An Arrest Was Made - Does it Matter To Anyone?

As reported by CNN, Mexican authorities arrested a suspect, Jesus Navarro-Montes in the slaying of heroic U.S. Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar Jr.. The arrest was made on January 22? Did any of you know that. Heck it was reported online by CNN - can you imagine all of the space they must have given to such an important arrest: go here and take a look yourself.

The media, heck just CNN alone, gave what seems to me to have been at least 20 times more space to Paris Hilton's panty-less private parts. What a sad commentary. In addition another sad thing, Mexico may not extradite this guy to the USA unless it is guaranteed that he will not face the executioner's hand if found guilty of the murder of BPA Aguilar.

Look at this guy, study him well. Does he remind you of anyone working on your front lawn, painting a neighborhood house, delivering groceries. This short haircut with scraggly half a man's mustache, with half sleeve rolled up, the tattoos, this is a classic look of gang member. Yes they are all over the USA in great numbers. Contact your elected officials, don't allow them to think for a moment that you tolerate illegal aliens, and criminal aliens within the USA. If deportation was good enough for Italian organized crime members back in the 1930s, it should be more than good enough for scum who commit crimes like that of which this guy has been accused, that is after he is convicted, and executed. Then we can deport him posthumously. Of course he has to be extradited from Mexico, and actually convicted first - but if he is convicted I think he should fry.

Before any of that though, the press and our elected officials - all of them who made the big stink when the drug smuggler was shot - ought to be making even more noise now to make sure that this guy has his day in court, and if found guilty - has his day meeting his maker sooner than later. Of course, unless there is some sudden outcry from the public, that would be you and I, no one will make such a brouhaha over this as they did when those 2 BPAs shot that smuggler.

If the death of BPA Aguilar is not enough for you to be outraged, then please click on this link and read the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/01/15/police.killed.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch.

Things described in the article are commonplace in Mexico, and no kidding the police shoot to kill down there - yet the drug gangs are thriving and blatantly executing police officers and other officials. Want to know why you should make an outcry now, because very soon it will be just that way here in the USA. You don't believe it, well believe this - there are over 20 million illegal aliens here in the USA, and probably 80% of them of more come from Mexico based upon what I have read. Now do some searching and check out the stats on how many people in jail in the USA, especially the southwestern states, are illegal aliens and how many are Mexican.

They keep coming folks, because our border security and our immigration policy are ludicrous, just a joke if anything. Don't get me wrong, legal Mexican immigrants should be welcomed with open arms - they would be the ones who do not illegally enter the USA, who do not smuggle drugs or commit other crimes. But as for the the illegals, the drug smugglers, and the gang members already here who rape, pillage and plunder, our laws are an absolute joke and they know it. They also know our whole criminal justice system is a joke (heck if they did not all they had to do was watch the news about those 2 Border patrol Agent who shot the drug smuggler). Yes it is a joke and they know it. They are coming here to take over, to make this place like their home, to live like they do in what is seemingly one of the most crime ridden and corrupt nations on the face of the earth; and they can do it within a decade or two, and yes they know it! They also know they will get no resistance from the so called good Mexicans who are here, because those good Mexicans already fled Mexico to in part get away from these criminals and all their raping, killing, pillaging, and plundering. Yes the criminal Mexican aliens know it!

When are you going to "know it" too, and do something about it? Will it be before it is too late, think about that but not for too long. Do something about it, and pronto!

All the best,

Glenn B

Border Patrol Agent's Death Ignored? It Is a Gosh Awful Disgrace...

...when the death of a United States Border Patrol Agent goes virtually ignored in light of the facts that:

1) He was doing his job at the time of his death, trying to protect the nation from alien or drug smugglers, and who knows maybe even terrorists.

2) One of his last actions was to motion innocent bystanders out of the way of oncoming harm.

3) His last action, was to lay road spikes in an attempt to stop the suspect(s).

4) His last encounter on the face of this earth was to be run down and killed by a suspected smuggler.

5) The news media coverage of this tragic death was scant to say the least about it. When looked at in the light of how much news coverage was given to an actor who recently died, whose biggest claim to fame was his kissing another male actor in a gay caballero movie, and how little coverage was given to this real life American hero who sacrificed his life for the security of our great nation - well something is truly sad about that, and maybe indicative that our nation is not as great as it would want to appear to be in the first place.

6) When the media coverage of this agent's death is compared to the mud slinging, yellow journalistic, coverage that was given when two Border Patrol Agents were accused of wrongfully shooting a drug smuggler, I think people should realize that something in our lives, and in the media coverage in this country is terribly askew. No let me rephrase that, something is really fucked up would be a better to describe it, if not a better way to say it.

7) When I have not heard one word about his out of the mouth of the President of the United States of America. I think it truly embarrassing - as I am a government employee tasked with Immigration and Customs duties among others, and I started my career as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent not many miles from where this agent was killed; and when I think of the President as my ultimate executive officer - which he is in fact!

8) When I realize I have not heard one Senator, one Representative from the House of Representatives, demand that the person(s) responsible be extradited from Mexico back into the USA. I am appalled, because many of them sure made a stink in wanting to basically those two agents who shot a smuggler.

9) When I do not hear from the President of Los Estados Unidos de Mexico demanding justice in this case, and condemning the killing and the killer(s), I realize that he is a hypocrite extraordinaire, much like many of our own politicians in this same regard.

