A Raving Lunatic Among Us...

...is, in my opinion, even more dangerous than one in charge of another country. Yesterday I wrote about a person, whom I believe to be a true madman, in charge of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong Il of North Korea. My thoughts about him come down to one thing, he needs to be removed from power because he is extremely dangerous regarding the rest of the world and life as we know it.

Today though, I have another crazy person in my sights, well I think he is quite irrational anyhow, maybe even enough to be seen as crazy. This one is not an enemy afar, this one is, I believe, an enemy within; and he is, in my opinion, so crazy as to be blinded by his own good intentions (oh those twisted intentions of the mentally ill) not to realize he is an enemy of the USA. I am speaking of the man who was once our president, probably the least qualified to be president in my 51 years of life - Jimmy Carter. According to FoxNews.com, Carter has been blasting the Bush administration over the whole nuclear thing with North Korea, trying to say that the North Koreans having nuclear capabilities is all because of Bush's attitude toward North Korea. Where does this guy get off of his rocking horse, please let me know, because I want to be there when they put the white coat on him, the one with the wrap around sleeves. Yes I believe he has gone off of the deep end with those remarks, whether or not he is our former president. I might have a little more respect for his interpretation of things if I believed it was rational, which I do not.

Here is why I think the way I do. Here is a blurb from FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221918,00.html

"Former President Jimmy Carter said that an agreement he brokered 12 years ago for North Korea to halt nuclear weapons development is "in the wastebasket" since the Bush administration turned its back on the deal and labeled the isolated nation part of an "axis of evil.""

Furthermore FoxNews.co attributes this to Carter: (from the same linked article)

"He said that after President George W. Bush took office, "there was a rapid change in the attitude toward North Korea."

"Within a year, the entire framework was destroyed, and North Korea was branded a member of the axis of evil," he said."

Okay, so let's look at what Carter said, and let's see if this whole situation is blamable on George W. Bush and his policies, or if there could possibly be another culprit; let's see if carter is just Bush bashing at every opportunity because of the upcoming elections. And folks, try to remember I am no great fan of George W. Bush, I think him very lacking as our president, but do support some of his policies.

Carter says that his brokering of a peace agreement in 1994 led to relatively stable and peaceful times between us and North Korea. In actuality what that 1994 peace deal brokered was little more than appeasement of North Korea by the Clinton Administration, which was in the Whitehouse then. Since the end of the Korean conflict back in the 1950s, North Korea has been an avowed enemy of the USA and that is self avowed. They have had a state policy of hating us and our allies. They are a communist regime. Like most other communist regimes they are an abject failure. About the only fairly successful communist regime is Red China (yes I still call them Red China because they are commies). North Korea, on the other hand, is a failure manufacturing wise, a failure agriculturally (their people are just about starving), a failure in the international trade market, a failure in the political market (they are one of the most brutal dictatorships to come along in years). North Korea constantly pours a great majority of their wealth into its armed forces, now to include nuclear capability. Ex-president Jimmy carter would blame this all on George W. Bush because Bush called the North Koreans part of the axis of evil. Ooooh, that gets me so pissed off I want to build nukes too.

Jimmy is missing something. Jimmy is missing the history of North Korea being our avowed enemy. he was blinded by his desire to go down in history as the Peacemaker President. Doubt that then just look at his record. Because of his attempts at pandering Islamist extremists, much of this stuff started in the first place. Try to bear in mind that he was in charge during the first Islamist terrorist attacks against us. He set the pace so to speak. Yet, he would prefer to throw a blind eye in that direction. Okay, let's go with him on that and just stick to North Korea, another screw-up by him.

Here is another blurb from the same article that is an attempt to support Carter's claim:

"Between October 1994 and December 2002, no plutonium was produced in North Korea, said Marion Creekmore, author of the new book "A Moment of Crisis," about his 1994 trip with Carter and his wife, Rosalynn to Pyongyang."

Well we are rolling right along now with support for Jimmy's stance. I agree, there probably was no plutonium produced by North Korea in those years; but ask yourself: WHY NOT? Well part of the answer is they did not have the technology to do so, at least not until around that time of the 1994 agreement brokered by Carter. In fact, the North Koreans did not have nuclear capabilities of any sort until that 1994 agreement. They wanted to go to nuclear capability, and they used their lack of it as a bargaining chip. We were as close to war with North Korea in 1994 as we have been since the original Korean conflict ended in the 1950s. Even Carter agrees to that. So in order to appease North Korea, in order to make sure North Korea did not attack our allies in South Korea or in Japan, what did Jimmy Carter the peace broker, and the Clinton administration do? They agreed to give North Korea nuclear technology. Yes folks, they gave the North Koreans, our self avowed enemies, the ability to create nuclear power.

So guess what it was that the North Koreans set out to accomplish once they had this technology. If you guessed that they set out to create nuclear weapons, you win a prize, one that Carter was unable to win because he got the wrong answer. Now for anyone to say, hey North Korea did not have nuclear weapons grade plutonium (a product needed to make the bomb) is all factual; but they are leaving something out of the equation. What they are leaving out, is that once North Korea had nuclear technology, it took time for them to implement it to build nuclear power plants. Once they had those power plants they were a step closer, but they had to build them and it took time to build ones in which plutonium could be made. Then they had to figure out how to gear those plants to make plutonium, I wonder where they got the know how to do that. If it took time, maybe it was because they figured it out themselves over several years. Then they had to make weapons grade plutonium, not an easy task. It took them years to make a bunch of it, that is if we have guessed right as to how much they have. My estimate would be very conservative if only because the bomb they tested was very small; showing they do not want to waste what they have on hand.

What Jimmy Carter is saying though, is that it was only Bush calling them an axis of evil and changing US policy toward them that had them try to create nukes. This is preposterous. I contend that they were probably at it all along. Sure they made a big stink about starting up nuclear power plants a few years back, but my bet is they had never stopped their research into plutonium creation. Once they had it they used whatever excuse to start up the production of it. The key to the whole thing is that they never would have had this technology unless we had given them most of it; and now Carter wants to blame Bush! Amazing.

The truth is that before Bush called them an axis of evil, they were already starting up their war propaganda, and anti USA propaganda again. They had never backed down as a threat to Japan or South Korea, for example several missile tests over the sea of Japan and over South Korea, those long before the most recent ones, long before Bush. In fact it has been documented that they regularly supply missile technology to Syria, and Syria to terrorists. They also supply Iran with much of the same. So even if Bush called them part of an Axis of evil, he was not off the mark.

The thing is we need to wake up folks like those who admire Carter to see the light. They need to realize that North Korea is a threat to us no matter who is in power over here (unless maybe Kim Jong Il figures out how to be elected our president). They also need to realize that we need to act fast on this one, and decisively too. If you don't know what I mean, and you want to, read my rant from yesterday.

Guys like former president Jimmy Carter will never see it, his head is buried to far down in the sand counting peanuts. He means well, but so too did they who ignored Nazi and Japanese aggression prior to WWII. Let’s not get caught sleeping again. This time the giant may just get hit hard enough that he does not wake up.

What can we do, who should we call, how much longer do we wait...

...until we take swift and decisive actions against North Korea to prevent them from nuking anyone. This is not a rhetorical question, this is a question about our survival, about the survival of the world. North Korea has called the United Nations sanctions, enacted against North Korea because of its nuclear testing, an act of war.

It is now common knowledge that North Korea has developed nuclear weapons capabilities, in fact they have already tested a nuclear bomb, albeit a small one. This has the other nations of the world so concerned that the United Nations has condemned North Koreas actions in apparent record time for them to get anything done. Russia and China, though not as forcefully as other nations, are calling for North Korea to call it quits with nukes. South Korea is beefing up its military and civil preparedness for a possible strike by North Korea, a nuclear strike. Japan is beefing up its military with defensive missiles, troop buildups, naval buildups and the like. This a very big change in policy for them, all apparently spurred on by North Korea's nuke technology and by terrorism. It seems Japan may also be considering becoming a nuclear power, and that is a super big-time change of policy for them.

Why all of this fuss since North Korea has boasted before but never in my lifetime has it actually started a war. Well you get all this fuss because the rest of the world is pretty scared of the guy who, I believe, acts like a lunatic who is in power in North Korea - Kim Jong Il. Lunatics, even run of the mill crazy people, often say this and that and threaten violence without ever doing it, but you have to remember they also often resort to that violence or worse after years of having whatever it is simmering in their brains simmer away until it hits the boiling point. If a mentally ill person is in custody in a mental health institution the threat is lessened; if a mentally ill person is on medications the threat is lessened; if the mentally ill person is running around unfettered and comes into possession of deadly weapons - well then people are at risk. In this case the whole world is at risk as I see it because I believe that the leader of North Korea is totally bonkers, he is in my estimation living in his own personal Bizarro World.

