Thankgod

 I wonder if his mother and father ever dreamed of how appropriate a name they were giving their son. He was one of four men who climbed aboard the rudder of a merchant ship while it was in harbor at Lagos, Nigeria in western Africa. He was desperate, all of them were, to get to a better place, a better life. He and the others believed the ship was headed to Europe, they had food and water that lasted 10 days. Their journey took 14 days and after running out of supplies they drank seawater to survive. 

 

The ship never arrived in Europe, that because it was headed in a totally different direction. It made port but not at alll where they had expected;  they wound up on another continent altogether.

Imagine their ordeal, 14 days at sea on a rudder. Thry must have been truly terrified, it was no joy ride, of that I am sure. Then imagine their great relief to have arrived anywhere at all and their grest surprise to learn they were in Brazil. Brazilian Federal Police evidently got them off of the ship but only after giving them what they needed most after four days without it - fresh water. Once there, two of the men decided to go back to Nigeria but two opted to apply for asylum in Brazil. More at the source.

I am no fan of illegal aliens entering any country but their plight gives one pause for thought. Thought not so much about illegal entries and such, their desperation does not change my mind that borders need be respected and Immigration laws strictly enforced with emphasis placed on legal Immigration with favoratism given to they who apply legally and are found acceptable under the law. My thoughts are more about how good we have it in the United States that virtually not one of our most downtrodden tries to head to a better country (is there even one that is better) and about how bad it is for others in many other countries of the world. Bad enough it seems, for even the most idiotic and dangerous of plans to seem like a good one, or maybe the only one, to get oneself to a better life. 

Maybe his parents should have named him Foolishboy, Dumbass, Idiot or Badrisktaker but instead they gave him a name that also makes me wonder if he is living up to it and one that I am pretty certain is appropriate. I am guessing that maybe it could not have been mere luck that got all four of them across the unforgiving seas - could it! There must have been a higher power than chance  maybe a divine providence protecting them, don't you think? I bet he and the others think so and I bet they are all doing what his name says to do being they all did not perish at sea. 

 

If you have not figured it out yet, one of the men was was given the same name

as the title of this blogpost - Thankgod! My guess is that is what he and the others have been doing a lot of lately. I am also guessing, that if still alive, his patents are doing much of the same and are very happy they gave him that very suitable moniker.

All the best,

Glenn B

Cat Stevens...

 ...I would not pee on him if afire today BUT I love to listen to his old songs from back in the 70s. This man had, maybe still has, one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I like this song of his very much: How Can I Tell You. It should be the theme song of hopeless romantics worldwide!

 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

I Keep Up The Hope That It Would Start Already

 The it to which I refer is the damned Zombie Apocalypse. It's going to start sooner or later; so, it may as well begin when there actually is a zombie in charge (well in as much charge as is allowed to a puppet anyway) with thousands of his minion around him and tens of millions more of them spread out across the country.

 

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know, I've posted that video before or a copy almost exactly like it (the other one was just a bit longer on each end). The thing about posting it again and again and yet again is that Hope springs eternal! Thus, one can hope that those of us who are not democrats zombies, just like the surviving humans in the zombie movies and shows, will have plenty of food & water stocked up with some decent amount of medical supplies as well. Of course, one can only hope that we also would have lots of firepower once it commences!

All the best,

Glenn B

The Z Is Nowhere Near The R...

 ...on any keyboard I have ever seen as far as I recall. So when a police officer allegedly ran an Arkansas tag as an Arizona tag, I figure it must be because he never paid attention in 4th or 5th grade geography class or is maybe just an ignoramus or had a terrible brain fart.

Now, I can understand a person of a bit less than, or even of, average intelligence thinking that AR stands for Arizona being a and r are its first two letters but how anyone would think AZ stands for Arkansas is beyond me. I note, in my 32 years of law enforcement experience, it was always the two letter code used for running a license plate.

So, when an officer in TX, reportedly ran an Arkansas plate as an Arizona plate, resulting in guns drawn on an innocent family, I believe that officer requires lots of basic retraining in not only geography but spelling of state abbreviations as well. The family, I think, is also owed more than a mere lame apolpgy. More at the source.

All the best,

Glenn B

It's All Ready To Go But I Seem Cursed As THE Great Procrastinator

Yes, I have said it many times before - I am THE Great Procrastinator. For instance, I have bought guns that from day one I have intended to shoot and then a year or even years later, I come to realize I have not yet shot. Right now, I have an AK-47, that I traded with my son for cash and a Argentine 1911 knockoff (officially licensed by Colt). We did the trade probably at least 3/4 of a year ago if not a year or more ago. I have not fired it yet.

 

Me procrastinating is not always the case though. For example, I picked up three new pistols this week. On Sunday, I purchased a new Glock 26 GEN3. Then on Monday or Tuesday, I picked up two new Rock Island Armory (Armscor) Full Size, Tactical A1 1911 pistols from the FFL to whom they had to be delivered; I ordered them over a week ago from Palmetto Sate Armory. I decided, at least with the Glock 26, I did not want to wait, stall, put off, delay, or in any possible way procrastinate before shooting it. So, I got everything ready for a range trip to one of the semi-local indoor ranges - all of them are on the TX side of the border, there are no indoor ranges on the AR side near where I live as far as I know. I did that two nights ago and was going to hit the range yesterday. 

