Ah, the First Day of Spring...

...or should I be more technically correct and say the first evening of Spring as tomorrow will be the first full day of this wonderfully changing, colorful and fragrant season. What to do on a day like today. For starters, I drove my daughter to work. Then, as the previous post showed, I went out to vote; and I wore my brand new Re-Defeat Communism 2008 T-Shirt while voting. Those were good things.

Then I went to get a physical, and to decide if the doctor I was seeing to day would wind up as my new MD. Yes I think she passed muster. She was not as hurried as most, and even though not as ready to take her time discussing things as I would prefer, I decided I will try her at least a few more times. She gave a fairly good physical as compared to others I have had in recent years. She did the blood pressure thing, the visual examination (eyes, ears, nose and throat), the heart and lung check with stethoscope, the hernia check, the gloved hand thing (ouch), asked me when I last had a colonoscopy if ever (which was recent so I do not need another one- thank you very much), checked my weight, told me to lose weight, to cut back on junk food, to exercise, and to cut back on drinking alcohol (although I do not drink much, I guess she felt it best for my BP, which by the way was fairly decent, meaning not high, but not perfect). Of course she also drew blood for the regular slew of tests. I have to wonder though, don't doctors even ask when you last had a chest x-ray? I had one about a little more than a year ago, and it was okay, but that was not a routine check-up. I have not had a chest x-ray in a checkup in many years, are they passe?

After all that I stopped at Dick's Sporting goods. I had a $40 gift card that was burning a hole in my wallet since Christmas (smoldering slowly anyhow). I picked up a pair of Vasque Trail Running Shows, marked down from $89 to only $19.99 plus tax, that are pretty decent looking and fit like a shoe should fit. I checked online for the regular price, and quite a few places had them right at $89.99, none anywhere near $19.99, such a deal! Too bad they only had one pair that fit me, I wanted to buy a pair in another color. They are supposed to be top of the line trail running shows according to the Vasque site at: http://www.vasque.com/products/m-amp.cfm. That is where the pic came from (no copy right notice on that page,a dn it is free advertising for them so I think it is considered fair use), exact same type/color I picked up today. Not a bad deal at all from what I can tell. Now if they last 6 months to a year, or maybe even 2 years, of my heavy weight pounding/running - I will have gotten my money's worth.

As for them being trail running shoes, I don't run on trails right now, but they will probably do on the treadmill in my office gym, or out and about in my neighborhood. Otherwise they will also make fine footwear at the firing range; so they will go along good with the 100 rounds of Remington 12 gauge target ammo I bought to shoot trap. I just showed them all off to Brendan, and he liked both purchases, especially since he was the one who gave me the gift card. I asked Brendan if he remembered how much was the value of the gift card; and he said $40 - just like I had thought. So another bonus today was when the check-out clerk at Dick's told me it was worth $50, and I got change back. About the only way it could have been better at Dick's today would have been if they had told me I was the 10 gazillonth customer, and they had lots of free goodies for me like a nice over and under shotgun, and a nice bass rig, and maybe a nice Goretex rain outfit. Who knows, maybe tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath. What I really look forward to is going to the range with Brendan, later this month hopefully, to shoot some trap or skeet. This first day of Spring, or partial one anyway, was an overall very good day for me, and being that the temps were in the low 50's, with sunny skies made it even nicer. Here is hoping you all had a nice day too.

All the best,

Glenn B

Election Day Today...

Well, it is election day in my village today for the mayoral race. I dropped my daughter off for work, then I drove right to my local polling place to put in my votes for mayor and village trustee. I did not vote along any party lines, heck it is difficult to determine who leans left or right by the names of the parties in my village. One party is the New Line Party, the other is the Hometown Party. I always figured the New Liners were the libs, but was surprisingly told today that our current mayor, whom I voted against, is likely a republican. I am considerate that this may mean the other side was a democrat, I hope not, but in the scheme of things right now on our village level I voted for whom I thought was best; and I find it hard to believe the incumbent is a conservative in any way shape or form. Oh well, that does not matter to me simply because he has been one heck of a tax and spend sort of a guy. In the couple of years he has been mayor taxes have skyrockets in our village as I understand. In addition he placed parking meters on residential blocks that come off of business district streets. To add insult to injury, he tried to push the creation of a local police department and swore all along it would pay for itself, without new or higher taxes!

Right now we pay the county for our police protection, and we get a fair share of it being we have one county police precinct in our village, as well as having County Police Headquarters in the village too. His opponent was against the local PD, and I liked that, among other things about her, enough to vote for her. As a matter of fact, the current mayor tried to push in the creation of the PD and was opposed to a referendum on it. The voters did get their say though, and we voted it out by a wide margin some months ago. In the long run, it would have just increased taxes with no end in sight to those increases. Besides that it was a piss poor plan for a PD, something like 12 to 15 officers to run the whole department, including police patrols, emergency response, traffic violations, and the like; and it apparently did not consider such things as what would happen if a few guys called in sick all at once, or if a couple of them were on vacation, not realistically anyhow. Piss poor planning, that was it. So I voted for the competition. Hopefully she will do a more sensible job.

One last thing, when I arrived at the polling place, my guess is it was about 40 degrees out. Despite the chill in the air, I took off my jacket before entering the polling place. I did so because I wanted to show off my new tee-shirt to anyone who was there. The only comments I got, from 4 folks who worked the polls were essentially: 'what a nice shirt'. Yep not even one negative remark, and I also got a few smiles and nods. I just got the shirt in the mail last night, and I plan to wear it proudly up until the elections in 2008 (no not every minute of every day, but I will wear it a lot), or maybe until just after the Democratic Party's primaries. I feel it is my duty to do so, until communism is re-defeated in 2008. Now while I may not be much of a self portrait taker (I cut off my own head) all you really needed to see was my new shirt anyhow. What do you think of it?

A better design may have been one with several images of certain candidates added on, but this one says it pretty well with just the one for now. I certainly think it lets my political sentiment about Mrs. Clinton be known to all; heck that is my political sentiment about communists in general even if her picture were not on the shirt. Listen to Michael Savage sometime on the radio, or check out his site if you do not know what I mean.

That’s it for now.

All the best,
Glenn B

Yesterday I put my best foot forward...

...for my interview with the New York City Teaching Fellows program. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I did well enough to have made the grade; and am also hopeful that I meet their requirements in the first place. You see, they did not ask for my college transcripts until the interview, so they have not confirmed that my achievements in school match their qualifications for the job (although I think they do).

As for my interview, it was more than just an interview. The first thing I had to do was a 5 minute presentation as to a class full of students. The two interviewers and 6 other applicants acted as the students. I ran out of time about a minute or minute and a half before finishing, but I think time was not all that a critical factor - I hope not anyway. The other applicants seemed quite impressed with my presentation, and I hope so too were the interviewers. After I had finished we had a 5 minute break, our only break between 9 and about 1:30 when it ended; and the interviewer who was a science teacher asked me to show off the animals I had brought with me for my presentation. I think in that extra 5 minutes they got the idea I knew my stuff, but I don't think that the extra 5 minutes counted. oh well. As it turned out I did not hand out a homework assignment to my so called "students" because I had run out of time, but when I asked at the end of the day, I was told sure they would take it and consider it as part of my presentation. That was nice of them.

After the presentations, we had a group discussion. I don't know what the interviewer, one per 4 students for that part of the process, thought of my abilities to communicate during a discussion, but later on when she interviewed me individually, she asked me to explain more of my solution to a problem that we had discussed during the group discussion. I figured my solution must have made some impression on her, and she seemed to listen very intently as I described it in more detail, and had a relaxed and sort of pleasant look about her as she did so.