Now he, or his government, is reported as having said that United nations sanctions effected against North Korea for their proliferation of nuclear weapons is: "a declaration of war". See this article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221478,00.html. That should scare anyone to action, and I do mean to action, not just to more talk. How long will we wait before doing something that will actually be effective in getting rid of this threat to world security. Sanctions are not going to do it. They have a history of being miserable failures when in relation to countries like North Korea, Iraq, and Iran. Heck there were sanctions against North Korea for years, and what did they do, they took the nuclear technology that former U.S. President Clinton gave to them, and they effectively used that t4chnology to create their own nuclear bombs. Now what is to prevent the crazy guy from going berserk with his new toys? Think about that, are sanctions going to prevent him from pushing the button? I doubt it. So what can be done?

Of course we could invade North Korea. We might even get some support from other nations on this, even more support than we got in the Middle East in either Iraq or Afghanistan. We may even get as many nations to support us as we had allied with us in WWII. Yet such an attack would be costly to us, we would lose many brave men and women and our military would be stretched very thin what with our other obligations right now; so I wonder what other way. Well, we could bomb them either with conventional weapons or with nukes. These would have to be aimed at very strategic points such as at nuclear testing sites, at power plants, at other nuclear sites and so forth. The nuclear option would probably be the most powerful, but also the one with the most dire consequences, not just for North Korea but for the whole world. I am hopeful it will not come to that. So what else is left to us?

A North Korean defector has given us the answer; we can eliminate the head man, that guy I believe to be the insane nut job, who has his finger on the nuclear trigger.

The man once considered the mentor of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Tuesday that the reclusive country's nuclear weapons program cannot be stopped unless the strongman is ousted. (The above quote is from a FoxNews article at: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct17/0,4670,KoreasTopDefector,00.html). Now I think we have hit on an extremely viable alternative to getting this problem solved. Think about what would have been prevented had Adolph Hitler been terminated in some fashion, before he was able to fully implement his attempts at achieving his Third Reich. Think about what could have been prevented had Josef Stalin been removed from the scene shortly after WWII had come to an end. In each case, millions, heck 10s of millions, of lives would have been saved. It would not be all that hard to target this guy Kim Jong Il, and get him out of power in some way, before he becomes capable of launching or otherwise delivering nuclear bombs around the world, or even just to his closest neighbors. Should he do that, chances are that WWIII will break out in full force including no hold barred nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. What would he have to lose once he starts it, at least what would an insane man worry about losing once he starts killing. Not much and that is why crazy people on the rampage with weapons are so dangerous, so just imagine how dangerous is this guy with his nukes.

Would we get the support we need to carry out such a plan. I think we would. Would we get a lot of flack from countries who opposed the plan, sure we would. Would that flak matter, maybe it would, but not all that much as I believe too many countries in the world are truly scared of, who is in my opinion, the North Korean madman. Just about the only countries who seem to like the fact that North Korea has become a nuclear power are other pissant countries who sponsor terrorism. For instance Iran supports North Korea wholeheartedly, for reference see the article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221478,00.html. Wouldn't they love to be the recipients of this nuclear technology. You bet they would, and where would they aim it or send it. Right to us, and to Israel, if they had it; and as they lobbed them so to would North Korea toward Japan, South Korea, Australia and so on. They would likely even try for us, it is not that far fetched with use of commercial or military aircraft, or even with North Korea's missile technology.

So who would support us. Well out in the open, I believe we would get support from countries like Australia, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, India, Pakistan (how ironic from these last 2); and we would get more under the table support from countries like China, Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, almost all of the former soviet republics, most of the Pacific island nations. Of course, that under the table support would come out atop the table should we knock this guy off successfully. I think we would have a great majority of the nations of the world behind us on this one; but we would have to do it quick, and decisively.

By quick and decisively, I mean we would not only have to get this Kim Jong Il on the first attempt, and get him right out of power; but we would also have to have a decisive deterrent set in place to assure the North Koreans would not attempt to react with a nuclear strike. This would be basically what we had in place with the Soviets, and still have in place with the Chinese – a nuclear deterrent and the will to use it if need be. We would have to express our will to do so to the remaining North Korean government officials immediately upon our strike to terminate Kim Jong Il reign. We would also have to communicate to them immediately our desire not to go to war over his ouster however achieved; an we would have to convince them we were willing to leave it at that should they stand down in their nuclear arsenal. Then we would have to immediately commence a plan to help bring North Korea into the 21st century, as a peaceful ally, with offers of technology, advances in agriculture, and plentiful commerce. Sort of what we did with Japan after WWII, and look how well it worked there – Japan is one of our best allies where once they had been our bitter enemy. I believe the same can take place with North Korea; all we need to do is to get rid of the crazy man and get someone with some rational sense in place, then offer them our help to develop a nation as we did with Japan. History shows it will work; so why we have not done it already is a mystery to me because once he throws one nuke that could wind up being the end of us all.

All the best,
Glenn B

I am soon to retire...

...after over 27 years of service in federal law enforcement. I became eligible to retire back in October, and up until then, I had sort of thought I would pull the plug right away. The job is, in my opinion, not what it once was; and yes I know nothing is what it was once, but that does not make it any easier to leave the job and head out to pasture.

For some reason, I keep thinking I'll wait a bit longer. The main excuse, I give to myself and to others, for waiting is that if I go out now there will not be quite enough to have me and my family financially settled. I have thought about that a lot lately, and I did some checking and came up with a figure and date that would make me happy (at least right now I think it would make me happy when it arrives) regarding my pension. To attain the figure I have in mind for my annual pension (no I am not telling you how much that will be as it is a private thing, too private right now for here) I would have to work until January 2009. That does not seem all that far off, only 2 years and 2 1/2 months. It ought to be something I could do standing on my head while spinning like a top - don't you think! Yet just as it has been getting harder and harder to go into work each day, I find it harder and harder to even think of retirement, and I am not sure why but I do have some ideas. The following is all my opinion about why I have not yet retired, and about why I am finding it hard to do so, even though I think the jobs sucks.

My job(s) used to be a fairly good one. I started off my career in federal service in the U.S. Border Patrol, as a Border Patrol Agent. I spent just over 4 years of my life dedicated to keeping the USA safe from those whose first on our soil act would be an illegal one. After those 4 years and quite a few on the job adventures including quite a few on the job injuries, quite a few off the job adventures that included at least a few senoritas and trips to places far from Calexico, California where I had been stationed - I figured it was long overdue for me to return to New York City.

I went back to NYC when I got a transfer from the Border Patrol into the U.S. Customs Service as a Customs Patrol Officer. I did that for a few years, then became a criminal investigator, and later a Special Agent (actually the same job just at higher pay than the crim. invest. in Customs).
All of the jobs had their share of boring lousy assignments, but all of them had more than a fair share of adventure - at least for me. Over the years I was one who never having been in the military service, and therefore never having learned the golden rule of the military, to volunteer for assignments. Because of that I wound up in a financial investigations group, then got transferred to a narcotics smuggling group, then to a general investigations group, and back into narcotics, then back to another financial group. These were usually the busier groups and the ones I was a part of were busy indeed. I have plenty of stories - all no brag, just fact - to tell to my grandkids someday about what I and other group members accomplished. I had some great supervisors, and great coworkers too and they will be included in my recounting of the good old days. I also have a lot of stories they maybe will not hear about some of the jerks I worked with and some of the even less intelligent and inept bosses under who I served - there was more than a fair share of them for sure. Some people should never have gotten into law enforcement, and I often wonder why they did; but I digress.

I went on, fairly happy in my work (though I could bitch and moan about anything, and let the bosses know when I thought they were wrong - often paying the price for it by missing a promotion), and I did more than my fair share of it over the years. An agent I know commented to me about a year ago that he was unaware of any other agent in our office having had as many cases as I had over my service in U.S. Customs. Maybe he was right, maybe not, and while I know I never had any earth shattering cases - I know I did my work and did it well, and many of my cases wound up with arrests, seizures, and convictions. Then things got kind of messy for me when a big boss wrongfully believed I had written some anonymous poison pen letters to Internal Affairs, The Office of the Inspector general, and the Secretary of the Treasury. I personally disliked that boss almost with a hateful passion, if only because I believed he was the biggest wrongfully vindictive asshole I had ever met, but I had never dimmed him out by writing anonymous letters. That was not my style. So I wound up transferred to a do nothing position. Not long after that, when the matter in those letters came under investigation, and the boss was about to go before a governmental hearing on charges another agent had filed against him and the Customs Service, said boss asked me if I wanted to go back to work for him, and he had a maniacal smile on his face when he asked. I declined. Instead, I testified at that hearing. I testified against him and against the Assistant Commissioner for Enforcement of the USCS (yes the 2nd in charge nationwide). My testimony, supported by that of others, and by hard cold evidence showed at least one of them to have perjured himself, as I now understand.

Customs did not reward me. I was transferred back to my old post. Not long after, I reported some wrong doing by an NY Police Department Officer who I had seen beat a prisoner. Very soon after that I was transferred to our office in Manhattan from JFK International Airport. I was then assigned totally administrative duties, to include collateral duties as a firearms instructor. I could live with those duties, and did so for a while.

