my other arms. Rest assured, I am ready, willing and able to defend me and mine.

All the best,
Glenn  B

Ed Koch Gone - It's Like Losing A Dear Friend...

...even though I never met him, that is the kind of impression he made on New Yorkers, maybe even on the world. He passed away today. I am saddened greatly.

See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/former_mayor_ed_koch_dead_at_age_75lqLcuapohQ9JC6ILAXrL

 

and:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/01/ed-koch-three-term-mayor-who-became-symbol-nyc-dies-at-88/?test=latestnews

 

Ed Koch was born Edward Irving Koch on December 12, 1924 (13 days older than my mom). He worked in regular jobs (like deli clerk) and in 1943 he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served with honor, in Europe, during WWII as an infantryman. He saw combat, earned two battle stars, but made it through the war wherein he had achieved the rank of sergeant. After that he attended City College of New York and NY University of Law. He practiced as a lawyer after that. He began a career in local NYC politics in 1963, then became a Congressman, then eventually back to the city where he became the 105th mayor of New York City on January 1, 1978. That was a year and about 10 months before I went in to the Border Patrol to start my federal career.

 

Ed Kock, giving thumbs up, standing amid commuters on the
walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, urging them not to let the
striking NYC Transit Union keep them from work, in 1980.

In the time he was mayor, while I was still living in NYC, it became obvious to me that this guy was no ordinary democrat. He leaned right - sometimes far right - on some issues while remaining staunchly liberal on others and he was feisty. After a 4 year absence from NYC on my part, I returned to the city to find it much the same with the same mayor and he was as unpredictable and independent minded as ever. As I recall, I voted for him at least once. Yes - he ran as a democrat when I did that (he was the only democrat, as I can remember, for whom I ever voted), the election before that he had run as a Republican and Democrat - go figure - as best as I can tell he was more of a Libertarian than either a Democrat or Republican.

 

During his 3 terms in office he was a staunch patriot, he was a law and order kind of a guy but did not go overboard with it, he lifted the failed economy of the city and made it soar due to his major budget cutting, he supported Israel, he opposed the unions during a New York City Transit strike, he supported the lesbian and gay and bi community (there was nothing about being 'bi' in it back then), yet after the outbreak of AIDS he closed the gay bath houses, he supported the Jewish community in the face of racial unrest between that community and the African American but told it as he saw it  much to the dismay, back then, of the likes of Al Sharpton. Koch often asked "How am I doing?" but also often said he did not care about the replies. All the while that he was mayor he was a feisty guy who had a huge set of balls amount of chutzpah and he was honest always saying what he meant. As Sharpton eulogized him Koch: "was never a phony or a hypocrite. He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace."

 

He was a lifelong bachelor and when questioned about his sexual preference he simply replied that it was private. My guess, and that of many others, is that he was gay but no one minded because he was DA MAYOR before anything else and in that regard he did pretty well and with heart felt love for NYC and his faith. It was obvious that this man would stand up for his beliefs and would face down his opponents whenever and wherever necessary usually with his wit and a smarting quip. You should have heard him lambaste Jesse Jackson, in 1988, when Jackson was running for president and Koch reminded NY'ers that Jackson was no friend of Israel. Yet, he was also oft times quite unpredictable on where he would stand on the issues except to say that he approached many, probably most, of them with common sense and practicality as opposed to towing the party line. 

 

Throughout his terms as mayor, and after, he repeatedly told it like he saw it regardless of benefit or harm to his image. He ran, during one of his terms as mayor, for the governor's seat of NY State but lost. He most likely lost because he alienated voters outside of NYC when he said that living in the suburbs was "...sterile..." and that he would not like living in a small city like Albany.

 

After politics, he stayed active in the political community although never again attaining political office. His politics remained the same - he was a democrat but leaned right, even stood firmly fast on the right, on some issues like support for Israel and was to the left on others as in his support for  the lesbian, bi and gay communities (yes by that time "bi" was included). 