After the group discussion, we each had to write a letter to the parents of the students in our imaginary class. The problem was that students had begun falling behind as the year went on, and it was at least in part due to the teacher, and to some disruptive student s in the class. I wrote a letter expressing partial responsibility as a new teacher; and I promised to depend more upon suggestions from experienced teachers as to how I could improve things. I also expressed that such would be done fairly for each student since a 'parent' had complained about her child being singled out as a trouble maker. Then after explaining my actual plan to improve the students through review, and a mentor program, as well as extra help classes, I asked the parents for positive suggestions that they might have. Hopefully I was contrite enough, while at the same time showing that I was willing to change course to try to make sure everyone would improve, and that I would do so with the help of those more experienced than me, and of the parents too.

Then the actual 20 minute interview. During the interview, I was asked to think of something in my life that I had achieved, and then to discuss how I had done so. I told the interviewer that my best achievement was seeing my children turn out to be good kids, and to see them grow up sharing their good times with me, especially my son who at 17 has a lot of the same interests as me. Then I realized this was a double achievement because by doing so, I had also achieved becoming a better father than my father had been (I will not delve into that deeply, but he was not much of father), and I had seen my children grow up to be better children than I had ever been. I told her I did it through hard work, sticking with my family through tough times, sharing good times, and keeping my kids interested in things I liked to do. Of course it turns out my son was more interested in hiking, shooting, hunting and fishing than my daughter, but each had their interest along the way. My son at 17 still hangs out with me on our trips afield, and that is a good thing. He also shares my interest in animals and wants to become a veterinarian, something I had wanted to become except I could not afford veterinary school. As for my daughter she wants to be a lawyer, and I have been in law enforcement for almost 28 years. No the apples of my eyes did not fall far from the tree, did they!

Oh well, 4 weeks or maybe 5 from now, I should know if I have been selected. If I find out I have made it, I need to write up my retirement papers, and get my rear end out of the door at my current government job. It will in no way, shape, or form be able to hit me in the behind as I make my way out. Still it will be a tough thing to do, 27 1/2 years has been a long time, with lots of memories, and quite a few friends made along the way. Enough about that, I cannot count my chickens until the eggs hatch, so I will just sit back and wait through what will seem like an awfully long 4 weeks or so to hear of the results of my interview.

By the way, my thanks to those of you who sent me well wishes before the interview.

All the best,
Glenn B

St. Patrick's Day is sort of...

...a befuddling holiday for many, expecially those who think it is no big deal because it is not celebrated in Ireland with the raucousness with which it is celebrated within the United States of America. In Ireland, St. Patricks day is a holy day for Catholics. It has never been much more, although nowadays that may be changing in that it is becomming a worldwisde reason to party. The true meaning of St. Patrick's day, as celebrated in the United States does not have, I think, as much to do with the mistaken idea that St. Patrick was iIish as it does with his having been an outsider who became accpeted through his Catholicism. He was not born in Ireland, but was likely born in Wales. He was not Catholic at the time of his youth, but he was a pagan. He was taken into slavery, and brought to Ireland as a slave, but later escaped. After that he traveled to France, of all places, studied Catholocism, and then returned to Ireland to teach the word of his God. Ireland was then converted to Catholicism over the next 150 to 200 years or so without a great deal of religious violence. Patrick must have started off the conversion correctly.

So why is it then, if he was not Irish, was not originally Catholic, that celebrating the supposed day of his death has become so important in the USA. Think of the Irish immigrant who came here out of what in essence was slavery in their home country under English rule. Think of how that mirrors St. Patrick in slavery. Think of how the USA mirrors the Ireland to which St. Patrick immigrated. Think of the Irish immigrant coming to the USA with nothig except the clothes on his back, and his religion - Catholicism. Think of how important that made St. Patrick to U.S. citizens of Irish descent in later years. Thus the celebration of St. Patrick's day having such a really important meaning for Americans of Irish descent. That is my theory anyhow.

Happy St. Paddy's day to all.......

All the best,
GB

I spent most of tonight writing a lesson plan...

...for my interview this coming Sunday with the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. It sure is a bit of a pain in the neck trying to figure out how to write up a lesson plan for a 5 minute oral class presentation, especially since I can be very enthusiastic about the subject matter I have chosen. No - I will not be giving a lesson plan on the Beretta 92FS or the Remington 870. What I will be giving it on is the classification of vertebrates (backboned animals). While that particular subject is not necessarily near and dear to my heart, animals indeed are something in whcih I have more than a passing interest. Since this is a presentation as if I were teaching a science class, I polished it up a bit to make it somewhat scientific. I figure my presentation will be on somewhere from the middle to high school level, but I'll have to check with my son on that one. He is, in that regard, the expert being he is in high school. I am keeping my hopes high that I will be selected for a teacher's position, and that I will therefore be able to retire from law enforcement.

If you are not into biology, nature, animals - then don't bother reading on. If on the other hand, you have an interest in biology, nature and animals, read on if you will. It is nothing complicated, but I am hopeful it will do and make the interviewers think I know my stuff; or at least that I know how to present it. Of course, during my presentation, I plan to have several live examples to exhibit of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. If nothing else, it will keep their interest!

As we learned in class last time, living beings are divided into 5 kingdoms. The kingdoms are then divided into smaller more specialized groups called Phyla. The phyla are divided in more specialized groups called classes.

Of all the phyla, the one with which we may be most familiar is that of Chordata, or animals with a spinal cord. Of these we are probably most familiar with the animals with vertebrae (backbones). In class today we will learn the names of all five classes of vertebrates, and we will also learn how to distinguish between three of the five groups found with the sub-phyla Vertebrata.

All of the vertebrates have some things in common such as: a backbone made up of vertebrae, a spinal chord, and a central nervous system controlled by a brain. Typical vertebrates also have eyes, though in some the eyes have degraded or disappeared due to adaptive changes. Despite these similarities there are many diffrerences among the five different classes of vertebrates. These classes consist of: the true fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The fish, amphibians, and the reptiles are typically ectothermic, or in other words their body temperature is dependent upon the surrounding environment. Birds and mammals are endothermic, and can maintain their internal temperature as a function of their metabolisms. Today will will focus on the ectothermic, or cold blooded, vertebrates.

Fish are aquatic. They are typically ectothermic, or as we commonly call them they are: cold blooded. For the most part they breathe oxygen through internal gills. Most have an outer covering of scales, although some lack scales having tough gritty skin (sharks), or slime covered leathery skin (some catfish). Fish do not have ears, therefore do not have ear openings. A fish's limbs consist of fins. Typical fish have a tail fin, anal fin, dorsal fin, paired pelvic fins, and paired pectoral fins. Some fish can, in addition to breathing through their gills, breathe air through small lungs and or through their skin, and therefore can survive out of water for extended periods, e.g. the walking catfish, and the lungfish. These two fish are easily distinguished from other vertebrates, when they are out of water, because they have fins and gill slits. Most fish have teeth though not all have them. Fish reproduce either by laying eggs or giving birth to live young dependent upon the type of fish.

