After 27 plus years as a federal agent, I figure it is time to seriously start looking for a second career. I am getting a bit old to play feds and smugglers, so I have begun to look for something else. I have applied for a few jobs here and there that would supplement my pension nicely, but the one that seems to have the most appeal to me is also the one that will require the most work from me. It will not only include working a regular work week, but will require me to get a Master's Degree within 3 years (while working at that job) in a field completely new to me. So in that light tonight, I applied for the New York City Teaching Fellowship program. I always loved that movie Kindergarten Cop, and if it turns out half as fun as that I'll be set for life. Considering the fact that I think I would like to teach, and I would have summers off too, what could be better than that! Wish me luck please.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
I won't ever buy a mattress from them...
...and if you read this article it will be quite clear why I would not do so. See GIs in Iraq Get Their Mats After Enduring Insult From Web-Based Company @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,246100,00.html. Its the story of some of our GI's in Iraq trying to order some mats on which to sleep, and then reportedly being insulted by the company of which they made a purchase inquiry. Just a crying shame that we have people like that (the one who gave the reply to our GIs) here in this country.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, January 22, 2007
Football Playoffs
Okay, so I am not a big fan when it comes to sports, that is unless my kids were involved in playing them. In that case I was a soccer coach and assistant coach, a baseball assistant coach, and a roller hockey coach and assistant coach over the years. As it stands now, I am not much a fan of any spectator sport, but I did watch the two games yesterday.
Here is my rundown:
The first game sucked. It made me wonder how one of the teams had made the playoffs.
The second game was prtetty darned exciting even though I had hoped that the Patriots would win.
The football party I was at was even better, thanks to my brother-in-law Hans, and the friends he invited. Brendan and I went and had a great time. Good food, good drink (limited to 2 beers, one shot, and about 4 or 5 cokes over about 7 hours), and good folks made for a fine time with a lot of laughs. Of course the football games were pretty good too, at least the second game.
That is it for me on football.
All the best,
Glenn B
Here is my rundown:
The first game sucked. It made me wonder how one of the teams had made the playoffs.
The second game was prtetty darned exciting even though I had hoped that the Patriots would win.
The football party I was at was even better, thanks to my brother-in-law Hans, and the friends he invited. Brendan and I went and had a great time. Good food, good drink (limited to 2 beers, one shot, and about 4 or 5 cokes over about 7 hours), and good folks made for a fine time with a lot of laughs. Of course the football games were pretty good too, at least the second game.
That is it for me on football.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Tours Of Irish Wheat Fields...
...are being booked in record numbers. No not because of some new fangled super wheat, nor because of hunting for pheasants, nor because of Crop Circles, nor because the Irish have decided to distill whiskey from wheat. It is all because: Drew Barrymore Likes to Run Naked in Irish Wheat Fields @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244998,00.html. Just picturing that sort of brought a smile to my face, and gave me an urge to visit Ireland.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Duck Soup...
...almost anyhow. Have you seen the one about the duck destined to be someone's dinner, that wound up being just to tough to eat. The thing is though that the meat wasn't tough, it was actually as the headlines says it: Tough Duck Stays Alive for 2 Days in Refrigerator After Being Shot @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245226,00.html. Now can you imagine that! A duck gets shot by a hunter; and just for the record I have no problem with that since I sometimes hunt. The the hunter brings the duck home, probably meant as a meal for a later date, so he or his wife puts it into the fridge. Then 2 days later, when the wife opens the fridge she is startled when the duck pops its head up and gives her the hairy eyeball (okay the feathery eyeball). I do have a problem with that!
Do you see the problem with all of this. No it is not that the hunter was a lousy shot, ducks are not that easy to hit at all, let alone with a kill shot. The problem is that someone put the duck into the fridge - and mind you they did so without making sure it was dead, and then gutting and cleaning it first. What were these folks thinking? I can just imagine the crud that wound up inside their fridge after two days of a live duck being trapped in there. I guess they never heard of salmonella or other delectable things like that. Well, whatever it was they had in mind, it led to a reprieve for the duck. They wound up bringing it to a wildlife sanctuary where it was treated and reported to have a good chance at survival.
All the best,
Glenn B
Do you see the problem with all of this. No it is not that the hunter was a lousy shot, ducks are not that easy to hit at all, let alone with a kill shot. The problem is that someone put the duck into the fridge - and mind you they did so without making sure it was dead, and then gutting and cleaning it first. What were these folks thinking? I can just imagine the crud that wound up inside their fridge after two days of a live duck being trapped in there. I guess they never heard of salmonella or other delectable things like that. Well, whatever it was they had in mind, it led to a reprieve for the duck. They wound up bringing it to a wildlife sanctuary where it was treated and reported to have a good chance at survival.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Marissa Marie Graham - One Smart Girl...
...and because she was so smart, smart enough to see her chance, then because she was brave enough to take that chance, she is alive today and reunited with her family.
I am, of course, talking about the little girl who went missing and was apparently abducted in Oklahoma two days ago, and then became the subject of an Amber alert. More information about her ordeal and her escape can be found in the article Missing Oklahoma Girl Found After Amber Alert Issued; Suspect Still at Large at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244860,00.html.
Before you read it, allow me to point out that the article has it quite wrong at least in one regard since it says the little girl was found. She was not found, she escaped, and she ran directly to those whom she knew could help her. No one found her, no one rescued her, no one saved her - except for herself and possibly whomever taught her that escape was an option. There is an important lesson there to be learned, and I am about to give my opinion about the lesson to be learned. Please note it is my opinion, but one I hold strongly, and one on which I based what I taught to my children about abductions. Taking any of this as advice could wind up getting your child hurt, but it could also wind up saving your child's life. It is up to you as a responsible parent to decide if it is right for your own children. Any child who reads this should show it to a parent to see what your parents think about it.
Apparently this young child, only 10 years old, took action when she had an opportunity before her. Either it was incredibly lucky for her to have realized there was such an opportunity and that she was not too terrified to take it, or her grasping that opportunity and taking action was a preplanned thing that someone had trained her to do. The training could have been given on purpose say by her parents, or in a class at school, or maybe she just saw something on television one day about what to do if abducted. However she got the idea to escape it was a very good one indeed. You see, victims of child abductions often wind up dead after being horribly sexually abused, or they often wind up being held captive and repeatedly abused for many years.
Something that this little lady had going for herself was that she effected her escape while she was probably not totally overwhelmed by whatever terrorizing tactics the kidnapper would likely have used on her later on in order to get her to comply with his wishes. There was no chance for anything like a Stockholm Syndrome to have yet set upon her. She was not yet in anyway emotionally involved with her captor, except that she was in fear of what was happening to her. This is very important in the scheme of such things. The child had not yet lost hope that she could escape because the abductor had not yet been able to exert full control over her psyche. In other words the child was not yet brainwashed nor frozen with fear. It is important that all parents realize this.
Why is it so important. Well because you need to tell your children, if they are ever abducted, they need to try to escape immediately. The reasons they should try to escape immediately are because: they are likely nearby to help, someone else may see the commotion and call police, they are not yet frozen with fear as if held captive for many hours or a day, they have not been brainwashed into hopelessness by the kidnapper, they are strong as they may be throughout the remainder of any ordeal to come. They have the best chance of getting away or just making it impossible for the bad guy to get them in the first place.
Their initial attempts at getting away should include fighting the kidnapper. They can try to run away, try to kick, punch, scrape with fingernails, bite, gouge, scream, squirm, call for help and do anything at all possible to make it harder or even impossible for the kidnaper to successfully get them. Even if the kidnapper gets them into a vehicle they can try to get away. They can try to rake the abductor's eyes with fingernails, they can grab the steering wheel and try to crash the car, they can open a window and scream for help. They can try to escape if an opportunity presents itself and they are left unattended or if the kidnapper is distracted. Even if thrown into a trunk they can try to help themselves. They can pull out the brake light wiring (and mom and dad should tell the police this is what they trained their child to do if abducted), they can try to push out the brake light covers and stick a hand out through the hole, they can search for a weapon like a tire iron with which to strike at the abductor when he or she opens the trunk.