Then came something that changed my career drastically, hell it changed all of our lives drastically. Yes I mean 9/11/2001. That date, bar the end of the world, was coming no matter what, it is too bad it came on as it did for all many reasons and for all too many people. My personal reasons are not that important in the overall scope of the events and aftereffects of that day, but I will tell you about some of them here, because they fit right in with the scheme of this rant. I was not in my office on 9/11; I was somewhere in CT, heck I cannot recall the name of the town or the department I was visiting, where my cousin and I were taking a Glock Armorers course. A police officer came into the room and told us an aircraft had hit one of the towers of the WTC. He said he would bring in a television during our break so we could all see the news as it unfolded. Not long after, and before our scheduled break, the officer came in again and told us of a second plane hitting the other large tower. A few minutes later and we were all watching on a TV in the classroom. John, that is my cousin, and I left and headed back to NYC. We must have shaved at least 45 minutes off our earlier drive time to CT on our return trip to NYC. The roads were empty, that is except for emergency vehicles like ambulances on the shoulders of the road, hundreds of them all lined up, and I flew. When we got back to the city we headed to Kennedy Airport office of Customs Office of Investigations. One of those asshole supervisors I told you about above asked me what we were doing there. Heck, I had the smarts to call our sector communications to see what needed to be done, and they told us, ordered us, to go to JFK. By the end of a long day, we had accounted for all of our NYC personnel.

With that day, the changes had begun. For about two weeks I helped carry out the resupply of our office, more admin duties but important ones. During the first week after 9/11, I went down to the WTC rubble piles and helped out on two shifts, the first on a bucket brigade as firemen dug for survivors/bodies, and I helped throw the rubble they dug onto a pile to keep it out of the way. The next shift I spent retrieving evidence from a customs vault wherein the wall had been breeched. It was scary stuff. Then I received word that no one from Customs was to go to the WTC unless specifically selected to work there, and that included a bar on anyone volunteering to help out. Well during the 2nd week after 9/11, while I was still doing admin duties, a call for volunteers came around, they were asking for agents to volunteer as temporary Federal Air Marshals. Out of hundreds of agents in the NYC, JFK, and Long Island Offices of Investigations for the U.S. Customs Service, there were two volunteers and one of them was talked out of doing it by her supervisor. Guess who that left.

I flew as an air marshal for about 5 months. It was not easy, especially for the first three weeks when I just about started to cry each time the plane started to roll down the runway. As silly as it may sound, I was literally so scared I almost peed myself a few times thinking that whatever flight I was on would be the next. For those of you who think that even stupider than silly, and who think it would not possibly be able to happen again, allow me to remind you that we were aware of intelligence that the public has not yet heard about; and then there was the shoe bomber attempt later on. The possibility of getting on that plane and never again seeing my family was all too real for me, so yes I was terrified. The possibility that some piece of turd Islamic extremist was going to get away with it again was also too real for me, and with the help of a dear friend who urged me on because he knew I was doing the right thing, I was able to go to work each day and fly on several flights on most of those days, to try to prevent even one more single American's life from being lost. It was the absolute scariest thing I have ever done over any period of time lasting more than a few seconds, maybe minutes, or maybe even hours at most. All the other scary things had come and gone in flashes; this one lasted 5 months of nerve wracking red alert levels for every minute I was flying. I lived through it unscathed, at least physically. Not even a thank you from the FAA or the TSA for that one, but then again, I was not in it for thank yous. Besides that, I sure got enough of em anyhow from flight attendants and flight crews, and from the savvy passengers who figured out I was the FAM in their game of 'Pick Out The Air Marshal' - a game that took place on each and every flight on which I flew as a FAM.

Another thing that happened after 9/11, was the dissolution of the United States Customs Service, the oldest law enforcement agency in the USA. It was done without fanfare, it simply disappeared after hundreds of years of service. You would think the U.S. Government would have had some pop and ceremony, but maybe the president and other officials were a bit ashamed of what it was they were about to do to us. They combined us with the by then defunct Immigration and naturalization Service, and put us under the new Department of Homeland Security. What a farce indeed, take it from me. Since the I&NS was primarily found responsible for allowing all of the terrorists, who attacked us on 9/11, into the USA in the first place, the I&NS was actually done away with, as I understand, by an act of Congress. I don't believe any mention was made of the Customs Service in that act of Congress. We were in effect being punished because of another's inadequacies. The Customs Service was split, as was the I&NS, into two basic parts: Investigations, and regulatory branches, although the I&NS also had the Border Patrol for patrol functions. Under DHS, new agencies were formed to perform the old duties. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) basically took all of the Customs Inspectors, Immigration Inspectors, and Border Patrol under its command. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the investigative branches of those two other services, and of a few other agencies such as the Federal Protective service, and FAMs (for a short while anyhow as far as the FAMs went).

We, all Americans, heck all of the world, were told told by the administration (which I faithfully still serve but can disagree with) that the DHS with CBP and ICE was the primary department to deter terrorism, to combat terrorism, to investigate terrorism. Then our first secretary, that ex- governor who should have stayed in Pennsylvania as a town clerk, handed over all investigative authority related to terrorism to the FBI. As it turned out the now defunct Office of Investigations of the now defunct U.S. Customs Service, one of the best investigative branches of U.S. law enforcement, the one with the largest ever money laundering investigation against terrorists, and countless other high quality investigations, was now basically turned into an arm of the now defunct Immigration Service. Yes, once we were combined with I&NS investigators under ICE, it seems most of our duties have been geared toward finding illegal aliens and not toward: Money Laundering Investigations, not toward Strategic Arms Smuggling Investigations, not toward Narcotics Smuggling Investigations, not toward Fraud and Smuggling of contraband across the U.S. Borders, not toward almost anything we had dome before. Yet we keep all those investigations, but it has become apparent to even the door knobs in my office, that our main duties are those of less importance than those of a dog catcher. Don't get me wrong, I want to see all the illegals out of our country, but not at the expense of a terrorist being able to finance his operations because of his money laundering activities that we no longer look into.

So right now, after about 3 1/2 years of being part of ICE under DHS, I can say without a doubt the job sucks big-time. Those who have retired just before and even since all say how lucky they are to be out. Those still here gnash their teeth in despair, I kid you not, it sucks that bad.


The job sucks, and that comes from just about everyone on it, from both the Immigration and the Customs sides of it. Of course all the I&NS folks that came to ICE as agents got promotions out of this, so it may not be quite as bad for them, but I think they are just as demoralized by it all as are the ex-customs people. I guess I, as had many others, always wanted to do something important for our country. No that is not a joke. I always had a great amount of pride in my work and in the work of others in my agency who did good work. We made a difference, I believe we made the USA a safer place for all to live and enjoy their lives. Now I believe we are little more than an agency being set up beforehand as the scapegoats for the next 9/11 type of attacks; I believe it and so do many other ICE agents. Record numbers apparently are trying to bail out to other agencies, or retiring almost as soon as they can retire.

If it happens again, no that should be when it happens again, because it most surely will happen again that the mainland USA is attacked by terrorists, the U.S. government will need a scapegoat to deflect blame. They have it in the DHS, and in the agencies under DHS like ICE. Is it a disgrace for me to believe this? Maybe it is, but not because of my belief, but rather because ICE and DHS are set up to make me and others who serve believe just that. , and many other federal agents (not those just from ICE) are in utter disbelief that the government formed DHS as it did by destroying other effective agencies to combine them in a mega department with no to little direction. Sure you hear it on TV news and read it in the papers about how Chertoff brags we are the best, how the president tells you we are the frontline against terrorism, how we will prevent the next attacks. The truth is, I believe, we are given almost no authority to investigate anything related to terrorism. Lots of talk, more bragging, about what we will do when the time comes, and almost no authority or leadership that will actually get us to the point where we do it. ICE is, in my opinion, a straw man agency, little more. There is a better way to do this all, it is a crying shame it is not being done even though many suggestions have been made.

By now maybe you have forgotten why we are here - but I have not, and hopefully you are starting to see it again. Why is it that I have ambivalent feelings about retirement when my job, the job of any ICE agent for that matter, has turned into one of the lousiest jokes in law enforcement! I want to go, heck I counted down my days until my first eligible retirement date for 6 years because of those problems I had with the one boss I mentioned above. Yet I still strove to do my best at my job. I kept on volunteering for temporary things like flying as a FAM, for Secret Service assignments, for assignments to near the southern border to investigate illegal aliens, and even for a temporary assignment to the FBI's JTTF (which wound up being a sham to get me into an immigration group that had virtually nothing to do with real JTTF work). Heck volunteering for that phony JTTF assignment had me do work in an Immigration group for over 3 years, and the only arrests I made in three years were all administrative, all BS as relative to anything that would matter. Then I got placed into yet another BS groups, my current assignment, that even my Assistant Special Agent in Charge admits to me is pure window dressing.