 

He will be buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. It was the only cemetery with available space in Manhattan (commonly referred to as The City). He put it this way: "I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone," Koch told The Associated Press. "This is my home...." (source). That he was proud of his faith, can be witnessed by part of the inscription placed on his tombstone, that he had inscribed, shortly after he bought the burial plot, with the last words of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl before he was slain by Islamic terrorists:

 

 "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish." (source)

 

Further indication of his love for his faith but also that Hizzonner  loved the City of New York and its people, and was truly a patriot who loved the United States of America, can be evidenced in the remaining words inscribe on his tombstone:

 

"He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith. He fiercely defended the City of New York, and he fiercely loved its people. Above all, he loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II." (source)

He called it as he saw it and stood up for his beliefs even up to his last days on earth (he opposed Obama's stance on Israel) but exercised a practicality that was rare among politicians and stood up fiercely to his detractors with the chutzpah only a New Yorker could show but almost always did it with a sense of humor. He

loved his faith, New York City and its people and the USA and in his own words did so fiercely. For those attributes, you had to admire him more than almost any other politician of his day whether you sided with him or not and I have to admit I disagreed with his stances on a lot of the issues a lot of the time. Still though, losing him is like losing a good friend. He was that kind of a mayor, he was Hizzoner!

All the best,

Glenn B

They're All Gone Now - The Last Of The Andrews' Sisters Passes On

It is truly with a heavy heart that I post this. Patty, the last surviving of the singing trio of Patty, LaVerne and Maxine - The Andrews Sisters - has passed away of natural causes at age 94, see: http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=788243

She was the lead singer of this 1930-40s group that sold records in the tens, if not hundreds, of millions. They performed together as a group up through 1967, so I got to hear them often as I grew up. Of course, I, like many Americans, fell in love with them by way of not only their voices but their appearances in reruns of movies like Buck Privates in which they sang Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. (If you have never seen Buck Privates, which was the first starring role for Abbot and Costello, I highly recommend it.)



Did you happen to notice the two guys who walked on stage just as the song ended, yep Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. Also in Buck Privates, they sang: Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (and yes that is Shemp Howard appearing with them on stage).



They were a big hit with the military services during WWII and certainly did a lot to raise the moral of thousands of our troops and of the folks back home.

Their career took off with their first hit Bei mir bistu shein (original Yiddish spelling).



Shit, tears are flowing and I am actually slobbering as I write and as I listen to Bei mir bistu shein! What voices! To think those the last of those voices is now with the angels and with those of her sisters. Enough...except to say they were magnificent.

All the best,
Glenn B

Guns Or Ammo Out Of Stock - What Else To Buy Before It Too Runs Out

Have you noticed yet that there is a scarcity of guns and ammunition available in, what was until recently, the free market in this country. If you have not noticed, don't even bother reading any further, this article is not for you. If you have noticed the current guns and ammo shortages, then hopefully you were smart and you also anticipated them. In other words, maybe you stocked up a decent supply of guns and ammo, before they ran out, to last you fairly long while. How long? Like maybe having enough on hand to make it through the duration of a major revolution a few years until our government is again controlled by the people with some sense of Constitutional rights and liberties. I don't think I have enough to last that long but I do have some and I am not about to be giving it out to anyone who shows up at my door begging because they cannot find any.

In the event that the economy fails, or the government decides that in order to save the economy they have to halve federal pensions (or worse), or maybe they will decide on another major devaluation of the dollar  by printing more greenbacks without anything to back them up, or if the government tries to take over militarily or by police force, or in the event of a major natural catastrophe or even a friggin' Zombie Apocalypse or maybe just shortages of consumer goods just as there is now a shortage of guns, ammunition and related items on the market - I want to be able to kind of, sort of, assure I do not have to start bartering what scant ammunition I have on hand in order to get other things that I do not have. That begs the question - What other things should one be buying now to avoid that kind of mess.

My guess would be the number one thing to buy would be food and water storage containers. That is unless you have lots of money right now, in which case I would probably be buying gold and silver and food and water. I do not have a lot of money on hand, so I think maybe I will at least try to buy some kind of long lasting food; maybe I can sneak in a few ounce of silver too. While I see no shortage of gold or silver forthcoming, I can see the prices rising, even now, especially for silver as fears of a worsened economy or a collapse increase. I don't think buying silver now is a good money making proposition but I do think it was a good idea to have some on hand, and some gold too if you can afford it, in the event the economy does collapse. If the economy fails, your dollars aren't going to be worth shit.