Well, that plan fell flat, there was just too much crap stuff I had to get done & out of the way before going to the range - like sleeping for about 4 hours yesterday afternoon as I had very little sleep the night before. I needed the sleep and figured that's okay because I would definitely make it to the range today. Yes, you guessed it - more stuff to do was piled up today because I slept through most of yesterday afternoon. Amazingly, I got what I had to get done today finished today; how is that for not procrastinating! Among other things, I had a doctor's appointment to keep, shopping that I needed to do, gassing up the car, dog care chores, watering the potted outdoor plants (man they are suffering in the heat around here), taking care of my tortoises, cleaning chores, administrative things to get done regarding personal issues, and so on.

So, there my range bag sat & still sits. It is waiting, along with an ammo can chock full of 9mm, .380 AUTO, .44 S&W Special, 45 ACP and 22 LR, to take a trip to the range with me. I was planning on shooting a few different pistols & revolvers and wanted all I needed ready to go. Then last night, I threw in some 45 ammo thinking I'd take the two new 1911s along as well. Well as far as those 1911s go, I never got around to cleaning them. They definitely need cleaning before shooting as they have a coating of what seems a lot like a new age cosmoline (yeah, the link is to a commercial page but it gives the history and uses of it) or maybe it is the real McCoy. The 1911 pistols can wait though to be cleaned or shot; it is the Glock 26 I need to shoot. I bought it to replace my aged Glock 26 that I bought many years ago and through which I have fired lots of ammo. That older Glock 26 is my every day carry gun or should I call it what fits it better: it is my main almost every moment carry gun but it will soon be replaced by the new one, that is if all functions well.

Now, I am hopeful that I will have the time to get to the range tomorrow and that I will have gotten a good night's sleep tonight, good enough to feel up to going to the range tomorrow without taking an afternoon nap. I still have not cleaned the 45s but that is okay, they can become my main objects of procrastination after my AK-47 that I have not yet shot. As a matter of fact, I may shoot only one of them and hang onto the other unfired to maybe sell or trade or not - time & whether or not it becomes procrastination will tell on that one. Since there are times when I can be quite spur of the moment (as in spontaneous) though, who knows, I may shoot them sooner than expected. The Glock though - that is another story and I not only want to get it done but really need to shoot a few hundred rounds or so through it soon to assure it functions properly and is suitable to bet my life on should things ever get nasty.

All the best,

Glenn B

I Woke Up This Morning And Had Myself a Beer...

 ...because the future's uncertain and the end is always near. Jim Morrison was right about that. 

 

So, I actually did that just now - I had myself a good German bier shortly after waking up - but only after shedding some tears. I did it in memory of a dear friend who passed early this morning after a long battle with cancer. To paraphrase some lines from one the longest stories I have ever read - The Lord of The Rings: May his road go ever on.

 

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say” 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

The Glock Collector - Added A New Blog To The Link List Today

 Well, truth be told the blog is not not new, it is just new to my list under the header:

TAKE A SHOT WITH THESE SHOOTIST BLOGGERS, NOT AT THEM

 

The newly added blog is The Glock Collector. Now, some of you who are more attentive than me may immediately notice that said blog seems to have died three years ago in March 2020; that is the date of the last post. I only noticed after adding it to the link list and despite there being no new posts to it in over three years, I am going to keep it on the list because there seems to be lots of good info about Glocks within its pages. For instance, I was trying to determine how to tell if a Glock has been factory refurbished or rebuilt. The Glock Collector made it straightforward and pretty simple at these two pages:

https://glockcollector.info/2019/01/11/product-number-breakdown/

https://glockcollector.info/2019/11/21/case-label-colors-what-do-they-mean/

 Now that I am aware of that info, I may stop at Hot Springs, on my journey back to Texarkana from my sons place, to pick up a Glock 26 at the Lion's Club gun show. We stopped there yesterday and I would have bought it had I sold any of the guns I had brought with me. Later, after leaving the show, I found out that dealers at gun shows often sell rebuilt/refurbished Glocks as new - that was news to me. Because of the price this particular one had on it, it would be worth it to me to go back and check on it. If not rebuilt or refurbished and if still up for sale, I may own a new Glock 26 before I get back to my apartment.

All the best,

Glenn B

Damn Shipping Costs May Be Going Up Again...

...at least if unionized workers at UPS go on strike or such is my guess. The current contract for many UPS employees expires at midnight July 31. UPS says it cannot give them more pay & benefits. The thing is, a strike will also have a potential to harm the U.S. economy. If they strike for only ten days, the estimated hit to the U.S. economy would be 7.1 billion bucks! That according to an article at CNN. More at that source.  

 

Now I am not one who puts much trust in the reporting at what I consider to be the MSM (mud slinging media) outlets like CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS and so on. Then again, my favored news outlet, Fox News does not even have a current article on the subject, at least not a very recent one that I could find on their site. So, I also checked One America News and they too had an article, albeit a much briefer one than the one at CNN, but it said much the same thing about the potential economic loss being that bad, 7  billion dollar was their figure. More at OAN. Their source appears to have been Reuters.

