Started Christmas Shopping Tonight...

Yes folks, I honestly started my Christmas shopping tonight (well since it is almost 0100Am as I write, I guess I really started last night) Wow that is kind of early for me to start my shopping; but I guess it is a good thing. of course I have been thinking about what to get everyone, but as usual I have no clue. At least this is true with regard to my family. I have been trying to figure out for weeks now just what to give to my wife for Christmas. I have no clue. Of course she would like to go on a cruise to somewhere nice, but I think that will be out of the picture until after I retire next year. Who knows though, maybe we can swing one of those 5 day cruises to the Caribbean or something like that. If I do that though, we may not have any cash for a month or two. Oh well,m such is life in the big time. Really though, beyond a cruise, I have no idea as to what to pick out for her. Time will tell whatever I decide upon.

As to the kids, they should be easier. I got the birthday presents for both Brendan and Celina this year (Brendan just turned 18, and Celina is about to turn 23). So I probably can get away with dumping giving the task of Christmas shopping for them onto my wife. Linda is good like that, but I will hold off giving her the chore for a while yet as I look here and there for a good idea of what to get the young ones. I guess half the fun is trying to figure out what to get them and then tracking it down.

The shopping I started tonight was of a different nature than for the family. First I bought a couple of small but nice gifts for one of my doctors and his receptionist Ashley. Then, I stopped at a liquor store and picked up a few bottles of spirits. I got two Irish Cream Liquor sets, a bottle of Irish Cream Liquor with 2 glasses; and I also got a couple of bottles of wine, and an Amaretto set (a bottle of Amaretto and a couple of fancy glasses) as Christmas presents for co-workers. I like to spread the Holiday Spirit by giving out spirits; and what better way to do so that to give something that allows the receiver to enjoy a warm glow to the cheeks and some relaxation to boot all while enjoying something rather tasty. (Drink responsibly.) Now that I think of it, I forgot to get myself a bottle of something; and maybe that was because I was busy talking to the young lady behind the counter and just forgot everything else once I started ogling her curves and pretty face we started having a nice conservation. Somehow the conversation got to guns, she thinks they are cool, and would like to learn how to shoot. It seems I may have a new student shooter on my hands after the holidays when time allows.

Maybe all that was a portent, and I should wait for mine own bottle(s) of spirits until I get to go to the beer distributor and just pick up some fine ale for myself and the jolly old elf who will be visiting. I hear Santa and his helpers have an affinity for finer ales. Of course I also happen to know for a fact, based upon past experience, that they also just love Irish Cream Liquor, Irish Whiskey, Scotch, Gin, Vodka, Jaegermeister, and quite a few others - so I may have to head back to the liquor store too.

By the way, I was not kidding above when I wrote: Drink Responsibly. Drinking can be a pleasant experience but not if you get smashed and then screw up. Jail and a guilty conscience are not worth the few drinks you had to get there. So don't drink to excess, don't combine drink and drugs (I am talking legal prescription and over the counter stuff - don't even consider taking illegal stuff), never drink to excess if you have to drive, handle machinery, watch kids, be responsible for something important, or do any other task in which someone could be injured (and so on...); and don't drink if it is not legal for you to do so. If under 21, have a coke or a root beer.

All the best,
Glenn B

Global Warming Slamming Us This Winter

I suppose that is what the warming theorists, and the politicos like Al Gore, would have us believe. Then again, just the other day I heard the head of Green Peace (I think that is who they had on a FoxNews video), saying that global warming was quite possibly responsible for the ice storm in the Midwest of the USA. Tomorrow here in western Long Island we are expected to get some bad weather. Now according to whom it is that you listen, such as 1010 WINS Radio, we are going to get 'from 1 to 5 inches of snow between 0900 (9AM) and about 18900 (7PM), frozen, rain and snow' - or, if you read MSN's weather report we are going to have: "Day: Definite light rain with snow and ice pellets (sleet) and patchy fog. High 35F, humidity 65%. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Night: Chance of light freezing rain with snow and ice pellets (sleet). Low 31F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Boy that sounds pretty much alike. Two different media outlets are saying we will have a crappy day, and they both say that a bit further north will be worse. Even the National Weather Service (see: http://www.weather.com/maps/news/forecastsummary/36hrfloaterqpf_large.html?from=wxcenter_maps) predicts at least 1-3 inches of snow on the ground in NYC and western Long Island (and up to about 6 inches in some places on Western LI), and from 6 up to 12 inches of white stuff on the ground just north of NYC; and guess what - the date of this winter storm (as they are calling it) is predicted to be December 13, 2007.

Now from 52 years of experience, most of which I have had a grasp of after 4 or 5 years of age, I can say without a doubt that snow this early in the season, in these amounts, is pretty unusual for our area. So on what can we blame this phenomenon - I would imagine we can blame it on Global Warming, but then again I am no junk scientist, I am not a failed politician, I am not the head of an ultra kooky green group - but I'd bet that would be their explanation. Heck, I am just a regular guy who is surprised that it is going to snow before Christmas; and one who hopes it does snow just about an inch on Christmas. That would be nice; and if such is what we can expect due to Global Warming, then I am all for climate change. Bear in mind - snow over the winter is good. In the spring it melts, the melted water runs off to streams, and into lakes and reservoirs, and into the oceans. Full lakes are good for fish, and for human fun. Full reservoirs are good places to get drinking water. A full ocean is good for fishing, swimming, surfing, and boating, and plenty of other fun things. It seems we cannot go wrong if Global Warming is causing all this snow and ice, let's hope it keeps it up all winter (well not so much so that it screws people over in the Midwest, but enough so there is plenty of melting water in the spring to feed our reservoirs).

Now Global Warming may be for real, and its causing snow may be the result, but if such is the case, there is something very strange about all of this for which I as a rational sort of a guy just do not understand when I re-listen to the Global Warming theories of a year ago, even 6 months ago, or 3 months ago - and then compare those to the ones of very recent days that try to explain away this white cold stuff. Go figure, I guess I should have paid better attention in science class in my school days.

All the best,
Glenn B

Does: PETA Membership = ASININE?

Well that is certainly how I see it. This so called animal rights group that so vehemently opposes people wearing fur, and that is so against animals used in medical and scientific research, in my opinion, just acts like a bunch of spoiled brats who have no better way to spend there time than to harass other people. Yet it has been brought out over and over again in the media and elsewhere) that they: reportedly kill animals in their own, or in their sponsored, shelters; that the head of PETA regularly uses a medicine made through animal experimentation; that many of their members wear leather shoes and accessories while at anti-fur protests; and that in my opinion they are hypocrites beyond the wildest hypocrisies of my imagination. So I wonder, how is it that they apparently keep getting support to get away with crap like what is explained here: Report: Olsen Twins in Hairy Mess With PETA. I am no fan of these Olsen twins, I do not really know who they are, or what they do, except that I have heard them mentioned before over the years; this despite the article calling them Hollywood stars (I guess I am just out of touch with Hollywood these days), but I still think it ridiculous that they be allowed to keep up , what seems to me like, harassing people like this.