Now back to that other commodity that you might want to consider buying - food. Buying things like containers of emergency foods that can be stored for the long term is a good idea. Why, well just because shit happens. People were pretty hungry during the great Depression, during WWII also. The way things are going nowadays, I can easily envision them getting worse before they get better. I do not plan to be caught standing behind the trucks, off of which soldiers are tossing bags of flour or rice to the peasants, when the food riots break out. Is that really going to happen - beats me but I have stood on cheese lines before and shopped with the food stamps that my mother got a long time ago and do not ever intend to do either again. I certainly do not want to see my kids ever have to do it.

Emergency food comes in varying degrees as to quantity. You can get anything from a year's supply for a family of four (a pallets worth of it) down to an individual can of it. I do not think most folks are in the economic position to be buying a year's supply of food at one time, let alone having the facility to store all that food - heck I would have to buy another place just to store that much food. So instead of buying all that much of it at once, you can tailor your buying to your budget and to your storage space. Buying a bucket of emergency food per month, like a 40 lb. bucket of flour, or a bucket of powdered milk, a 20 lb. bucket of rolled instant oats, or a 35 lb. bucket of dried kidney beans, or a bucket of rice, or sugar, or honey and many other long term storage food items can be done, on a fairly low budget, by purchasing one or two such items per month. If you don't use it wit he next year or three - so what - a lot of it will store for up to 20 or 25 years unopened. You can also lay in a stock of things like canned foods such as tuna fish, sardines, veggies, or even canned meats. Spam lasts, I think, at most for about 3 or 4 years but you have to look for the 'best by date' to figure out by when you need use it up.

While you may not have enough room in your apartment or house to stock up for a year for a family of 4, maybe not even enough room to put away enough for 6 months for two people, you sure want to consider having enough spare food to last you and yours at least a month.

Now, back to the original idea. Remember I asked about what to buy now that guns and ammo have become scarce. A lot of other folks are probably asking themselves the same thing because either they have more than enough in the firearms and ammunition stockpiles or because they simply cannot find any more in stock - so they need something to do with their money now. My guess is, that if they have not done so already, they are going to start buying other commodities like the ones I just mentioned. That could bring on new shortages of things that seem to be in abundance right now. Let me assure you, if they start selling like guns and ammo started selling, food supplies will be out of stock within a month or two at most. Why - because while not everyone was buying guns and ammo - everyone eats and buys food. If panic buying of food starts, for whatever reason, food is going to become scarce really quickly.

If food panic buying does take place, then gold and silver will soar. Neither one probably will become as scarce but they will become super expensive and may wind up being the only thing with which you can purchase food.

Think about that and consider buying now.

Wondering where to buy things like those I just mentioned. Here are a few places you can try:

Gold & Silver:

APMEX

KITCO (Mind you, I think their minimum online order has to amount to $2,500 but you may be able to order in lessor amounts over the phone.)

I have used both of the above, in the past when there was no minimum order size, and they gave good service and I hope the real McCoy when it comes to what I purchased.

Emergency Food:

COSTCO (I have made several online purchases of such stuff from them. I had to return one that had been shipped to me and was faulty. They took it back at a warehouse, no questions asked. They also would have arranged for return shipping if I had preferred it.)

SHELF RELIANCE/THRIVE You can purchase their products from COSTCO but you can buy directly from them too. 

EMERGENCY FOOD WAREHOUSE I have never purchased from them; I found a link for them on The Survivalist Blog.

All the best,
Glenn B

Laws Banning Firearms Don't Benefit Society

I have always believed and probably will always be of like mind that laws, banning certain types of firearms (or other weapons) or banning magazines with a certain capacity to hold ammunition, are pointless unless it is that the government wishes to attempt a takeover of the populace. Even then, there is little chance of keeping weapons out of the hands of people whom the government does not want to see armed. A perfect example has just come to light in a terrible tragedy that has taken place in the southern hemisphere. Over the past couple of days there has been an uproar from the citizenry in Venezuela over the massive gun battle that took place in that country between federal troops and armed convicts. That gun battle took place in what should have been one of the most secure facilities in the country or in any country - a federal prison - a place in which gun control should be practiced to its full extent regarding keeping guns from the inmates. That system failed miserably.