 

Not only would a UPS strike screw the economy but it is going to hurt an awful lot of folks businesses who depend on UPS to move parcels. It is also going to screw over those awaiting packages and larger shipments. Necessities like prescription medicines, food stuffs, baby formula, business supplies and whatever else one absolutely needs could be delayed or even ruined in the summertime heat while stalled & waiting to be delivered. 

 

If you need something that your supplier ships via UPS, you had better order it pronto and hope it can delivered before a strike deadline if indeed the do strike. Of course, the USPS, FedEx and other shippers will step up to handle some of what UPS fails to move but it is very doubtful, at least to me, that such will be very effective in handling all the shipping that UPS drops and any added load on those other shippers may delay shipments they already would have been delivering in their normal course of business.

 

A bit of good news in all of this is that UPS evidently believes it still can reach an amenable agreement with the union. As a precaution though, UPS has reportedly begun training non-union employees to take up some of the operations that would be affected by a strike according to the CNN piece. If UPS does give their employees more, guess who is going to be paying for it. Yep, that would be us and us would be their customers on the shipping and thus also on the receiving ends.

 

So, good luck to you if you need anything shipped. As for myself, I am lucky that two 1911 pistols I ordered are scheduled of delivery on Tuesday July 25, six days before the strike deadline. I shudder to think though that if they do strike and I need to order something that usually is shipped via UPS - it may wind up being shipped by FedEx. At least in my personal experience, FedEx damages packages more often than UPS. Luckily the damage usually only has been to the shipping box. My local FedEx delivery folks also rarely ring my bell or knock on my door when delivering to me but instead just leave the item on my doorstep; luckily I don't recall anything going missing (as in being stolen) when they've done that. On the other hand, UPS delivery personnel almost always knock on my door and or ring the bell, it is a rare delivery when they do not.  

 

The UPS lady who normally delivers my parcels has even called me on my cell phone on at least one or maybe two occasions when I have not been home. She did that to see if I can get home quick enough to have her wait or otherwise to check if she should just leave it or drop it off at the UPS Customer Center for me to pick up later (she is one heck of an excellent & different delivery person for any shipping company). 

 

With FedEx, I often either unexpectedly stumble across a package left on my doorstep by FedEx when I am going out or I am often alerted to the fact that they just made a delivery by my super sophisticated high tech & almost failure proof WADAS (woofing alert delivery alarm system). She alerts me not only to FedEx package deliveries but also to those made by the USPS and UPS:

 

No she is not on strike, she is just doing her favorite thing other than going absolutely ga-ga when her dog sitter/walker shows up once or twice a week. She sure loves snoozing and sure loves her sitter.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Collection About To Increase By Two

Well, I am hopeful that is about to happen because I ordered two pistols on Saturday the 15th in this year of the gun 2023. I had some problems with the distributor, Palmetto State Armory, recently and thought I'd not buy from them again. I readily admit though that when I see a price that cannot be beat on a product I know to be a good one - I take the opportunity to buy it and it does not matter if I think the retailer has screwed up before so long as the screw-up was fairly minor and had nothing to do with: shoving wokeism down the customers' throats, denying American citizens their rights - especially the right to keep & bear arms in the case of gun sales and so forth.

The retailer in question is Palmetto State Armory who gave me a $20.00 in house credit after I had ordered a new AR upper and they sent one to me that was very obviously blemished back in November of last year. When they offered a $20.00 credit they said nothing about it being an in house credit only. First off it should have been more as far as I was concerned. Secondly, I should have called American Express and had the entire charge cancelled for what I think was outright fraud. What I did was asked for a credit to my AMEX card and PSA refused. So, I stopped buying ammo, guns and parts from them for several months because I was pissed off. Being pissed off though is no excuse to be an idiot.

So, when I found out they were selling Rock Island Armory, Rock Standard Full Size Tactical 45 ACP, 5", 8 rd., Parkerized Pistols, manufacturer number: 51431for only $319.99 - I ordered two of them. My son did the same for himself, he truly is a chip off the old block, so to speak.

 

 

 

Even with shipping and an FFL fee tagged on locally, I will be paying less than I paid for the same pistol back in 2016 when I paid $379.98 shipped with a $40.00 FFL fee (I lived in NY at the time and yes the FFL fees were crazy). So back then, it worked out to a total of $419.98 plus whatever I had to pay to the county to have it added to my pistol license, either $5 or $10 as I recall. The cost this time around per pistol was $392.64 including the tax, shipping and the local FFL fee of $20.00. That is a pretty good deal although I think they have a cheaper finish now as I seem to recall my older one being blued not Parkerized; don't quote me on that because I do not have it readily accessible to check its finish. It is stashed away safe and secure elsewhere awaiting the zombie apocalypse. Anyway that is $32.34 each less than they would have cost me back in 2016 and at least $40.00 less than any others of the same pistol that I saw for sale this past Saturday (and that was before shipping, tax and FFL for those other ones I saw for sale). That seemed purdy good to me, so as I said, I ordered two. So I figured, 'Hey Ballseye, why let being pissed off allow you to miss a great deal on a great gun'! Now when it comes to Budwiper Light, well that is for me a very different story, never drank it in the first place and likely never will drink any of it and cannot stand their trying to shove woke down the customers' throats.