Yet now, now that I am eligible to retire, I keep looking for excuses not to go too soon - why is that? Sure I may want to wait a little while to get more money into my pension, heck I am still paying off my mortgage, my daughter's college bills, and I'll have to pay for my son's college too. But I don't know if that is the half of it. So, I have to wonder am I insane, or is it because I have a need to do something that I have not yet done that needs doing. Heck, maybe if that is what I am thinking, then I am nuts. No - I do not want to play the avenging 9/11 hero, but yes I should would like to get some type of really important work done again before I retire, instead of being relegated to the rubber gun squad of near to retirement dinosaur agents. I think I owe it to my country to retire after having given all that I could within reason job-wise, and the current job is just so much balderdash as to make me want to puke. I guess I just keep wishing to get back into something that has some merit to it, real honest to goodness merit, instead of retiring as a do nothing from a do little to nothing agency. Something tells me that ain't gonna happen, and I will just have to accept that what I have accomplished in my career is all that I will accomplish in it. If so, then so be it, it is just a hard fact to accept when I know it could have been better than that.

If I do accept it, I may retire a lot sooner than my wife thinks, heck I could get a job flipping burgers at Mickey D’s and it might be more important that what I do now. How sad, let me tell you, after 27 years plus of service to m7y country, how sad, especially considering the work that needs to be done; and not just by me but by all ICE agents.

Zimbabwe baffles me...

...or should I say the white farmers who wish to return there baffle me. Not too many years ago, about 5 or 6 as I recall, Zimbabwe - under the rule of Robert Mugabe - started to redistribute land owned by whites by giving that land to black Africans. This was supposed to have the effect of reversing, and compensating, black Zimbabweans who had lost land to white colonialists throughout the history of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia (the former name of the country). Many of the white farmers who were forced off of their lands did not obtain their land through any actual direct effect of European colonialism. Instead, they got their land by purchasing the land legally after Zimbabwe had gained its independence, and after the government officials of Zimbabwe were primarily black Zimbabweans. I am not saying they did not have an advantage in acquiring land over black Zimbabweans, they did. After all, they had been in power, and the center of wealth in Zimbabwe for many, many years; but they did buy and own it legally. Then the redistribution project was started by Bugbane’s government.

The first step of the redistribution of the land essentially was accomplished by the government of Zimbabwe forcefully evicting whites from their farms. This was often accompanied by violence and death of white settlers. Not many white farmers were allowed to keep their land, but some did. According to an article at CNN: Zimbabwe may let whites farm again, found at http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/10/15/zimbabwe.farmers.reut/index.html, it appears there had been about 4,500 white farmers in Zimbabwe. Out of those about 400 of them had been allowed to keep their farms. Not many whites percentage-wise, yet maybe a fair number remaining history/ethnicity-wise, but also apparently very foolish economy-wise, and even more foolish production-wise. It evidently has become apparent that white farmers were a great boon to both the economy and agricultural production of Zimbabwe, and removing them was a mistake that has cost Zimbabwe marked decreased agricultural production.

You may wonder why it is that production decreased when white farmers were thrown out. Well, let's face cold hard facts folks, the white farmers knew what they were doing as far as commercial farming went, they had the desire to farm the land, they had the desire to make money legitimately by doing so, and therefore they had the desire to feed the population of Zimbabwe and surrounding countries in order to have profitable farms. I guess though, that only partly gives you an answer as to what was and still is going on in Zimbabwe. You see, now that there are many fewer white farmers, and the land it has been given over to black Zimbabweans, there has been more of a negative effect than just that of losing white farmers. The other negative effects are these: people who now own much of the land do not know how to farm it commercially, even if they did know how to do so they probably would not want to be as successful as had been the white farmers, many blacks who actually own land are high ranking government officials or in the military see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe#Demographics_.26_Ethnicity

You see, in the 1980's, England forked out millions of pounds to allow black Zimbabweans to purchase land. Despite that, only those who were apparently in with Mug Abe’s government got any of it. That kept tensions high among the black have nots. So what did Mugabe do? Instead of giving less land to government officials, instead of taking it away from them (remember they are all black and in his favor) he decided to take the land away from white farmers, by force if necessary, and then redistribute this land to blacks of less means. Remember also that Zimbabwe had once been referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, and this was when white farmers were farming it.

Maybe now you are getting the picture. Out of 4,500 white farmers, 600 remain. If all the land of the 3,900 white farmers who lost land was redistributed to black Zimbabweans to farm maybe that would be great. Some of it went to those in politics and the military who have no desire to farm it and to allow the population of Zimbabwe to grow to its former size. Heck, a lot of those folks could become the opposition to Mugabe's government, one which has coerced at least some voters to vote for him in every election he has ever won (see the same Wikipedia article). In addition to having a starving population, it is estimated that at least 10 percent of Zimbabwe's reported population will require food assistance next year, the population of Zimbabwe has one of the highest, if not the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Other diseases run rampant. It sort of makes me wonder, was the current food shortage from which the people of Zimbabwe are suffering, a preplanned thing to help reduce the population even further, to make it more manageable for a guy like Mugabe?

There are, or were, media claims that the food shortages in Zimbabwe were getting close to cataclysmic as in starvation and famine. So what did Mugabe first do to counter that. He threw the news media out of Zimbabwe, or at least most of the western media. I guess though, the starvation and famine thing may be getting g to a point where those remaining alive are beginning to realize that something radical is needed to feed the people, and to keep them fed. How radical a plan do you think they could come up with in Mugabe's government? Let me tell you it is pretty far out in light of past things that same government has done. Mugabe is now trying to get white farmers to return to Zimbabwe to farm the land again, to feed the people. maybe he figures that feeding the starving masses will help to prevent a revolution in which his head is lost much as was that of Marie Antoinette, who knows! At least, unlike Marie A., he has not told his people to eat cake when they ran out of bread.

Okay, I am finally back at the original point of this rant, the fact that white farmers who wish to return to Zimbabwe baffle me. I'll tell you why, I know you have been waiting a long time by reading through the above. They baffle me simply because of their stupidity (as I see it) or their outright greed (again as I see it). Two hundred (200) white farmers have expressed interest in returning to Zimbabwe to farm the land, to feed the people of Zimbabwe, and quite possibly to attempt to return Zimbabwe to being the breadbasket of Africa. Why would they do this. Maybe because they have been offered some great deals on land, as in free, if they agree to return; and maybe those land deals consist of them getting more land than they had before. Remember 3,900 lost land, only 600 remained, and only 200 asked to return. If those 200 are given the land that has belonged to, let's say for the sake of argument and these figures are just chosen at random by me, land that had belonged to 1,000 white farmers, they would likely have pretty big land holdings and pretty big farms. This could leave the land of 2,900 for the black Zimbabweans. It would in effect probably increase farm production greatly, because the whites knew what they were doing, they were professional commercial farmers. The black Zimbabweans would probably be okay with this, because now blacks would still own the majority of the farms, and the whites would be producing enough to at least just satisfactorily feed the nation.

It does not sound to bad a plan; but I think there is a tsetse fly in the ointment. You see the government of Zimbabwe is still taking land away from white farmers. They are not training anyone, that is any black Zimbabweans to commercially farm the land, as far as I am aware even though they have a good literacy rate. Even if they are training them to be farmers, the plan has not succeeded in getting folks to be successful commercial farmers, therefore the hypothesized famine and starvation, and the reported food shortages requiring return of white farmers. So where would the continued seizures of white farmer’s land leave the economy and agriculture? What kind of a plan is it when they invite whites back to farm the land on the one hand, yet take more farms away from other whites while doing so?

Do you see it? Can you imagine as I do what kind of plan it is. As I imagine it, it will be one full of corruption, with only a goal of keeping Mugabe in power. This is how I guess it will work: 200 white farmers return. They are given a lot of land, maybe even a lot of land on which current white farmers are still farming; that is those 600 who were able to keep their land at least until now. Mugabe only gives land to whites in the future when it goes to those who agree to be loyal to him, and to his plan to remain in power. He gets a big percentage of the rake-off of the profits. The farmers, the white ones who actually are allowed to farm, also get a sizable amount of the profits, and they get a large amount of land - enough to make it so that the people of Zimbabwe have enough food to keep them happy enough not to revolt. So who gets the remaining land? My guess would be those blacks in government who support Mugabe without question. This, in my opinion, has been how Mugabe has stayed in power all along - though corruption, coercion, and diabolical planning that benefits him over all others.

There is one other tsetse fly in the ointment, this one for the returning farmers. I have to wonder, how is it that they are so stupid as to believe anything this guy Mugabe tells them, or to believe they will be allowed to profit or keep any incentive offered to them to return to Zimbabwe? Are they that shortsighted, that stupid, that they just don't realize that once Mugabe no longer feels a need for them he quite possibly will seize their land and oust them again?