Now, you may wonder how prisoners got the guns with which to battle federal troops that had entered the prison to check for weapons and other contraband and to check on prison conditions. You might even hypothesize that somehow, the families of prisoners smuggled weapons into the prison over a period of times and those weapons were used against the troops. Yet, authorities and politicians in Venezuela would probably tell you otherwise, at least it is being reported that they are seeing it differently right now. For now, it is believed that the great majority of the weapons used by prisoners in the gun battle, that claimed 61 lives and wounded over a hundred others, were smuggled into the jail by corrupt jailers, see:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/27/inmates-evacuated-from-venezuela-prison-after-61-reported-killed-120-hurt-in/.

 

In fact, the people of Venezuela are allowed to possess certain firearms but only under strict conditions and only firearms of a very limited variety. 

 

"Venezuela:

 

- Only the state may possess 'weapons of war', including: cannon, rifles, mortars, machine guns, sub-machine guns, carbines, pistols, and revolvers, be they automatic or semi-automatic. Civilians are only authorized to hold .22 rifles and shotguns (repeating and hunting).

 

- Penalty for Possessing Prohibited Firearm: 5-8 years for firearms; 6-10 years for 'weapons of war'

 

- Registration: details of the firearm must be recorded"

 

Sources: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/venezuela and: Parker, Sarah. 2011. ‘Balancing Act: Regulation of Civilian Firearm Possession.’ Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security; Chapter 9 (Table 9.2), p. 273. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 6 July.

 

So imagine that. If, in Venezuela, you possessed the weapons that were almost certainly used in the prison gun battle, you face a 6-10 year sentence at the least just for having them, let alone the additional sentence for using them to injure or kill someone. I imagine that since Venezuela also requires civilians to register firearms that there would also be an additional penalty for having unregistered firearms. Are you beginning to see how firearms registration laws and laws banning certain types of weapons are totally ineffective. All the legal restrictions above did little to nothing to keep firearms out of what should have been a gun free area, and thus little to nothing to keep them from the hands of those who would commit crimes with them even when those people were incarcerated! As a matter of fact, as I noted above, corrupt government officials were implicated as being the likely culprits to have smuggled the firearms into the prison and that is based upon past cases of such having happened.

 

So, unless you get rid of every gun that there is on the planet, gun control is not going to work. It probably would not even work then because it is just too easy to produce firearms in a workshop, even in a backyard or basement workshop. That is exactly how tens of thousands of firearms were smuggled into Afghanistan, to supply the Afghans, when the Soviet Union occupied that country. The guns were manufactured in home shops by people in Pakistan. 

 

What we need in the USA is not a gun ban or gun restrictions, what we need is stiffer sentencing when guns or any weapons are used in the commission of a crime - maybe a mandatory 25 year add on sentence. This may not prevent the criminal from committing more violent crime once his sentence has expired and he gets out of jail but will assure that he will not commit violent crime on the streets for at least the time he is in jail.

 

We need swift and sure justice that results in the death penalty for the offender when someone is found guilty of manslaughter or murder, or of a felony in which violence resulting in injury was used to commit the crime, resulting in the death penalty. The death penalty may not work as a deterrent however it works without fail as to preventing recidivism once the sentence has actually been carried out. 

 

We need to assure that our mental health system institutionalizes those who are a high potential threat to public safety. We did that many years ago and the incidence of violent crimes committed by the mentally ill was lower than currently.

 

We need to allow our children to properly adjust to aggression and violence. Thus we need to accept, as we used to, that violence and aggression are normal, in children and teens, to a certain degree. Instead of coddling our children and teens and even our young adults, we need allow for an adjustment period in which they learn how to naturally react to things like bullying and other highly stressful situations, maybe by way of them fighting back by using an appropriate level of self-defense. Thus they would gain an understanding that extremely violent overreactions, like what they see in video games and on television, are not the proper ways to react to the great majority of situations although sometimes a situation can be dealt with best by application of the appropriate level of violence and aggression. 