My former bitching issue with PSA brings me to the other thing about them, that I have read, which was some folks complaining about their orders with PSA taking what seemed like a very long time to be shipped. I ordered these four days ago and the order is still processing. That may seem longish to some but in reality, that was less than two full business days ago, so I will be patient. If not shipped by the end of the week, I will be concerned maybe they did not have as many in stock as they claimed to have. I note that today though, they are still shown in stock but at a bit of a higher price, $10 more (plus any additional tax) per pistol. Still that is a good deal, at least $30.00 less expensive than any others that I saw on Ammoseek.com, on Saturday. Oh yeah, what made the deal a bit sweeter for me was that they honored the $20.00 credit that I had essentially told them to shove where the sun does not shine back when I was upset.

Well, I would have sworn that 5 minutes or so ago they were offered at ten dollars more each but I just looked again and it shows as out of stock. So much for a great deal, deals like that disappear quickly. Damn, I just refreshed the page an it is again showing them for sale at $329.99, ready to be added to your shopping cart (yes yours, not mine - my order of two more will be enough)!

Anyway, once I get them I probably will do a review on their condition without firing them, at least at first. One is a keeper, the other I may or may not sell. I know already that the one I got previously (it was actually the 2nd one as I am about to explain) was just fine when it came to shots fired; although, the original one had to go back due to a problem and Armscor, the parent company of RIA, sent me a new one because either the slide or frame of mine was not to specs. Anyway the replacement was just fine and they got me a new one fairly quickly. There have not been any issues at all with it. So, I imagine these will be the same - good to go - and I hope so. I will shoot them, or the one I keep if I sell the other, eventually but will be in no hurry as long as I do it well before the warranty expires.  

 If you want to check the specs, go to the site at this link: https://www.armscor.com/firearms-list/m1911-a1-fs-tacrock-standard-fs-45acp-8rd. y

If you want to make a purchase, go here before they run out again: https://palmettostatearmory.com/rock-island-1911-rock-standard-fs-45-acp-pistol-51431.html

All the best, 

Glenn B

Ballseye's Musings: Would It Be Too Far Fetched To Think...

 ...that President Joe Biden will die within the next 6 months to a year of natural causes but if he does not pass away naturally, by the end a year, he will be assassinated with it made to appear as if he died of natural causes?

 

Of course that means Vice President Harris would become president. Then, I wonder, would it be likely she would be assassinated only weeks before the elections in 2024 in the hope that her assassination would be believed to have been orchestrated by the right thus giving the democrat candidate for the presidency a massive sympathy vote leading to another four years of psycho-woke lunacy running our country! Of course, I also then would wonder if it would have all been planned and carried out by whackadoo leftists maybe of the likes of Schumer, Pelosi' (she is not totally out of the picture), Schif or others of their ilk? Just wondering not saying they'd actually do it but maybe...

 

Can you see something that crazy happening or is it just me? Now I am not saying I want to see it happen (nor anything even remotely close to it). I also am not advocating for anyone to commit acts of criminal violence. What I am saying though is I can see it as being possible. I believe stuff like that could very well happen with the way the left has been acting for the past few years. I can see it happening because I do not think it any crazier than those things leftists have devolved to doing. I mean let's face facts: Many, many, many folks on the left are accepting of things just as or even crazier than those I just mentioned as mere possibilities. Really, is anything I mentioned above crazier than accepting female-impersonators as real women/female, as crazy male-impersonators being accepted as real men/male, as crazy as many of those on the left who believe a male-impersonator (or even a real biological male) can impregnate a female-impersonator and that the female impersonator would then be able to give birth to a child. That child would or at least might then become a child who would, while still a child too young to fully understand future ramifications, be given hormones and possibly surgery to do a so called gender change. 

 

Let's face it, those on the left who hold those or similar beliefs are at least very weird, if not truly psychotic, or st least I think so. I believe their is lots more evidence for my hypothesis about their mental health being deranged and that is pretty much for the whole lot of them to one extent or another.

 

Just some musings as I sit at my laptop desk ripping the 82 or so CDs I have onto the laptop's hard-drive. I probably used to have well over 200 music CDs but when I returned from a work detail - of a few months in Phoenix, AZ back in 2010 - I found that most of my collection had vanished. My wife denied tossing them in the trash when I asked her what happened to them but a very reliable source told me it was exactly what she had done. What remained were the ones I had brought to AZ with me for that detail, probably about 25 or 30 of them as best I recall. I replaced quite a few but never anywhere near all of them as CDs became harder and harder to find, at least those of good quality. I just put the last one in the optical drive: 'Janis Joplin 18 Essential Songs'. Think I will listen to it and stop wondering about just how crazy the left will get before the 2024 elections. Even if I do not listen to all of the songs, I will most assuredly listen to Summertime - an example of one of her best vocal efforts - or so I think.

All the best,

Glenn B

A Few Versions Of The Same Music Played By...

 ...the same artist - Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. These are, by my estimation some of the most excellent versions of one of the most excellent pieces of music ever - Bouree (original by Johann Sebastian Bach). Enjoy listening:

 

  

  

  

 

All the best, 

Glenn B

How Bud Light...