Most of all, at any chance they get, they should try to escape, even if doing so poses somewhat of a risk to them, because if the abductor is successful there is a chance that the kidnaper will pose a greater risk to them. The sooner they do all of this the more likely they are to escape without having been molested by the abductor. The sooner they do it, the more likely they are to never be brainwashed by the abductor. The sooner they do it, the more likely they are never to fall victim of Stockholm Syndrome and then start to see things in agreement with the way their captor sees them. The sooner they do things like these, the sooner they are more likely to be safe and sound, and not in the clutches of a raving evil doer.
No these tactics may not work each time. Sometimes a child may get hurt, severely hurt, or even wind up dead because he or she tried to escape. You have to weigh the odds of that happening against the odds of what a child molester, or other kidnapper, is likely to do to your child if your child is ever abducted. It has been, and still is my opinion, that children need to have a plan that includes escape as their top priority, and fighting back as the best way to effect it right from the very first moment of any abduction attempt. One of the wonderful things about having a plan is that is gives hope. One of the wonderful things about training someone, even a child, to implement a plan is that it gives them the knowledge that they need to take action, and those who are trained, in the great majority of cases, will follow their training. I chose to ready my children to fight back and to escape, what do you choose for your children.
All the best,
Glenn B
I am, of course, talking about the little girl who went missing and was apparently abducted in Oklahoma two days ago, and then became the subject of an Amber alert. More information about her ordeal and her escape can be found in the article Missing Oklahoma Girl Found After Amber Alert Issued; Suspect Still at Large at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244860,00.html.
Before you read it, allow me to point out that the article has it quite wrong at least in one regard since it says the little girl was found. She was not found, she escaped, and she ran directly to those whom she knew could help her. No one found her, no one rescued her, no one saved her - except for herself and possibly whomever taught her that escape was an option. There is an important lesson there to be learned, and I am about to give my opinion about the lesson to be learned. Please note it is my opinion, but one I hold strongly, and one on which I based what I taught to my children about abductions. Taking any of this as advice could wind up getting your child hurt, but it could also wind up saving your child's life. It is up to you as a responsible parent to decide if it is right for your own children. Any child who reads this should show it to a parent to see what your parents think about it.
Apparently this young child, only 10 years old, took action when she had an opportunity before her. Either it was incredibly lucky for her to have realized there was such an opportunity and that she was not too terrified to take it, or her grasping that opportunity and taking action was a preplanned thing that someone had trained her to do. The training could have been given on purpose say by her parents, or in a class at school, or maybe she just saw something on television one day about what to do if abducted. However she got the idea to escape it was a very good one indeed. You see, victims of child abductions often wind up dead after being horribly sexually abused, or they often wind up being held captive and repeatedly abused for many years.
Something that this little lady had going for herself was that she effected her escape while she was probably not totally overwhelmed by whatever terrorizing tactics the kidnapper would likely have used on her later on in order to get her to comply with his wishes. There was no chance for anything like a Stockholm Syndrome to have yet set upon her. She was not yet in anyway emotionally involved with her captor, except that she was in fear of what was happening to her. This is very important in the scheme of such things. The child had not yet lost hope that she could escape because the abductor had not yet been able to exert full control over her psyche. In other words the child was not yet brainwashed nor frozen with fear. It is important that all parents realize this.
Why is it so important. Well because you need to tell your children, if they are ever abducted, they need to try to escape immediately. The reasons they should try to escape immediately are because: they are likely nearby to help, someone else may see the commotion and call police, they are not yet frozen with fear as if held captive for many hours or a day, they have not been brainwashed into hopelessness by the kidnapper, they are strong as they may be throughout the remainder of any ordeal to come. They have the best chance of getting away or just making it impossible for the bad guy to get them in the first place.
Their initial attempts at getting away should include fighting the kidnapper. They can try to run away, try to kick, punch, scrape with fingernails, bite, gouge, scream, squirm, call for help and do anything at all possible to make it harder or even impossible for the kidnaper to successfully get them. Even if the kidnapper gets them into a vehicle they can try to get away. They can try to rake the abductor's eyes with fingernails, they can grab the steering wheel and try to crash the car, they can open a window and scream for help. They can try to escape if an opportunity presents itself and they are left unattended or if the kidnapper is distracted. Even if thrown into a trunk they can try to help themselves. They can pull out the brake light wiring (and mom and dad should tell the police this is what they trained their child to do if abducted), they can try to push out the brake light covers and stick a hand out through the hole, they can search for a weapon like a tire iron with which to strike at the abductor when he or she opens the trunk.
Most of all, at any chance they get, they should try to escape, even if doing so poses somewhat of a risk to them, because if the abductor is successful there is a chance that the kidnaper will pose a greater risk to them. The sooner they do all of this the more likely they are to escape without having been molested by the abductor. The sooner they do it, the more likely they are to never be brainwashed by the abductor. The sooner they do it, the more likely they are never to fall victim of Stockholm Syndrome and then start to see things in agreement with the way their captor sees them. The sooner they do things like these, the sooner they are more likely to be safe and sound, and not in the clutches of a raving evil doer.
No these tactics may not work each time. Sometimes a child may get hurt, severely hurt, or even wind up dead because he or she tried to escape. You have to weigh the odds of that happening against the odds of what a child molester, or other kidnapper, is likely to do to your child if your child is ever abducted. It has been, and still is my opinion, that children need to have a plan that includes escape as their top priority, and fighting back as the best way to effect it right from the very first moment of any abduction attempt. One of the wonderful things about having a plan is that is gives hope. One of the wonderful things about training someone, even a child, to implement a plan is that it gives them the knowledge that they need to take action, and those who are trained, in the great majority of cases, will follow their training. I chose to ready my children to fight back and to escape, what do you choose for your children.
All the best,
Glenn B
Silence of the Pigs
With Bizarro World Upon us - How Far Could Silence of The Pigs Have Been Away From Us?
Well, apparently not far enough it seems. See the article Vancouver Pig Farmer Accused of Murdering Six Women @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245118,00.html. Before you go there to read it thoguh, please be advised that reading it may well get you sick, and I mean that.
It is an article about a suspected serial killer, who allegedly lured young prostitutes to his pig farm, killed them, and possibly: disposed of the bodies by cutting them up, putting them through a wood chipper, and feeding them to his pigs. It is also about how the authorities in Vancouver, Canada (city of free roaming prostitutes, at least the last time I was there back in 2001 anyhow, they were all over the place) pretty much completely ignored the fact that a number of prostitutes had gone missing and that some clues pointed toward the pig farmer. That is, they allegedly ignored the clues until they went to his farm to serve a search warrant for an illegal gun, and they then came across ID cards and other items that belonged to some of the missing women. Then they got a search warrant to look for evidence of the missing, and they came up with body parts. Amazingly this apparently was going on for years.
If this guy is convicted, I say cover his body in pig slop and feed him to his own swine while he is still alive.
Beyond Bizarro World indeed.
All the best,
Glenn B
Well, apparently not far enough it seems. See the article Vancouver Pig Farmer Accused of Murdering Six Women @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245118,00.html. Before you go there to read it thoguh, please be advised that reading it may well get you sick, and I mean that.
It is an article about a suspected serial killer, who allegedly lured young prostitutes to his pig farm, killed them, and possibly: disposed of the bodies by cutting them up, putting them through a wood chipper, and feeding them to his pigs. It is also about how the authorities in Vancouver, Canada (city of free roaming prostitutes, at least the last time I was there back in 2001 anyhow, they were all over the place) pretty much completely ignored the fact that a number of prostitutes had gone missing and that some clues pointed toward the pig farmer. That is, they allegedly ignored the clues until they went to his farm to serve a search warrant for an illegal gun, and they then came across ID cards and other items that belonged to some of the missing women. Then they got a search warrant to look for evidence of the missing, and they came up with body parts. Amazingly this apparently was going on for years.