The amphibian class consists of Sirens, Salamanders, Newts, Frogs and Toads. Amphibians are ectothermic. They all lay eggs to reproduce. Typical amphibians lay their eggs in water, or very near to water where they can remain moist. This typically is in fresh water, but some amphibian eggs may tolerate brackish, slightly salty, water. Many but not all amphibians go through a larval stage wherein they must live in water and breath through external gills during that stage of life. Most mature into a different form as adults, such as a tadpole turning into a frog, or a gilled water breathing larval salamander turning into an air breathing adult. Most adult amphibians will breathe air through lungs, but almost all can also breathe through their skin. For the most part adult amphibians have four legs, a protective slime covering on their skin which is scale-less (some like toads may be drier and have warty skin), and need to live at least the larval part of their lives in water, then the remainder of their lives partially in, or at least near water, in some form. Some types of amphibians never come out of what appears to be a larval stage, and they continue living in the water and breathing through gills such as the mud-puppy, or the axolotl. Some amphibians, the frogs, exhibit what amounts to an external ear, or the tympanum membrane. Salamanders have no external ears or openings. Some amphibians have teeth while others do not, for example most frogs do not have teeth while one species the Argentine Horned frog does have them.


Reptiles - The reptile class consists of the crocodilians, lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, and the tuatara. Typical reptiles are ectothermic, though at least one is now believed to be somewhat endothermic (capable of regulating its internal body temperature independent of the outside conditions).All reptiles have scales. All reptiles also have ears, but some such as the snakes have only vestigial ears. These have degraded through evolution to the point where they are useless to detect sound. Lizards have clearly detectable ear openings. All reptiles, with the exception of the Monkey Tailed Lizard, lay eggs in order to reproduce. Although it is a common misconception that some are livebearers as opposed to being egg layers. For example snakes which are referred to as live bearers, such as Garter Snakes, actually lay eggs but the egg membrane is so thin as to burst as soon as it passes out of the mother. These eggs incubate within the mother snake, and the babies are born fully formed but are still born from within, or hatched from, the egg. Many reptiles have fours legs, such as most lizards and all turtles and tortoises. Others do not have legs, such as snakes and legless lizards. Reptiles do not have gills at any stage in their lives after birth. Reptile skin is normally dry to the touch, they do not produce body protective slime as do the fish and amphibians. All reptiles, except turtles and tortoises have teeth; turtles and tortoises have beaks attached to their jaws.

There is a homework assignment being handed out, if you have any questions about it, ask now. Have this assignment ready to be handed in to me in out next scheduled class.

All the best,
Glenn B

No Cheer In The 6th Precinct This Week

Instead of cheerfulness over the warmer than usual weather we enjoyed here in NYC two days ago and early yesterday, there was little cheer if any to be found in Greenwich Village or the NYPD's 6th Precinct. Just two nights ago at, at about 9:30PM, a gunman reportedly entered a local restaurant and killed a waiter there by shooting him 15 times in the back. The gunman fled the scene, but two of New York’s Finest pursued him. These two though were finer than one would expect, you see they were auxiliary police officers, volunteers who don a uniform almost identical to that of a NYC Police officer, and then patrol the streets usually afoot to be the extra eyes and ears of the police department. What made them even finer still was the fact that they tried to do their jobs and beyond, apaprently to save others. They did not just observe the aftermath of the above killing, they apparently tried to intervene when they thought the killer posed a threat to others. They approached him attempted to wrest a bag containing his firearms away from him, and when he broke away they pursued him, all the while being only armed with night sticks. Then they were hunted down and both executed by the bad guy. You see, in NYC even the auxiliary police officers are not allowed to carry firearms, nor are they issued body armor. Yes one of them was actually reported to have been wearing body armor, probably a vest he purchased himself; but the sad truth is that it did not help him. So it happened as per the reports I have read so far today. A few links to articles here:


http://www.1010wins.com/pages/302733.php?contentType=4&contentId=373708
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/03/15/2007-03-15_untitled__village15m-3.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/nyregion/15cops.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/N/NY_STREET_SHOOTOUT_BAOL-?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=NORTHEAST (Please note that this last link is to a NY Post article, and the page that comes up will contain a link to actual video footage from a security camera, of one of ther officers being gunned down, it is very graphic.)


These were two very fine young men: Nicholas Pekearo, 28, and Eugene Marshalik, a 19. They gave their lives apparently to protect their fellow citizens from a crazed wacko. Shit - I have tears running down my face as I write this and I did not even know them; maybe it is because I frequent restaurants and shops in the exact area (and I do mean exactly the same location as the streets where this happened - no I don't live in NYC but do work there). Or maybe it because of how bad I feel that these young guys were gunned down and no one else helped them; but then heck - no one else was armed to help them. It is certainly getting me choked up to write this.


The city will most certainly be in mourning for quite some time too; there had not been an auxiliary officer killed in NYC in about 14 years. They will be given full police funeral services if their families want it that way. Those funerals will honor them to some extent, but it is sad that their lives will likely be in vain at least in some regards. Not in vain that they tried to help; they may well have saved other lives by their actions. They were very corageous. Yet their loss will be in vain. You see, NYC is unlikely to arm auxiliary police officers to prevent such from happening in the future. Instead, auxiliary officers will likely be reminded not to intervene in such situations, just to be the eyes and ears and take no action. Yet, that will not change the fact that there are really bad criminals among us. Nor will NYC be likely to change the restrictive guns laws therein. As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that because of these shootings, Mayor Bloomberg will try to enforce even tighter gun registration and gun control laws. The irony there is that it will only further restrict law abiding citizens from owning guns, and will likely make it eve more difficult for people to try to protect their own lives when some dirtbag like that starts killing people. If on the other hand, NYC allowed concealed carry weapons, and made it much easier for regular law abiding folks to arm themselves for self defense, chances are that things like these shootings would soon become much less prevalent than they are nowadays. In fact, chances are, had an armed good guy been seated in that restaurant, the bad guy may have never made it out the door to be able to shoot those two officers in the first place. That is just not likely to happen any time soon in NYC; and as much as I love the city, pardon me while I steal a phrase from Kim du Toit (a phrase by the way which I loathe), and at least just for today, I will use it when I refer to this city as - New York Fuckin City. Things like this should just not happen, and if folks had been allowed to be armed to defend themselves and other innocents it may well have been different.


On another note, if violent dirtbag criminals who kill others were put away for life, or better still, if they were executed for killing another person then these events would be less likely. If any criminals were given an add on sentence of a mandatory 25 years for use of a gun in a crime, then these events would be much less likely. If a criminal was given a mandatory sentence of 20 years for stealing a gun, then such events would be less likely. But it will not happen in good old way too liberal New York Fuckin City, because the mindset there is almost always to see the criminal as some sort of a victim. That is just a plain wrong way to see a violent criminal felon who harms another. They are, as I see them, dirtbags pure and simple. If people began to realize such and enforce tough anticrime laws, against real criminals instead of against good guys who want to own firearms, such events would be much less likely to happen. When will New Yorkers wake up and realize it is not the law abiding gun owner who is the enemy, it is not the gun that is evil, and instead come to the realization that it is the violent felon criminal dirtbag that needs to be put down (as in 'seen to be the bad guy' not as in 'killed like a dog'). I can only hope beyond almost all hope it will happen in my lifetime.


There was one ray of light in all of this, but it came too late for the three victims. The killer was shot down and himself killed by armed police officers when they arrived on the scene. It was reported as being like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. My guess it was nothing like that for the three victims, they were all unarmed. They were executed, without much of a chance to fight back.


My condolences to the families of these two fine young men. My condolences to the family of the other victim who was also killed by this dirtbag. As to the family of the dirtbag, my condolences even to them - not because he lost his life, but for the pain he probably has caused them.
Be safe,
Glenn B

He gets my money...

...at least at this point of the presidential campaign process. Who, you ask! Tom Tancredo, say I.