 ...ever became the best selling beer in the United States of America is absolutely beyond my comprehension because to me it is what I imagine chilled piss flavored water in a can would taste like. Yes, that is my opinion of Budlight and many other so called light beers - chilled piss flavored water in a can. In fact, I do not understand how any light beer could ever become the number one selling beer anywhere - they lack everything I think a good bier or ale should have such as a desirable and truly enjoyable tasty flavor, a flavor that is not only tasty but is hardy as well, and of course has at least a somewhat higher alcohol content.

Now they are reporting that it has fallen below the top ten beers in America to number 14; more at the source. To me this is quite understandable and I think it is not solely related to Bud Light deciding to praise an apparent female impersonator's first year of so called girlhood! So what else could be the cause for the continued downward plunge of the king of beers - well let's face it there are probably scores and scores of better tasting beers that folks have been discovering since they dropped Bud Light due to its, in my estimation, perverted advertising campaign instead of celebrating something like normality and or morality as opposed to celebrating the scientifically impossible perversion of nature as I think is gender change.

 

Let's face it folks, have you ever seen a huge corporation like Anheuser-Busch favor normality as a regular thing in their advertising? Now how could they have done that - well not by one of their latest commercials, as I understand it, showing a group of grunting supposed real men drinking it. Is that what they think of the customer base that they lost - that they are akin to what seems like a group of Neanderthal like grunting blockheads? Something a bit better might have been them running an ad campaign that celebrated heterosexuality, marriage, loving & normal parenthood (in other words not praising parents who want to lop off their children's' sexual organs), unity, patriotism, love of the United States of America, and maybe some commercials that praised hard honest work that granted promotions based upon skill as opposed to liberal ideals of equity for those who don't deserve it.

 

Let's face it, the mentality shown in Bud Light ads as of late should be obliterated - at least that is what I think about it. Had they just shown a gay guy or three enjoying it, that probably would have ruffled very few feathers but to have celebrated a year of so called girlhood for what is apparently is a biological male pretending to be a female - in the midst of all this insanity in which the left is willing to push for gender identity changes of our children - well they had to have known, had they used any common sense, that their ad campaign was going to be a big mistake. Therefor, it is pretty, pretty certain - at least as I see it - that those who run Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch are not in touch with their customer base nor are they in touch with reality of how the majority of folks in this country think nor are they in touch with the values of most Americans. Yet, they evidently keep screwing up as if unable to admit or even see the error of their ways. 

 

Thus it would not surprise me if they don't fall further and if they will never be able to make a comeback to regain their throne at the top even if they drastically improved the taste of their product; and that I believe would serve them right. In fact, it would come as no surprise at all to me if they went out of business altogether before a year or two passes. They are, in my opinion, woke plain and simple but what they did not get is that woke is a fad for leftist loons. Instead of going woke - maybe they just should have woken up.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

This Man Was Very Lucky Because..,.

 ...you probably can safely bet that almost every member of the jury had been somewhat prejudiced against him before they ever sat in the courtroom. I think he was almost immediately crucified by his superiors, other police officers, parents of victims, the public in general and the media (especially by them) as having essentially cowered & turned his back on the students being shot in the Parkland School shooting. As it turned out, it seems that many witnesses of those terrible events that day agreed with school resource officer Scot Peterson in as much as their testimony supported his claims that he was unable to determine from where the shots were coming and thus the reason he did not run toward the source of those shots. More at the source.

 

Of course, a prosecutor, maybe or maybe not lying through his pie hole, allegedly (I read that somewhere but cannot find it again) told the jurors that police officers are trained to locate from where gunshots originate. In, in sum & substance, he was implying (it seems) that the testimony of a few to several witnesses - who all thought the gunshot sounds were coming from different places than from where they actually came - was to be disregarded because they did not have that special training. Well, if it is true the prosecutor said that: I'd like to know which department(s) he is talking about. Maybe that is SWAT level training but in my 32 years in law enforcement, with 16  years of collateral duties as a firearms instructor,  I never heard of anything as preposterous as a law enforcement officer, in general, being trained to determine from where gun shots are coming in such a situation where the acoustics obviously were quite different depending on the location of each person who heard those shots.

 

The thing about a prosecutors opening & closing statements though is that they are not evidence nor are they given under oath. Many times though, jurors will be swayed by those arguments acting as if they are evidence. In this case though, it seems there were enough witnesses who also were confused as to where those shots came from to help exonerate Mr. Peterson. So - no jail time, he continues to receive his pension and he has been found not guilty of all criminal charges and there were several of them. Of course, he probably has huge attorneys' bills to pay off unless he was covered due to his employment. He also may face civil litigation (again unless covered by his employment and many law enforcement jobs do cover officers acting within the scope of their duties as it appears he did so now that he was found not guilty). If he is sued civilly, it will be another thing altogether than was his criminal prosecution. Many parents of victims seem to essentially want his blood.