 

None of that should not be difficult to accomplish; not once we realize we need to get rid of some things our society has turned to such as: the Nanny State and the proliferation of nannies instead of educators in our schools, police state in which the police see themselves as above the law yet needing to enforce the law as more important than them living up to their oaths by being the defenders of the Constitution, the soft tyranny that exists and may soon turn to hard tyranny as opposed to having politicians that realize they are public servants who are supposed to serve us instead of us serving them. 

 

It was like that once upon a time, not all that long ago - within my lifetime. It can be that way again and when it is, just as when I was a youngster - mass shootings and mass murders of any sort, within this nation, will be rare occurrences indeed.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

The Bell Just Rang...

...and what may be the last Internet order of ammo I will ever make legally, from my NY residence, was dropped off at my front door. Of course, I would buy more ammo online, before the NY SAFE Act goes into effect, if I could find any available in calibers I want and at reasonable prices. Virtually everything I want has been sold out for weeks now.

As for the ammo that just arrived, it's a hundred rounds of .308 Winchester ammo from Midway USA;  it should be anyway - I have not opened the box to check yet. MidwayUSA was the only dealer I could find within the last 2 weeks with any .308 ammo for sale. The ammo itself is: Federal Fusion Lite Ammunition, .308 Winchester, 170 Grain, Spitzer Boat Tail, five boxes of 20 rounds. As I write, it is no longer in stock; as a matter of fact, it was out of stock within minutes of me placing my order. Right now, MidwayUSA has some: Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition, 308 Winchester, 165 Grain, Trophy Copper Tipped Boat Tail,lead free ammo for sale for 33.99 a box but I am not about to spend that much on 20 rounds of .308 - lead free or not, just posting the availability here in the event someone is looking.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Patriot Post Has Been Added To My Blog Roll

I added The Patriot Post. Don't know why I never did before tonight. Great stuff. It is on the right, under the header: Other Bloggers Of Note.

All the best,
GB

The 2A Pledge - Have You Taken It Yet?

I just took the 2A Pledge. If you support our Constitutional Rights, our liberties to exercise them, and our freedoms, then you should consider taking the pledge too. It relates to the one right that assures we keep all the others, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

You can go directly to the pledge page here: http://patriotpost.us/archives/petitions/21

Or first check out the Patriot Post, the host website, here: http://patriotpost.us/

Thanks to Bob, over at the at The Wandering Minstrel, for the heads up on this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Wise Man and A Buffoon Discuss The NY SAFE Act

It is a 15 minute video but if you are at all interested in the latest violation of New Yorkers' right to keep and bear arms,watch this video. Then guess which one I think is the wise man and which the buffoon. Bear in mind, although I fully support the RKBA, I imagine that I would still think of both of them the same as I do now even had they been talking about the weather instead of the NY SAFE Act. I mean it is just so obvious as to which term fits which man - isn't it!

 

Politicians never cease to amaze me especially when it comes to how willing some of them are to totally disregard our natural and Constitutional rights. Hat tip to Richie M for this one.

All the best
Glenn B

The Second Amendment Foundation

I stopped over at the Wandering Minstrel's blog tonight and am happy I did so. Bob put up a brief but excellent post suggesting that now is the time to donate to The Second Amendment Foundation. He explained that as opposed to the mostly lobbying that is done by the NRA, the SAF files and supports lawsuits on the behalf of gun owners, and thus on behalf of all of us, concerning our right to keep and bear arms and our liberty to exercise that right. I have heard about the Second Amendment Foundation before and would have sworn I had joined or sent them a donation but could find nothing to that effect in my saved emails or my receipt files.