There are other groups, much like, or even worse than PETA. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is one just as bad in my opinion. ELF and ALF amount to terrorists as I see them. I truly believe that anyone who supports PETA, HSUS (note this is not your local humane society nor is it part of the U.S. Government), ELF, or ALF are out of their minds. If you truly want to support animals, then giving support to appropriate organizations like local animal shelters who are not affiliated with these groups, or to the ASPCA, or to conservation groups that truly work toward conservation as their main goals, or to state agencies that run conservation programs, seem the way to go as far as I can see. Heck, if you want to hunt and fish to do your part, and you do it legally, you probably do much more for animal and natural habitat conservation within the USA than does someone who joins PETA. The great majority of money going into wildlife and wildlife habitat conservation programs in the USA come from excise taxes, and license fees, paid by sportsman - specifically by hunters and fishermen. (You can check with the U.S. government, or your state's conservation department, on this last statement.)

Do I need to go on; no I guess not. You get the picture, I am absolutely opposed to the efforts of groups such as PETA, HSUS, ELF and ALF. As I see them they are little more, if anything more, than groups of lunatics who want to control other people - and they do so through what I believe are mostly false claims of truly giving a hoot about animals.

All the best,
Glenn B

Animes...

Can someone out there explain to me why Animes are so popular, not only among children (which I would suspect would be the correct audience, if not the intended audience for these animations), but also among adults? I just don't get it, but then I guess I don't usually watch a lot of cartoons, and Animes to me seem to be little more than a poorly made cartoon. While some Animes have decent illustrations as in still shots, they are poorly animated and thereby do not live up to their own names: Animes (and one would hypothesize that the name is a play on the word 'animation'). They simply lack almost any animation. A cartoon character apparently standing there with its mouth moving hardly amounts to much of an animation, now does it. Yet, that scene is repeated over and over again in Animes - characters standing there with the main part of the so called action being their mouths moving one movement per three to ten words or so. As for the some of the subject matter, I find many of them I have quickly perused, for I must admit I have never watched more than a couple of minutes of one at most, to be quite disturbing. This is especially so since many of them are shown during prime time for children to be watching television, such as just after school in the afternoons. The sexually suggestive animations seem rather perverse. Can you think of any other reason that a so called artist,or cartoonist, would make an animated figure apparently look sexy or sexual? I sure cannot not think of even one idea, except of course that there is some sort of perversion involved.

It seems to me that many children, and even many adults (which I find hard to fathom) take great pleasure in watching these cartoons, and take greater pleasure in fantasizing that they themselves are Anime characters. It has come so far as to have 'Which Anime Are You' questionnaires on the Internet, wherein you answer several questions, and then are told which Anime character your persona matches best. When I think back to my younger years, I fondly remember animated series, and plain old cartoons, such as Popeye, Mighty Mouse, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Colonel Bleep, all those Ben & Gerry cartoons, those two little Chipmunks (don't recall the name of that cartoon), and so on. cartoons that were meant to be just that - cartoons. They were meant to be funny, they were meant to amusing, they were meant to be colorful, they were meant to actually appear animated, they were aimed mostly at children, and they were meant to be seen as fantastic as in unreal. Then the cartoons became less animated, and they seemed to bottom out. Newer cartoons like Speed Racer, Gigantor came out but they were no longer funny but rather something toward which one would suspect the animator wanted children to emulate themselves (much like Animes in my estimation). Some years after that, cartoons seemed more geared toward adults with 'shows' like The Simspsons, Family Guy, and South Park. At least in the Simpsons there seemed to be some resurrection of funniness, that a child could enjoy, but some of the subject matter was way over the top for young children. Then in the most recent years, Animes seem to have become king, and they seem to be geared toward adult watchers, though I still cannot imagine how an adult who claims to have a working brain could routinely enjoy them - but then as they say there is no accounting for taste.

Just about every night, on several cable channels, there are Animes during hours in which only adults would normally be awake to watch television. They are action cartoons, one sin which good Animes versus bad Animes are prominently featured. There are also scantily clad Animes in many of them (as if you can clothe an animated figure but you know what I mean). There are also ones that have what is apparently supposed to amount to intelligent discussions with one another, even debates. Yet as I see them, they are all crap, and what I do not get is that adults flock to watch this stuff. Not only are adults drawn to the televisions to watch these animations as if mesmerized, but they also are drawn into emulating the animated characters. That not only bewilders me, but scares me. In all my life I never saw anyone emulate: Homer Simpson, Popeye, Krazy Kat, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Road Runner - in fact these characters emulated humans! Now humans are emulating Animes. Yes indeed that is frightening, and incomprehensible in my limited reason capabilities. Yes folks I just don't get it, not one iota.

Oh well, I don't have to watch them; but yet it is certainly somewhat annoying when my cable channel lineup is inundated with these less than animated Animes. I wish someone who programs the night time lineup on television would gear things so that some truly adult level entertainment (and no I do not mean x-rated stuff, I can go to pay per view for that, or rent a video if I had the mind to) would be shown rather than this grammar school dropout drivel. I also wish that someone would make an intelligent attempt to explain to me why these shows are so popular. Hopefully you will be able to enlighten me, though I sincerely hope you will not change my mind about me wanting not to watch them!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Laughing Deer - A True Story

Rifle season for deer in NYS is now closed, or will be as of sundown today. Any deer that were anywhere near me today during my hunt needn't have had a fear, not that I think they were any too worried mind you.

I set up a stand at the base of a huge old oak, out out some scent trails, sat at my stand for awhile. Since I had figured I would give a hunt one last chance today, I was also determined to use my tried and true method of getting a deer - SLEEPING, then I quickly sort of passed out a la Rip Van Winkle. I managed to nod on and off, in great comfort sitting on my hunters pad on the snow covered ground, for the next three hours or so. The thing is today, the woods must be a little noisier than in Rip's time because I kept waking up every few minutes or so. It seemed there was an awful lot of fluttering of Chickadees' wings, and the rustling of a crow landing in a tree almost directly over me, and the pecking of woodpeckers on old trees, and the squeaking squeals of chipmunks all around me. As a matter of fact, once today, as I was groggily be again awakened from my uneasy slumbers, I thought I heard some deer, and was sure I heard the sound of footsteps and crunching in the snow and leaves. Just as I began to open my eyes, I heard a strange shrill laughter/grunting noise from not too far off within the shadows of the forest. If you have heard it before, then as am I, you are assuredly aware is the laughter of deer snickering over the foibles of a less than proficient hunter. I strained my eyes searching for the poor soul at whose expense they the deer were making fun, but could see no other hunter in the woods. I wonder if he was wearing camouflage, or had left the woods just before I awoke. Chances are his fumbling through the brush is what I thought was the footsteps of deer, and they were snickering at how much noise he made as he went along his way. When I think of it, I am more than ever convinced that the other unseen hunter, with all his noise making, kept the deer away from my stand, and why I saw none today! But then I did hear them laughing, so I do know it was a good spot in which to hunt them. Oh, and if you don't think it can happen, that is deer laughing at a hunter, then you have not deer hunted often enough.