 

Now don't get me wrong; while he was found not guilty criminally, it does not mean that he did everything right and nothing wrong. I think he could have and should have done more - first of all by entering the school - but that's merely my personal opinion. Who knows, had he done so he may have saved lives, then again - maybe not. Whatever, he has to live with what he did or did not do for the rest of his life.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

A Little Late Morning , Early Summer, Enjoyment

 

 For all these years, up through a moment ago, I had thought it was Mongo Jerry and my eyes have finally been opened to see it was Mungo Jerry all this time! 

 

 

 

I'd just about swear I saw Santana perform in Central Park NYC in the 70s at an ice skating rink on the east side of the park. It was an essentially unannounced concert until the last minute. Thing is, we may have gotten there and the show maybe was cancelled. Damned if I can recall for sure, for some reason memories of what went on that day are foggy at best.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 How high was he when he performed this version!!! If he was not on drugs, as some have told me he did not use, he had amazing stamina.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

Sadly for me, I have only seen six of these groups live and there is no way to see many of them ever again. At least we can listen to them though and find enjoyment in what music they gave us. The ones I saw in concert are: The Grateful Dead (must have seen them 12 to 15 times or so), Marshal Tucker Band (a couple or few times), Hot Tuna (two or three times), Jefferson Airplane (twice), The Rolling Stones (once), Black Sabbath (once and I was very happy to have my son with me during their final tour). As I said above, maybe Santana was number 7!

All the best, 

Glenn B

I Am Not A Flag Waver...

 ...but I do try to show respect for the American flag. After all, it is the symbol of our great nation from its founding, as expressed in the 13 stripes  representing the 13 original states, through today with the stars within the blue field, the Union, representing the union of all current 50 states (no Mr. Obama there are not 57 states). 

 

 So, when a merchandiser uses that symbol in an obvious attempt (as I see it) to solely attempt to increase profit  - on or around the founding day of our country July 4th -  I say fuck him I am not knowingly going to be buying a thing from that merchandiser. In this case, I specifically direct that opinion toward Troy Aikman.

Now that he owns a U.S. based brewery, he is placing American flags on the cans of beer he produces and trying to make it appear as if, or so it seems to me, he is being, and his beer somehow is, patriotic.

 

I do not mind businesses using images of our flag in advertising or on their products. What I mind is when they do it and then boast about doing it to appear patriotic when my guess is that the underlying reason they are doing so is to increase profit. The perfect example of such happening seems to me to be Troy Aikman appearing to be doing that right now just before Independence Day with his beer. More at the source. 

 

Mr, Aikman, in essence, has called out non US beer brands for doing so, putting an image of the U.S. flag o their products, but the thing is, he apparently is doing everything the same except that his company is based here within the USA. That, in my view, does not give him free license to exploit the patriotism, our flag or Independence Day.

 

I would think, a good and truly patriotic citizen, who knows how to respect our country, our flag and our Independence Day and who truly cares about them would never exploit them to such an extent as I think he is doing. I believe he is doing exactly that thought in order to increase his profit and to diminish the profits of other companies doing the same because their beers being made abroad. 

 

As an American citizen (and I am assuming he is one), who apparently considers himself a patriot, I think he should hang his head in shame because while those foreign companies should not exploit our flag, I am of the strong opinion that a truly patriotic American Citizen should not do so either because a true patriot should know better, know enough about flag etiquette and care about our country enough never to do so himself in the manner that Mr. Aikman appears to me to be doing it right before Independence Day! 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

 

 

 

Were They Too Tight To Put A $5.00 or $10.00 Lock On...

 ...the breaker box that controlled the electricity for a fridge that had over a million dollars worth of experimental samples within it? The they being the  owner(s) of, managers of, or scientists who worked in the research facility that just lost 1 million dollars worth of lab samples, I think only in part, due to janitor error. More at the source. 

 

You would think that the rocket scientists folks who ran that lab and or those who ran the experiment would have had the smarts to put a lock on the box so there could be no unauthorized access to it, thus assuring that an alleged mistake like the one reportedly made by the janitor could not happen. Well, at least would not happen unless someone purposely broke the lock. I doubt the janitor would have resorted to breaking the lock; the guy reportedly thought he was doing a good thing by turning on the breakers when he in fact was turning them off. 

 

Another thing that should have been done which seems unlikely to have been done, in my opinion, is that any staff who could access the room(s) in question should have been briefed beforehand as to what they could touch & operate and as to what they could not. That would be one of the very basics of assuring that such a mistake would not have been made and thus such an expensive amount of scientific samples would have more likely survived unmolested. My guess is such training was not given but that is just a guess.

 

So, as I see it, it is not solely the fault of the janitor if in fact the janitor's fault at all. Sure he allegedly screwed up but he would not have been able to screw up, or at least been much less likely to do so, had the lab owners/managers or those running the experiment(s) done anything at all to actually physically secure the power source to their precious samples and maybe to train the staff. Of course, despite them seeming to me to be at least partly at fault, maybe more so than was the janitor through their possible negligence (at least for the possible lack of a lock and possible lack of proper training), it is probably very doubtful that those genius eggheads folks will ever admit any fault in this matter if they in fact did not have the box locked and never gave such training.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

When I Was A Federal Agent, It Was An Offense...