So tonight, I signed up for a 5 year membership with them. I figure it is money well spent. I will also donate to them over time, probably starting next week when I get my next pension payment. One thing Bob pointed out, about donations to the SAF, is that said donations are tax deductible. I can see myself donating a good amount of dollars to them, over the course of the next year, if that is correct; I hope so.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gun Control Thoughts

So tell me - in NY State (with the SAFE Act) and on the national level (with Obummer’s executive orders) if I do absolutely nothing, it means I will become a felon! Absolutely friggin amazing that our law makers have let no crisis go unexploited and by twisting around blame have blamed inanimate objects and law abiding citizens for the latest tragedy.

I wonder why, as with magazine capacity, they have not limited automobiles to only be allowed to travel as fast as the highest speed limit - think how many lives that would save. Cars kill more people by far than do guns, in this country, every day. Yet, we can buy cars that go over twice as fast as the highest speed limit within the USA, maybe even faster. You see, that is because it is not the car but the one driving it who is to blame when the driver runs down and injures or kills someone. The blame game according to politicians and leftists: With cars, the driver is to blame, with guns it is not just the shooter to blame but the gun makers, the ammo makers, the gun stores, the gun shows, the Internet, the movie makers, the video game makers, Republicans, Conservatives, Libertarians, every law abiding gun owner in the United States of America and probably their parents too. Oh did I forget the Founding Fathers and the framers of the Bill of Rights; heck I bet they would even blame God if they believed in one! All so very understandable, to all, when it comes to cars but somehow not with firearms, that it is the criminals to blame. 

As for justice: Run someone down and kill them, get a few to several years in jail and then you will be set free to do it again. Shoot someone down and kill them, go to jail for a few to several years so you will be free to do it again. Whoops, you caught me, you saw it didn't you. While you can commit a felony and go to jail for it, when you get out of prison, you certainly can legally own a car again but commit any felony and even some misdemeanors and you are forbidden to legally own a firearm again. The politicians figured it all out so well as to how to prevent violence committed with firearms haven't they! So, how could someone possibly ever shoot anyone again after having been convicted of a felony. Oh those politicians and their silly laws, don't they see that getting rid of guns is the only answer - getting rid of cars too. For that matter, getting rid of cars would save many more lives than getting rid of guns. Then again, getting serious again, executing the killers would solve everything with regard to recidivism for vehicular or firearms related criminal homicides. The death penalty might even make some folks think twice before speeding, drunk driving or shooting someone.

Of course, if you are looking at prevention in the first place, why not immediately revoke the driving privileges of anyone caught driving recklessly, or using firearms in like manner, and why not institutionalize the psychos, why not immediately jail for 25 years (as an add on to any other jail sentence) anyone who commits a crime with a firearm or other weapon (any weapon, including a car). Probably makes way too much sense to work in these Bizarro States of Amerika. Instead, our politicians have decided to punish the law abiding firearms owners of this once great nation and to demonize an inanimate object that needs a hand to point it and a finger to pull the trigger.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Less Than One Percent Supporting The Right To Keep And Bear Arms

It is said that only three percent of the population of the 13 British colonies (that became the United States of America) actually fought in the revolution to overthrow English rule. On this past Saturday, by my estimation, only 1 percent of the membership of Long Island Firearms showed up to protest the evidently unconstitutional gun control law passed by the NY legislature and signed into law by governor Cuomo earlier in the week. There are over 6,000 members of Long Island Firearms, an organization that has dedicated itself to protection of our right to keep and bear arms on the local level. That only 57 signed up for the bus trip there and maybe a few handfuls more drove up on their own is absolutely shameful as far as I can see. Yet, that may have been better than the percentage of overall gun owners, in NY State, who showed up. It appears less than one percent of all gun owners in NY State participated in the rally and protest; the crowd maybe reached 2,000 at most.

I guess, like too many others in our nation, the firearms owners who did not attend can give as many excuses as there are days in a month about why they did not participate. Perhaps they can also come up with as many reasons as to why they seemingly, like so many on the left, expect someone else to do their work for them. I just don’t get it but I’ll be sure to know on whom to vent my anger if we lose this battle and it will not be reserved solely for liberals – there will be plenty to go around for the armchair conservatives and libertarians.

Getting back to the protest, the one in Albany, NY probably had a total of about 1,500 to 2,000 pro-Right To Keep and Bear Arms people at it. I have seen scant news reports about it. There was only one van there from the media, something called YNN News.