As it turned out, I got 40 winks on and off over those 3 hours in the woods, and felt somewhat the better for it - you know getting away from the wife, and the chores around the house, sort of just like good old Rip. Lucky for me though that tales like those about Rip Van Winkle are just fantasy, I mean whoever heard of falling asleep in a forest glen to be awakened by a bunch of dwarves playing nine pins. Absolutely absurd sort of stuff - isn't it? Next thing you know someone will tell you about talking forest animals or something like that, all just balderdash as far as I can tell. Oh well, as for me, maybe a squirrel and or rabbit hunt or two before the Spring Turkey Hunt. By the way, none of those little critters are quite as rude and inconsiderate as are the laughing deer who mock hunters; these little guys just chitter-chatter, hop, gobble, and mind their own business.

All the best,
Glenn B

Regular Deer Season - One More Day Left To Hunt...

...and if I get my act together, get some work done around the house; then get to bed early enough, in order to wake up by about 0400 - I may just take a ride upstate to get in a few hours of frustration. Better that than working though. A nice walk through the woods, sitting on my stand (never quite figured that one out, you would think one has to stand on a stand), enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest in the very late fall - not really frustrating at all, that is unless I see a 12 pointer and don't get a shot. Heck I am not worrying about missing, I'd hate to see one and not be able to shoot for whatever reason. It has happened before and will again. Then again, this year I have not even seen more than a flash of white tail in the woods, so tomorrow maybe, just maybe... Who can tell.

Well I can tell one thing, if I don't get my behind in gear tonight and get some chores done, none of that will happen tomorrow. I can tell you one other thing too now that I think of it, I'll be debating, with myself, which gun to take as I get my work done tonight. I have a choice between the Remington 870, with rifle sights, or the Marlin 336 scoped. Decisions, decisions.......

All the best,
Glenn B

Fire 2 and Fire 3 - Two More Holiday Packages off to the Troops

To All Who Helped Out,

Today I sent out two more packages, of the remaining items I have bought to date, to Bob S. and his unit over at FOB Bagram, Afghanistan. I have just under $100 left over, and expect a bit more from someone who promised me some money, but said it would be late. No more donations please, the donations icon has been removed from the page as yesterday's deadline has passed.

In all we did pretty good by ourselves and for our soldiers. We raised $670 in money to date (I may receive a bit more as I said above), add to that a good number of t-shirts, baseball style caps, and some pins (all pro-wrestling related), and do not forget the flashlights from StreamLight, nor the links provided from other bloggers to this effort that resulted in some donations, and I have to say it was a great effort. You can all pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.

I still have not sent Bob and his unit a holiday card or cards. I want to wait for the last package, and then I'll include the card(s) in it. I did send them an email today, telling him two more packages on on their ways, and I gave him the list of all those who contributed to date. If the list grows because of any donations I receive in the mail, then I'll add those names to the cards when I send them.

Here is a copy of the letter I sent out them via email today:

Hi Bob,

Just wanted to say Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all the guys in your unit from all of the nice folks who were kind enough to make donations through me for your holiday packages; so far I have mailed out three of them - one a few days ago or so, and two more today.

So without further delay here is the list of folks who made cash donations to your holiday packages, in about the order in which I received them:

Donors For Soldiers' Holiday package:

Glenn Bartley
Ed Barton
Al Steinmark
Dennis McCarthy
Nelson Chen
Gary Binkley
Romedio Viola
Louis Boehner
Alex Pinno
John Heiser
Jen From Pen of Jen
Ed Bennett
Shelley Smith and daughters (WOW - these two young girls broke open their piggy banks to contribute)
Dominick DicoLandrea
Muriel Key
Enzo Cannizzo
Don Swiatocha
Marcos Castro
Bob McCrossen
Pasvorn Boonmark
Larry Hill Border Patrol Store
Peter Angelino
Rich Meyer jr.

All of the above donated cash to the donation fund. Some folks gave a little, some gave quite the amount, all depending on what they could afford; but all of these folks gave some money that went toward helping out this effort to make the holidays a bit nicer for the guys/gals in your unit. Two (should be a few) other folks helped out in other ways:

Carmen Ricci: Carmen gave the T-shirts, pins, and caps you will find in one of the boxes, and she also donated some videos - some for the troops, some for the kids you meet over there (those have yet to be sent - no more room in today's boxes).

Mighty Mom of: http://texassiren.blogspot.com/ and Jen of http://penofjen.blogspot.com/ these two ladies also helped out by providing links from their site to the Soldiers' Holiday Package thing on my blog and I am pretty certain that at least a couple of donors became aware of this effort through their sites with the links to mine.

Mrs. Angel DelliGatti a manager at STREAMLIGHT who arranged for the donation of those great STREAMLIGHT flashlights to you and the guys/gals in your unit, one for each of you.

All of the above folks are very indebted to all of you who serve, especially those of you who are in foreign lands during time of war. We realize that you are all making a patriotic effort, and a great sacrifice being there each and every day that you serve, and we wanted to let you know that you have not been forgotten, you have not been forsaken, and you have not fallen out of memory; you will always hold a dear place in our hearts for the service you have given to our great Nation. Besides what is in the packages they also send there heart felt thanks to you for your service, and send wishes for Happy Holidays to all of you who serve regardless of faith.

As for the actual packages: some of the contents of the first one, the spices, should not really be used until you receive the bigger box I mailed out today. You will understand why when you open both of them. Regarding the 12 flashlights from StreamLight, there is one for each of you, we all hope they are something that will really help you out. I also shipped 12 folding knives to you today, they are in there own priority flat rate box. I think you and the guys/gals in your unit will like them - one for each of you. As for everything else that we shipped, please distribute them among the troops as you see fit. There is candy (maybe for the local kids or for you guys), there are cigars (a box of 25, really good cigars from what I understand, maybe one for each guy in the unit who smokes, and maybe the rest for a unit just coming back from a tough patrol, and I guess give one to the base commander - but that is up to you). Some other stuff too, good things, we hope you enjoy it all. Hopefully you will receive these packages before Christmas, but if not, then as you said whenever you open them will be a holiday. There should be at least one more package coming after the ones I have already mailed to make it a total of 4. I'll let you know when that one goes out.