If this guy is convicted, I say cover his body in pig slop and feed him to his own swine while he is still alive.
Beyond Bizarro World indeed.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, January 19, 2007
Bizarro World Is Upon Us
If you doubt the title of this post, then just read this article Police: 29-Year-Old Sex Offender Conned 2 Arizona Men Into Thinking He Was 12, Attempted to Enroll in School FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245065,00.html.
When a 29 year old man attempts to enroll in a school as a 12 year old, and the police have to SPECULATE that such: "may have been an attempt to lure children into sexual abuse" you know something is terribly wrong. When the 29 year old man was reportedly living with two other men, with whom he reportedly was having sexual affairs, after conning them into believing he was a young boy, you know things are really getting weird. When one of those other men, a 61 year old, allegedly tried to enroll the 29 year old in grammar school as a 12 year old, he said he was the so called "boys" grandfather - it is going over the edge. When you realize that school officials caught this, realizing the so called boy looked a lot older than 12, you almost come back to the land of the sane, until you read on to find out that the 29 year old man may have actually already been enrolled in other schools where he pretended to be a child - and that folks is back into the realm of being out and out bonkers - how could anyone enroll this guy as a 12 year old - are they blind? Finally, when the two older men, the 61 year old, and a 43 year old, whom the 29 year old had conned into believing he was only 12, were told by police that the supposed 12 year old with whom they had been having sex was actually a 29 year old, they got upset about that - and that folks is absolute BIZARRO WORLD.
All in all 4 men were arrested, I do not see where the 4th guy came into it all, but am actually glad they did not say, or that I missed them saying it, just in the event it is beyond bizarro world, and therefore even too much for me to take.
So now tell me, what would be a fair sentence for these guys if convicted, maybe banishment to a leper colony, or being thrown into an active volcano. Certainly there is little place for them in the world of the quasi-normal even in a place like San Francisco, let alone the rest of the world. It just boggles the sensibilities that alleged monsters like these are out there.
I've been busy...
...at work, and at home; and just on the tired side when I have gotten home from work each night. Add to that I have not been sleeping all that well, and I have been too tired to post. Furthermore, the job sucks, I mean really sucks, and has me down a bit right now, and I have been debating retirement.
The result of all this has been that I haven't left a good rant since Tuesday. I will try to make up for it this weekend, and will try to be more regular, at least in my posting, in the future.
All the best,
Glenn B
The result of all this has been that I haven't left a good rant since Tuesday. I will try to make up for it this weekend, and will try to be more regular, at least in my posting, in the future.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cody
Cody was pretty cool, very mellow. He came to us from a neighbor when she was moving away to Florida about 14 or 15 years ago. When my neighbor asked if we wanted to adopt one of her loved ones, I turned to my wife and told her it was her decision. My wife sort of cringed, felt compelled to say yes to her friend and neighbor, and we had a cat named Cody. She was pretty mad at me later on, and demanded to know why I had left it up to her instead of just saying no. I don’t know why for sure, maybe I just figured she and Cody would be good for one another, and besides that I liked cats – and liked Cody. Cody was already about 5 or 6 years old when we got him. All these numbers are as best as I recall, I may be off on how long ago we took him in, or how old he was when we took him in, but the one set of numbers I have pretty much right is his age. He was either 19 or 20 years old, when much to the sadness, we had to have him put to sleep.
Over the past 2 year, Cody was a thin eating machine. He could eat 3 full cans of cat food a day and not gain an ounce, some sort of old age ailment he had for the last 2 years of so. In fact he was very thin, very skinny. The vet could not figure exactly what was wrong with him. Maybe a cancer, maybe thyroid, maybe this or that, but the tests all came back okay a few times. So for the past two years we just fed him more than we had over all the other years he was in our company. Yet he got around okay though slower, was still friendly, played with the dogs, loved his catnip, and had a fairly good life right up through and including his old age.
That was until lately, a few weeks ago, when he started having some problems. He would sometimes do his dirty deeds in odd places in the house, and he looked dazed and confused oft times lately. He walked right into the fridge a few days ago. So my wife, Linda, had scheduled a trip to the vet for today to euthanize him. No one in the family, of course, was happy about it. I guess we were all sort of dreading it. As it wound up, Linda found out she had to work at the time of the appointment, so I was going to be the one to bring him in tonight. So yesterday, since I had off for MLK day, I spent some extra time with him in the house alone except for the dogs and us, and I fed him a nice meal of solid white meat tuna fish, and I gave him some cat nip to enjoy.
It is funny how fate takes a hand in things. No one in the family, not Celina, Brendan, Linda or I was ready to see him depart – he seemed okay most of the time, but I’ll admit that all to often he was failing in his abilities. Then yesterday, while he was eating his tuna dinner, he fell off the ledge where his cat bowl was kept to be out of reach of the family dogs. I went to investigate the tumbling noise on the stairs that had set all 3 dogs to yapping; and I saw him struggling to right himself. Cody seemed dazed, but he went right back to the tuna. He finished most of it. Then he went into the living room and I noticed he was swaying, he did not seem able to control his back legs all that well. That was one of his symptoms a couple of years ago when he first got ill and lost weight, but we had not seen that in quite a long time. After awhile he went back to finish the tuna. Some time after that I noticed he was really walking/falling like a drunken sailor. I picked him up and I laid him in one of his favorite spots for a nap. Soon after he was up and stumbling again. I got him, held him petted him, and he slept for while.
Somewhere in there my wife called me and I had to pick her up from work. I told my wife she must have had some timing to have made an appointment for Cody for the following day because he had gotten really bad that afternoon. On the way back home, Brendan, our son, called to say Cody was at the bottom of the cellar stairs not moving. That was where I had left Cody sleeping. Brendan had gotten home from a friend’s house while I was out, and found Cody in his poor state. Linda told Brendan to call the vet, which is what I had figured to do when we had gotten home, but since Brendan works there I guess it was better for him to call.
When Linda and I got home, Brendan and I were soon off to the vet. We checked in, were told we would have to wait a long time, then decided to wait at home for the vet to call us in since we only lived a few minutes away. This gave Linda and Celina a short while more with Cody, and gave Cody a short while more in the comfort of home. The call back to the vet came too short a time later; and Brendan and I found ourselves back at the vet’s office. My wife had tears in her eyes each time we had left with Cody, and my daughter seemed pretty upset too. We waited in the reception are a short time, then Brendan was called into one of the examination rooms with Cody. He came out a few seconds later. A minute or so after that he was called back in to see Cody, already gone then, for the last time. At least it was very quick, and I suppose painless.
It is hard to lose a friend of many years, even when the friend was just a cat named Cody. Remember how I said Linda had cringed, then got mad at me, because I said it was up to her as to whether or not we took in Cody from our neighbor. Well guess who cried the most that Cody was gone? She loved him an awful lot, they had been good for one another indeed! How could we not love him? Cody was a good cat, friendly, and he loved my kids a lot. He used to sleep with each when they were younger. As one grew older, he slept with the other. Then last year he started to sleep downstairs. I guess old age was catching up, or was it because our newest dog, a baby Chihuahua slept downstairs, and Cody wanted to sleep with the youngster in the house. I think that may have been it, because that is where he slept, with the puppy. He always got along pretty good with our dogs too, once he was introduced to them. He liked to curl up on our laps when we watched TV; that is when our Dachshund was not already in his spot. He was just an all around good family cat. It may have been our imaginations, but yesterday even the dogs seemed to know something was afoot with Cody. They seemed to be paying more attention to him just before we left for the vet, and seemed somewhat skittish. We are all going to miss him very much, but we will also remember the long and good life he had with us with some happiness in our hearts.