Do any of you know about the story about which I am writing? Hav eyou heard about it in the news? Yes it made the news, but I have spoken to several people who have no clue about it. I guess that is because things like the suspected probable overdose death of an actor is more important to many than is the death of someone tasked with the duty of protecting our nation and her borders. Shame on you if you are one of them who finds such absolute trivia to be more important than national security, than securing our borders, than the well being of our public servants who lay down their lives for you and yours.

I did not write about this last week because I wanted to wait to see if my guess about how it would be handled would prove true. I figured it would be largely ignored and quickly pushed aside for what would be deemed more important news, yet news that was truly trivial in light of this killing. I wanted to wait to see how it would be covered in the media, and how it was addressed by our so called leaders. My guess then was correct, as can be seen if you look back over the past week to see how it was reported, and how our elected officials addressed it.

'We The People' had best wake up, and wake up quickly. The important news of the day is not whether or not Paris Hilton wore panties (how many weeks did that make the news), or whether or not Britany Spears took another overdose today, or if an actor who was not particularly good overdosed on pills. I have heard over and over again about those much less than important events, and about who I consider to be less than important people. I have also heard way to much of how the two supposedly big bad Border patrol Agents had no just cause to shoot a Mexican drug smuggler. Did they have just cause, maybe and maybe not; but I can tell you that the Border Patrol Agent who was run down and killed in the line of duty last Saturday had just cause to do what he did - there is no doubt about it. Why is he, and his death, not being given the attention it deserves. I guess it does not matter to the media - they can sensationalize the death of an actor who played queer cowboy, so why bother reporting on a real American hero. They can show blurred out pics of the inside of Paris Hilton's thighs, so why show pictures of the fallen agent! They can give daily Britany reports, so why bother with a few more about this tragic event. I guess too that it does not matter all that much to most of our elected officials in the federal government. Why should it? He was just another Border patrol Agent, why should they care. he was just trying to secure our borders and make life safer for our citizens - do politicians really care about any of that? Does it matter to them? Does it matter to you?

I wonder, have any of you asked yourselves - what is the name of this fallen hero? His name was: Luis Aguilar Jr., a U.S. Border Patrol Senior Agent. Does it matter to you? I wonder did any of you ask yourselves what about his family, did he have one? Yes he is, or was, a husband and a father of two children. Does it matter to you? I wonder, have any of you even thought of his family? Do it matter to you? I wonder, have any of you asked yourselves, what about the guy(s) who mowed him down, have they been captured, has anyone even seriously looked for them? No they have not yet been arrested, but there are prime suspects, and they reside in Mexico, where as reported by the Mexican media, the search is on; but where in the Mexican media they also reportedly have been praised as heroes for killing one of our own. Does it matter to you?

It matters to me; and apparently it mattered to at least some in the media, though seemingly not those in the main stream media. "It mattered a lot last Saturday to Dukeshier, 31, an air-conditioning installer from Peoria, and to John Jamison, 39, a Phoenix insurance adjuster." If you don't know why it mattered to these two men, then see this article: Take the time to remember a border hero, in The Arizona Republic at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0126roberts0126.html where you will get the explanation. Damn it, it ought to mater an awful lot more, to a whole lot more of people than it seems to. Take 10 minutes or so, look to the government links on the right side of my blog's home page. Then click on the links to contact the president, the vice president, your senators and your representative in the House. Write to them all about this and ask why it apparently does not matter, or at least not matter more to them. Demand that they speak out as loudly about this as they did about the shooting of the drug smuggler. Demand that they seek justice in this case, justice over the death of an American Citizen, over the death of an American Hero, over the death of a united States Border Patrol Agent, as much as they did over the shooting in the buttocks of a suspected drug smuggler slimeball. If you do not do at least that, then the answer to all those "Does it matter to you?" questions is simply - No you do not! If that is the case, shame on you for ever thinking yourself a decent person.

With true heartfelt sadness at the state we are in, I implore you to help make things better. Contact your elected officials and express your outrage, and outraged you should be, over this whole lack of attention to the falling of this hero. At least let this man's family know we care about him, and about them, our fellow Americans - do your part to help bring his killer(s) to justice by contacting your elected officials and demanding swift action, and swifter justice.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Could Not Stand The Heat...

...so I got out of the kitchen; and I sat down in the living room with a Scotch on the rocks. The aroma of the 1o year old Speyside was heavy, but nowhere near as fragrant as the unseen hints of exotic spices, apples, and baking pie crust that made there way to me from the kitchen. I had spent the half hour or so, before sitting down with my libation, preparing a breakfast delight for my wife - one of her favorites - homemade apple pie. I hope she thinks it as good as ones I have made in the past, since it has been a while. I can tell you it sure smells and looks wonderful. Maybe it is not as pretty as a pie made by a professional chef, or even a regular Sallie the Home Maker type, but it usually tastes pretty darned delicious if I must say so myself. I almost cannot wait to have a piece, so I had better get off the computer, and head to bed; if I stay up any longer, the pie will not make it through the night unscathed.

All the best,
Glenn B

Balleye's Firearms Tactics & Training: Push Off - Hip Shooting

Disclaimer: Let me start this one by saying that this is a potentially dangerous shooting technique for the shooter, for any bad guy adversary, and for bystanders, although it can also be a quite effective and desirable self defense technique under the proper conditions. It should only be employed in life threatening situations or in situations where you, or another innocent, have been threatened with serious bodily harm. It should only be practiced at a firearms range, and initially only under the supervision of a qualified tactical firearms instructor. Do not try what I am about to describe unless you are under the tutelage of a qualified tactical firearms instructor who is thoroughly familiar with the technique and who can demonstrate it to you, and supervise you in its use properly. If you do try this defensive shooting technique without, or even with, proper instruction - you do so at your own risk. If you read the following, in part or whole, you agree to hold me harmless, and indemnify me, for any outcome directly or indirectly related to your use, in any manner, of the following information, and your attempt to use or teach the following described shooting technique.