As for the folks who actually participated in the protest, they went at it 150%. Many came from different parts of the state and had a long journey to get there. It took the LIF bus about 3.5 hours to make it there. Once there, we piled out onto the street and realized, heck it was going to be a cold one. Not terribly cold but cold enough that you would not want to be standing around outside for 4 to 5 hours. I think we got there about 1030 or 1045. That was well before the noon starting time for the event. There was only a small handful of others there by then but sure enough, more protesters came rolling in. We all assembled in a park that was about one square city block around, surrounded by government buildings. Brendan and I went off to grab a quick sandwich and when we got back, at about 1145, it had already begun.

There were speakers from New York Rifle and Pistol Association, from the media, from the NY legislature, from pro-gun groups and the like. The speeches went on and on but to what avail since almost no one from the media was apparently listening or watching and thus would not spread the story. I saw a total of two news cameramen videoing the event and one guy, maybe a reporter and maybe not, going around interviewing people while recording audio only and none  of those there seemed to be working too hard.

I got a good amount of photos of the protesters using my phone camera (sorry I could not find my regular camera before we departed for the protest) and some of them appear here in this blog post. There were all sorts of folks protesting, from moms and dads with young children to octogenarians with canes and even one guy in a sort of walker/wheelchair.  People of every race were in attendance and it was obvious of many ethnicities and nationalities. There were tactical shooters, preppers, target shooters, plinkers, hunters, gun collectors, law enforcement officers, military personnel, security professionals, politicians, media personalities (a radio talk show host from Albany gave some good speeches), firearms rights organizers and just about any other type who had a love of freedom and who realized that being at liberty to exercise our right to keep and bear arms has kept us free. My guess would be that there were folks there from most every political party found in the USA and all were pro-RKBA. As I said, the protesters were giving 150%, chanting and urging on the speakers always in support of our liberties to exercise our RKBA. They who participated have done something of which to be proud; I only wish there had been more of us there – many more of us. If we intend to win this battle, we need support from the whole firearms community – each and every one of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



This youngster apparently finally had enough
and seemed to be telling Cuomo where to go.

I guess it all went on until about 3PM instead of 4PM as had been planned but it started early and the point was made more than enough times by the time it broke up. Besides that, the size of the crowd was evidently dwindling somewhat by then; I am guessing though that there had to have still been 1,000 people then when it finished up.

Brendan and I are ready to do it again. I hope the next one is on a weekday when the legislature is in session and Governor Cuomo in his office and when the media decides to show up in good number (that last hope is probably pointless, why would they want to support us). Oh well, just one other thing for me to say. There was a handful of Albany city police officers there and also a few NY State troopers and some officers in plain clothes in the crowd with large dogs, as in K-9 units. The truth is, none of them were needed there since this was an absolutely peaceful form of protest by people who respected the property on which they stood while protesting. Never once did anyone in the crowd lower themselves to the likes of those in some of the Occupy Wall Street events I saw on the news; but then I never would have expected anything but decent respectful behavior from law abiding gun owners - at least until they are pushed too far - then, who knows!

All the best,
Glenn B

Protesting The NY State Gun Control Legislation

My son and I will be traveling up to Albany, NY, tomorrow, along with 55 other members of Long Island Firearms to protest the latest round of NY State's anti-gun legislation. Sadly, said group, with a membership of over 6,000, could only get enough members, who committed to the trip, to fill one bus. I hope others will be driving up in their own vehicles. This protest had been planned as one to try to avoid passage of the legislation but Governor Cuomo and his henchmen pushed it through the NY State Senate and Assembly in record time earlier this week. Now it has become a protest after the fact.

The NY State legislation, that has been passed into law, will effectively make many firearms that use magazines holding more than 7 rounds obsolete. Why? I think because there will not be even one manufacturer that will go out of its way to produce the required 7 round magazines for their firearms for the group of owners who own those guns and who live in NY. Why would they and why should they? It would not be financially feasible for them to retool to make the 7 round mags for such a small group of gun owners. Of course there are pistols like the 1911, for which 7 round mags are standard but most other pistols and many rifles have magazines with higher standard magazine capacities than a mere 7 rounds.