All the best,
GB
Over the past 2 year, Cody was a thin eating machine. He could eat 3 full cans of cat food a day and not gain an ounce, some sort of old age ailment he had for the last 2 years of so. In fact he was very thin, very skinny. The vet could not figure exactly what was wrong with him. Maybe a cancer, maybe thyroid, maybe this or that, but the tests all came back okay a few times. So for the past two years we just fed him more than we had over all the other years he was in our company. Yet he got around okay though slower, was still friendly, played with the dogs, loved his catnip, and had a fairly good life right up through and including his old age.
That was until lately, a few weeks ago, when he started having some problems. He would sometimes do his dirty deeds in odd places in the house, and he looked dazed and confused oft times lately. He walked right into the fridge a few days ago. So my wife, Linda, had scheduled a trip to the vet for today to euthanize him. No one in the family, of course, was happy about it. I guess we were all sort of dreading it. As it wound up, Linda found out she had to work at the time of the appointment, so I was going to be the one to bring him in tonight. So yesterday, since I had off for MLK day, I spent some extra time with him in the house alone except for the dogs and us, and I fed him a nice meal of solid white meat tuna fish, and I gave him some cat nip to enjoy.
It is funny how fate takes a hand in things. No one in the family, not Celina, Brendan, Linda or I was ready to see him depart – he seemed okay most of the time, but I’ll admit that all to often he was failing in his abilities. Then yesterday, while he was eating his tuna dinner, he fell off the ledge where his cat bowl was kept to be out of reach of the family dogs. I went to investigate the tumbling noise on the stairs that had set all 3 dogs to yapping; and I saw him struggling to right himself. Cody seemed dazed, but he went right back to the tuna. He finished most of it. Then he went into the living room and I noticed he was swaying, he did not seem able to control his back legs all that well. That was one of his symptoms a couple of years ago when he first got ill and lost weight, but we had not seen that in quite a long time. After awhile he went back to finish the tuna. Some time after that I noticed he was really walking/falling like a drunken sailor. I picked him up and I laid him in one of his favorite spots for a nap. Soon after he was up and stumbling again. I got him, held him petted him, and he slept for while.
Somewhere in there my wife called me and I had to pick her up from work. I told my wife she must have had some timing to have made an appointment for Cody for the following day because he had gotten really bad that afternoon. On the way back home, Brendan, our son, called to say Cody was at the bottom of the cellar stairs not moving. That was where I had left Cody sleeping. Brendan had gotten home from a friend’s house while I was out, and found Cody in his poor state. Linda told Brendan to call the vet, which is what I had figured to do when we had gotten home, but since Brendan works there I guess it was better for him to call.
When Linda and I got home, Brendan and I were soon off to the vet. We checked in, were told we would have to wait a long time, then decided to wait at home for the vet to call us in since we only lived a few minutes away. This gave Linda and Celina a short while more with Cody, and gave Cody a short while more in the comfort of home. The call back to the vet came too short a time later; and Brendan and I found ourselves back at the vet’s office. My wife had tears in her eyes each time we had left with Cody, and my daughter seemed pretty upset too. We waited in the reception are a short time, then Brendan was called into one of the examination rooms with Cody. He came out a few seconds later. A minute or so after that he was called back in to see Cody, already gone then, for the last time. At least it was very quick, and I suppose painless.
It is hard to lose a friend of many years, even when the friend was just a cat named Cody. Remember how I said Linda had cringed, then got mad at me, because I said it was up to her as to whether or not we took in Cody from our neighbor. Well guess who cried the most that Cody was gone? She loved him an awful lot, they had been good for one another indeed! How could we not love him? Cody was a good cat, friendly, and he loved my kids a lot. He used to sleep with each when they were younger. As one grew older, he slept with the other. Then last year he started to sleep downstairs. I guess old age was catching up, or was it because our newest dog, a baby Chihuahua slept downstairs, and Cody wanted to sleep with the youngster in the house. I think that may have been it, because that is where he slept, with the puppy. He always got along pretty good with our dogs too, once he was introduced to them. He liked to curl up on our laps when we watched TV; that is when our Dachshund was not already in his spot. He was just an all around good family cat. It may have been our imaginations, but yesterday even the dogs seemed to know something was afoot with Cody. They seemed to be paying more attention to him just before we left for the vet, and seemed somewhat skittish. We are all going to miss him very much, but we will also remember the long and good life he had with us with some happiness in our hearts.
All the best,
GB
Monday, January 15, 2007
"We will kill all Thai Buddhists"...
... was the content of a note found after two people, both apparently Buddhists, were killed in Thailand, according to the article: Three killed in southern Thailand @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6260245.stm. As per the article, a third person was also killed, apparently in a separate, but yet related, incident; at least related in my eyes. The things, I think, that relate the killings are that:
1) It is suspected they were committed by Islamic Militants (in other words Muslim Terrorists).
2) The killings all took place in Thailand.
3) The killings follow a predictable course of events following the spread of Islam.
The predictable course of events of which I wrote above is that: Wherever Islam has spread or attempted to plant itself, violence has erupted; and the violence is virtually always that caused by Islamists who are seeking to spread Islam. In that course of events, if one examines it, one will find that the violence is primarily directed at those who are not Islamic. Muslims around the world simply do not tolerate other faiths or those who practice faiths other than Islam. Islam has sought to spread itself around the globe at the cost of the lives of those who do not believe in its tenets. This has been seen time and time again since shortly after the inception of said so called religion.
Examples of what I just said can be found throughout the history of Islam. Islam has conquered many nations and faiths through use of force and is trying the same in many more today: Spain was conquered by force. Kafiristan, or land of the infidels, now Nuristan was taken over by force. Afghanistan was held captive by a certain brand of Islam through use of terror and force. Much violence was needed to acquire Pakistan. Violence started by Islamists has taken place recently in the following, which is certainly not an all inclusive list: Israel, Palestine, India, Nigeria, England, Thailand, Malaysia, Iraq, France, Turkey, Denmark, England, The United States of America, Bali, Australia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Russia, and on and on. Even China recently raided an Islamic terrorist training camp within its borders. Islamic violence has taken place, within the last year, on every continent with the exception of Antarctica and the possible exception of South America (and maybe has taken place in SA unknown to me).
In other words, wherever Islam takes root, it commences violence. This violence is usually of an abhorrent nature to those of us who are not Muslim. Beheadings, torturing before killing, targeting and killing of innocent children and other innocents, killing of the religious, and so forth are all par for the course once Islam has arrived in a country. Furthermore in the aftermath of Islam arriving in a nation, sectarian violence then breaks out once Islam is established, in order to determine which sect or branch of Islam will be in control. Apparently, unless a country is governed by an iron fist, there is no peace in an Islamic nation; and therefore peace is only maintained through threat of violence.
Are you getting the picture about Islam? If you doubt at all, who is our enemy, just look at an unbiased history of Islam and how it has effected its own spread around the world. If you doubt for a moment that Islam wishes to conquer the world, then go back and read that history again. Despite anything that any Muslim tells you to the contrary, the history of Islam is one of violent conquest of other faiths and of nations. I believe that Islam needs to be dealt with accordingly. Either a reformation, a Renaissance of sorts, or through warfare to defeat it. Make no mistake about it, change to Islam is needed, needed quickly, and in immense proportions, before we all fall victim to it.
All the best,
Glenn B
1) It is suspected they were committed by Islamic Militants (in other words Muslim Terrorists).
2) The killings all took place in Thailand.
3) The killings follow a predictable course of events following the spread of Islam.
The predictable course of events of which I wrote above is that: Wherever Islam has spread or attempted to plant itself, violence has erupted; and the violence is virtually always that caused by Islamists who are seeking to spread Islam. In that course of events, if one examines it, one will find that the violence is primarily directed at those who are not Islamic. Muslims around the world simply do not tolerate other faiths or those who practice faiths other than Islam. Islam has sought to spread itself around the globe at the cost of the lives of those who do not believe in its tenets. This has been seen time and time again since shortly after the inception of said so called religion.