Most of us who have learned any manners at all probably have learned that it is impolite to point, but if you have also learned to shoot handguns, then you know that pointing your gun at the target is the only way to hit it directly (as opposed to ricochet shots). Along those lines tactical and defensive handgun shooting courses teach the shooter how to point the handgun at the target, how to acquire a proper sight alignment, and about proper sight picture. A little more down the road, a more advanced form of shooting often is taught, one that advocates a not aiming with the sights but rather aiming overt he top of the gun or down the length of your arms. This type of shooting is fine for fairly close in shooting (probably out to 10 yards for most shooters) and is called Point Shooting. Both aimed fire and point shooting essentially require the firearm to come into a position extended out in front of the shooter. This is all well and fine, that is if the adversary at whom you are shooting is far enough away not to be able to take your gun away from you when you extend it. If on the other hand you are in extremely close quarters (say three feet or less) to someone who is threatening you with deadly force and you fear imminent loss of life, or serious bodily harm, and you decide to shoot - well then either of those methods would be pointless (no pun intended).

So what is it you would do in such a situation. If you handgun is still holstered, then depending on the proximity of the bad guy, you may decide to try hand to armed combat - you using your hands to try to disarm your adversary. It simply may make more sense to do so than to try to draw your own weapon, but this is a consideration for another day and lesson. Today I am going to write about a situation in which you have either already have gun in hand, or have decided to draw it and shoot to defend yourself (or another innocent party). Here is the scenario - an adversary is very close to you - and you have need to shoot him/her. Before you start thinking, "Hey, wait a minute, I know distance is my friend in a gun fight, I am not going to get that close to a bad guy, forget about it because he has brought the fight to you and IS that close. For example, you are leaning against the outer wall of a building waiting for the local bus. A guy who is walking by suddenly turns to you, screams obscenities, and goes for a pistol. You see it coming out of his waistband. What do you do. Distance would be nice, but this guy is less than 3 feet away and is approaching you, while drawing a gun. You are in effect between a rock and a hard place. What do you do?

If you try to draw while running to get distance or get behind cover you may make it, but may put yourself more at risk. You must make a decision on what to do based upon the actual situation, and the totality of the circumstances including your prior training. If cover is literally a step away, you may want to go for it, then again. maybe you meed to do something else before you can get to it. There is another way to handle this situation which could provide you with more of a chance of survival should you decide to draw and fire while for the moment choosing or being forced (if cornered) to stand your ground. You can try to throw your opponent off balance or stride, make him react to you by you controlling the action, instead of you simply reacting to everything he does, and shoot him at the same time. You do this through the technique of push off hip shooting.

You immediately push out with your open weak hand (or the hand that does not draw your weapon), and you whack the bad guy as hard as you can in the upper body as high as you can without missing. In the process your hand will likely be coming up from your side and you may be given another target other than his upper body which to strike - his gun hand or gun. Don't go for it if you intend to shoot (this is my personal preference, though some would say 'sure, grab the bad guy's gun if you can'). Instead aim at the upper side of his chest on the same side (to you) as is your hand that is pushing out and up. Make sure you do this as you draw your weapon with your other hand, and keep that weak hand up in a defensive high position after you do so (the reason should become obvious but if not I will explain). Simultaneously draw your weapon with your strong (or other hand as some now say)hand but DO NOT EXTEND IT OUT IN FRONT OF YOU (because doing so only offers a gun take away opportunity to your adversary). Instead of extending it, as soon as the muzzle clears the holster or waist band, bring the blade of the shooting hand to your hip on the same side as your strong hand (much easier with a strong side draw holster than with cross draw, but possible with both), cant the top of your firearm out away from your body with blade of hand toward hip or actually your hip, point muzzle at your opponent from that position and fire. Remember in most, or at least many, cases you will want to point the muzzle up and in a bit, toward the center of mass of the bad guy, to compensate for it being off to your side and so low against your hip. Remember this is a close in firing technique, one where you are both within reach of one another - you do not want to start firing from the hip when the bad guy is too far off to hit with reliability - that would be a potential danger to others, and a waste of ammo. You also do not want to shoot yourself in your weak side arm or hand, thus the reason I told you to keep it high once you strike. I have actually seen a guy using this technique with right hand shooting his pistol, and left hand held low and getting powder burns - he was that close to shooting himself because he did not do it right. I would swear some of the bullets had to go through between his spread fingers!

If you manage to do so successfully, you will have then accomplished a few things. You will have taken control of the action, you will have made physical contact with a close in opponent and quite possibly stunned him and thrown him off his mark, you will have shot him and possibly stopped him. You are also now in a stronger weapon retention stance against this adversary than had you placed the firearm out in front of you. So, he has less chance of grabbing your weapon and you have it in a stronger position (closer to your body) to be able to more effectively retain it should he grab it. You also may well have opened up a line of retreat for you to seek cover by pushing him out of the way.