This is the least we could do to show our appreciation and respect for you guys; hopefully you will get to enjoy the things we sent and your holidays will be a little nicer because of them.

All the best,
Glenn B and everyone else listed above

When I look in the mirror, I am happy to see, some of that nine year old boy, who used to be me. ©

I hope you think I did well in expressing our feelings to the troops about there sacrifice and service, and that I did a good job sending our Holiday wishes to them. Thank you all so very much, and may each and everyone of you and your family members and loved one enjoy a Joyous Holiday Season.

All the best,
Glenn B

Soldiers' Holiday Package - More Shopping Done

Okay folks, we are getting close to the end of all of these Soldiers' Christmas/Holiday Package(s) posts if only because today is the last day for donations; and what a coincidence it is also Pearl Harbor Day. In addition today was another shopping day for items for the packages. Despite being pretty much under the weather and feeling miserable today, I decided to get out of the house late this afternoon and pick up some items for another package. I purchased 12 folding knives at Dick's Sporting Goods for $260.57. I picked out two models of knives, one from Buck - the Buck Bantam, and one from Gerber - the Gerber Paraframe I (see the pic, and allow me to say sorry for the quality or lack thereof of quality in the photo, but I forgot our digital camera in my office yesterday, and there it still sits, so I had to use a cell phone camera). They look to be a pretty decent quality for the price, and they certainly are manufactured by well known knife making companies; my guess is the troops will like em a lot.

I also got several tee-shirts, and a bunch of baseball style caps - the caps all with WWF logos and the t-shirts all with wrestling pictures on them. These were donated to me by a young lady - Carmen - with whom I work in my office. I imagine they will make a big hit with the troops in Afghanistan. I tried to take a pic of them but it came out worse than the one of the knives - sorry.

Right now I have two packages all packed and ready to go to the post office tomorrow. One package contains: the knives; the other one holds: the crock-pot, the t-shirts and caps, candies, a package of 36 AA batteries, a 12 pack of decks of playing cards, a Gingerbread House kit,, chewing gum, and a box of 25 Romeo Y Julieta Bully cigars. So far I have collected a total of $670 in monetary donations to the fund, and I have spent $571.26, leaving us: $98.74 for a some more gifts for our soldiers. I have not found decent heavy weight wool socks yet, so maybe this remainder will go for the socks if I can find some nice ones. I'll try to get whatever I can this weekend, and then ship them out by early this coming week. Again thanks to all of you who either donated money, donated link space, or donated items for the package effort. This would not be possible without all of you.

All the best,

Glenn B

The 9/11 of 1941 - Today In History

I won't describe this day in as much detail as required to fully show its significance as it took place in 1941; although I will say, if you do not know about the significance of December 7, 1941 in world history I wonder what has happened to the education level in our schools. Really now, if you are not aware of what too place on 7th December 1941, I recommend that you go to some history sites to bone up on the events of 66 years ago today:

 

http://www.ccdemo.info/PearlHarbor/PearlHarborDayRemembered.html

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

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

http://www.pearl-harbor.com/georgeelliott/index.html (very interesting brief article: There's Nothing Wrong With Our Radar)

http://pearlharbor-history.org/

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pearl.htm

Of course, my guess is that most of you realize, this was the day of which Japanese Admiral Yamamoto was quoted as having said: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.". He supposedly was talking about the United States of America, which had remained, until the events of today in 1941, neutral during World War II. The quote is quite possibly a fabrication of later years, and possibly was made only for the movie Tora, Tora, Tora, and to my knowledge it was never actually documented. Regardless of the reality of whether or not this quote was made by Admiral Yamamoto, the truth of those words could not hold any more truth than they do.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. There were approximately 2,300 dead Americans as a result of that single attack. This was, to my knowledge, the largest single battle caused loss of life by U.S. forces during time of war up until that time. On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would refer to the date of the attack as: "a date which will live in infamy", and the Senate by unanimous vote, and the House with only a single dissenting vote, would authorize an act of war against Japan. Within days of the U.S. A.' declaration of war against Japan, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. of America and we were brought full force into WWII.
 

There are more than the painfully obvious similarities between the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack(s) on the USA on September 11, 2001.

 

Of course the main similarities were that both were sneak attacks, and there were great losses of life on the U.S. side. While it arguable that these two attacks should have been anticipated to some degree, no one can rationally argue that either could have been precisely predicted with the available contemporaneous intelligence; rest assured no one in the U.S. Government actually knew that either was coming. Yet people in 2001, as they did in 1941, screamed government cover up, and claimed a conspiracy in which each U.S. president of the day was supposedly complicit. The truth is though that the great majority of Americans stood behind their president after each of these catastrophic attacks, and rallied for war against a terrible and competent enemy. There was a rapid build up of wartime production after each attack though it was greater after WWII. Another similarity is that the economy of the USA was in some instances adversely effected, and in other ways rewarding, after each attack due to the country going into wartime production. This was much more evident after WWII than after 9/11, but it is true in both cases. In each case war time manufacturers gained greatly, and in each case there were claims of complicity between the government and wartime profit makers.
 

One final set of similarities that I will point out between the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack(s) of 9/11 is that the enemy, in each case, was in essence already "within the gates" so to speak, both believed in the power of air assault, and both sets of attackers had a great hatred for the United States. This may seem more obvious to those of you who lived through 9/11 with regard to the attack(s) of that date, but may not be quite so obvious to you in reference to Pearl Harbor. The truth of the matter is that virtually all, if not all, of the attackers on 9/11 had been living within the United States for extended periods. They had acclimated to life within these United States. They had entered the country legally in some cases, illegally in others, but were basically accepted as members of our society. They had received their educations here, they had worked here, then they turned on us and attacked us with a devastating degree of hateful aggression by means of air raids. This is not very different from the attack on Pearl Harbor which of course was a massive air raid, and the air raid was master minded by someone who had a lot of experience living within our borders. Granted not each and everyone of the attackers on Pearl Harbor ever lived or even visited the United States, but there was at least one of them of noteworthiness who had done so, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto - commander of the Japanese Naval forces during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was both educated, and had worked within the USA prior to the attack. The major differences between him and the terrorists of 9/11 were that he was very opposed to war with the USA believing he would remain somewhat victorious for 6 months to one year, and then had little confidence in victory for Japan (a prediction which proved to show exceptional foresight because the tide of war in the Pacific changed after the Battle of Midway which ended on June 7, 1942, exactly 6 months to the day after Pearl Harbor). In addition both sets of attackers, the Islamo-fascist terrorists of 9/11, and the Japanese Military Forces of WWII, were driven by fanatical religious beliefs through which they intended to conquer the world, and through which America and her people became the object of extreme hatred.
 