So far I like what I have seen and heard of this man. I cannot ask you to vote for him, I cannot campaign for him, I cannot ask you to send him money (I am prevented from all that by law because of my job with the government) but I can tell you my personal opinion about him:

I like him and his stance on the issues so tonight I donated money to him via his website at: http://teamtancredo.org/

If he runs in the primaries I will vote for him in the primary in my state. As I understand it, he plans to run if his donations reach 1 million dollars by the end of this month, as per his own words on the John Gambling show, on local station 770 AM this morning.

If he is nominated in the primaries and gets the Republican nod, I will be voting for him come the election.

I believe him to be a hundred times more conservative, and therefore more Republican than McCain, Giuliani, Romney or any other Republican hopeful so far; and as a matter of fact I believe him to be 100 times the Republican all of the other hopefuls would be if they were combined. That is why I sent him a donation tonight.

You do whatever you want to do on this one, but I recommend that you go to his site and check out that for which he stands, see http://teamtancredo.org/issues.php. Then check out the other candidates too, and start to make up your own minds. Read up on him, and his past record, and try to see if he has flip-flopped like some of the other candidates who suddenly have become more conservative and more Republican than their records would indicate. This is the man for me so far. No one else comes close as far as I can see.

As a matter of fact, here is something you might miss that is on his site, on the bottom of his bio page:

"When Tom is not in Washington, you can usually find him either trap, skeet, and clay pigeon shooting, or with his grandsons, building trains, racing cars, riding bikes, or playing ball."

Yes even though not all those hobbies are similar to mine, we all know I enjoy at least one of them and I enjoy it with my son. That he shoots with his children and grandchildren makes him all that much more dear to my heart.

I'll say it again, this is the man I think should be our next president; please check him out compared to the others and see what you think.

All the best,
Glenn B

Bizarre Foods...

...with Andrew Zimmer is fast becoming one of my favorite television shows. Not only that but it is kind of stirring up that long dormant but still smoldering desire within my soul to start cooking again. I used to love to cook and bake, but I never loved cleaning up the mess, and neither did my wife if only because I made such a mess! Nowadays I am better at cleaning up the mess after the wife cooks - well not all the time but I am definitely better at it. If I could only combine my delight at cooking, with my willingness to clean up the mess, it would definitely benefit my love to eat that which I cook.

Now I did start this off taking about Andrew Zinner and Bizarre Foods, so maybe I ought to give them some time here too. The show is on Monday nights at 9:00 PM eastern time in the USA. It centers around Andrew's love to eat almost anything, and his world travels to accomplish just that. He goes to some fairly far away places, and then takes delight in the local cusines. In tonight's show, he visited Peru where he ate everything from Lemon Ants, to Pirahna, to Coconut Grubs and finally roasted Guinea Pig. In another show he ate roasted bats, and in another a lamb's eye. Of course, he eats things not all that bizarre too, like suckling pig, broiled fish, and on and on. If you have not already noticed, he likes the meaty parts of the meals best, although he does eat a bit of everything. It is an amusing show to say the least, and one that whets the appetite for guys like me who love to travel and try some new foods while getting around.

Nice show, I highly recommend it. Now where is my cook book, I need to see if it has a recipe for calves' brains, or Pig's feet, then maybe a trip to the German butcher again this weekend, and who knows what might wind up on the table for Sunday dinner...

All the best,
Glenn B

TheOtherSideOfKim forums...

...seem to have bitten the dust to be replaced by a new site called the gunthing.com. I am not certain how this will effect the parent site theothersideofkim.com, but that site certainly seems to have been undergoing some form of upheaval due to members disagreeing with the du Toits and getting nasty about it while disagreeing. I am not sure if that is the only reason they shut down the old forums and started the new site, but it seems to have something to do with it. Not really much of my business so I will not discuss the reasons behind the switch more.

As for me, I am not a member of the new site, though I used to be a member of the old one; this all apparently because the du Toits once thought I was a "rude bastard" (their words) in what was a mistaken case of disagreement. After being removed from the membership, and being happy about it under the circumstances back then, I had continued to visit theothersideofkim.com site because regardless of personal disagreements. I found the site quite informative and at times enlightening. Because I know others of you also find it likewise, I basically just want to let you know about their new site and forums located at http://www.gunthing.com/ just in case you cannot find the old site or forum any longer. By the way, it seems they also have been having some technical problems with the new site, I guess the regular bugs asssociated with getting a new site going and transferring membership from the old to the new - so if you cannot connect via the link I supplied, try again later.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Mosin Nagant Bolt...

...all clean and shined up, looks like another animal than it did earlier tonight.


Take a look at the pic in the previous post, then look at it here. A little boiling hot water, Dawn dishwashing detergent, cleaning with a cloth and cotton swabs, scrubbing, buffing, and a light lube with Breakfree CLP did the trick. It took about an hour or a little bit more in all, to disassemble, clean, then reassemble. Not a bad amount of time for the first doing this for me.


I have to admit, taking the bolt apart was a bit scary as I had never done so before.; but I did have the disassembly & reassembly video from SurplusRifle.com, that helped a lot. Still they should have mentioned early on that absolutely assured proper reassembly requires a special tool, of course - one I did not have, but I will buy soon. Nonetheless my bet is it will work just fine as it is now. If anyone thinks otherwise, let me know before I blow up my rifle. Thanks.


All the best,
Glenn B

A Find InThe Basement...

...in my house usually means my wife has found one of my escaped pets (fill in: snake, lizard, frog, mouse, hamster), or that I have found a leak in a pipe, a problem with the toilet, or something else that has gone wrong. Today though, I was rather pleasantly surprised when I looked into a long box in the corner and found this:



No not a bad ind at all. Yes that is a Mosin Nagant M44. Not one with matching serial numbers from what I can tell so far, but one that looks to be complete nonetheless. No it was not left there by the previous owner(s). Yes it is legally mine. I just forgot about having it. If I remember right this was sent to me in lieu of a as credit for sort of an overcharge on a Yugoslavian SKS I had purchased from Inter Ordnance Firearms a few years ago. Actually, I had ordered three SKS's in excellent shape, got 2 in that condition, and 1 in good to very good condition; when I let them know about the foul up, they offered me a credit, or I could pay a few bucks more and get this rifle.
Now I have a job ahead of me, and maybe I'll start tonight. I already had something else to do since I have to prepare for a job interview coming up next weekend, I'm applying for a teaching fellowship and need to write a short lesson for presentation; but my bet is I can fit in both tasks tonight. Well maybe at least part of each, because the Nagant will need a lot of cleaning up and the wood needs to be refinished.


Sorry about the quality of the pics, my digital camera is none to great, and neither am I when I use it. Still, you can see the stock is dinged and scuffed and could use a nice refinish. The metal will just get a good cleaning, once, twice, heck if you know cosmoline then maybe three times before it maybe clean enough to shoot. Then a trip to the range, maybe on a warmer day this month or next.

Oh joy.

All the best,
Glenn B

Kind of all pooped out...

...and no pun intended after having fasted for about 40 hours in total, being prepped, and then having my medical test today. The test was a colonoscopy. One polyp down the tubes - and hopefully that was all it was, time and a biopsy will tell but my doc did not seem concerned, and who am I to worry. I tell ya, I am just past the half century mark and I can't wait until the golden years set in, they must really be fun!

I wanted to rant a bit tonight but this will be it, more to come probably tomorrow evening or night. Maybe if I remember to take some extra ammo to the office tomorrow, I can stop at the range and do up a range report.