This is a technique that requires a lot of practice. When you first try it out, you should do so with a dummy gun - one that is absolutely incapable of firing. If you do not have one, try it with your strong hand in the classic stance of kids round the world, and use your index finger as the barrel of your imaginary pistol. This dry practice, and a lot of it with a non-firing gun, is essential to assure that you have gotten down the proper coordination of this technique. You see, if you do not correctly coordinate the movement of your off shooting hand, the one with which you push your attacker, then when you draw your handgun to fire there will be way too much of a chance that you will shoot yourself in that hand or arm. This is an inherently dangerous move, not just to your adversary if you do it right, but also to you if you do it wrong. The best way to learn it is not by reading about it here, but by asking a professional firearms instructor to teach you how to do push off hip shooting. Note most instructors call it something like push off shooting, but I stress adding hip to that terminology because I recommend you only shoot from the hip or just above it against your body, if in such a situation. Some shooter try to hold the gun in front of them, sort on on their bellies. This again offers the gun, your gun, to the bad guy for a takeaway, and if a pistol, the slide may come back, hit you flab or jacket or coat, and fail to eject or feed. Clothing interfering with the function of a pistol is also the reason I told you to place the blade of your hand on or near your hip, and slightly cant the top of the firearm away from your body just before you shoot.

Remember do not try this without proper instruction, if you do, you do so at your own risk.

All the best,
Glenn B

Something I Wonder About The Proposed Tax Rebate

I was wondering, since the Democrats seem so much in favor of giving people Tax Rebates, who have not paid taxes, does that mean that they also will be giving Tax Rebates to illegal aliens? Something to ponder, and I'll see if any of them will answer that question. Hmm, 20 million illegals x $300 each = $6,000,000,000. Let's hope this is not part of the Tax Rebate - Economic Bailout Plan because that would be per rebate year, so if this happens at all, then goes on more than a year - ouch to our economy - again thanks to idiotic politicians and more illegals. Wouldn't that just be grand! Hell no. We could use that money to round em up and deport em, and probably have something left over if we did it with fiscal responsibility.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Favorite Song - The Highwayman

Thanks to You Tube, and someone who uploaded this on that site, I can share it with you all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw1bHaUk1CM

Jen, over at Pen of Jen, asked a few questions of her readers in her blog today. One of them was whether or not you believe in an afterlife. Sure I do, just listen to this song, and you will know perfectly what I mean. And as I told her , if this song is not right, then there are the worms who will lick my bones, and in that way, life surely goes on after we are gone, life taken from our lives, so yes it is an afterlife of sorts. Hopefully though, it will be more like Johnny cash sings it in the last stanza of that song - The Highwayman, by the Highwaymen.

All the best,
Glenn B

Tax Rebates Like This Are Why Ultra Leftist Democrats Often Sicken Me

No I am not upset about there being a bailout plan, but nor am I thrilled by it. I think it would make better sense to let the economy, the banks, the other lenders, and the idiots who took out ridiculous mortgages to have to bail themselves out through use of a somewhat lost good trait - that of hard work. Foolish people who do foolish things with money should not be rewarded, and sometime should have to stew in the vile sludge of their own making so their eyes will be opened about making sound judgements in the future. I will accept though that the economy is in dire straits. I saw it coming and pulled my thrift savings money (sort of a government employee's 401K plan) out of the funds with risky investments and put them into government securities. Not much interest for sure, but much safer. Why others could not see this is beyond me as I am certainly no money guru, I tend to play it safe. Maybe others did not see it for whatever reason, and now they are socked down with bad debt; and now their bad judgements will ripple over to us and we will be effected negatively by a bad economy too. They need some help, and we need some help. Okay that could make sense. Both sides of the House and the President went with that way of thinking, now for the full House vote, then for the Senate.

If they all vote in the TAX REBATES I can say okay fine, someone who was a tax payer needs help, and if you are going to bail out the taxpayer who screwed up his finances, then you ought to reward the taxpayer who handled his or her finances without messing them up. The economy is getting tough on all them, so okay give all the TAX PAYERS a REBATE. Of course, that is not what the Democrats in the House of Representatives wanted, and demanded, in order for them to agree with the President's national economic bailout plan. They wanted more. They wanted not only to help out the TAX PAYER with a REBATE but they demanded that the REBATE of TAXES also be given to those who did not make enough to pay taxes! Here is what the Associated Press reported on this point:

"In a key concession to Democrats, 35 million families who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates." (see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22782454?GT1=10755).

Now correct me if I am wrong, but that will be a lot of money just for those who DID NOT PAY TAXES. Also correct me if I am wrong about this: a REBATE is pretty much money paid back to someone usually because they OVERPAID, or because they are in some way entitled to a REFUND of money that they PAID. I mean here it is in black and white from the dictionary at Encarta:

"re·bate [ r bàyt ]
noun (plural re·bates)
Definition:
money paid back: money that is paid back, e.g. because somebody has overpaid a tax or is entitled to a refund"

So what I need to ask, what every taxpayer in this country should need to ask, both of the President, and of the Congress, is just how in hell are people who did not pay any taxes, because their income was too low to have them do so, going to receive a REBATE of their taxes? Only a liberal minded politician with political interests in mind could demand something like this, and only a liberal left leaning RINO (Republican In Name Only) like George W. Bush could have said okay to it.