Examples of what I just said can be found throughout the history of Islam. Islam has conquered many nations and faiths through use of force and is trying the same in many more today: Spain was conquered by force. Kafiristan, or land of the infidels, now Nuristan was taken over by force. Afghanistan was held captive by a certain brand of Islam through use of terror and force. Much violence was needed to acquire Pakistan. Violence started by Islamists has taken place recently in the following, which is certainly not an all inclusive list: Israel, Palestine, India, Nigeria, England, Thailand, Malaysia, Iraq, France, Turkey, Denmark, England, The United States of America, Bali, Australia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Russia, and on and on. Even China recently raided an Islamic terrorist training camp within its borders. Islamic violence has taken place, within the last year, on every continent with the exception of Antarctica and the possible exception of South America (and maybe has taken place in SA unknown to me).
In other words, wherever Islam takes root, it commences violence. This violence is usually of an abhorrent nature to those of us who are not Muslim. Beheadings, torturing before killing, targeting and killing of innocent children and other innocents, killing of the religious, and so forth are all par for the course once Islam has arrived in a country. Furthermore in the aftermath of Islam arriving in a nation, sectarian violence then breaks out once Islam is established, in order to determine which sect or branch of Islam will be in control. Apparently, unless a country is governed by an iron fist, there is no peace in an Islamic nation; and therefore peace is only maintained through threat of violence.
Are you getting the picture about Islam? If you doubt at all, who is our enemy, just look at an unbiased history of Islam and how it has effected its own spread around the world. If you doubt for a moment that Islam wishes to conquer the world, then go back and read that history again. Despite anything that any Muslim tells you to the contrary, the history of Islam is one of violent conquest of other faiths and of nations. I believe that Islam needs to be dealt with accordingly. Either a reformation, a Renaissance of sorts, or through warfare to defeat it. Make no mistake about it, change to Islam is needed, needed quickly, and in immense proportions, before we all fall victim to it.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Bearded Dragons are among my favorite dragons...
...yes I said bearded dragons; and for those of you who think I am talking about something out of the Hobbit, or a fairy tale by the brothers Grimm, well - think again. What I am talking about is something just as fabulous, maybe even more so because what I am talking about is a real living, breathing (not fire), dragon, even if of a diminutive size.
These lizards, for lizards they are, make one of the best all around reptile pets that money can buy; or that you can catch if you are lucky enough to live in Australia where they are indigenous. Instead of chasing down and eating knights in armor, or dwarves and elves, these critters eat things like crickets, super-worms, leafy plants like red leaf lettuce, mustard greens and the like, and other vegetables like green beans, lima beans, cauliflower, broccoli, shredded carrots, corn, tomatoes, and some fruit (that is at least in captivity).
These are a desert species so like their wild kin they like it hot. They need a basking spot under a heat lamp where the temperature will reach about 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and of course they need a cooler area in their enclosure down to the 80's during the day; the whole set up can get to the low seventies at night. Despite being a desert lizard, they do need water, at least a misting every other day so they can drink.
Their temperament is one of the best of the lizard species normally found available in the pet trade. They rarely, if ever, bite in defense, though sometimes bluff with gaping mouth if alarmed. They normally calm down and take very well to frequent handling. They are fairly easy to care for so long as you supply them with a large enough enclosure - about a minimum of a 35 gallon long tank for a sexed pair (don't keep males together they are extremely territorial with one another), a UV light source such as a florescent reptile bulb, a heat source (such as a ceramic heat emitter or incandescent bulb), a timer for the lights, a branch on which to bask, some stones or bricks on which to bask and keep their nails trimmed, play-sand or another suitable substrate, crickets, vegetable matter, and water. I would also highly recommend buying a book on how to care for them, and reading it in full before even seriously considering purchasing one or more. A good care sheet can be found on the Internet @ http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/sheet16.htm.
I picked up a beautiful pair of these last week, the female is up above, the male to the left. I am hoping to either resell them in a quick turn around, or if not, then to breed them if I still have them in 7 to 8 months when adults. They are about 4 months old now. Since a female can produce up to 30 eggs in one clutch, I could make a nice little bit of spare change for my hobby if mine is very productive and all the eggs hatch. I won't count my bearded dragons until then though, that is until the eggs hatch; and I won't count the eggs until they are laid. That is a long way off if I keep them. For now, I am just going to enjoy them, and I figured I share their pics with you.
All the best,
Glenn B
These lizards, for lizards they are, make one of the best all around reptile pets that money can buy; or that you can catch if you are lucky enough to live in Australia where they are indigenous. Instead of chasing down and eating knights in armor, or dwarves and elves, these critters eat things like crickets, super-worms, leafy plants like red leaf lettuce, mustard greens and the like, and other vegetables like green beans, lima beans, cauliflower, broccoli, shredded carrots, corn, tomatoes, and some fruit (that is at least in captivity).
These are a desert species so like their wild kin they like it hot. They need a basking spot under a heat lamp where the temperature will reach about 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and of course they need a cooler area in their enclosure down to the 80's during the day; the whole set up can get to the low seventies at night. Despite being a desert lizard, they do need water, at least a misting every other day so they can drink.Their temperament is one of the best of the lizard species normally found available in the pet trade. They rarely, if ever, bite in defense, though sometimes bluff with gaping mouth if alarmed. They normally calm down and take very well to frequent handling. They are fairly easy to care for so long as you supply them with a large enough enclosure - about a minimum of a 35 gallon long tank for a sexed pair (don't keep males together they are extremely territorial with one another), a UV light source such as a florescent reptile bulb, a heat source (such as a ceramic heat emitter or incandescent bulb), a timer for the lights, a branch on which to bask, some stones or bricks on which to bask and keep their nails trimmed, play-sand or another suitable substrate, crickets, vegetable matter, and water. I would also highly recommend buying a book on how to care for them, and reading it in full before even seriously considering purchasing one or more. A good care sheet can be found on the Internet @ http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/sheet16.htm.
I picked up a beautiful pair of these last week, the female is up above, the male to the left. I am hoping to either resell them in a quick turn around, or if not, then to breed them if I still have them in 7 to 8 months when adults. They are about 4 months old now. Since a female can produce up to 30 eggs in one clutch, I could make a nice little bit of spare change for my hobby if mine is very productive and all the eggs hatch. I won't count my bearded dragons until then though, that is until the eggs hatch; and I won't count the eggs until they are laid. That is a long way off if I keep them. For now, I am just going to enjoy them, and I figured I share their pics with you.Oh yeah, one last thing - what's in a name. Bearded Dragons are so called because when excited they tend to puff up a bit and bluff, when they do so, a patch on their throat darkens and puffs out markedly. It looks very much like a beard, especially since there are lots of little pointy scales on the skin there, like stubble of a beard.
All the best,
Glenn B
Reserving Sundays...
...for rants that are not about doom, gloom, terrorism, killing, war and so forth, is an idea that popped up in my head this evening - heck I mean tonight - since it's dark already. I am kind of toying with the idea being that two earlier rants of mine today were wiped off the virtual face of Bloggosphere by whatever computer heebie-geebies are out (or is it in) there. They were about terrorism, so maybe there is some power greater than my keyboard that did not want them posted, though I seriously doubt it. I figure it was just me screwing up. Well anyhow, that sort of helped put the idea in my head, that is along with me doing things I enjoy more on Sundays than I enjoy writing about the nasty side. So I am fairly certain I won't be blogging about the nastier things on Sundays for at least awhile.
What I think I’ll mostly be ranting about on Sundays is stuff that I find to be on the enjoyable side. Those things would include my hobbies, and other interests like: keeping and breeding herps (reptiles and amphibians) books I have read, firearms, shooting, hunting, fishing, movies I have watched, photography, philosophy, beers and ales, other spirits, and so on. More on this later…
All the best,
Glenn B
What I think I’ll mostly be ranting about on Sundays is stuff that I find to be on the enjoyable side. Those things would include my hobbies, and other interests like: keeping and breeding herps (reptiles and amphibians) books I have read, firearms, shooting, hunting, fishing, movies I have watched, photography, philosophy, beers and ales, other spirits, and so on. More on this later…
All the best,
Glenn B
I have tried to post blogs...