All the best,
Glenn B

Arms Smuggling 101

Take a moment and visit Deb Schlussel's web site and see what an airline employee smuggled onto a flight out of Orlando, see:

http://debbieschlussel.com

Scroll to march 7th once on her site.

You can also click on this to see the news article about it:

http://www.local6.com/news/11187701/detail.html

Amazing isn't it. Let me correct myself:

It is not really amazing, but rather sad that it could happen so easily after 9/11. As you know I am as pro-gun as they come, but this was ludicrous on behalf of the TSA and airport security; or was it? Did they know this was happening, have the guy under surveillance, and hope the arms would be delivered at the destination so someone else could also be arrested. Time will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Day Of Fasting...

...is not something I do very often; but I did it today. No solid food at all since about 10PM last night, so I am just passed 24 hours now. I have had 2 glasses of apple juice, a glass or two of water, and two cups of green tea, but that has been it besides some Movi-Prep. Now despite what it may sound like to a connoisseur of old films, Movie-Prep is not something you eat while getting in the mood for the movies, although I guess a video might be made because I used it. You see it helps clear out a certain bodily area, and the video would be made by my gastroenterologist while doing my colonoscopy tomorrow. Pretty much just a check-up sort of thing, and I do not want to dwell on that subject all that much.

What I do want to talk about is the fasting thing. It has always amazed me that people fast for various reasons be they for: weight loss, religion, political statement making, because they are nuts, or whatever. It amazes me even more that it is pretty easy to do - especially for me, but only under certain conditions like the upcoming test tomorrow! It simply has befuddled me, now for the fourth time in my life (once before for a similar test, and twice before for operations), that I can just turn off eating like that. Yet, I am at least 50 pounds overweight at about 218 lbs and 5'11". Why can't I just turn off the desire to eat, or at least turn off the desire to eat junk food more often? If I knew the answer to that, then I might be able to either fast once a week, or at least cut back on the junk food, and really lose some weight.

Today though, yes this day in particular made this all the harder for me to understand. If you like Thanksgiving spreads, with almost all the fixings, and love the smell of roasting turkey, then maybe you can understand what I mean when I say: 'The relative ease at which I avoided food today was mind boggling'. You see, today my wife decided to cook a fresh turkey. Yes of all days, she chose today when I had to fast. Does that mean she hates me even more than I had thought. Well maybe so, and maybe not. She was almost as surprised as me to find out I could avoid eating any of it. Apparently, I had forgotten to tell her about the test tomorrow, and my need to fast today. The smell of that roasting turkey was about the only thing that really made it at all tough, just a bit though, for me to hold off on eating today. Well the smell of it roasting, and then me actually carving it for everyone else. I cannot explain it, I may never understand it, but if I could turn on the appetite suppressant and turn off the appetite, like I did today, at least once weekly, well - I would be a slimmer guy.

Of course I would make certain never to turn on the appetite suppressant when there was a turkey roasting in the oven, and I can assure you that the leftovers will be severely depleted once I get to them tomorrow; but I still wish I could figure out how to do this fasting thing more often - without extremist religion, without making a political statement, without becoming more of a nut job than I am already, just doing it by will power I guess. I had it today, that is will power, now how do I exhibit it on a weekly or daily basis when it comes to junk food and overeating in general???

Please, if you know the answer to my conundrum, don't tell me until after about 3PM EST tomorrow. I want to pig out on the turkey leftovers before I find out.

All the best,
Glenn B

Captain America - Dead???

Yep folks, that is what I just read in: Captain America Killed Off in Latest Comic @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257398,00.html. I don't know about all of you, but when I was a kid, Captain America was my absolute favorite comic book hero. That was pretty long ago, but I think that it already showed how I was going to grow up feeling about the USA, patriotism, and so forth. No alien with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men from the planet Krypton, no Metal Men made of iron or tin, no four so fantastic, no one fast as a flash, no one shining a green lantern - as to be better than, more powerful than, outshine, out crime fight, be more moral and honest, or better protect the United States of America than Captain America himself.

Now he is dead! Yes he was only a comic book hero, but he symbolized an America that may be dead or at least dying itself. He symbolized the will of the people, as a whole, of the USA to fight that which was unjust, and outright evil; yet he also symbolized the importance of the individual in that fight. He symbolized what virtually most every American boy wanted to grow up to be when an adult. And now he dies, reportedly shot by a sniper, while he was protecting someone else.

He died the way he lived, as a hero, but should he have been killed off. I will admit I have not read a Captain America comic in quite some years now. As I understand from the article to which I linked above, the comic had become so immersed in the politics of today as to have had a story line that the U.S. government required superheroes to register their secret identities. Then what happens, he gets shot! Does that sound familiar to the rest of you. To me it sounds just like gun control. Maybe, with or without knowing it, those responsible for having him killed off in the comics, have shown just how ludicrous is gun registration and gun control. Those who have to register weapons, get licenses for them, or maybe even have their rights regarding weapons restricted - are not the ones who then do the evil deeds in the world. Had captain America not had his powers restricted, would he have been able to have survived; my bet is sure he would have survived, and kicked some more bad guy butt along the way. The analogy is there whether intentional or not.

Of course, in the comics, anything can happen. Maybe Captain America will return, my bet is he will. (If I ever hit the mega-millions jackpot for enough, maybe I'll buy the rights and then you know he will return, but I am not banking on hitting the lotto.) It is a pity though that it worked out this way. America is in need of heroes who demonstrate heroic deeds, carried out based upon morals, ethics, and patriotism, now as much as any time in her past. Whether they are imaginary heroes or real heroes, we need the inspiration they generate to be instilled into our children so they grow up to help keep America strong. Captain America was, back in the day, the penultimate comic book hero/patriot. I mourn the loss of an American hero - even a comic book hero - whom millions of kids grew up loving, learning from, and emulating as far as patriotism goes. Captain America's death is a symbolic loss, even a real loss in a sort of a way, that we in the United States of America would be better off without.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is Hunting in New York State Doomed...

...to a dismal future and quite possibly a not too distant end. One has to wonder with the nomination of Alexander “Pete” Grannis to the post of commissioner of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Grannis evidently is not hunter friendly. He has opposed many hunting rights in the past, and is also in opposition to firearms ownership. Should that come as a surprise after he reportedly spent 32 years representing the east side of Manhattan as per: the article Too Smart by Half in The Village Voice @ http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0708,barrett,75838,2.html! The Village Voice article goes on not to speak so much about any lack of qualifications on Grannis' part for the job, though it certainly does mention this point, but rather to discuss how he was ramrodded into the nomination for the position of Commissioner of the DEC by now Governor Elliot Spitzer of NY. It seems to be big time politics as usual in Albany with little regard as to anything else but back stabbing and back scratching when some high level and very important positions like DEC Commissioner are filled. Grannis was expecting to be nominated for the post of NYS Comptroller, but Spitzer decided said post should go to someone with a lot of financial experience; so why was Grannis with little real DEC experience pushed into that spot. Seems like payola, or incompetence in the selection process, but those are just my guesses.

My guesses are based upon some facts though and I guess I should spell them out. Fact one was already mentioned above but bears repeating:

1) Grannis represented the east side of Manhattan, not a mecca of issues that are covered by the DEC though there are some.

Now onto the other facts:

2) As per the Village Voice article cited above, Grannis himself testified before a selection committee regarding his hoped for selection as Comptroller: "Noting that there was "no more appropriate place" for an independent reformer like him "than the comptroller's office," Grannis had just finished testifying that his selection would be "the natural evolution of what I have been doing for the past 30 years." " Or in other words Grannis thought the job of comptroller was one for which he was most qualified.