I am not big on the concept of public relief, but I do realize that sometimes people need it. If these people, who earned up to $3,000 but yet did not earn enough to pay taxes need help in these fiscally tough times, then give them fucking public assistance and call it just that. Do not disguise it as a REBATE of taxes when in fact they paid no taxes, and therefore it would be impossible to give them a rebate of taxes. I predict that somehow, in some sneaky manner that is now in the works, those same demoncrats who demanded this so called concession by the president in order to pass this bailout package, will in the future try to give these same people tax rebate after rebate, even when they have decided to cease giving rebates to those who actually worked for a living and paid their taxes. So, I will be writing to my Congressional representatives (in the House and the Senate) to pitch a bitch about this, and I'll write to the president, and vice president (is he still alive - have not heard a peep out of him in a long time - have we). I am going to demand, as a citizen, working member of society, tax payer, and voter, that at least this one part of the plan - the SO CALLED REBATE TO THOSE WHO DID NOT PAY TAXES - be taken out of the bailout plan. If they want a friggin rebate - then they should work like the rest of us, and pay taxes on their incomes like the rest of us - and therefore be eligible for a REBATE in the first place - like the rest of us. If they do not earn enough money to pay taxes, then no rebates for them, at least not until they start to pay for them like the rest of us. If they need welfare or food stamps or other forms of public assistance - and can prove they NEED it, then give it to them - but do not reward the millions in that 35 million who always expect to get something for nothing - and expect we taxpayers to foot the bill. Yes folks that is exactly what we taxpayers will have done should this bailout measure actually be voted in. We will have paid for those rebates - by virtue of having paid our taxes. Those other folks - they did nothing to pay for anything, and yet the democrats want to give them a reward for just that - for doing nothing! It makes me want to puke all over Nancy Pelosi and her whole entourage.

Am I pissed off - you bet - and if you are a regular reader of my stuff you know I am because I usually do not blog using the type of foul language that is peppered throughout my rant above (don't get me wrong, I use foul language regularly, just not here all that much); but you know what - I paid my taxes and am entitled to be mad about this, as are you if you are a taxpayer. Friggin Democrats who are like Pelosi and twist everything to their unreal way of seeing things are, in my personal taxpaying opinion, assholes!

All the best to my fellow taxpayers,
Glenn B

Just Two More Days...

...until I receive my metal detector if all goes as scheduled according to UPS tracking of my package. Now that I am free of working on the flooring in my son's room, I think I can safely leave some other chores until the weekend after this one coming up, and that means that maybe this weekend I'll get out, do some sweeping with the MD, do some digging in the dirt, get myself dirty and maybe rich at the same time. Nah, I don't believe the rich part, but it may really be fun to get out there every now and then and search for buried treasure. Who can truly say that there was not at least one time in their lifetimes that they did not think of prospecting or searching for treasure. Maybe Mother Teresa could have said it, but certainly none of you - at one time or another, from childhood through old age, it crosses the minds of all of us (well that is my guess anyhow). Finally, I am going to do something about those urges which have afflicted me since my very young years. Who knows, maybe - just maybe - I'll find Blackbeard's treasure or better. Chances are though I'll come up with something like an old rusty nail, but then again if it is holding together a treasure chest.........

Just dreaming, and sharing the dream with you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Rorke's Drift and Friedrich Von Martini

Friedrich von Martini may not be all that familiar a name to most of us, and among military buffs and gun collectors his name may be somewhat more familiar; but I can assure you that those who fought at Rorke's Drift on January 22, 1879 knew his name well. He was the man who in essence made it possible for about 140 British Soldiers to hold off an onslaught of approximately 4,000 Zulu Warriors, many of those warriors armed with modern rifles (for the time) as were the British. You see, earlier that same day, the Zulus Warriors led by King Cetshwayo kaMpande resoundingly defeated approximately 1,500 British forces Isandhlwana, where British General Lord Chelmsford greatly, and foolishly in the way only a snobbish British Lord could do, underestimated the fighting prowess of his enemy. According to a dispatch to the British government by Chelmsford after the battle, he stated that the Zulus had, in overwhelming numbers, launched a highly disciplined attack... That attack resulted in about 1,100 dead British forces, only 400 survivors, and only about 80 of them British or other European. This was the worst defeat of the British in history; and it reportedly resulted in the loss to the Zulus of many Martini-Henry breech loading rifles (though this is disputed by some, it was fact that the Zulus were well armed with rifles, and did establish harassing fire on the British during the battle of Rorke's drift later that same day).

Regardless of which rifle the Zulus used, it was that same breech loading rifle, the Martini-Henry, with which the British forces at Roarke's Drift (a supply/trading station, chapel, and filed hospital) were armed, when later that same day a large contingent of the Zulu army (called an impi) attacked. This impi, led by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, headed to Rorke's Drift against the orders of their king. It was a decision that Dabulamanzi would later regret. The British at Rorke's Drift had been made aware of the defeat of Chelmsford's forces, and prepared for battle. A decision was made by the three ranking officers: Lieutenant John Chard, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, and Acting Assistant Commissary James Langley Dalton that the British would remain within Rorke's Drift rather than try to flee the Zulus through open country, which most assuredly would have resulted in their deaths. So with approximately a force of 140 British soldiers, only about 100 of them fit to do battle, and a fairly large native force of the Natal Native Contingent commanded by European officers, the men at Rorke's Drift busied themselves and prepared for the worst.