...a couple of times earlier this morning, each time they have disappeared. I am almost willing to bet this silly one goes through.
I don't have any more time to waste trying to get these to post properly, so I'll post something tonight.
I don't have any more time to waste trying to get these to post properly, so I'll post something tonight.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Ballseye's Boomers - The M1 Carbine...
...is a shooter that I have always sort of wanted, but I never found one at my price level that was in decent condition. I would even have gone for a newly made copycat edition, but most of them were junk, and when good ones were made I was broke.
I am still rather hopeful that I may be able to get one, and maybe in the not too distant future. You see the CMP says they are about to place M1 carbines up for sale, possibly in March 2007. I almost cannot contain my excitement over this one, they usually have extremely competive prices on real military firearms. Hopefully they will have some decent ones up for sale, nothing fancy, I don't need an M1 made by Singer or anything like that. Just a run of the mill good shooter in nice condition, at a decent price, is all I ask.
Go here for the info straight from the source: http://www.odcmp.com/rifles/carbine.htm
All the best,
Glenn B
I am still rather hopeful that I may be able to get one, and maybe in the not too distant future. You see the CMP says they are about to place M1 carbines up for sale, possibly in March 2007. I almost cannot contain my excitement over this one, they usually have extremely competive prices on real military firearms. Hopefully they will have some decent ones up for sale, nothing fancy, I don't need an M1 made by Singer or anything like that. Just a run of the mill good shooter in nice condition, at a decent price, is all I ask.
Go here for the info straight from the source: http://www.odcmp.com/rifles/carbine.htm
All the best,
Glenn B
A Good man I once Knew...
...was very fond of saying:
In loving memory of Leo Ladney (aka: Leo The Lad), he has been too long a time gone, and missed much all those years.
All the best,
Glenn B
Think about it. Is the saying funny, serious, deep, witty, irreverant, just plain out rambunctious, or all of the above? As for me, I think they were words of a certain sort of witty wisdom from a fun loving guy who had a great outlook on life.The earth has no gravity, it just sucks!
In loving memory of Leo Ladney (aka: Leo The Lad), he has been too long a time gone, and missed much all those years.
All the best,
Glenn B
Does Nifong Think This Will get Him Off The Hook...
...because that is all I can think of as the reason he has finally recused himself from this case by requesting he be taken off of it, and a special prosecutor assigned to it. See North Carolina Attorney General Agrees to Mike Nifong's Request to Be Removed From Duke Lacrosse Case @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243602,00.html. It is absolutely amazing, to me, that the courts did not already remove him from the case prior to his request. I find it hard to believe that he was not been suspended from his official duties by his department. That the physical evidence indicates she had sex with others than the accused and showed no DNA of the accused, that she then reportedly changed her story to say she was unsure if they had actual penetrating sex with her, that she reportedly (as per a Fox News Channel story this morning) now says she is unsure if it was 3 or 2 who attacked her as opposed to the story all along until now that it had been 3, and that the physical evidence and reports were allegedly covered up by Nifong all seem to me to indicate that Nifong should go, be charged adminsitratively, and maybe even be charged criminally. He has apparently, as I see it, just screwed this case up royally, quite possibly for political gain.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Sometimes Miracles Happen...
...and in the case of the arrest of Michael Devlin, the miracle was a double one beyond almost all hope.
See Missing Boys William 'Ben' Ownby, Shawn Hornbeck Found Alive in Missouri @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243479,00.html. The double miracle is of course that both of these boys were found alive, the beyond almost all hope part of it was that Shawn Hornbeck was missing since 2002.
According to this article, police serving a warrant on someone else noticed a truck matching the description of one seen in the area where William 'Ben' Ownby disappeared about 5 days ago. According to a report I saw of Fox News (on television) a neighbor of Devlin, living in the same apartment complex, notified the warrant serving police of the vehicle - great observation and great watching out for others by whoever it was). However that vehicle was discovered, the cops then got things in motion, resulting in a search warrant being executed on Devlin's apartment. The result was the discovery of the two boys, a joyous discovery for their families I am sure, and a miraculous discovery at that considering that one of the boys had been missing for over 4 years.
There is another miracle to all of this, and without that little miracle having taken place, these boys would probably not have been found, certainly not when they were found anyhow. That other miracle was that a school mate, and friend, of Ben Ownby told the police that he/she had seen a pick up truck with a camper shell in the area when Ben disappeared. The friend gave police, from what I understand, a good description of the truck. Without the alertness, without the good observation, of that other youngster - these two children may still have been missing for years.
There is a lot more in the article, not just about how the children were found, but on such things as the strain this puts the families of the missing children through. The parents of Ben were obviously still searching for him throughout 5 days of hoping that he would be found alive; the parents of Shawn had gone through 4 years of absolute hell, a hell I am sure would have engulfed the lives of the Owbys too.
As for Michael Devlin, well in my opinion, it is now time to put him on trial and to do so swiftly. If he is found guilty of these abductions, if he is found guilty of sexually molesting these childen, then I believe he should be sent to hell. The only way I know of getting there is through death, and if he is guilty of such crimes I believe the death penalty is what he should receive. If nothing else good comes of his death, we would all be assured he would never commit such crimes again, that is of course, dependent upon his being found guilty.
All the best,
Glenn B
See Missing Boys William 'Ben' Ownby, Shawn Hornbeck Found Alive in Missouri @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243479,00.html. The double miracle is of course that both of these boys were found alive, the beyond almost all hope part of it was that Shawn Hornbeck was missing since 2002.
According to this article, police serving a warrant on someone else noticed a truck matching the description of one seen in the area where William 'Ben' Ownby disappeared about 5 days ago. According to a report I saw of Fox News (on television) a neighbor of Devlin, living in the same apartment complex, notified the warrant serving police of the vehicle - great observation and great watching out for others by whoever it was). However that vehicle was discovered, the cops then got things in motion, resulting in a search warrant being executed on Devlin's apartment. The result was the discovery of the two boys, a joyous discovery for their families I am sure, and a miraculous discovery at that considering that one of the boys had been missing for over 4 years.
There is another miracle to all of this, and without that little miracle having taken place, these boys would probably not have been found, certainly not when they were found anyhow. That other miracle was that a school mate, and friend, of Ben Ownby told the police that he/she had seen a pick up truck with a camper shell in the area when Ben disappeared. The friend gave police, from what I understand, a good description of the truck. Without the alertness, without the good observation, of that other youngster - these two children may still have been missing for years.
There is a lot more in the article, not just about how the children were found, but on such things as the strain this puts the families of the missing children through. The parents of Ben were obviously still searching for him throughout 5 days of hoping that he would be found alive; the parents of Shawn had gone through 4 years of absolute hell, a hell I am sure would have engulfed the lives of the Owbys too.
As for Michael Devlin, well in my opinion, it is now time to put him on trial and to do so swiftly. If he is found guilty of these abductions, if he is found guilty of sexually molesting these childen, then I believe he should be sent to hell. The only way I know of getting there is through death, and if he is guilty of such crimes I believe the death penalty is what he should receive. If nothing else good comes of his death, we would all be assured he would never commit such crimes again, that is of course, dependent upon his being found guilty.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, January 11, 2007
A Harsh Reality of Life...
...is that as you grow older, you wind up seeing more and more of the people you know pass away. Death awaits us all, some sooner than later. Now while I am quite understanding that it is our inevitable end, it is still hard for me, as I suppose it is for anyone else, to lose those whom we have known over the years. Growing older is not an easy thing for more than just physical reasons such as your health. The stress of losing loved ones, friends, associates, coworkers is always with you, the older you become, the more you lose.