3) Again, as per the same Village Voice article: ""As soon I came back, an aide to the governor called," Grannis later told the Voice. The aide "said the governor would like to offer you the job of Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner." Grannis was stunned. "I didn't put in an application. I didn't ask anyone to advance my name. I didn't even know I was under consideration." " Why would he have believed he had not been in consideration, probably because there were so many others who were qualified more than he, and possibly because he did not see himself as qualified, but that is a guess.

4) Grannis was the chairman of the state's insurance committee for 15 years - see anything related to becoming the head of the DEC yet?

5) Grannis was reportedly picked to lead DEC on his qualifications, were they that he had been a lawyer for them many, many years ago and then had a career shift toward finance? His name had reportedly not been among the top candidates under consideration, those who had already been interviewed for the post, and some of them already having background investigations performed in anticipation of their possible selection. Grannis avoided the interview system altogether. Yet he was selected - go figure.

There are other reasons that make it difficult for me to understand how it is that Grannis was found qualified to get selected for the position of DEC Commissioner:

6) As per a petition to block Grannis from this position, there is an online at: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nogranni. In that petition one can find the following: "Further, Mr. Grannis has worked to DENY access to NYS Residents to public trails and parks, enjoyed by many thousands of hunters, anglers, snowmobilers, ATV enthusiasts, campers, hikers, climbers, et al., while denying basic protection services in the Adirondack State Forest, through his continued blocking of construction of Cell Phone Towers to provide communications coverage to NYS residents and non-residents alike, who enjoy and learn from the natural beauty of this region. Through his actions to block such construction of very non-invasive cell phone towers, two individuals lost their lives as they could not call for help. " Does not sound like Mr. Grannis is very pro anyone enjoying what NY State has to offer, does it?

As per the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association there is even more to make one wonder, what was Spitzer thinking by offering Grannis this position:

7) From the NYSR&PA web site @ http://www.nysrpa.org/ we find actions that Grannis allegedly took: "Sponsored vaguely-worded legislation in the past (A-1850) that would have effectively banned hunting as cruelty to animals." Can you imagine that as being environmentally friendly. If you are an experienced hunter, or an experienced conservationist, or an experienced wildlife biologist, I am sure you cannot. Cessation of hunting in most cases results in excessive habitat destruction by the same species of animals we are trying to conserve through regulated hunting. In addition, the fact is that about 80% of all wildlife funding comes from hunters and fishermen. From where else could the money to support habitat come? Increased taxes most likely - do you think hunters might be missed then.

8) In addition to the above, Grannis is evidently anti-gun. According to the NYSR&PA he: "Sponsored and voted for numerous bills designed to restrict firearms ownership and usage among law-abiding New Yorkers, consistently siding with anti-gun organizations such as New Yorkers Against Gun Violence."

9) Spitzer apparently was hotly opposed to any state legislator winding up on the selection list for comptroller. How to get rid of Grannis may have crossed the governor's mind. He found a way to do so, so as to get what he wanted into the comptroller's office (in other words not Grannis in that position) without regard for the DEC ad its functions (by placing Grannis into the DEC), or maybe with an ulterior motive in mind since as far as I am aware Spitzer himself is no friend of the hunter, fisherman, or NYS gun owners. This can be seen in The Village Voice article as well as in: The Times Union.com at http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=3787.

As I see it this is U.S. state level politics at its worst, and it will almost surely not be of any benefit to the DEC, to the avid sportsmen of any type be they campers, rock climbers, snowmobilers, fishermen, hikers, hunters, cross country skiers, canoeists, or whatever. I strongly support anything in opposition to Alexander Pete Grannis as the commissioner of the NYS DEC; and I would ask other New Yorkers, and those from out of state who enjoy NY State lands for recreation, to do likewise.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Job Search Continues...

...and in about the last two months I have applied for about 50 jobs of various sorts. So far not even a nibble from propsective employers. My guess is that not too many places are looking to hire retirees, and maybe just maybe they think I am over qualified. The problem for me is that while I may be over qualified for a bunch of starting level positions, I really am not qualififed at the managerial level. Of course, I'll keep lloking and stay hopeful that something will turn up that pays reasonably well, so as to supplement my retirement - that is once I actually retire. If I find a job like that, my current job will see the door close as it misses slamming me in my butt.

I am still very hopeful that my upcoming interview with the New York City Teaching Fellows Program will be productive. I think teacher would be a grande retirement job, what with doing good for the kids, decent pay, and summers off.

Oh well enough about my job hunt, although I will add that if anyone knows of a decent entry level position in anything that pays around 40 to 50K, please be so kind as to pass along the opportunity to me. Now onto Monster.com for me.

Later for you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Aiming Versus Point Shooting In A Gunfight...

...could be an important decision you may have to make some day if you are an armed citizen and are willing to defend yourself, loved ones and other inocents from an armed bad guy.

I am not going to write a lengthy rant about which I think is better, I know how I would shoot at 7 yards in various situations. If and how you shoot should depend upon the totality of circumstances in each situation. What I am saying is it can be different each time depending on the facts presented to you in each situation.

Sometimes you might not shoot at all, sometimes you might need to shoot slowly, sometime more rapidly. Sometimes you may need to take careful aim using proper sight alignment and sight pictire, other times you may not use your sights at all. You need to, or at least should, get training to know how and when to shoot if only because the situation can call for different tactics.

What I am about to do here is show you 4 scans of targets I shot at the range yesterday to show the effects on hitting the target as caused by different types of shooting at 7 yards. I chose 7 yards as this is one of the most common ranges within which actual gunfights take place, and because it is a safe distance, albeit about the maximum safe distance, at which to point shoot. I will show how I shot slowfire aiming, rapid fire aiming, and rapid fire point shooting (basically aiming by pointing the gun and looking over the top of it without using sights). Please don't try point shooting at much further distance.

Take a look at the targets, and imagine yourself in a gunfight, facing an opponent. When would you shoot slowfire, if ever, at 7 yards? When would you shoot rapid fire and aim with your sights? When would you shoot rapid fire and point shoot? If you do not know, then you really need training to learn such basic tactical shooting because each type of shooting could be called for at 7 yards.

The first target, to the left, is 45 shots aimed slowfire at 7 yards. Not my best, my eyes are not what they once were and that front sight is fuzzier and fuzzier, but not bad shooting - especially considering how little I have been to the range lately. I shot at the bullseye as many of you would do.

The next one (the one to the right) is 45 shots, aimed rapidfire at 7 yards. Yes that is all 45 on the paper, and yes I shot at the blank side of the paper since a bad guy is not likely to wear a bullseye on his chest. It opens up quite a lot from the slowfire group, but look at that quarter, then imagine that group size aimed at center of mass (as in chest cavity) of a bad guy. Even the fliers were in the center of mass zone.

The next one is 38 shots (all the ammo I had left), rapidfire point shooting. It opens the group somewhat more, but again look to that quarter. These were pretty much center of the paper, and all would have been in the center of mass on your real life bad guy.

If the bad guy is not holding a hostage, if there is no one else within the possible line of fire, and the bad guy was within 2 to 7 yards of you, which way would you choose to shoot. Would you shoot slowly, would you take the time to use your sights, or would you try to get your shots out as quickly as possible. Remember I had to reload twice on each of these rapid fire targets.