In the end, regarding WWII, the USA and her allies were victorious. In the end of the aftermath of 9/11, one can only hope that our resolve to destroy our enemy's resources and defeat him resoundingly, will have won out despite the partisan political infighting within our gates. Yes the enemy is within our gates, and if we lose this one, it will be because we are our own worst enemy.

All the best,

Glenn B

Two More Days (more or less)...

...and donations will be closed for the Soldiers' Christmas/Holiday Package. I will accept checks mailed to me, and postmarked, on or before the 7th of December, and will accept PayPal payemnts made up and through December 7th. Any PayPal payments for that effort received after the 7th of December 2007, will be returned minus any fee charged to me by PayPal. Any checks received with a December 8th or later post mark will be returned to the sender if the sender includes a return address, otherwise I'll just tear them up. Not trying to be a hard ass or anything like that, just trying to keep this manageable. So if you want to donate, please do so on or before December 7, 2007. Thanks very much for the donations to date.

All the best,
Glenn B

Modern Enetrtainers Often...

...bore me to no end. For example:

"Oh, no, no, no.

Troubled "Rehab" singer Amy Winehouse took a barefoot walk around chilly East London at 5:40 a.m. on Sunday, while wearing only a bra and jeans."

These were the opening lines of a FoxNews article atv which I just took a brief, very brief, glance. See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314882,00.html.

Now here is what I think of all this:

Who the fuck in Hades is Amy Winehouse, and who gives a rat's ass a moment's concern about her, maybe other than her mommy and daddy or another relative (if they even care).

What is the big deal about her walking around in London at zero 5 dirty in the AM, clothed only in a bra and jeans, that actually makes her action newsworthy on a major news outlet?

Is she trying to make a name for herself, or is the media trying to help her pump up her shitty career?

What the heck is her career, what kind of entertainer is a 'Rehab Singer' anyhow?

Why can't people just grow up, and actually tell so called entertainers like this asshole woman we have had more than enough so stop all the craziness or we will stop buying whatever it is you are selling.

I for one have heard and seen enough of the likes of this woman, and: B.Spears, P. Hilton. M. Jackson, and all the other yahoos that are out there calling themselves entertainers. May I ask: "What ever happened to Randolf Scott?", or maybe I should ask about Bob Hope, or Cary Grant, or Myrna Loy, or Gene Tierney, or Lauren Bacall, Fred Astaire, Rodney Dangerfield? Now those were entertainers. I could at least put up with some shenanigans by them if only because they really produced when it came to entertainment, and all in all they were not show biz whores.

All the best,
Glenn B

Trying To Talk The Son Into Something terrible...

...Phyllobates terribilis that is; but he seems hesitant to take on the responsibility of something he has to care for and feed everyday. I tend to think though, that once he finds out why their species name is terribilis, he may reconsider. Such is the nature of 18 year old young men, they are, shall we say, often somewhat impressed by the impressive; and this diminutive frog is just that despite its less than impressive size. You see it carries a terrible wallop, thereby the name terribilis.

Despite its tiny size of about 2.25 inches at most, and despite the fact that it can carry only about one milligram of toxin in its skin, The Golden Poison Frog's poison lode is powerful enough to kill thousands of mice, or maybe up to 20 people. Yes the amount of toxin in the skin of just one Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates terribilis) is enough to do that, and that is impressive. This is one of three frogs known to be used by South American Indians to make a poison with which they tip their arrowheads and dart points when they hunt for prey items like monkeys; and it one of the most poisonous animals in the world.

Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, these frogs loose their ability to produce this toxin when they are in captivity. Wild caught specimens soon loose their toxicity. Captive bred specimens apparently never have the capability to produce any toxins. While it is hypothesized that a certain food item, or possibly combinations of food items, in nature allow for this frog to produce it toxic skin secretions - no one knows what it is that this frog eats to make it toxic. Some had believed that it was a species of ant, but today it is believed more likely that it may be a certain form of beetle that gives this frog its ability to kill. In other words, it is believed that this frog quite possibly eats something as toxic as, or more toxic, than itself in order to load up on its poison. What is it they used to say: One man's meat is another man's poison!

Well, I am going to work at getting a few of these in the yellow or orange variety. I found this pic at: http://www.aaronsfrogfarm.com/images/orterrmal.JPG, and I am quite hopeful they will have some available for sale that look just like this one because I want to buy 4 to 5 of them. They are extremely striking in appearance, and they possibly could make us a fortune. I don't mean by breeding them and selling the offspring, as do many folks, and as we would likely endeavor. What I do mean is that we may experiment at feeding them a variety of available insect species in order prod them into producing their natural toxicity, or at least something that closely mimics their natural toxicity. Why do this, why take the chance of producing one of the most toxic natural substances known to man. Well first of all, there is little chance of toxicity to us since we would handle the frogs safely (for instance while wearing gloves, and we would take other precautions to avoid puncturing our epidermis, and we surely would not eat them). Now the answer as to why take the risk at all. Well, if one was able to have these frogs produce their toxins while in captivity, and do so with timely regularity, and with reliability of as to strength of toxin, that person could make a million, maybe more. The toxins from this frog are considered highly prized in the world of scientific research, especially medical research - yet it is not readily available. These frogs are native to area of Colombia wherein there are often violent activities carried out by terrorists and drug lords. It is not a safe place in which to conduct field research, so the wild caught frogs, with the ability to produce the toxins, are not always readily available. One can only dream of being able to produce these toxins in captive bred frogs, while in captive kept conditions.

Besides all of that, I am just into reptiles and amphibians, and so is Brendan. Right now though I think he would like to venture into the world of fish keeping, and he might prefer an aquarium in his room. I am sort of hopeful I can convince him to keep the frogs in his room, and an aquarium in the basement (safer in the basement if it breaks, the water would do less damage down there). Time and tactful persistence will tell if I can do it, but as you may know, I am none too tactful - so I will also be keeping my fingers crossed that he will see the light.

All the best,
Glenn B

Soldiers' Holiday package - latest items

I did some shopping for package number 2 last night. So far I have the Crock-pot (already purchased that last week, but have not sent it yet and it will be in package 2), and some new items as seen in the pic. Click on the pic to enlarge it.

The items are, starting from the 12 o'clock position and going clockwise: Gingerbread House Kit (with ready made gingerbread pieces and all the trimmings), a case of 12 packs of playing cards, chewing gum, Hershey's Candies variety pack, a 36 pack of AA batteries, a box of 25 Bully cigars by Romeo Y Julieta. They will be squeezed into a box with the Crock-Pot previously pictured in another post. All the other previously bought items and the flashlights shipped yesterday.