Last week I lost a pretty good friend, he was a coworker. He was 68 and died of a heart attack. He apparently thought he had indigestion, or maybe he refused to admit to himself it may have been a heart attack. His death probably could have been prevented by going to the hospital or calling 911. He was in pain for many hours before he died, all the classic heart attack symptoms, pain in the chest, tightening, a feeling of indigestion, then pain in the left arm. He died on New Year's day. What a shame. He was a good man.
Another person I knew passed away two days ago, I got word of it yesterday. He was 58, and while he was not a close friend, he had been a coworker of many years who had been retired now for about 6 or 7 years. While we were not close friends, we were on friendly terms, and I really liked the guy. He died of lung cancer, another thing that maybe could have been avoided. He had his quirks but he was a good guy too.
I had not seen either in at least a couple of years for one, and several for the other, yet that does not make it easier when people we know die, sometimes it makes it harder for us to accept, to cope with. Yeah, I know, we all have to go, death is unavoidable, at least for mortal men. It just is damned hard seeing people go like that as you grow older. Heck I thought seeing almost everyone I have worked with over the years retire before me was tough, it does not even compare to seeing them pass away. They will be missed, forever - as long as my forever lasts.
All the best,
Glenn B
Last week I lost a pretty good friend, he was a coworker. He was 68 and died of a heart attack. He apparently thought he had indigestion, or maybe he refused to admit to himself it may have been a heart attack. His death probably could have been prevented by going to the hospital or calling 911. He was in pain for many hours before he died, all the classic heart attack symptoms, pain in the chest, tightening, a feeling of indigestion, then pain in the left arm. He died on New Year's day. What a shame. He was a good man.
Another person I knew passed away two days ago, I got word of it yesterday. He was 58, and while he was not a close friend, he had been a coworker of many years who had been retired now for about 6 or 7 years. While we were not close friends, we were on friendly terms, and I really liked the guy. He died of lung cancer, another thing that maybe could have been avoided. He had his quirks but he was a good guy too.
I had not seen either in at least a couple of years for one, and several for the other, yet that does not make it easier when people we know die, sometimes it makes it harder for us to accept, to cope with. Yeah, I know, we all have to go, death is unavoidable, at least for mortal men. It just is damned hard seeing people go like that as you grow older. Heck I thought seeing almost everyone I have worked with over the years retire before me was tough, it does not even compare to seeing them pass away. They will be missed, forever - as long as my forever lasts.
All the best,
Glenn B
More Troops to Iraq Maybe that is what is needed...
...then again maybe it is not. I am not too sure on the president's call to send 21,000 or so more of our brave men and women to that hell hole; but then again I am happy it is not my decision to make; and I do support him having made it. My guess would be that the president himself is not 100% sure this tactic will work either, but he has made the decision. I do not envy him his job right now.
Something else in his plan though, is likely to give our fighting men and women, and the armed forces of Iraq, a much better chance at beating down the terrorists. That will be our changing our rules of engagement. While the president was not very specific about exactly which of the rules would be changed, and to just how they would change, the implication is that the armed forces will now be allowed to act as if they are actually fighting a war and hunt down and kill our enemies instead of trying to be policemen who are overly concerned with getting sued if they do not bend over backwards to honor the civil rights of the criminals with whom they deal. One can only hope so, that is one who truly wishes to see victory in Iraq, and who wishes to see a smashing blow dealt to the terrorist pigs whom we are fighting. If you have not heard his speech or read the transcript, please do so by going to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242958,00.html
Doing something proactive, taking the bull by the horns, is the only way to win in Iraq. Our leaving would be a disaster not only for the people of Iraq, but for the United States and much of the rest of the world in that it would provide a base for terrorists much as Afghanistan had been. We are there now and we need to finish the job we started to protect our freedoms. lease do not doubt this war is helping to do just that since the terrorists have concentrated much of their strength in Iraq. So if we can destroy them there - we do a great deal to weaken them worldwide, and therefore make it less likely they will again attack on our soil. Thus this protects us all.
It was once said that the cost of freedom was perpetual vigilance. When you think of it though, perpetual vigilance is not enough. There is a higher price to pay for freedom. If you are only vigilant without taking action then you will just see your freedom destroyed by your enemies. The cost of freedom requires not only perpetual vigilance, but perpetual willingness to take action to protect freedom. I do not like the prospect of seeing my own son over there, he is 17 and will be 18 before it is all over. He is at the age when duty often calls. Although I hope he goes to college first before entering the military, the choice is his alone. So I know that should my son decide to enlist and go, I would honor his decision as he would be honoring the USA. I like any other loyal U.S. citizen seeing do not like to see U.S. troops being injured and killed, they are all our children or our brothers and sisters, or even our parents. Yet as much as it is abhorrent to see them be injured or die, it is more abhorrent yet to see aircraft full of innocent people slamming into skyscrapers, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania; it is more abhorrent still to hear the cries for help of the innocents as they called 911 saying a plane had hit the building and it was on fire and they needed help; it was more abhorrent still to see people falling through the air after they had jumped out of the burning twin towers to escape the flames, at least one hopelessly flapping his or her arms like wings in a hopeless attempt to cheat death.
Yes, even though I do not know if President George W. Bush is making the right decision, as only time will tell, I have to go along with the decision he has made if only because he is not turning his back, and the back of the USA, away from what needs to be done to protect us all, and to defeat an enemy that has avowed again and again to utterly destroy us, and those vows were made long before we entered Iraq. No I do not envy him his job, but I have faith in his decision and hope it will work out right, after all - we are fighting for our lives and our freedoms, and life is not worth anything without the freedom to live it.
All the best,
Glenn B
Something else in his plan though, is likely to give our fighting men and women, and the armed forces of Iraq, a much better chance at beating down the terrorists. That will be our changing our rules of engagement. While the president was not very specific about exactly which of the rules would be changed, and to just how they would change, the implication is that the armed forces will now be allowed to act as if they are actually fighting a war and hunt down and kill our enemies instead of trying to be policemen who are overly concerned with getting sued if they do not bend over backwards to honor the civil rights of the criminals with whom they deal. One can only hope so, that is one who truly wishes to see victory in Iraq, and who wishes to see a smashing blow dealt to the terrorist pigs whom we are fighting. If you have not heard his speech or read the transcript, please do so by going to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242958,00.html
Doing something proactive, taking the bull by the horns, is the only way to win in Iraq. Our leaving would be a disaster not only for the people of Iraq, but for the United States and much of the rest of the world in that it would provide a base for terrorists much as Afghanistan had been. We are there now and we need to finish the job we started to protect our freedoms. lease do not doubt this war is helping to do just that since the terrorists have concentrated much of their strength in Iraq. So if we can destroy them there - we do a great deal to weaken them worldwide, and therefore make it less likely they will again attack on our soil. Thus this protects us all.
It was once said that the cost of freedom was perpetual vigilance. When you think of it though, perpetual vigilance is not enough. There is a higher price to pay for freedom. If you are only vigilant without taking action then you will just see your freedom destroyed by your enemies. The cost of freedom requires not only perpetual vigilance, but perpetual willingness to take action to protect freedom. I do not like the prospect of seeing my own son over there, he is 17 and will be 18 before it is all over. He is at the age when duty often calls. Although I hope he goes to college first before entering the military, the choice is his alone. So I know that should my son decide to enlist and go, I would honor his decision as he would be honoring the USA. I like any other loyal U.S. citizen seeing do not like to see U.S. troops being injured and killed, they are all our children or our brothers and sisters, or even our parents. Yet as much as it is abhorrent to see them be injured or die, it is more abhorrent yet to see aircraft full of innocent people slamming into skyscrapers, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania; it is more abhorrent still to hear the cries for help of the innocents as they called 911 saying a plane had hit the building and it was on fire and they needed help; it was more abhorrent still to see people falling through the air after they had jumped out of the burning twin towers to escape the flames, at least one hopelessly flapping his or her arms like wings in a hopeless attempt to cheat death.