Yes I did say I would show 4 pics, so let me show one more of slowfire at 7 yards. This was actually the 2nd target at which I shot, the one right after I shot 45 rounds at the bullseye. This one was only 15 rounds, and it too was at the blank side of the paper (just to show that it is not shooting at the blank side of the paper that effects group size). Its not a bad group. Some folks would think it a great one though it is not great for slow fire, since some can do it rapid fire. What I am trying to show though is you don't need to think you have to shoot a hole like that in a bad guy to be effective at ranges from 2 to 7 yards. Of course you need to be proficient to point shoot at 7 yards, but point shooting can be a very viable option as opposed to aimed shooting using your sights at that distance.

If you are wondering about why I keep saying from 2 to 7 yards, instead of from a shorter distance out to 7 yards, well then you really need some trining in tactics. Think about it like this, if a guy is closer than 2 yards, are you going to offer him your pistol to grab away from you by placing it in front of you in either aimed or point shooting position? Get some training, then Practice, Practice, Practice. Even with my poorer vision nowadays, I probably would have shot even better had I been practicing lately myself. I had not been to the range in a couple of months or so, and I had not shot the Beretta 92FS that I used for these targets, in well over 4 months.

All the best,

Glenn B

Enjoying Some of The Finer Pleasures of Life...

...is usually dependent upon one's income; but that does not mean that finer things are out of reach of those who don't make all that much. In saying that I should also point out that what is defined as one man's finer thing, may be defined as another's crude crud. Well if what I am about to describe is crude crud to some, all the better, because that will likely leave more for folks like me and most of you.

Today I am going to drive into the old neighborhood in Glendale/Ridgewood in Queens which is part of New York City. Yes it really should be 'neighborhoods', but neighborhood fits the feeling better that I have for those adjacent once upon a time German-American neighborhoods. Once there I plan to do a little shopping for a dinner we are having this weekend. My wife, Linda wants to cook a German dish for our daughter Celina's boyfriend. It was his birthday yesterday. So the wife will be cooking schweine fleisch (spelling?). Basically that means pig's flesh, mmm good. She uses a pork tenderloin for an out of this world roast. Most places around here do not sell pork tenderloin as it should be sold, fresh with a nice amount of fat. Nowadays the supermarkets and most butchers cut a pork roast missing all the fat. That is not good, too dry. So I'll head off to a German butcher, one of 3 choices that still remain open there, to pick up the proper cut of pork, and then probably spend another $50-$75 or more on German smoked meats and cold cuts (almost all made right at that butcher), some great mustard with horseradish in it, some great Lithuanian Bread and a corn rye bread (probably two of the heaviest breads known to man), and some other fine tidbits.

Then I'll be off to Rudy's Bakery to pick up some Lindser Tarts, the best I have ever eaten, along with some other delectable baked goods of the sweet type. This place has butter cookies actually made with butter as opposed to a butter/shortening combo. It has great crumb cakes, other cakes, pies, cookies, pastries, and Black Forest Cake too. All out of this world delicious.

The thing about these two places, besides them selling great ethnic foods (ethnic from Western Europe at that) is that these two neighborhoods have changed markedly in ethnicity over the years, but these places and a handful of others have been able to remain in business. Many of the folks in theses neighborhoods nowadays do not shop at these businesses, especially the German butcher. I am guessing a lot of their business comes from people like me who moved away, but yet travel back for those things we cannot get where we live now. Yet they carry on, and I am darned happy to shop there at least a few to several times a year.

Of course anyone could enjoy these great foods, but as it stands now most places are being overrun by things like fast food joints, and ethnic food establishments from the third world. I like many different types of food, but I'll be damned if I am only going to eat the ethnic types of food that seem to be popular today. Yes I do eat them, but I do not forgot my own heritage, the or old neighborhood and the great things of which it was made - so I go back when I get the chance to enjoy some of the finer things it has to offer; and hopefully to help assure through my little bit of shopping there that those things keep being offered. In that way my family and I enjoy some of the finer things life has to offer.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Importance of Proper Ammunition

In recent years the rules of firearms safety have been edited down so that there are now what is considered to be the 4 Rules of Gun Safety. These so called 4 Rules overlook one of the most important rules of safety with firearms, one that seems to be common sense to those familiar with guns, but yet may not be all that much mumbo jumbo to those unfamiliar with firearms. The important rule of which I write is:

Always be absolutely sure to use the proper ammunition in each firearm you are shooting. Now while this may seem like common sense, the topic of using proper ammunition can be confusing to a newcomer. It can be confusing because there are often several different sizes of ammunition with similar names. If for example you have a 9MM pistol, you can find 9MM Luger, 9MM NATO, 9MM Largo (also called long), 9mmShort (also called Corto, Brevia and so on). Some of these are the same as one another, others are quite different. Many other calibers of ammunition also have names or numbers close enough to one another to be confusing. The down side of using the wrong ammunition is that it can jam your firearms, can cause damage to the firearms, and can cause injury to the shooter.

The best ways to make sure that you are using the correct ammunition (in modern commercial firearms) is to check on the gun itself, or check in the manual for that particular firearm, or contact the manufacturer. Most commercially made modern firearms are stamped (marked) with the caliber size somewhere on the metal surface of the firearm. When you buy ammunition make sure to buy a box full of ammunition that has the same caliber marked on the box as is marked on the gun itself, or that is in the manual for that gun.

It is a simple rule, but the large amount of ammunition types out there that have similar numbers to designate their calibers and cartridge sizes can be somewhat of a boondoggle for the novice to have to figure out. If you are still uncertain after looking at the firearm, and are still uncertain after reading the manual, then call the manufacturer if still in business. If not still in business, then you may have to go to a competent firearms retailer or gunsmith to determine the correct ammunition for your gun. Don't rely simply on posting a question online in a forum or chatroom, don't make a guess, don't ask a friend who is unfamiliar with that type of gun, and so forth.

Remember that with any firearm, mostly military ones though, the actual firearm may have been modified to accept a caliber other than that for which it was originally intended. Some of these are marked (they all probably should be) and others are not can be changed, and these may have to be checked by a competent gunsmith before firing. I do not recommend buying such by the novice, stick to commercially manufactured guns first, until you have learned more about them, or at least buy a gun certified by the dealer to be in the caliber as it is sold.

Another thing you may want to avoid, especially when new to firearms, is reloaded ammunition. Many firearms enthusiasts, and some businesses, reload spent shell casings, so that they can be fired again. It saves money because new shell casings are expensive, and so is newly manufactured ammunition; the components are less expensive when you do the work yourself. The problem that can arise here is if a round (or rounds) were given an improper powder charge. This can lead to various problems, that includes injury to the shooter. Unless you are thoroughly trained in how to reload ammunition, don't do it. It might also be wise not to accept reloaded ammunition from others, unless you know they reliably reload to factory standards.

As I said above, this is one of the most important rules of firearms safety, so please don't forget to only use the proper ammunition in your firearms.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Little Rearranging...

and a few new links have been added to this site over on the right side of the page. I split up how I list the linked sites, and I now have link sections for:

1) U.S. Government - so you can learn more about the government, and maybe more importantly learn how to contact your elected officials.

2) News and Other Varied References - pretty much just what it says.

3) Firearms Interests - Links all types of sites that support firearms ownership and the RKBA; these include: Groups that protect our right to keep and bear arms, information pages about firearms, firearms forums, firearms manufacturers, auctions sites and so on.

4) Grumps, Geeks and Geniuses - a list of bloggers whom I believe are worth reading.

5) My blog archive.