I just don't understand how they think! These white farmers who would return to Zimbabwe under Mugabe who took their land in the first place, they just baffle me, and that stands even if they are just do gooders who want to actually make things better for the poor folks of Zimbabwe (which I do not believe for a minute). I admire people who want to help others, but am baffled by those who bite the hook, line and sinker of a fisherman like Mugabe when it is rotten bait he uses to attract them in the first place. But so too do most exceptionally greedy and otherwise crazed people baffle me, and that would in my opinion, be any others than actual do gooders who would return to Zimbabwe under Mugabe.

As for the people of Zimbabwe, you know the ones I mean, the regular people, the working man and woman, what do they get? They continue to get an education, but no means of implementing it in order to produce for themselves. They remain dependent upon the government for food. They wind up with a bit more food, enough to satisfy them to the point they think things are going well under Mugabe; or in other words enough to make them believe, in my opinion, that a revolution to kill of this scumbag Mugabe is not in order.

I hope they do not fall for it. I think it is far overdue for him to leave the scene, and for Zimbabwe to become a true republic ruled by its own people, with duly elected officials. It is, I think, about time the black Zimbabweans get over their own form of racism, and realize not all blacks are their friends, not all whites their enemies, and it currently is time they do something to help themselves; the number one thing being the ouster of Mugabe, and his kind, to be replaced by legitimate leaders under a true republic.

All the best,

Glenn B

It Is Nice...

...to be home again. Saturday afternoon Don drove me to Denver Airport; and from there I flew to LaGuardia in NYC. My daughter and her new beau picked me up. Nice guy, she seems to have picked well; first time I met him since they started dating last week. He actually called me 'sir' a few times! They drove me home where I was met by my wife who had my favorite dish waiting for me. My son came in later. It was a happy homecoming all around, they seemed happy to have me home aned all of them liked the little gifts I brought them.

I do admit I will miss Don and his place inWyoming, but he knows he is welcome here anytime, he is a good friend.

More from me later on, late on Sunday probably; I have catching up to do.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wyoming part 3, and...

my vacation are about to be history for me, I head home tomorrow. Yesterday Don and I went to JAX Sporting Goods in Fort Collins, CO. If the home prices there are right, and if taxes are not all that bad, I may just have found the place to which I want to retire. Wow, what a nice small, clean, lively city, with a university, and all surrounded by picturesque mountains. I was only there a couple of hours but it was great.



As for Wyoming, I will be sad to leave it behind. I like Don's place, and Don and I get along just fine. The solitude that Don lives with though could probably get to me; but in a way Don has a lot of friends around him at all times. See the pic to get an idea of just what I mean. These guys were part of herd of 37 Pronghorn that I counted one morning when I opened the curtains and took a look outside. I also got to see cotton tail rabbits everyday as I left the house. For the most part, there are about 4-6 of them just outside the front door every morning. Don is a lot nicer guy than me, I would be eatting hasenpfeefer at least once a month and Pronghorn once a week.

After a bit they probably would not present an easy shot as did these two, and I can only dream right now of coming back some day to hunt one for a nice dinner.

Wyoming Part 2

Monday and Tuesday were difficult days for me. On Monday Don drove into Cheyenne to see his dentist and get drilled ouch). He dropped me off in downtown Cheyenne. I walked around some enjoying the sites, and doing some shopping. Then I stopped at the Crown Bar. I had a few beers while I waited for Don to show up. I met some interesting nice people there, and one really arsehat drunk.

When Don got there he had one, I had another, then we left, and did some shopping and driving around Cheyenne. We had dinner at the Strand (?), and headed back to his place. Almost as soon as we got there I was ill, and I stayed that way all through the night and through most of Tuesday. While I am not saying I got sick because of anything I ate, I guess it was possible. Maybe I should not have had those oysters at the restaurant in Cheyenne; I guess that oysters may not be as fresh in a landlocked state as in one on the ocean. Then again, who would ever have thought that Rocky Mountain Oysters could get you that sick! Maybe it was just the thought of me having actually eaten them that did it! Oh well, I had to try them once in my lifetime, not bad either, neither was the burger or boneless wings.

On Tuesday we were off to Cabela’s in Sidney, Nebraska. Once in Sidney, we stopped at a Chinese buffet across the road from Cabela’s, surprisingly delicious, if not very authentic, but a great lunch nonetheless. Then it was into Cabela’s for the long haul. Don is into guns; have I mentioned that yet? He also likes to deal with only certain folks, so he waited until a friend of his was free of his managerial meeting before he got down to business of looking at what they had in stock. Apparently Don’s buddy at Cabela’s had called him to tell him about a certain Kimber 1911 they had. After about 3 hours of looking at this and that, including a Colt Official Police, a Detective Special, and some others, Don decided on the Kimber (the actual transfer would go through an FFL in WY later). Cabela’s has a wonderful points system. If you buy a guns with a Cabela’s visa card, you get points, one per dollar spent. Each point is worth about .10; if you buy a lot or expensive items, those points add up.

After the purchase of the Kimber, Don and his friend figured Don had enough points built up to be able to put the Official Police on lay-away, so that he could virtually get it for free next month. (It takes a billing cycle for the pints to get into one’s account.) This made Don quite the happy camper. He had spent about 4 hours in Cabela’s, and would soon have two new guns. The Kimber, I suppose, could make any gun aficionado happy, as could getting a free Colt revolver! Both were used, but both in very nice shape. (Pics of that Kimber should coming soon, once the transfer is completed through an FFL in WY.)

This Cabela’s is not as big as some newer stores, but still had a lot As for me, well I spent my time looking around the store at what they offered, and running for the facilities. Yes it was a rough day for me, but nice to be there with my pal. I picked up some accessories and ammo for some of my own guns. It was too easy to spend $180 of my somewhat scant vacation money; but I figured well worth it. As we drove back toward Don’s place, we were both happy campers. I recommend a trip to Cabela’s for anyone who is into hunting, fishing, camping or firearms sports.

Once back at Don’s our day was done, and we took in a DVD showing of The Fifth Element before hitting the hay. Wednesday would bring a new day, and more fun travels. It would also bring another pang of homesickness, missing my family was just another part of this trip. How I wish I could convince my wife to move away from Long Island and our proximity to the New York City area. Not that I think it bad, just I think there are nicer places to which I would like to retire.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wyoming Report - yee ha

The trip to WY yesterday was great. I got up early, tired, with too little sleep and was soon on my way because the taxi to the airport was precisely on time and there was no traffic. The flight was shorter than expected, only about 3 hours 50 minutes. That was only NYC to Denver, but when I drive from NYC to Binghamton, NY that is about how long it takes, andsometimes to drive round trip to NYC from my house on Long Island, 23 miles each way, takes longer - go figure. Besides being quick the flight was nice even though I was in the middle seat. No meal but that was okay for the low fare I got.

My buddy Don was at the baggage carousel to meet me. Then we were off to Wyoming. We made a pit stop along the way in Loveland, CO to eat; and then to and look at guns in a sporting goods store. Then to Cheyenne, WY where we made a stop at Sportsman's Outlet on Lincoln Way. Great place, nice folks. Then off to pick up a botlle of Glenfiddich, and off to Don's place. We had a few ciders, a few ales, a few scotches, and chewed the fat, and then I hit the hay.

His place literally is in the middle of nowhere. His closest neighbor is about 7 miles away. Gotta love it. He lives there with his two killer cats, some guns, and a neat home defense system which I will not get into. If you want to find out about it first hand, just locate his place, break in, but that is only if you are dying to learn about it.

Today we go to town. More on that later...

By the way, is it true those N. Koreans have done it? That is what I heard, but since Don has no TV cable or satellite I have not seen the news. Have to check FoxNews.com. They need to be dealh with quickly if that is the case. An assasination of a leader may be in order.

All the best,
GB

A Busy Saturday...

...was what I had on the 7th. I was up early to go to the LIHS 17th Annual Reptile Expo, was there all day too. When I got home I started getting ready to go to Wyoming tomorrow - whoops it is already tomorrow - so I meant to say today. I have to be up at 0600 to go to the airport, then I am off to Denver, where a friend will meet me, then to his place in WY for a week. I'll probably not get much of a chance to blog, but I will try. If no chances, then I'll be back at it next Sunday on the 15th.

All the best to all of you. See you all again soon.

Happy trails,
Glenn B

How Did I Miss This...

...probably wonderful event to behold? I am, of course, talking about the bra unhooking contest that was held somewhere in NYC yesterday. I would have loved to have been a spectator, heck I would have loved to have been a competitor. It appears that the world record for how many bras someone could unhook is held by a German who was able to open 56 bras in 60 seconds, date and place the record was achieved is unknown. Leave it to those Germans to do things efficiently. As for the current atempt to break the record, the best attempt yesterday was a measely 37 bras unhooked. Sounds like rank amateurs were at it. Had I been there things would have been different, the USA would have stood a chance at breaking the old record. Oh well, there is always next year.

Sometimes the police get it wrong...

...and lest you think I will only tell you about what they have gotten right, allow me to tell you about something they apparently have really screwed up.