By the way, that box of cigars is a good one. It contains 25 cigars, and each of them went for $3.80, yes $95 for the box at Costco! I don't know about you, but when I smoked I thought a nickel cigar was good enough for me, you know the same ones Clint Eastwood smoked in The Good The Bad and The Ugly or one of those Spaghetti Westerns. I figure though that these soldiers deserve much better than what was good enough for me in the way back times of yesteryear. The Romeo y Julietas came highly recommended by 3 people to zero recommendations for another type of cigar.

I also went shopping for some folding knives and quality wool socks. I struck out on both, but did see some fairly nice Buck and Gerber knives at Dick's Sporting Goods for $19.99 each. I would like to see if I can find them locally at a better price, if not I may go with them. As for the socks, I could only find medium weight wool socks, and was hoping to get these guys something to really help them face the Afghan winter. Shopping again tomorrow or Friday, and hopefully one of two more packages (2 & 3) out by this weekend.

The donation amount is now up to $600! With the flashlights donated by StreamLight, and that amount of cash from you guys, all I can say is wow - what nice holiday spirit! Once again thanks to your donations this is all possible, and thanks to StreamLight there is more cash to be spent on gifts. So these guys are getting a lot of nice things - but I must say: the nicest thing they are receiving is your thoughtfulness and your generosity. Happy Hanukkah to those of you who celebrate it, and Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it. Happy New Year to all.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: Forgot to picture the receipt earlier, so I updated this blog with said pic on 12/06/07.

Fire One - Package Away

The first of what I suppose will be at least 3 and maybe as many as 5 holiday packages for Bob S. and his unit at FOB Bagram was sent out today. Thanks to all of you for your donations and help to date. By the way, yes this is a picture of Bob and three friendly locals in Afghanistan who work with Bob and his unit. I thought it would be nice if you got to see the soldier who will be receiving the packages for himself and his unit. No spring chicken, he is married and has teenaged children - yet he is over there in Afghanistan doing the right thing for his country (and that would mean for us). I can not tell you all how surprised I am that this package thing has worked out, and that so many of you have been as generous as you have been to date. It is nice to know there are AMERICANS who give a damn regardless of political viewpoints, religious affiliation, ethnicity, race, gender, national origin, and all other types of stuff that sometimes gets in the way of doing the right thing. You my friends have done the right thing by donating, and or helping with links to the donation icons. I don't think soldiers like Bob and his unit will soon forget how nice you all have been. I certainly will not.

Here is a copy of the email I sent to Bob S. to let him know to expect this package:

"Hi Bob,

I sent out one package to you and the guys today. Please let me know when you get it. It is a 28 pound box (I think that was the weight), it is loaded with spices and has some flashlights inside of it. I don't know if you have seen my blog about the lights, as I recall when you tried to view my blog it was blocked by the military. If you have seen it though, then you know what you are getting. If not, let it be a partial surprise, and let me just let me say for now - you are getting some very nice lights courtesy of StreamLight company who donated them to me absolutely no charge. As for those lights, there are 12 of them, one for each guy in your unit (I hope I got it right that there are 12 of you).

I also have other items and goodies for you and your unit. I will send something else out - probably tomorrow - don't use the spices until you get the other package too - you will know the one when it gets there by what is inside. I'll keep you informed as I mail them out. After that there may be one or two other packages in the near future - sent before Christmas, but who can tell when they will arrive; I imagine a lot of mail is being sent to you guys this time of year. I think you will like the contents I have planned for the other packages, and I hope you will be able to share them as much as possible among your unit and with other units. Right now I need to go shopping for a few more things for the packages.

One other thing before I go: I did not put any note or anything like that in today's package. I forgot. I wanted to add a holiday card from all those who made donations toward the package. I will do that with one of the other packages. For now let me just say there have been about 16 - 18 people so far, including myself of course, who have donated quite a bit, about $525 to date; and of course StreamLight who donated the lights. As for the money, all of it is being used to buy the contents of the packages I am sending, every penny of it. The postage is being taken care of separately. I am only saying something about this so that you and the guys in your unit realize this is a group effort, and there is a bunch of really nice people involved who are all thinking of you guys and wishing you the best, wishing you Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays, and hoping you will all be home soon both safe and sound. They realize the sacrifice you guys are making by being over there while we are here, and they are trying to make things a bit easier for you. By the way, thanks to the folks at StreamLight - you are getting a whole lot more than I had originally planned - those lights are not cheap - so their donation allowed for money that would have otherwise paid for the lights to go for other things. They did a really nice things, I was amazed, and I hope you guys will be too.

All the best,
Glenn B"

I'll keep you all informed as I send out the packages, and I'll fill you in once I get a response from Bob and his unit about them.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is She An Idiot, In Shock, Afraid, Or Being Guided...

...in what she has been saying about her ordeal in Sudan. Except that Gillian Gibbons is possibly in shock over her ordeal, I think she may be an idiot. I am not certain she is one, but I have to wonder about it. I mean sure shock is probaly a natural reaction for someone threatened with a death for something as petty as naming a Teddy Bear Muhamet, (or was it Mohamad, Mohammad, Mohamed, Mohammed, Muhamad, Muhamad, Muhammad, Muhamed, Muhammed), but how did she get there in the first place - maybe through idiocy. Maybe she is in a bit of shock and that is natural; then again maybe a lot of the shock she is experiencing is due to the fact that she is afraid, and allowing herself to be guided, and I woder that can all be based upon the premise that she is quite possibly an idiot (not the psychologically classified version, just your run of the mill every man's jerk).

Now you may find my wondering about her smarts, or lack of them, to be rather harsh considering the ordeal she was just through, but I believe her ordeal could be in great part born of her being an idiot if in fact she is one. I beleive she could be the product of the idiocy of some of today's societies (especially British and European societies with Americans closing in). First of all what was she doing in Sudan. She was and I guess is a teacher. She is apparently white and of British ancestry. So where does she go to teach but to Sudan. Sudan is in essence, if not fact, an enemy of Britain and its people (by whom I mean to say Anglo-Saxons or the English and not those who have immigrated to England in the past few decades). Sudan is a country run by a Muslim hard line militant type of ruler, one Omar al-Bashir (see FoxNews.copm article Teacher Jailed for 'Muhammad' Teddy Bear Arrives Home in Britain). In addition he apparently is no friend to his own people in the Dafur region. Muslims, in my opinion, as they have shown over the past couple of years are also no friends of Great Britain and her people. Yet this teacher, this person who would have parents trust the education of their children to her care, seemignly though use of her mental capacities deemed it good and appropriate to go to the Sudan, a war torn reason, for the purpose of what? Well I am pretty darned sure I heard her say, on FoxNews today in a televised interview, that she did it for an "adventure"! So you say okay, she is adventurous, how does that make her an idiot. It does not on its own, so keep reading and wondering.