Lookouts were posted high upon a hill overlooked the drift. Sometime, late that afternoon, one of the British lookouts upon spotting the advance of the Zulu Warriors was reported to have said: "Here they come thick as grass, and black as hell". This to my knowledge has only been widely disputed in the few decades, and as seen in Wikipedia it is now held by some that Sergeant Henry Gallagher yelled "Here they come, as thick as grass and as black as thunder!". If he actually said it either way, then he was right about them being as thick as grass (in overwhelming number of forces), and also right about equating their arrival with hell or thunder (because of the battle that they would wage). The photo above is an actual late 18th century picture of Zulu Warriors in full battle gear (Europeans behind them in the shot). The Zulus who approached Rorke's Drift numbered about 4,500 men, all disciplined and seasoned fighters, and as I said, many were armed with Martini-Henry Rifles. Of course, they did not know the intricacies of how to perform battlefield techniques with the rifle as they did with their own and more familiar weapons; but the British had been thoroughly trained in their use. While that training, weighted down by the poor decision making of lord Chelmsford, had done the British little good at Isandhlwana earlier that same day; the British at Rorke's Drift had something going for them other than those Martini-Henry rifles. They had officers who improvised, and who did not wear blinders seemingly as did Lord Chelmsford when it came to estimating the fighting skills of their enemy.

Through the use of standard defensive techniques such as barricading, and the use of volley fire, and through improvised use of handing out ammunition without the required signed chits (yes the British could be very anal about such things even requiring requisition forms in the heat of a battle - but not during this one), the British held off wave after wave of Zulu Warriors. However, all too soon for the British, the Zulus were successful in reaching weak points in the British defenses - including the hospital. During the hand to hand combat that then ensued, the Zulus set the hospital afire, and then relentlessly attacked it. Soon the British had to pull back further into the compound at which point they abandoned part of the hospital, and the British soldiers who were inside of it. At that point, not only did the wounded in the hospital fight for their lives, but as they held off the Zulu Warriors, one of the hospital patients started to hack his way through the walls, room to room, while his fellow patients defended their rear. While several soldiers in the hospital perished at the hands of their enemy, many of them were able to escape the hospital because of these actions. The action within the hospital was some of the fiercest of the whole battle.

The fighting continued throughout the night, though the relentless waves of attacks ceased in the early hours of the next morning to be supplemented by harassing Zulu fire from the hills overlooking the compound. This also ended a couple of hours later, still in the wee hours of the morning of the 23rd. At dawn, the British were astonished to see that the Zulus had departed the area, leaving their dead. A count of about 351 Zulu dead was made. The British had fought for over 10 hours against a vastly superior force, and now that force was gone. Then at about 0700, anther impi was spotted, but luckily for the British, no attack followed. At about 0800, Lord Chelmsford arrived on the scene with a large number of British troops, and it was then assured that no further battle would take place. All very lucky for them indeed because they were low on ammo, almost everyone of them had been wounded, and there was little hope they could have held out much longer. As it turned out though, they held out long enough, thanks in no small part to Friedrich Von Martini, and his Martini-Henry breech loading rifle. Because of that rifle, in the hands of those trained to use it, and because of absolutely outstanding defensive tactics and acts of courage (or desperation - they are close to, but not exactly, the same thing under such circumstances), the British losses were held to 15 dead, 8 seriously wounded, and just about all, if not all, of the remaining men wounded to some degree.

The Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military award was initiated by Queen Victoria in about 1856 because to honor the valor shown in the Crimean War. Since that time, up until today, only about 1,356 of those medals have been awarded. Due to their courage at Rorke's drift, 11 British soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross, more such awards for a single action (one battle) than in any other single engagement by British forces throughout the history of if the medal.

I really am no big history buff, and don't know a whole lot about military history, but this battle is certainly inspirational for anyone who may ever have to face the dangers of being attacked by a well disciplined enemy, and one in overwhelming number at that. To those in such positions today, such as those in our military services, or those in law enforcement, I say this: Train now as if your life depends upon your training, then train some more, but always be willing to use your brain to best apply that training; and never give up. That may just may save your life, and the life of your fellow serviceman or officer. Never forget, you are not only fighting to save yourself, but more importantly you are fighting to save the guy next to you, because as you are saving his life, he is likely doing the same for you. Now it is almost time for me to pull out a cold one out of my fridge, sit down to relax, and watch one of my favorite movies of all time: Zulu. Sure they take some liberties with the story, but it is surprisingly close to the reality of it, especially for Hollywood. It is now 129 years later, and I salute the memory of the men of both sides, for their bravery, determination, and patriotism, in what surely was, is, and will remain one of the most memorable battles of all time.

All the best,

Glenn B

For more info on Martini-Henry Rifles, and the Battle of Rorke's Drift, see these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorke (lots of info there)

http://www.martinihenry.com/index.html (lots of the above info, and the pic of Martini, ans one of his rifles were found there).

http://www.martinihenry.com/zulu-wars.htm

http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/myths/myths.htm (Lots of info there, even about current tourism to the site of the battle)

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

First Tom Tancredo, Now Fred Thompson...

Either one of them could easily have gotten my vote. Now all I can lament is: 'For whom is a guy to vote'? I know I am not going to vote for anyone on the left, so that rules out all the Dems, and also rules out all of the RINOs. So whom does that leave me? I hate it when it comes down to having a selection of what I consider to be two evils for whom to vote, and therefore being either forced to vote for the better of the two, or not vote at all. I think it may be time to send a donation to whom I see as the last viable candidate, if you want to know who that could be, then just check their records on gun rights. I'll vote for the one who truly believes gun control is being able to hit your target, that is if any of them believe it. Now I'll really have to do my homework and study up on each of them, because from what I know right now, none of them are friends of our right to keep and bear arms.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Pledge of Alelgiance and Patriotism - under God or not

I think it is rather defeating of our nation, this whole thing about the word God in the pledge of allegiance. Not that the words under God are included or excluded, but the unholy stink being made over it by supposed holy people. It was fine when those words were not there for over 60 years, since the poem was first said like this:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