 ...for me, as a federal agent, to associate with convicted criminals - felons for sure but I think it also included those convicted of certain misdemeanors. I do not think it was illegal but it was a regulation somewhere when I was in the Border Patrol and I was strongly admonished for driving a friend to court after he had been charged with a felony and not yet convicted of anything. He later pled guilty to some low level felony charge as I recall and I stopped associating with him - difficult to do at the time because we had been best buddies but I did it right away after his conviction. For some reason, I was strongly admonished by the Patrol Agent in Charge, at our station, for continuing to associate with him. (As I said though, I had already stopped associating with him because of his criminal felony conviction.) Oddly enough, sometime after I transferred from the BP to Customs, I was informed that same Patrol Agent In Charge had been arrested and convicted of alien smuggling. When I was with Customs, the same thing about not associating with criminals was explained to me by superiors in that agency as well. I am fairly certain that dependent upon the level of association, it was a firing offense. 

 

Yet, there was the Attorney General of the United States of America reportedly consorting with a convicted criminal by way of his guilty pleas on misdemeanor tax charges. Of course, as you are probably aware, Hunter Biden did not plead guilty to the more serious felony charge having to do with firearms; rather he agreed to a Pretrial Diversion Agreement as offered to him by the prosecution; that agreement will quite possibly avoid him having to cop a plea to a felony and thus will also avoid a conviction and jail time. (I wonder how that happened since many folks charged with the same crime are doing jail time for it.) More at the source.

Hunter Biden supposedly paid the $200,000.00 plus that he owed to the IRS back in 2021 when he was under investigation. I have to wonder though, did he pay the penalties & interest on that amount as the great majority of Americans would need to do? I have heard nor read nothing to that effect. I hope he paid penalties & interest; I mean isn't his daddy the one who is trying to hire 87,000 IRS agents to clamp down on folks who commit tax transgressions so the government gets its share of our money!

That Hunter Biden was invited to a gala event, the attendees who were top government officials is an outrage even if it is no longer or maybe never was an actual offense (I never saw it in writing was just told it was an offense). One thing is for sure in my mind, it is unethical. Then again if there were Congressmen there at said event, many of Congressmen have convictions on their records. It has always amazed me that Congressmen can have criminal convictions, I think even of felonies, and still be allowed to be voted into or remain in office and legislate the laws that federal agents and others enforce. It amazes me because: If an applicant for a federal law enforcement position was at some time convicted of a felony and of certain misdemeanors - he or she can kiss the prospect of that job goodbye. One already on the job would be fired for committing a felony and likely would be fired for a variety of misdemeanor convictions as well. So those who enforce the law must have clean records but those who make the laws need not. That really is irony and that should be changed so that legislators and any government official must have a clean record other than traffic violations or very minor misdemeanors.

 

As for cronyism in government, it probably will never stop.

All the best,

Glenn B

The Perfect Justification For Capital Punishment

There were 46 inmates killed in an armed prison riot in Honduras yesterday.More at the source.

 

I see that as the perfect reason to employ capital punishment for any crime of violence, resulting in death, that was premeditated. The fuckers who commit those crimes have little to nothing to lose and all too often kill again.

 

 I also see it as a good way to deal with corrupt prison officials who allowed weapons to be smuggled into a penal institution.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

If Christie Somehow Wins...

 ...the Rebooblkan convention, which I believe is almost impossible, then I would need to consider voting for whomever is the Demonkrat candidate. Of course, I most likely would vote for neither as they would both be leftist dirtbags in my estimation.

I find it unfathomable that he identifies as a Republican and that the GOP allows him to remain in the party. He reportedly supports, by opposing bans of, such causes as puberty blockers and gender impersonation surgery for minors.

More at the source. 

All thebest,

GB

Should You Inform A Law Enforcement Officer That You're Armed When Engaged By One?

I was in law enforcement for 32 years. If I got stopped, or otherwise was officially engaged by a LE officer, while on duty or off duty, I made it a habit of telling the officer that I was armed. It is what I was trained to do by my LE Firearms Instructors and what I trained others to do during my 16 years of collateral duties as a firearms instructor. I also was given that advice, to always notify (unless in some unusual scenarios) and I have stuck with it. I was taught that same thing by all six agencies by which I was employed: Border Patrol, Customs Patrol, Customs Office of Investigations, Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. I also got the same advice/training from several other agencies/departments from which I received training during the course of my career. Beside my own agencies, I got the same training/advice from the: CA Highway Patrol, GA State Police, NY State Police, NYPD, Secret Service, DEA, Federal Air Marshals and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, that was that notification was the preferred way to go while both on & off duty. If assigned to work with outside agencies & departments, especially when on a detail to another state or area, I'd usually ask what was the preferred thing to do - notify or not. Even when there was no legal obligation to do so, everyone I asked said notification was preferred. Now in retirement, I continue that habit likewise; I see no good reason to change. I have never had an officer cop (no pun intended) an attitude about me telling them I was armed. I did have one give me a face full of shit in NYC when I did not mention it (probably the only time I did not).