While John Karr is, like any other suspect, innocent until proven guilty - it does not mean his case should not have gone to trial once he was arrested on child pornography charges. I don't care whether or not he had nothing to do with the Jon Benet Ramsey case in this regard because these child porn charges were unrelated to that. As it turned out, when the police brought him back to the USA, even if his claims to have been involved with JBR's death were fabricated, the police did a good thing. He was, after all, a wanted suspect in a felony case involving child pornography.

Where the police went wrong was to have lost the evidence in that case. See this article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218108,00.html for more info. Where they apparently went badly wrong was to evidently have kept sloppy records of the evidence. Even though they had lost the computer evidence in this case, I believe it was a hard drive that was lost, the prosecution quite possibly still could have brought this case against Karr had the police kept clear records of how they made copies of the HD, how many copies they made, and so on. The copies could actually have been used as evidence against Karr. Granted not as good as the originals, but still good.

The police really messed up on this one, especially if Karr in fact did commit the child pornography offenses that were the base of the dropped charges. If so, if he really did these things, then the charges against a monster have been dropped, and who knows, this may allow him to be freed sooner than later to do it over again.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reptile Shows and Bugging Out...

...are two things on my mind today, and both are definitely related. I am pretty sure I have already posted something about this weekend's upcoming Long Island Herpetological Society's 17th Annual Reptile Show (if you want more info click on the link) It takes place this Saturday, October 7, at SUNY Farmingdale in Farmingdale, NY.

Today, though home from work not feeling too well, I still decided to get some things ready for the show since I don't want to wait until the last minute tomorrow night. One of the things I had to do was to get the bugs ready. Yes I said bugs, and yes they have something to do with the reptile and amphibian show.

A little while ago, DHL dropped of 28 boxes of bugs at my front door. In those boxes are contained about 31,500 insects. I hope none of the boxes have any holes in them, because if they do I am in trouble with my wife big-time. The insects are mostly crickets, followed by superworms, mealworms, waxworms and redworms. They are all meant to be reptile and amphibian food, and I'll sell them at the show to help raise money for the LIHS.

Now if you are wondering why I am writing about all of this here, well I don't rightly know, I guess I just felt like it. The herps (reptiles and amphibians) are a hobby of mine, have been since I was a young kid. Now my son enjoys the hobby too. He will be at the show on Saturday with me all day. That is a good thing, my 16 year old son still spending time with me involved in something in which we share our enjoyment.

Now while all those bugs, and the love of herps may have seemed crazy to you a few moments ago, maybe now you are thinking it is not so crazy even if you don't like bugs or herps. It is not so crazy because it helps keep my son out of trouble, gives him an interesting hobby, and may lead to a career choice for him later down the road (he wants to become a veterinarian that specializes in herps); it also allows me to spend some quality time with him. Of course, maybe you still think it is all crazy. I have to say though, that this hobby is one that has been good for us. Keeping pets is great to learn about animals, breeding them is interesting and requires that you have kept healthy animals, selling the offspring helps our hobby to somewhat support itself and gives my son some experience at business so to speak (even though we are not in business as it is a hobby), and we share our interests with others who like the same thing at the LIHS. This hobby has even gotten us out together on field trips wherein we have caught, and usually released wild herps. Not a bad way to kill a summer afternoon if the fish are not biting.

We have other hobbies too. Some we share, some we do not. The thing is it really helps make your kids and you get along better if you share a hobby. Try something - whatever you pick for a hobby should be okay - and do it together.

All the best,
Glenn B

Some good news among all the gloom...

... would be a nice thing to see would it not!

Well I just read a bit of good news. It appears that the condition of one of the New York State Troopers, who is believed to have been shot by then escaped prisoner Ralph 'Bucky' Phillips during the manhunt for Phillips, is now improving. The trooper was wounded when shot on August 31 this year; another trooper died of his wounds; this after they were allegedly ambushed by Phillips as they searched for him. Phillips who had spent about half his life in jail, had escaped in April 2006, allegedly shot and killed a NYS Trooper in June 2006, and was being sought by these other two troopers when he is suspected of having shot them. The following is from the 1010 WINS radio station web site at:
http://1010wins.com/pages/96949.php?contentType=4&contentId=217632

"Trooper Donald Baker Jr., 38, and Trooper Joseph Longobardo, 32, were ambushed Aug. 31 by a sniper hiding in the woods outside the home of Phillips' former girlfriend. Longobardo died from his injuries Sept. 3.

Baker, who was shot in the back, remained in serious but stable condition this week at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., said State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett in a written statement released Wednesday.

``Yesterday, for the first time, he went on a short walk in the hospital,'' Bennett said. ``He is more alert and communicating with his friends, family and doctors. He has been participating in rehabilitative physical therapy.''"


Hopefully Trooper Baker will make a full recovery, and he will play an important part in the trial and hoped for conviction of Phillips. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, to the fallen troopers, and to their families and loved ones.

All the best,
Glenn B

So North Korea says it is about to...

...test a nuclear weapon; and the United States has sternly told North Korean officials that the USA will not live in a world with a nuclear capable N. Korea. Oh dear!

If you don't believe me, read it for yourself at FoxNews.com in the article:

Chief U.S. Envoy: 'We Are Not Going to Live With a Nuclear North Korea' at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217882,00.html

"The United States passed a warning to North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, the chief U.S. envoy to stalled disarmament talks with the communist country said Wednesday. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," he said."

Now I have to wonder, does N. Korea actually have a bomb to test. maybe and maybe not. My guess is they are probably getting close, but heck I really don't know. I imagine no one really knows except for them, but we will find out if they do in fact test it. Then what are we going to do now that we have told them we won't live with them?

Will we declare war against them? Will we send in invading fleets of ships, waves of planes ,and multitudes of troops; or will we just start tossing nukes at them. Or will we do what we have done in the past and posture, and hem, and haw, and squawk, and maybe even effect sanctions or a naval blockade. My guess is we would do one of the silliest with the least negative outcome, but one that still shows we are the mighty power that we are. So I am guessing that a naval blockade would be in order. Of course I mean in order as per politicians, not as per me.

You see a naval blockade would not accomplish all that much except to maybe cut back on how far out N. Koreans could fish, and to make it look like we mean business. All of their trade would just get routed to them through China. Hell where have they gotten all that nuke technology from anyhow - whoops that right they did not get it all from China, Bill Clinton gave them the know how on the nuke power plants, didn't he?

As for our saber rattling, it will not accomplish much since N. Korean leader Kim Jong is a whacko. If they do test a nuke, and if it is successful, we need to remember they have some medium and possibly long range missiles that could carry nukes. Japan is worried. You can bet India and Pakistan are worried. Maybe even China and Russia. So should we be; and we should be so much more worried if they actually test a nuke. If they have them, well my idea is that their whackadoo leader, barring assassination or convenient accidental death, will use them before he passes onto the great beyond. If he gets them, he will want allies. Who might he pick. Let's see Pakistan is a maybe, Iran almost for sure, Venezuela likewise, China - what the heck, and who knows whom else. If he starts throwing those things toward us, you could almost bet an alliance of small piss-ant countries might try to topple us, especially if they get help from an opportunist nation like China.

I am of the opinion, that is we truly believe they are about to unleash a real nuke test, we ought to get ready to do a surgical series of air strikes to disembowel their capabilities. You may think this is just the ranting of a scared middle aged white guy, but I would not want to be around five or ten years after they test their first nuke. By then, they will have shot one or more of them off, and I hope not to be at ground zero or within 60 miles of it when it happens. Of course, it could all be saber rattling on their part; but if they do test one, then we will know for sure. In that case there is no doubt in my mind, we had best hit em hard and hit em fast.

All the best,
Glenn B

BALLSEYE - WHAT IS IN A NAME?

It's certainly a title that probably can be very deceiving to some who may think it has to do with pornography or something like that. It has absolutely nothing to do with anything that dirty minds have on their minds, well maybe something, but not what they would expect. Allow me to explain the moniker to you. Many years ago, not all that long after I was married (maybe less than a year, pretty certain it was less than two years) I decided to start getting some exercise because I was gaining a bit of weight. Good home cooking I suppose! I figured, what better way to do this than to go for nice, long, good paced, but relaxing walks. One night I went one way, the next time out I went another, the next time I turned this way, the next time that way, then I wound up going the wrong way. 

 

No, I did not do anything wrong, except maybe decide to go in the direction I headed one cold winter’s night in Queens, NY (one of the counties in NYC). As I was walking along, minding my own business, a car pulled up close to the curb in front of me, but not close enough to park. I kept walking, and as curiosity and training would have me do, I checked out the occupants. As I approached, from the back of the car on the passenger side, I noted two guys in the front seat. Both seemed unusually stiff, then I saw the passenger slowly turning his head, just enough to see me, and as he did so I could see him trembling. 

 

It did not take a rocket scientist or tactical expert to realize something was wrong. Maybe many people very well may not have realized anything was amiss - but I had been trained about things not being quite right thanks to my LEO training. In another step or two, without realizing I had done so, I had removed the glove from my right hand and I had placed my hand on the grip of my 9MM Beretta 92SB pistol that was riding in a thumb-snap holster on my right hip. I kept walking forward, passed the car, because I did not want to give them my back, but I also got as much distance between me and the car as I could on the sidewalk.