The poem, only much later known as the Pledge of Allegiance (see: http://www.legion.org/national/americanflag/flagcode), was never intended to be a prayer when first penned, never intended to be a confirmation of a nation's or person's belief in God, never meant to be anything but a pledge of patriotism to make us all stand together as good Americans. If I want to be religious, I can go to church, or synagogue, or temple, or just get naked in the woods or meadows and whoop it up to the almighty spirit in the sky (but only if I was totally smashed of course). When I dedicate myself to my country, it is to my whole country, that 'We The People' thing, that 'United States of America' thing, that each and every citizen in the country thing - all regardless of our religious beliefs or lack of them. It was not written only for those who believe in any one God in particular, or to those who ever held a belief in any God at all, but rather was written with patriotism in mind. That is one of the reasons America is so great, you can be a patriot and believe in Jesus Christ, or be a patriot and believe in the God of the burning bush, or be a patriot and not believe in God at all - yet the people of this great country do their best to defend the lives and welfare of other Americans, and of our nation itself. Having differing religious beliefs, or not having any at all, and being able to pledge allegiance to our flag, and to our republic, an indivisible nation, despite all of our religious differences, that is a grand thing indeed. It is too bad, and truly sad, that ones belief in their God, in their brand of dogma, often puts one man at the throat of another, even at the risk of destroying that to which we have pledged our allegiance in this great nation. Too bad indeed, because if it keeps going the way it is, there is no hope at all for our nation surviving as we once knew it, and as we hope it to remain.

Don't get me wrong; I do not mind the words under God in the pledge, but nor do I condemn anyone who would rather pledge his or her allegiance to this country without bringing God into it. The latter type of person can be just as much, and even more, of an American Patriot than some who feverishly demand God be be put into the picture, and then believes it is his particular religion's God that is being named as the one mentioned in the pledge. If anyone was being true to their religion about this kind of a thing, they would know it is not for them to take it upon themselves to judge others under God's law, but rather it would be God who is to be the judge. As for determining who is a true Patriot, well those who live by the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, with or without the words under God, they are, in my opinion, true patriots and defenders of our nation.

All the best,
Glenn B

I put down some hard wood and finally laid the floor!

Now wait a minute, that may not be exactly as it sounds! What I mean to say is I finally have finished putting in (or laying) the plank flooring in one of the bedrooms, and yes the wood was hard indeed - solid oak. There are still some other things to do, like the 1/4 round molding, as trim all around the floor to molding edges, but that is nothing compared to all the splinters I have gotten already, and heck that will probably be clear pine. Much less likely to splinter, and easier with which to work.

Now back to Home Depot with two excess boxes of oak flooring (@ $59.80 each plus tax, you can bet I want a refund). I probably needed only one extra box to make sure there was a good measure in case of screwups, but I got 2 being the worry wart I am. Half of the wood in one of the boxes being returned is going back because it was warped so badly in one direction or another it could not be used, some other pieces were cracked (right out of the box), and others cut wrong at the mill. It pays to buy at least 10% extra when working with wood to cope with things just like that.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Guzzling, the Grub, and the Games...

...were more fun for me than I had expected they would turn out. I limited myself to only 3 beers before the end of the first game (I would be driving home later), but I pigged out more than I should have done. That was not surprising for me, but maybe little risky since I had a case of medium heartburn, aka: GERD, when Brendan, Julia and I arrived at Onkel Hans' place. I was smart enough to ask Hansie for a heartburn pill, and he was kind enough to give me something, before I started to chow down and wash it down with the Hefe Weisse Bier.

Once we got to his house though, first things came first and we were off to pick up the food for the night at a local pizzeria, and Hans started cooking some meatballs he would be making for us. Again, thank goodness, and Hans, for the heartburn med. The television/gameside fare consisted of eggplant rolatini, baked ziti, and chicken wings from the pizzeria; meatballs and jalapeno poppers (jalapenos overloaded with a shrimp stuffing), mozzarella sticks, chips, pretzels and nuts. On the side there were a few assorted dips consisting of pineapple/jalapeno sauce, chipoltle (spellling?) sauce, hot sauce for the wings and maybe one or two others. There was a decent choice of beverages from orange soda, to coke, to Dr. Pepper, to Kentucky Whiskey, rum, vodka and a choice of a few different beers. Not a bad set up for free (for free for us anyhow, uncle Hans footed the bill).

As for the games, let me clear the air outright - I am no sports fan - though I used to watch football fairly regularly about 20 or more years ago. The last game I watched before this afternoon's was last year during the playoffs, also at Hans' place. In essence I had no real favorites tonight except for the local team - The Giants, though I will say that was a tough call to make because I used to be a Greenbay fan long ago. First things first though, and let me redirect myself to things as they played out in order. The first game between New England and San Diego could only be seen as a good game if you won money, and or if you were a new England fan. Otherwise it out and out sucked as far as it went in the excitement department. It was plain boring for almost all the game. Can you spell lackluster!

Game number 2 for the day though was a different story. From the outright dirty play of the jerk on Green Bay with the dreadlocks (trying his best to look either like a pumped up Bob Marly or a Predator from the film by the same name), to the poor calls or lack of calls by the officials (what offsides, what pass interference, what unsportsman like conduct, and so on), to the see-saw and always close score, to the multitude of turnovers, to the down to the final seconds suspense as to whether or not someone could get it through the uprights, to Brendan and Julia each ribbing each other over who would win (Julia being a Giants fan, and Brendan probably rooting for the Packers just to be the typical boyfriend), it was one hell of an exciting game. I don't care for whom you were rooting, or if like me you were not necessarily a fan of anyone, or even of football; if you watched that game and had a pulse, you know it was exciting. Man oh man it had my heart pounding and my vocal chords straining, as it did all of us. Of course, those 3 scantily clad babes, who were in the stands, wearing yellow bikini tops in -24 degrees temps warmed things up a bit too.