I have some more links to list, but would also appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: Thanks to reader Greybeard who made me aware I had not included some information in one of my recent blogs. That made me think I should have a more comprehensive link list.

H.R. 1022 - A New Assault Weapons Ban...

...has been proposed and put forth by Representative Carolyn McCarthy. My understanding is that in it she proposes to resurrect the old assault weapons ban, add on numerous types of firearms (that are sportsmans' guns and really have nothing to do with being assault weapons - not that weapon type matters under the 2nd amendment, I am just mentioning what she wants to do), and add a 10% tax on ammunition by each round sold. Yes folks you read that right, a 10% tax on each and every bullet that is sold. Maybe someone ought to remind Rep. McCarthy about the founding of this nation, and the Declaration of Independence. Said document was penned for various reasons, and one of them was because of the excessive taxes imposed upon the colonists by the tyrannical government at the time.

Wake up folks, not simply by buying ammunition now before this bill can pass, but to take action and call the elected officials in Washington so they know we oppose any such legislation. Call to voice, write and then send by mail or email, your opinion to the elected officials in Washington, D.D.. Let them know you oppose such a law, and believe it to be an outrageous attempt to infringe upon your liberties and rights. Get it done folks, do it like you mean it. Write and call weekly until this thing is defeated. If they get an avalanche of mail and calls, you can be sure that passage of such a law will never come about. If you say, 'hey, my one letter cannot do anything, neither can a bunch of them' well then think what a few hundred thousand might do.

************************

Edited 02/27/2007 to add:

Greybeard got in touch by way of a comment and asked for the info on the bill so that folks can write to their politicos and say which bill they oppose. Brainfart alert on my part in that I forgot to include such in the post originally. So I am now editing it (02/27/2007) to include that info along with some informative and helpful links. If you go to Representative McCarthy’s website @ http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=686&ParentID=0&SectionID=32&SectionTree=32&lnk=b&ItemID=675, she writes about her wanting to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, but I did not see an obvious link to the bill, not even under her legislation link.

I was able to find the bill on the Library of Congress website at this address: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:8:./temp/~c110VcFgc2:: but for some reason when I try to click on the link for that address I get noting. You can go to the home page for the site and do a search for H.R. 1022, or simply for the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007 (Introduced in House)[H.R.1022.IH] (oh lookee they just supplied a link in the title of the bill, how nice).

If you would like, you can go to the site at this link http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/409898348?ltl=1172617322 to file an online petition as your first step in opposition to said bill. Please note that the effectiveness of online petitions is highly questionable, so you must follow that up with emails, letters and or phone calls to your elected officials to oppose this bill.

End of edit
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My blog certainly does not get an awful lot of hits, so please spread the word about getting the message to Washington that we oppose such legislation. Let other bloggers know that they ought to put something on their sites about this if not already done, put something into your own blog, put it onto online forums, talk to it with folks at the gun range or club, talk to your neighbors about it, do whatever you can legally do to help defeat this tyrannical piece of legislation from ever becoming law.

Keep up the good fight to keep and bear arms without infringement of your rights and liberties, otherwise tyranny in democracy's clothing may rule us yet.

All the best,
Glenn B

By Sheer Coincidence...

...Kim du Toit wrote today about someone complaining they had been overcharged for Chinese food in a restaurant in NYC, while I on the other hand went to New York City's Chinatown for an excellent lunch and one at a great price at that. I missed my chance to celebrate Chinese new year this past weekend, and I wanted to make sure to go to one of my favorite Chinese restaurants to wish the folks there a Happy New Year, before it got stale, so off we went today.

Lunch for myself and a friend of mine from work was only $10 in total, plus tip. There is no way we were overcharged, and I know for a fact, despite what is said by some about other restaurants, the Chinese folks who eat in the same restaurant in which I ate today get charged the same prices. Heck I have eaten there often enough to have seen that personally many times. As a matter of fact, I have eaten in quite a few restaurants in NYC's Chinatown wherein everyone gets charged the same prices. I also shop in a few of the butchers, fish markets, and in the grocery stores and I am fairly certain I pay the same prices. There is no racism or price gouging going on, but of course maybe it happens in other places like the one in the article How mean for chow mein to which Kim linked at: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/500668p-422094c.html, and I agree with Kim that it is racism if they do it because you are not Chinese when you order there.

After reading the article, my guess is yes the couple who complained about being charged a dollar more may have been overcharged, but THEN AGAIN they may have not been overcharged and may have gotten a larger portion than those on the Chinese language menu. This is a common practice with the various menus in some Chinese restaurants. If you get a bowl of rice, it costs more than a smaller serving of rice on your plate as it would be served if ordered from the Chinese language menu. This could be easily misconstrued as unfair pricing by someone not that familiar with Chinatown and its restaurants who did not realize theya ctually got a larger serving.

Kim went on to describe his wife's experiences while she lived in NYC (maybe in Chinatown) in what they, or at least he, commonly refer(s) to as New York Fucking City. She apparently knew of restaurants charging different prices for Chinese folks than for other races of folks when she lived there. I am not saying it does not happen; but I just don't see that as happening in my experience, at least not in the several Chinese restaurants that I frequent in Chinatown, and not in the one's outside of Chinatown either. So I figured I'd give them a plug from the other side since as I said, we had a really nice lunch today for $10.00 for two people, and mine was only $4.50, tax included. I had roast pig and roast pork over rice with a side of Chinese greens. (The guy got my order wrong as I had asked for roast pig and roast duck over rice, but it was great nonetheless, and they usually get it right.) The lunch came with complimentary bowl of hot tea, a bowl of house soup, and with a fortune cookie afterward. As is customary, they offered us a 2nd pot of tea (no charge) once we had finished the 1st one.

Now it may be that others have different experiences in Chinese restaurants, for whatever reasons, but I have got to say that restaurants in New York City's Chinatown are one of the best deals in the city as far as inexpensive great tasting meals go; that is of course, if you avoid the yuppie and tourist traps; and of course, if you avoid the ones in New York Fuckin City - wherever that may be.

All the best,
Glenn B

14 Years Ago Today...

...the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists who had hoped to basically blow it to smithereens. They had a small success in that they killed 6 people and wounded many, many others. The shame of this all, besides the attack and losses themselves, is that most people tend to forget this terrorist attack on U.S. soil; the one that set the stage for 9/11.

Take a moment now, and in your own way give a thought or a prayer to those who lost their lives, and who were injured on that day, and of course to the heroes who saved many lives.

All the best,
Glenn B

It Was A Quiet Sunday...

...at least for me. I got some small chores done on Sunday morning, and spent the rest of the day at leisure. Took care of my critters, went to the monthly Long Island Herpetological Society meeting, came home, had a nice dinner with the wife and son, watched some TV (way too much), really enjoyed The Dresden Files and Battle Star Galatica, and am up right now way too late (or would that be way too early) at 1:36 AM, on Monday morning waiting for sleep to overtake me as the snow is overtaking everything outside. Gosh darned insomnia stinks, and it happens now and then, lately more now than then. Probably because I dread going to work, especially on Mondays, and since I am eligible to retire. So I usually have a hard time of even getting tired Sunday nights through until about 2:00AM on Mondays. If I was a real drinking man, I'd have a 2nd glass of Scotch, but I think one should be enough - I don't need bad habits and crutches to finally hit the hay, sleep comes sooner or later. If it comes too late, I'll go in late and work later than usual. Maybe I ought to try a hot cocoa or an herbal tea, or maybe just crawl under the covers next to the wife and wait. Decisions, decisions. Oh well, goodnight.

All the best,
Glenn B