Besides wanting to go on an adventure, it seems apparent she actually wanted to teach, after all that was her profession and her job while in Sudan. She was teaching Sudanese, Muslim, children. Now anyone, even some of the biggest goofballs I know, are pretty much aware of the current world situation since 9/11. They have some idea that there are many hardline Islamic-fascists out there who seem to like nothing more than beheading those of different cultures than their own, and they seemingly do so for anything imaginable that could only possibly be seen through their eyes as an insult to their so called 'profit' (yes I spelled that right for this case), or to their proclaimed religion (or would that be their political stance, for Islam by their standards certainly seems more a form of government than it does a true religion to me). Why would she choose Sudan. Did she want to better the relations between the Muslim and Christian worlds, did she want to do likewise between the Islamists and the British, did she feel sorry for the children of Sudan, did she wish to become a Muslim, did she feel soooooo sorry for them that she had to enlighten them, or was she driven by idiocy? Well, whatever her motives, she went there to teach; and since she was going to a foreign country, wherein the ideals of the people were drastically other than those of her own country, one would think (her being an educator and all) that she would have taken into consideration how to conduct herself properly in a foreign land. I wonder if she did so, it seems to me she did not, and that seems none too smart, almost kind of idiotic as I see it.

Do I need explain myself. First of all who is she to travel to a foreign land and then think it is okay for her to do as she pleases? No I am not defending anyone who wanted to kill her, nor do I uphold their type of so called morality or religion (because I do not believe it to truly be a religion at all but only a masquerading state terroristic regime of terror); but I am wondering how she could have been, if indeed she was, so out of touch with contemporary happenings to have put herself in such a spot. The fact is that many, many Muslims in Sudan are hardliners, that they have no tolerance of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or any other religious group; and that Sudan is a hotbed for this type of Muslim and they routinely are violent in Sudan. The fact is that just about anything can set these folks off, but they repeatedly use insults to their prophet (whether real or not) to raise their followers into a frenzy of blood lust. So why in a million years, with all this evidence being presented on the evening news over the 'telly' (as they call it in the La-La Land of England) would she do or say anything that would be an OBVIOUS insult to, or that could be used to incite hatred and voiolence by, the Muslim hardliners. I wonder, and ask you, is it because she was an idiot? Yet you decide, read up on her and do so on with her own words. here are someof them, but I urge you to read and listen to more: (these are from the above mentioned article):

""I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons said in the statement, which was released by al-Bashir's office and read to journalists by British Baroness Sayeeda Warsi."

Not knowingly offend anyone. Was she living on Mars or maybe Uranus while all the post 9/11 terrorism has taken place? Has she never heard of any of the beheadings, supposedly some of them because the prophet was insulted. Has she never heard of the Danish riots, the world riots, the calls for beheading of Christians and Jews, the death of van Gogh (no not Vincent), all due to so called insults to the prophet? Is she just an ill informed EDUCATOR or is she an idiot?

Now what else might asking the question as to whether or not sdhe acted as an idiot? Well she returns home and what does she spew forth? She says something to the effect that she was 'treated well' while in Sudan. Hold the presses, maybe she is not an idiot at all, maybe she is just out and out crazy, I wonder if she is either? Does she truly believe that being arrested and having to spend about a week in jail, for allowing a child to name his Teddy Bear - Muhammad, is being treated nicely? Does she believe that being made into a political pawn is being treated nicely or with respect? Does she beleive that is what ahppened at all?Does she believe that people calling for her death (probably by beheading) is being treated nicely? Does he think being charged with a crime, being held in jail, being under threat of death is a nice thing? Does she truly think the people of Sudan were nice to her? Here is what she says of her experience in Sudan (also from the above mentioned article):

"I am very sorry to leave Sudan. I had a fabulous time," Gibbons said."

And furthermore, she added:

""It is a beautiful place and I had a chance to see some of the countryside. The Sudanese people I found to be extremely kind and generous and until this happened I only had a good experience.""

Remember folks this is a highly trained educator, she is a TEACHER, and she reportedly said these things after her ordeal. Is she for real?

Now please, don't get me wrong. I agree completely with Inayat Bunglawala, reportedly a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain who reportedly said:

""Gillian should never have been arrested in the first place, let alone held in jail. She had done nothing wrong,"... "It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities.""

Yes it was terrible treatment, but remember she does not seem to think that the Islamists treated her terribly, at least based upon the words reported in the above mentioned article, and based upon at least the part of the interview I heard this morning on Fox News television. Were her words due to idiocy or to fear of reprisals now that she is home in a country that has been the target of Muslim extremists, and homegrown Muslim extremists at that? Or is she just allowing the British government to tell her what to say? Whichever way I look at it, I cone up with having to wonder is she an idiot? She well could be the penultimate liberal do-gooder, who uses her mouth to undo the evils of the world without regard to anything other than what she wants to to on the spur of the moment. Adventure to Sudan, teach those of a foreign culture quite possibly without first having taken heed of their culture, say or do things and apparently not expect the consequences whether the consequences be just or not (just not expecting them makes her the idiot in my mind), these things all make me wonder: "Is she an idiot?".

The sad thing is that it is not she alone whom I wonder about with regards to idiocy. Those calling her a hero are quite possibly idiots, or at least I would have to question their smarts. Are those who would do likewise idiots too? Is the part society that has allowed such to happen is idiotic itself? Think of it folks. At the cost of our own possible well being, have we allowed a so called religious group to begin our own destruction by using our own laws against us? We continue to call Islam a religion - and I wonder who is fooling whom? The fact is that those who use Islam to take over other countries, and to rule people under religious or any other form of government, constitute not a religious group, but are in fact acting not as a religion but as a state. They should be treated as such and swift action should be taken to thwart hem, or so I believe.

It is not without irony that the item at the crux of this latest Islamic tyranny was a Teddy Bear, a bear named after Theodore Roosevelt. Had this happened during his era, I am pretty sure the outcome would have been fair, just, swift, and not idiotic at all; but rather one in which some Islamic-fascist ass was kicked. Would that have been appropriate in this case? maybe so. Of course, nowadays, the government of England, and most governments around the world are fearful of insulting the Islamist lest someone be beheaded. Damn them, don't they see that this will be the outcome regardless of their pandering to Islam? I believe it is due to their faults in the first place, their political correctness, their inability to show backbone, their wanting to accommodate and tolerate, their idiocy that led us down the road to this point where we bow to every whim, every whisper of threat, every tenet of the so called religion of peace. So I have to ask, are we non-Muslims all idiots. Ask yourselves.

When you think of it it is rather funny in a sad way that any of this has happened. I feel bad for ms. Gibbons and her family,. I feel bad for the boy who wanted to call his Teddy Bear Muhammad (what happened to the boy and his family, were they punished). It is funny, in the sad sense, and extremely hypocritical as I see it, that Muslims do not behead or threaten to behead other Muslims who are named Mohammad (by any spelling) who commit crimes such as assault, theft, child abuse, rape, sodomy, terrorism, making terrorisitc threats, being bigots, and so forth - and then continue to use said name for themselves. Don't they too insult the prophet by continuing to use his name after having committed these crimes? Sure it is funny, don't you think so? The joke is on anyone who continues to let these scum get away with using any excuse to spread the terror of Islamo-fascism.