The reaction of the officers usually is the exact opposite of them getting nervous, taking offense or giving me a hard time about it. The officer is almost always thankful and expresses it. That I spoke up almost always results in the officer seeing it as a good bit of respect from you to him. Someone up above, in a previous post, in essence said: ‘why tell them because you aren't doing anything wrong other than that for which they stopped you’. That is often the thought of folks talking about getting stopped - that you somehow know why they stopped you. Maybe you were speeding and you know it BUT maybe the officer is stopping you for a totally different reason about which you have no clue. Maybe it is because he just received a lookout on your make & model of car, the driver of which just shot two people dead in a robbery, and you fit the description somewhat (and mind you somewhat is more than enough to make the officer nervous). Do you think it would be better for the officer to spot your gun as you reach into the glove box to get your registration or would it be better to tell him. Or how about he orders you out of the car and onto your knees then tells you to lay down on the ground. Even more revealing that he stopped you for other than what you thought, he pulls you out of the car with force because unbeknownst to you – you do better than merely somewhat fit the description of an armed felon - you match pretty much spot on! In doing so, he discovers that you are armed gun. Which would make him more nervous, you being up front before any of that happened (or even while it is happening) or one of those happening – the that being him finding it considering he stopped you for a violent felony he believes you just committed?

I have notified officers I was armed in several states; they all pretty much reacted the same – they were happy I told them. When I do so, I always try to tell them when my hands are flat on the dashboard or over the steering wheel, fingers spread wide or if out of a vehicle - with my hands in plain view with fingers spread wide. I do not go to grab my wallet/licenses until told to do so and then ONLY after notifying the officer I am armed. I obey commands of the officer when he is at the car and any he gives before he gets there. If an officer stops you and stays at his vehicle and starts giving commands like turn off your vehicle, take your keys and toss them out the driver's window, then place you hands outside the driver's window or anything along the lines of making it more difficult for you to do something – and maybe you also just happen to notice he has his gun aimed in on you - you had better pay attention. Gun or not in his hands, or whether or not you could see it in the first place, do what he says, do it slowly not like a sloth but make no rapid or unexpected quick movements AND let him know you are armed. Of course, this is all only my opinion but it is based on lots of training, experience and good sense. I like not making them nervous because there is always that chance I am being stopped or otherwise am engaging with an officer for something completely different than what I had imagined.​

Sometimes when you are dealing with an arsehat cop and yes there are some out there (bit of sarcasm there just in case you didn't detect it), it is not easy to get in a word edgewise but I do my best and will not go to grab anything anywhere on my person or in the car before telling the officer I am armed. Since I retired, I simply say something like: 'Hi officer, my driver's license is in my wallet as is my concealed carry license, I am armed with a pistol on my right hip. I usually add that I am a retired federal LEO but not always. Sometimes I suspect that gets folks out of getting a ticket - no career in LE required. Some cops really are into firearms and some will chat you up and forget all about a ticket. I honestly have little experience with that since I retired; I have been pulled over zero times in the four years since I moved out of NY (as far as I can recall right now and the little gray cells are sharp tonight). Just wait though, I figure I'll be pulled over several times tomorrow - I am that guy! Most of my experiences of being pulled over though took place while I was working in LE and there were lots of those and a few stops when I was off duty. While retired, I have been engaged by officers a few times but not in car stops. For instance, after calling 911 subsequent to witnessing a crime or notifying the PD of shots fired or whatever brings me into official contact with an LEO that has a good chance of going wrong. If they are surprised by the fact I am armed the tension level goes up immediately and I prefer it not to do so.So, I try my best to always let them know in such situations that I am armed.

Another thing about notifying an officer that you are armed is that it may or may not be a legal requirement in the state in which you are at the moment you are engaged by an officer. It also may be confusing. Arkansas, my current home state, requires a Concealed Handgun Carry Licensee to inform an officer that he is armed on demand. Oddly enough, now that AR has constitutional permitless carry, a person carrying who does not have a CHCL has no obligation to inform an officer that he is armed - well kind of, sort of, almost so. Throwing another monkey wrench into it is this tidbit: When asked for ID by an LEO in AR, the person being asked MUST present his CHCL to the officer if he has one. So while you did not have to tell him you are armed because he did not ask, you still have to in essence notify him by giving him your CHCL if asked for ID and then you are ALSO required to tell him if you are armed at that time. More at the source. 

 

The laws in each state vary widely on this issue and can be as ridiculously legislated into law as those in AR (which by the way is a very friendly state for gun owners but as I indictaed, I think they really have overly complicated laws & regulations on the subject of firearms possession). Since these laws do vary so much in different states, I think it much better to not take a chance and just let an LEO know right from the start that you are armed. Heck, I even tell them there are guns in the trunk - or wherever if such is the case. As for why the laws vary so much, well they could not make it easy, it's like they have to complicate things simply because they are politicians and this goes for the great majority of them, especially the lawyers amongst them who all too often have zero practical experience in such matters. Why they don't just make it simple and easy to understand & remember by requiring anyone who is armed to notify an LEO is beyond the scope of my imagination.

By the way, if I call 911 for anything involving violence, a good chance of potential violence or really anything hinkey, I let the 911 operator know I am a retired LEO and am armed. Then I give them a detailed description of myself so they can let the officers know that the person fitting that description - ME -is "the good guy".

All that written and maybe actually even read by some of you, you can do it however you want but I will continue notifying LEOs that I am armed. I do it for my own personal safety and for the safety of the officer(s) and now you know why I do it.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

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