Yes, even though I do not know if President George W. Bush is making the right decision, as only time will tell, I have to go along with the decision he has made if only because he is not turning his back, and the back of the USA, away from what needs to be done to protect us all, and to defeat an enemy that has avowed again and again to utterly destroy us, and those vows were made long before we entered Iraq. No I do not envy him his job, but I have faith in his decision and hope it will work out right, after all - we are fighting for our lives and our freedoms, and life is not worth anything without the freedom to live it.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A Story About One Heck of A Man...
...who is married to one heck of a woman.
There are all sorts of stories out in the world of which legends are later made, and this has got to be one of them. If a legend or two does not result from this one, then at least a few darned good stories told by dads, and grand dads, to awe struck little boys and girls who dream of adventure will be told. I imagine this will also make for some animated conversations at the local pubs.
You all know that I am in law enforcement, so you may expect me to be a bit biased toward police officers, though in reality I am not; but when you read this story I think you may agree with all I said above. You probably also will agree that this officer was one lucky guy. What I am talking about is the terrorizing encounter an Australian police officer had with death, and his amazing survival. His survival was apaprently due much to his own efforts, but also to those of his wife, also a police officer. You can read all about it at FoxNews.com in the article Wife Rescues Husband from Jaws of a Giant Crocodile @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242501,00.html.
Apparently the officer went for a swim at a beach in Australia. While in the water, he was attacked by a 10 foot crocodile, bitten around the head and shoulders, and dragged under water. Shortly after the attack, they surfaced, and he was able to free himself from the croc's jaws. He was able to swim away from it, and his wife, who was in some sort of a boat, got the boat between her man and the croc. She then pulled him out of the water. That would have been enough for most folks Other people, not police officers, may have thought only of getting out of there after that. Well not the Tanswells (what a name for beach goers - Tanswell). What they did next was to make sure that others in the water got out safely, and Mrs. Tanswell picked up other swimmers in the area.
Was she a hero? I'll bet that Mrs. Tanswell does not think that of herself, but I would bet her husband does. Maybe a few of the other swimmers think likewise. Whatever you think, she was one cool lady, who did what needed to be done when the SHTF; and Mr. Tanswell - well he was one lucky guy.
All the best,
Glenn B
There are all sorts of stories out in the world of which legends are later made, and this has got to be one of them. If a legend or two does not result from this one, then at least a few darned good stories told by dads, and grand dads, to awe struck little boys and girls who dream of adventure will be told. I imagine this will also make for some animated conversations at the local pubs.
You all know that I am in law enforcement, so you may expect me to be a bit biased toward police officers, though in reality I am not; but when you read this story I think you may agree with all I said above. You probably also will agree that this officer was one lucky guy. What I am talking about is the terrorizing encounter an Australian police officer had with death, and his amazing survival. His survival was apaprently due much to his own efforts, but also to those of his wife, also a police officer. You can read all about it at FoxNews.com in the article Wife Rescues Husband from Jaws of a Giant Crocodile @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242501,00.html.
Apparently the officer went for a swim at a beach in Australia. While in the water, he was attacked by a 10 foot crocodile, bitten around the head and shoulders, and dragged under water. Shortly after the attack, they surfaced, and he was able to free himself from the croc's jaws. He was able to swim away from it, and his wife, who was in some sort of a boat, got the boat between her man and the croc. She then pulled him out of the water. That would have been enough for most folks Other people, not police officers, may have thought only of getting out of there after that. Well not the Tanswells (what a name for beach goers - Tanswell). What they did next was to make sure that others in the water got out safely, and Mrs. Tanswell picked up other swimmers in the area.
Was she a hero? I'll bet that Mrs. Tanswell does not think that of herself, but I would bet her husband does. Maybe a few of the other swimmers think likewise. Whatever you think, she was one cool lady, who did what needed to be done when the SHTF; and Mr. Tanswell - well he was one lucky guy.
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, January 8, 2007
The Insidious Plague of...
Islamo Terrorism just keeps spreading as quietly as it can as evidenced in an article I just read. This article is a really enlightening piece, even though quite brief: Chinese Police Kill 17 in Raid on Al Qaeda-Linked Terror Training Camp. It can be seen on Foxnews. com at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242331,00.html
The interesting thing, the scar thing, the thing that should be setting off alarm bells, is that the Islamo terrorists have now made their way into China, and they have set upr training base(s) therein. At least the Chinese seemingly know how to handle them - with swifteness and with great and deadly force. Of course, the critics of the Chinese government are already saying that the Chinese government uses claims of attacks againt Islamists as a ruse to actually cover up attacks of pro-freedom groups in remote parts of China. As for me, for now, I choose to believe they are actually doing the right thing, and trying to keep their own nation as their own nation. I doff my cap to them for their efforts at eliminating Islamo Terrorists.
All the best,
Glenn B
The interesting thing, the scar thing, the thing that should be setting off alarm bells, is that the Islamo terrorists have now made their way into China, and they have set upr training base(s) therein. At least the Chinese seemingly know how to handle them - with swifteness and with great and deadly force. Of course, the critics of the Chinese government are already saying that the Chinese government uses claims of attacks againt Islamists as a ruse to actually cover up attacks of pro-freedom groups in remote parts of China. As for me, for now, I choose to believe they are actually doing the right thing, and trying to keep their own nation as their own nation. I doff my cap to them for their efforts at eliminating Islamo Terrorists.
All the best,
Glenn B
An Abomination of Natural order....
...is how I view the Ontario (as in Canada, not the speedway) court's decision to declare that a child now has three parents: his natural father, his natural mother, and his natural mother's lesbian lover. This is, in my opinion. a disgrace. It is also an obvious product of liberalism gone berserk. It goes to prove what Michael Savage has said for years: "Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder'.
Seee the article: Court Gives Ontario Boy Three Parents at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242302,00.html
All the best,
Glenn B
Seee the article: Court Gives Ontario Boy Three Parents at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242302,00.html
All the best,
Glenn B
Bully for the USA...
...maybe this time around we will get it right in Somalia. It sure seems as if we are headed in the right direction, and I think it is about time we followed the lead of the Ethiopians and the Somalian Government in trying to eradicate the Islamo vermin in that country.
See the article: U.S. Launches Attack on Suspected Al Qaeda Members in Somalia at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242460,00.html
All the best,
Glenn B
See the article: U.S. Launches Attack on Suspected Al Qaeda Members in Somalia at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242460,00.html
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Whether they said it or not, whether they really plan it or not...
...the word has gotten out, even if only rumor, and it does not matter at all in the one up-man’s-ship of the New Cold War whether this is a real threat or not. Now it is up to Iran to make its move.
Of course I am talking about Israel denying, a report in the TimesOnLine, that Israel has drawn up plans to attack Iran's nuclear processing sites with nuclear weapons. The denial can be seen in this article Israel Denies Claims It's Preparing Nuke Attack on Iran at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242261,00.htm
The original TimesOnLine article: Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran can be seen at TimesOnline.co.uk @ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2535310_1,00.html
It is all very interesting, and it is quite intense stuff; maybe more intense for the youngsters of today than for us almost over the hill old grumps; but we older folks have all lived through times like these before - yes terrorism running amok, war casualties mounting (much worse than the current one), and a Cold War making us all dirty our panties now and again as our knees shook with fearful anticipation of Armageddon. The Cold War has come and gone for us, but maybe has been born again - and the younger folk among you are new to it as it is new to you. Right now though, let me say, the reported threats in the articles sound a lot like Cold War Rhetoric. Although I must also point out, as history has shown, a lot of the rhetoric of the first Cold War came all to close to: the buttons actually being pushed on both sides, the missiles flying, and the bombers bombing - all with nukes.
Let's hope all this amounts to is rhetoric, but if ever a country needed to be nuked, you can bet it would either be Iran or North Korea. No I am not advocating nuclear strikes if there would be another way to disarm Iran's nuclear capabilities; but if it comes down to the utter destruction of Israel, or to the destruction of Iran's nuclear capabilities, I would opt for the second option. Same would hold true for North Korea if they threaten Japan, or another country, with nukes.
All the best,
Glenn B
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