Of course maybe I am too questioning. Maybe Islam is the religion of peace. Maybe this was no injustice here, maybe there was no idiocy, maybe tolerance of everyone,despite their actions, is a good thing - but I tend to doubt it. For all I know Ms. Gibbons could in effect be a rocket scientist, but I just have not seen that yet based upon the facts as reported. To me she seems more like the product of a whimpering, subservient society that has lost its backbone and self esteem. What do you think?

All the best,
Glenn B

Social Security Makes Me Sick -

It always has, and always will, I as a federal employee under CSRS I do not pay into it. Yet it sickens me no end, and if you look to Social Security - Must Read you will see some of the reasons why it does so. You will also see some of the reasons why Democrats make me ill.

In case the above link does not worketh go to: http://greybeard.igogg.com/archives/463

All the best,
Glenn B

Liberal Tax and Spend Politicians...

...make me feel like vomiting sick to my stomach and light in the pocket book. This goes for liberal tax and spend Democrats like Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and their liberal tax and spend Republican counterparts like George W. Bush, when it comes to taxing us and spending our hard earned money.

This whole Magilla with the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is absolutely preposterous, and as far as I can see the major part of the problem has been caused by Democrats in Congress. Thank you (major sarcasm alert) the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and all your other liberal cohorts (including fiscal RINO George W. Bush) who want to screw middle classed America. Even if they claim not to support the AMT, you have to wonder why they have not abolished it yet.

The alternative minimum tax was instituted in the late 1960s to reel in tax dollars from about 150 of America's richest families. It cuts out deductions and credits, and was designed to do this to the RICHEST of American taxpayers. Yet over the years it has not been adjusted for inflation. So the outcome has been that anyone TODAY who makes above whatever figure it was they said made you rich in 1969 has to pay the AMT on their income. Every year for years now (when Congress was controlled by Republicans) adjustments were made so as to prevent the AMT from screwing the middle class folks of America,. Yet last year 4 million taxpayers still had to pay the AMT. Get that, last year 4 MILLION people paid a tax meant to reign in 150 super rich families back in 1969.

Now this year, if no action is taken by Congress, it is estimated that as many as 25 Million taxpayers will have to pay the AMT, that would be an increase of 21 million people paying this tax in the course of just one year! Does anyone believe (and I include super liberal ultra donkeys in this question) that we have 26 million super-rich taxpayers in this country? What will happen if this is not corrected is that 22 million more middle class, and lower middle class, and maybe even fairly poor people will be hit with this tax; and all the democrats apparently want to do to take care of it is to make sure some other taxes are passed in order to insure that the expected revenue from 26 million people who would have to pay the AMT is somehow made up for. Don't they get it, we never paid those taxes before, but still they want to make up for them. Are they insane - yes I think so! What they should be doing is reducing taxes and reducing the government spending habits of themselves and guys like President Bush. Heavens help us, I don't think it will get better soon with jerks like them in office.

See: IRS: 38 Million Tax Refunds Could be Delayed (at FoxNews.com) for more info.

As I seem to remember, from my history classes as a youth, this country was in great part formed because of unhappiness over unfair taxation, and that unhappiness eventually led to something called the Declaration of Independence and a revolution. Are these absolute fools tax and spend politicians all that out of touch with history, and with the current feeling among the citizens of the United States of America to risk something like that today? I certainly hope not.

All the best,

Glenn B

Weekly Update - Soldiers' Holiday Package

I'll keep this fairly brief (for me), if only because most of my blog in the past week has been devoted to this effort.

To date I have received $425 toward the package fund, including my own $50 donation to the fund (excluding the cost I will pay out of my pocket for shipping and shipping materials). This money is from a total of only 15 donations (including my own). If you can or cannot afford it, think of our troops overseas who may possibly be wounded, killed, or just far from home either freezing their behinds off in a foxhole, or spending the holidays on an military base on foreign soil in a hostile land over the holidays. Am I trying to shame you into giving, nah no way, not my style. Am I trying to kick your butts into gear - you betcha. I am just trying to get you to remember these guys even if with only a dollar. By the way, one of the donations I received was from 2 young girls, sisters, who broke open their piggy bank to donate $9 and change, then their mom rounded it off to $10, and sent it to me via PayPal. Here is part of what the mom wrote to me:

"My daughters, age 6 & 7, are excited to donate the contents of their piggy banks, (9 dollars and 18 cents, which I am rounding up to 10 bucks) to this cause. "

These two girls and their mom did a really nice thing for our soldiers, my thanks to them. If they can do it, so can you, a buck probably will not even make you break your piggy bank. See the links at the upper right hand side of my blog to donate via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to donate, and PayPal does not charge you a fee to donate (they charge me the fee to accept payments, and I will cover those costs out of my pocket).

I also received 12 tactical flashlights, with extra lithium batteries, from STREAMLIGHT absolutely free of charge! Can you say THANK YOU STREAMLIGHT!!! Wow that was nice of them. I made a price inquiry and they sent free lights.

Today I went shopping for items for the package(s). I picked up: A 6 quart Crock-Pot (something these guys requested), Various seasonings and spices (they said they wanted to cook for themselves for a change, so I guess they can cook it slowly in the crock-pot while out on patrol), a package of Chap-Sticks, Zip Lock Freezer Bags (these have lots of applications in sandy environments), a box of chewing gum, hard candies, chocolates and other candies. I spent $150.87 today on the items mentioned above, the Crock-Pot was only about $40, but are spices ever expensive, and I got nice sized jars of them! Thank goodness for Costco (click on the receipt to enlarge).

Other items I plan to purchase are: at least one box of 25 good cigars, possibly 12 pairs of high quality wool socks (one pair per each person in the unit), 12 folding knives (I have the Buck Bantam 285 BLW model in mind), sharpening stones (12 - one for each guy in the unit), other snacks (something of a holiday nature), and whatever else I can think of with any funds left over.

I have decided to split this into 3 or 4 holiday packages - still all for the same unit. This will make the package less bulky, and in the event one of them gets delayed, lost or stolen, the others are likely to make it through. I will probably send some of the stuff before the end of this week, and hope to have everything shipped by December 10th or thereabouts.

I hope to remember to take pics of the contents of each package before I ship them, and to post the pics on this blog once the items ship.

To those of you who have contributed, and/or provided links to my page for this effort: THANKS.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: if you are wondering why I input all the below keywords, well I want to get as many people as possible who read my blog to read this post.