 

As I got even with the passenger door, it opened and a swarthy young adult male got out of the car. He stood but remained bent over somewhat, and I saw he was holding a sweater over his hands. He looked up at me, pulled the sweater back with his left hand with his right hand still underneath it. It was then I saw what looked like a threaded , white metal, .30 caliber fluted rifle barrel staring at my midsection. At that moment things kicked into high gear for me, and the world seemed to slow down, just as this guy was saying "Don't move motherfucker" to me. I did not do what he said, screw him, I kept moving.

 

As I moved toward the only cover I could see, a small tree and a no parking sign pole, I also moved my hands. I drew my pistol, started to aim, and heard myself vocally yell "Police - Federal Agent, don't move". I also heard me mentally yelling at myself “don't aim - don't aim - just point and shoot”. Somewhere in the split second this all took, yes it was extremely quick but I was aware of an awful lot that happened in that short actual split second of time, I thought the rifle barrel turned into a plastic soda bottle (wishful thinking I guess), and I again heard my inner voice screaming frantically at myself inside my head, this time as loud as an internal voice can be without fracturing your own skull: "It’s a gun - shoot him - it’s a gun”.

 

I shot, from about at the hip, and continued to bring the pistol up toward my eye level for either a point shooting shot or if need be an aimed in shot. As I did so I noticed many things. The recoil felt odd, it had not been normal. I checked the gun visually and started to slam the mag for tap and rack, but did not get to rack as I realized my glove, the one I had taken off was between my shooting hand and the pistol grip, that’s why it felt funny. I also saw that almost instantly, the guy had raised up on his toes, his face looked shocked, his eyes widened, and two ripples of flesh emanated from both eyes outward, until meeting and forming a larger ripple inside of which the skin around his eyes turned from a olive swarthy look to milky white and he doubled over. I immediately looked to the car, saw the other guy with a revolver in his hand about to get out. I fired another shot, it hit the windshield at head level of the driver. Then the guy afoot tried to get back into the car but two things prevented him, the door closed as he bumped into it, and the car left. The car sped off backwards, the guy who had been holding the rifle took off running after the car and me after him. I was commanding him to stop - silly me. The car stopped, its engine revving, and I realized the danger of the situation. I ducked behind a parked car lest the driver try to run me over. The guy who had the rifle hopped into the car, and the car and 2 bad guys sped off.

 

 

Neighborhood folks heard me calling out, asking, begging, for someone to call 911 and give them the location and to tell the 911 operator 10-13 and shots fired. That code, 10-13 is the New York City Police Department's code for officer needs assistance. I knew, that with 'shots fired' added, it would get a lightning quick response. It did! The boys in blue arrived, en ,masse, quicker than I have ever seen them respond.. After some interviewing of me and of witnesses, a detective walks over to me with a pen in his hand. On the end of the pen is perched a white metal, fluted pipe, with about a .30 caliber hole in it. He asked if that was the gun I had seen. I said "It’s definitely....eh, err, eh - NOT". 

 

As it turned out, that had been “the rifle” that I had thought the guy was holding. He was found at a hospital some miles away a couple of days later. He said a crazy white guy walked up to him, while he was with his cousin and some friends on a street corner in Brooklyn, and suddenly the white guy just went crazy and started shooting. Strange thing though, how the cousin and the friends all had a different story that they gave to the police. They could not get their facts to agree.  Also strange how he refused to allow doctors to remove the bullet; especially after police told him they could trace it to the gun that had shot him, and they believed that said gun belonged to a federal agent. Then he did something I thought even stranger but for which I am forever grateful. He confessed. Said he and his cousin were out trying to get money to buy crack. His cousin saw me and told him something like: "Do this guy.” He said, something like: "I held the bicycle pipe like a gun but I didn't mean to hurt nobody". He was arrested, so was his cousin; they went to jail for at least a few years each. The rifle turned out to have been a pipe.

 

Maybe a day or two after they found this guy in the hospital, one of the NYPD detectives called me and told me to pick up a copy of the Ridgewood Times, a small local weekly newspaper. In the paper was this line (or something extremely close to it), that I foolishly read as I was driving down the street: "According to police, doctors said the subject was barely holding his own". I almost crashed my car because I started to convulse with laughter. I guess you see where this is going, and are beginning to see how I got my nickname. The detectives told me my first shot had hit the bad guy in his right thigh - remember I kept moving and had only pointed it at him from about hip level when I fired the pistol. The bullet traveled from the center front of the thigh, to the inner front of the thigh. It then exited the thigh and it entered his scrotum passing into the right testicle. It passed through his testicle into the other one, and exited the left side of the scrotum. Then it entered the left thigh on the inner thigh and traveled down toward his knee, where it came to rest just a micron or so away from his femoral artery. One bullet, five bullet holes. Some days, or a week or so later, while my co-workers talked this over in the office, one of them told me I had a new nickname - Bull's-Eye Bartley. One of the other agents in our group had been diligently writing a report and seemingly not paying attention. Suddenly, he snapped his head upright, said something like: "No - no - not Bull's-Eye, it should be Ballseye"; and a legend was born - even if only in my own mind.

 

There was a little more to the story, like my identifying the car once the police found it, it had a bullet hole right in front of where the driver's head had been. Too bad windshields often deflect the first shot or two, then again, I do not know how I would have coped had I actually killed another human even if a dirtbag. Oh well, the other guy was unscathed except maybe for yellow stains, and skid marks, in his pants. Another note, the mugger duo had also robbed another guy that same night. Of course, it had been earlier than their unsuccessful attempt on me but they were successful with the other robbery. The police received a call, about that mugging, about 30 minutes after my incident. The guy they robbed was an older guy, who took 45 minutes, or so, to walk home after being mugged (not a lot of cell phones if any back then). Then he took a break and then called the police. I was in the stationhouse by then being interviewed again and again. My story was always the same. As I was being interrogated, every cop in the precinct house ran out and as one passed me by he said: “I guess you missed them, they just robbed someone else”. Well, they interviewed that victim and he said the driver had had a revolver in which he, the victim, had actually seen the bullets in the cylinder because the driver held it right up in front of his face. I guess I had been lucky it had not been him to point at me. Oh well. Then the police realized that this other mugging actually had happened before the one in which I had been targeted. One thing led to another and they found the guy in the hospital as I said above.

  

They never removed the bullet from the bad guy whom I shot. As far as I know, he still carries my memento today. Me, I still carry something from that day too, some bad dreams now and again about shooting wherein my gun fails me. They used to be terrible nightmares, I guess there was a certain amount of guilt in my having shot someone, even someone as deserving as was the criminal whom I shot. Thankfully though, I don’t wake up panicking anymore, now they are just mild dreams and always turn out okay. Of course, I also brought something else with me, through my life, because of that day. I wear the title of Ballseye. In fact, I wear it with some small amount of pride and that is what is in this moniker.

 

So you see - nothing pornographic at all - but yes "balls" did refer to that which those of you with dirty minds had thought, just not the way you thought it did!

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

PS:

 Gil P, if you ever read this, thanks for that title.

Whoopee - look at the Dow Jones close...

...and you may think it looks to be pretty impressive as it closed at its all time high closing today.

"Nevertheless, the index held onto enough of the day's gains to finish in record territory at 11,727.34, up 56.99 points."
from FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217361,00.html

I am a bit impressed myself, even though I know painfully little about the market, mostly because I have no to little money to invest. I have about 24 grand in a retirement plan, that is split between a safe government option, and some iffy stock things, and that is about all I know. Yet despite knowing very little about the market, I am about to make a prediction based upon it.

My prediction is a straightforward one, and fairly simple. If oil drops a bit more, slowly but steadily over the next month, better yet if it drops another 15 to 20% over the next month, then the market will continue to be upbeat and maybe even continue to soar, so long as there are no major catastrophes like a terrorist attack on our soil. It has been a pretty conservative market from what I understand, not one built on the phony hopes of the dot.com companies of the 90's, so it may be able to maintain itself even if oil does not go down and the interest rates stay where they are. I doubt that oil will stay where it is, and I doubt that interest levels will rise, they may even fall a bit. So I am pretty certain that the market will do better. If the market does much better, with oil dropping quite a bit, and interest staying the same or dropping more, THEN THE REPUBLICANS REMAIN IN CONTROL AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS.

The trick is, can the market maintain itself. Is big business beholden enough to GWB and to the Republican Party to keep the market going, oil dropping and inflation down? You bet it probably is so long as nothing related to Mr. Murphy comes along to screw it up. It almost seems as if a plan is coming together. No this is not a conspiracy theory, just me thinking it almost seems as if there was a plan that was laid out, worked on, and now being fulfilled - not a bad plan at that if indeed it was a plan. Strange thing is economics - especially when looked at in the eerie light of politics. It almost makes the plan about revealing Foley's emails & IM's, when they were revealed to the public, look second rate amateurish.