The legislation also requires registration of assault weapons, outright bans many so called assault weapons, requires background checks to purchase ammunition, ends Internet sales of firearms to New Yorkers, outlaws selling assault weapons within NY even if legally owned (except to a relative) and forces all owners of magazines that hold more than 7 rounds to dispose of them out of state within one year, among other things. It applies to the police as well as the civilian population but the tyrants are already planning to change the law to exempt police officers so that their henchmen can be better armed than the populace. It got pushed through the NY legislative branch so fast that no one noticed they had forgotten to exempt law enforcement as they do usually. Then again, why should police officers and other LEOs be exempt from the law!

As for how it effects me: My Ortgies Pocket Pistol, that was manufactured in the 1920's, will become useless because no one is going to make 7 round mags for it. My Glock 19 probably will also become useless because Glock will unlikely manufacture 7 round mags. The same goes for my three 92 series pistols from Beretta and for my Beretta 70S, likewise for my Ruger MKII and the same for my High Standard Dura Matic. Why would any manufacturer make 7 round mags and run the risk of a state like CA or IL passing a law similar to NY's but demanding mags that only hold 6 rounds! Likewise for my rifles that utilize standard capacity magazines holding more than 7 rounds. For now, you can still use those higher capacity magazines but it would be illegal to load more than 7 rounds into them.

I am beginning to fear the time may be drawing near when we may hear the retorts of the citizenry by way of many guns being fired in revolt. If so, it may finally become clear to the politicians who passed this law as to why the right to keep and bear arms was enumerated in the 2nd Amendment. Hopefully this weekend's protest will remain peaceful and help accomplish something toward overturning the current tyrannical legislation.

All the best,
Glenn B

Should We All Pay More Taxes - My Reply

Should We All Pay More Taxes was the title of an article I just read. I do not often reply to articles like that but felt compelled to do so in this instance. My comment to that piece follows:

"I can tell you why no one in the middle class, or upper class, or in the lower class of working folks, should have to pay even a dime more in taxes - because it is way past due that something else happens. The time is right for an alternative to higher taxes. You know what time is due, the time for - the unrighteous who think themselves entitled, those leeches on unemployment for up to a year when yes there are jobs but just not the ones they want out there, the drug dealers who get public assistance and food stamps, the fakers on disability who are more able than you or I, the homeless bums who could work but choose to suck charity's tit dry, the Occupy Wall Street useless hippies who rant and rave and never earn anything but the disrespect due them - those useless pieces of flotsam in our society to get off of their supposedly entitled arses and get legitimate jobs and pay taxes. It is time for the great part of the 47 percent who pay nothing, but who take everything, to finally get jobs waiting tables, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, cleaning up dog poo in kennels, digging ditches, handing out fliers, or doing whatever menial jobs they can get to pay their fair share and to lighten the burden on the rest of us by not taking what we have dutifully earned. It is also time to get rid of the 30 million blood sucking illegal aliens in this country and for them to give up their jobs to the above mentioned useless American citizens so that tax rates on the rest of us can finally go down. Think about it, then sleep on it, and maybe you will wake up as a responsible adult tomorrow.  Something tells me though, you are a hopeless liberal, just as hopeless as is the future of any country, like the USA, in which so many feel entitled, even empowered, to take so much from the rest of us and give nothing in return except demands for more.

Sincerely,

Glenn  B"

That was my reply and my rather simple solution to end the so called fiscal crisis. Well maybe one other thing, getting rid of all the assholes in government too but that is for myself and the rest of you to commence next election day and to keep voting on in all subsequent elections.

By the way, I put the stamp on my voter registration packet today and it goes into the mail tomorrow. I have pulled myself out of the Republican party, and registered as not a member of any party, because from what I can tell - Republicans are almost all RINOs. In the future, I will vote for Libertarians (for the most part) and maybe also now and again for the rare truly conservative Republican and or for a conservative or Libertarian leaning independent (if there is such a thing).

All the best,
Glenn B