Yes the Republicans may indeed know how to win an election. Time will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: Of course the plan could be to let it (the market) drop again, and then rally like crazy a week or two before the elections; but I think a steady pace on an upbeat note will do it better and I imagine so too do the strategists. Then again it could all flop. Maybe there is no plan. Yet, it is nice, at least for me, to think that the Democrats, at least most of them, may not stand a chance to take away Republican seats in the Congress, and maybe even lose some.

Before I lose Any More Sleep...

...I think I'll stop blogging for now and try to go back to catching some Z's. I have to be to work by 1000, and it is already 0400, tonight has been almost as tough as work was for me yesterday. I've got to get some sleep sometime - may as well be now - more blogging later.

Goodnight,
Glenn B

Major Moron Alert...

...and if you guessed I am about to write about a politician, well good for you!

Today I read this article Frist: Taliban Should Be Part of Afghan Government at FoxNews.com @ www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217198,00.html


Yes folks the title gives you a good clue as to what the whole article is about, and as to how crazy, I believe, are some of our government officials. According to the article:

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government. "

Frist reportedly went on to say:

""You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful.""

Now if you will just take a moment to think, you may recall that, after 9/11/2001 the United States government determined that the terrorist group known as al Qaeda was responsible for the terrorist attacks on that infamous day. The U.S. government also realized that al Qaeda had their power base located in Afghanistan where the Taliban was their military arm that essentially enslaved the population of that nation making them follow the extremist Islamic beliefs of al Qaeda. Those were the same beliefs that guided al Qaeda to attack the USA on 9/11 and on other occasions.

In other words folks, the Taliban is the avowed enemy of the United States of America, they are an avowed enemy of Israel who is our ally, they are an avowed enemy of anyone who does not follow the extremist form of Islam as practiced by such vile scum as Osama bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda. They are the avowed allies of al Qaeda, al Qaeda being the worst enemy we have right now.

Suddenly, a rocket scientist (sarcasm alert big-time) in our senate wants to reinstate the Taliban into the government of Afghanistan. Not is he just a senator, he is the senate majority leader! This has got to be one of the most moronic ideas I have ever heard. It would be akin to asking the SS or Gestapo to take a major role in post WWII government of Germany. That is except for one thing, that thing being we are currently at war with the Taliban. At least we had defeated the Germans, so had we asked some Nazis to join the post WWII German government maybe they would have bowed to our wishes on how to run things with us as their masters. If we put the Taliban in a position of power now, we only legitimize them, make them stronger, and lose any ground we have gained in defeating them. They gain power because we showed weakness, and eventually they wind up back in full control and what did we accomplish - not a darned thing except to go to war in Afghanistan for absolutely nothing. Right now we are winning, we have a just cause to be there, why screw it up and undo it all.

I vote almost exclusively Republican, but I may have to find that third party soon, real soon as election day is almost upon us. I just cannot see voting for, whom I consider to be morons, those like Frist. Heavens forbid he runs for the presidency.

All the best,
Glenn B

Schoolhouse Cowards make me sick...

...so much so that I make them an offer. If any of you big brave (sarcasm alert) shooter types wants to shoot up little defenseless schoolgirls and execute them, or do so to other schoolkids, to prove your manhood (sarcasm alert) or whatever, why not get in touch with me first for a little get together (no sarcasm here at all). I would be more than glad to meet you to allow you to try and show your courage (sarcasm alert) against me instread of in the face of defenseless shcool children. I am sick of your kind, of your actions, of the puny, slimy, creeping, hideous brand of cowardice that makes you seek out defenseless kids to murder.

The executions of those helpless little girls in Amish Country today has got my blood boiling, and as Kim du Toit would say, a RCB (red curtain of blood) has fallen across my field of vision, this because when I think of the events that unfolded today I am figuratively just that angry as to see red. If you are unaware of what I speak, please go to
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217170,00.html

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those who were killed or injured today by this monster who is, thanfully, no longer among us. He was, in my opinion, such a coward he was not even brave enough to allow the police the honor of dispatching him, he killed himself. My heartfelt thoughts and prayers even go out to his family and loved ones; I am sure he did them almost as big of an injustice as he did to the familes of those he shot.

With sadness,
Glenn B

A Tough Day at Work...

...had me missing any chance to rant yesterday. Right now it is about 0300, I just woke up, and figured I'd give it a few minutes right now.

Bobblehead Muhammed

I stopped by
http://MichaelSavage.com]MichaelSavage.com
tonight and saw a link to an article called Bobblehead Muhammed over at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/457350p-384785c.html.

I read the article and was a bit disappointed not to see a link to the site selling the bobbleheads. Well a bit of Internet detective work got me there in virtually almost no time. The address of the site selling these toys is: http://www.dashboardmohammed.com/store.html

I imagine that some people may actually put these into their cars here in the USA. I also imagine that some punks will then try to torch the car, but of course most likely under cover of dark, or while wearing a scarf over their faces. Or if by daylight, then I see it likely to be a crowd violence sort of thing, when someone drives down the wrong block with that on his dashboard.

I doubt very much they will have the courage it would take to confront the person, one on one, who is displaying this toy. If they do so, that person may just have to defend him or herself with a firearm or other legal means. That is what I see maybe coming if this thing starts to get put on dashboards; of course I see it more likely to be midnight torchings or crowd violence as oppposed to real one on one stuff.

I am not opposed to anyone buying one of these, or displaying it on their dashboard, though I understand how it could be considered offensive - just as I understand how calling jesus Christ a minor prophet (as Islam refers to him) could upset Christians, or how beheadings could upset some people, or how mob violence could uspet people, or how calling for jihad ahgainst the rest of the non-Muslim world could upset someone. I think this should be much easier to get over, but doubt that Muslims will get over it easily. So allow me to say,I am opposed to anyone getting so pissed off about it as to take violent or other unlawful action just because it is displayed. Those folks who get so offended should get what they deserve, and if it is to get hurt or even killed by someone defending his or herself because some whacko terrorist goes as far as violently assaulting that same someone for dispalying a toy, then well so be it.

If of course, this toy is seen as it should be, then those folks who are truly peaceful and tolerant of others by way of their religion, will just shrug it off as what it is - a toy - even if a disrespectful one at that. Yet while it maybe a disrespectful toy, it is not showing a true direspect for Islam, the so called religion of peace. It does, however, show a disrepectful attitude toward those who do not deserrve any respect, they who terrorize in the name of Islam and of Muhammed. Those are the ones who truly are disrespectful of the religion and of the prophet and his words. They are thin skinned, and hatefully violent, and only care about their own agenda, not any religion. Very thin skinned they have been indeed, and I imagine this again will just go to show their extreme hatefully violent nature.

All the best,
Glenn B

Belated Happy Rosh Hashana, and a wish for a spiritually fulfilling Yom kipur...

...to all who celebrate them.

I am not religious myself, not in any conventional sense, but I see no need to be against those who are so long as they are not trying to convert or kill me in the name of their religion. As long as your religion is tolerant of others religions that are likewise tolerant, that is fine by me, and it is a reason to wish you well on your holy days. So to all those who celebrate, at this time of the year, these two religious holy days, I say shalom, and sorry I was late.

All the best,
Glenn B

Police get it very right again...

Well it looks as if the police have yet again gotten it very right, this time by shooing and killing a knife wielding suspect who allegedly had slashed one woman’s throat and had just grabbed hold of another woman. This time it was in New York City, in Brooklyn to be exact. Reportedly, as per this article: Cops Shoot, Kill Knife-wielding Psycho in Brooklyn @

http://1010wins.com/pages/94825.php?contentType=4&contentId=215244

the police officer involved did it all right. Reportedly: Police responded to some “frantic” 911 calls only to find a man holding a knife to a woman’s throat. They ordered him to drop the knife and he slashed her throat. Then the man took off still holding the knife and police pursued him on foot. He then grabbed another woman, and police ordered him to drop the knife; but when he did not the police officer fired. A single shot to the neck was all it took. I wonder if he was aiming for the neck, or maybe the head, being that the bad guy seems to have been holding that second woman and the officer may not have had a body shot.

I guess it does not matter. The single shot did its job, it got the bad guy to stop being a threat.

One other thing I did not mention, that I am sure some will make a big stink over later. The suspect was reportedly wearing some sort of hospital wrist band. Does this matter. Does it matter if he just escaped a psych ward, or was just released from one or some other health facility. No it does not since the threat was immediate. I was even a bit surprised to read that the officer gave him a second chance to drop the knife, this one coming after he had grabbed the second woman, by commanding the bad guy to drop the knife before the officer fired. If I could see anything wrong in the officer’s actions, it might have been that, but it worked out well regardless. Thank goodness, training, and the officer that his aim was true. A job well done indeed.

Oh, by the way, the first woman, the one whose throat was slashed will apparently be okay.

All the best,
Glenn B