Uncle Hans go to the point of not really caring, but had the Giants gotten that field goal in regulation time, and had it ended there, without going into O/T, he and his brother would have been 3,000 points the better off. As it turned out they had won already one for a quarter in the first game, then another in the second game; so they did okay. Since Hans did not have to drive anywhere, he was already home, he also had the luxury of being able to get tanked, which he did with some abandon. All in all a fun night for all of us there.

I wonder, should I break my habit this year and watch the Super Bowl? Maybe, just maybe, it could be another good game, especially if the Giants play as they did tonight and give the Pats a run for the money. That would be exciting whoever wins.


All the best,
GB

Hefe Weisse Bier, Good Eats, and Football...

...are on the agenda for today over at Onkel Han's house. This will be the first game of this season that I will have watched, but if the Giants win, maybe not the last. More blogging later. Right now I have got to run.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Edgar Allan Poe

...was born on January 19, 1809. He died on or about October 7, 1849 in a state of delirium, the official cause of death listed as 'congestion of the brain' During the 40 years of his life span, Poe was one of the most accomplished authors of his time, and has gone down in history as one of the most accomplished American authors of all time. As most of you should well know, he was and remains famous for his depictions of various terrifying scenes, be they of the realm of possibility, or of the realm of fantasy. His works included poetry, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, essays, and one novel or novella. He is probably best known for such works as: The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of The House of Usher, The Pit and The Pendulum; but he was also instrumental in the creation a tale of another type - the modern detective story.

Poe is quite possibly my favorite author; and he at least was certainly my favorite author when I was still endowed with youth of body and of spirit. I have read all of his poetry, all of his short stories, and his one novel. My favorite of Poe's works, from all of those that I have read, would have to be the detective stories. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, and, The Purloined Letter.I can tell you that Sherlock Holmes had nothing by way of detecting ability over C. Auguste Dupin. I have often wondered, was it a coincidence that his initials spelled out 'cad', which by definition is "an ungentlemanly man whose conduct in regard to woman is unscrupulous..."; or was Poe actually implying that a man with such a powerful facility of detection is by some requirement of nature destined to treat women in such a way. Furthermore is it a coincidence that the character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's (funny how Dupin and Doyle had the same initials albeit not in the same order) Sherlock Holmes later followed this trait in his dealings with women! But I digress from Poe, and lest I sully his memory with that of another great writer, let me return to my praise of him.

Poe was a literary genius, with few if any modern equals. He led a difficult and trying life, that was at times given the opportunity to come round the bend into the sunlight of happiness and wealth; but in the end Poe died as he wrote, troubled and tortured. For more information about him and his great works, see: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan19.html, and http://www.eapoe.org/index.htm. The second site listed having copies of many of his literary works available online.

All the best,

Glenn B

Something New But Not A Gun...

...should soon be on its way to me in the mail. I just ordered a Bounty Hunter Land Star metal detector. Hopefully the price I ordered it at matches the model I ordered. You see, Dick's Sporting Gods has the Land Star metal detector advertised on their web page with 2 totally different prices. It lists it under one listing with a price of $299.99, and under another listing with a price of $379.99, see: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=bounty%20hunter%20land%20star&origkw=bounty%20hunter%20land%20star&sr=1. Now as far as I am aware, Bounty Hunter only makes one Land Star model, and that can be seen here: http://www.detecting.com/products/product.cmdl?c=378c73459a2911d4. I hope Dick's is not screwing around and playing some sort of a game with a different model, which of course, will go back to them pronto for a refund. I have seen the Land Star at other places for the lower $299.99 price, so I am hoping that is right. With a $10 off coupon I had, and with a $40 gift card I also had, the price in total for me was $249.99 (with free shipping).

Once I get this uber goober nerdy device, you will be able to find me at the beach this winter, especially after storms at low tide, searching for washed up coins and the like. I may try it out first in my backyard, but last time I used my brother's metal detector back there I came up with a metal box filled with crushed/burned animal bones (there were enough little bits and pieces to assure me the stuff in there was bones). Maybe a buried pet's remains, regardless it was something I would rather not have found. Who knows what other 'treasure' awaits me in my own backyard! Well anyway, I figure having a metal detector will be something that will help me go out to get some sorely needed exercise. Walking and digging should do something to help out in that regard. I have a few locations in mind in upstate NY too, place in the forest where there are old ruins, and these are places that not many people ever visit because they are far off the beaten path.

Now as for actually finding anything of value with this thing, finding a nice item or two right off the bat would also probably assure that I keep at it. Then again I do not expect to get rich, but just wish to have some fun prospecting. If I do find anything of value, so much the better.

Now before it gets here, I had better scrounge up the cash, to put into the checking account, to pay the AMEX bill; and of the $249.99 I will owe because of it, I have about $200 of it now. So I only need to come up with $50 more so that my wife doesn't clobber me.

Holy cow it is 0340 (as in, in the morning). Can you say "insomnia", I had best be off to the sack.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Geography of Blogging

I was just looking over my site traffick on my SiteMeter.com account. I am always interested, in simply a curious sort of way, to see where in the world people are located when they are reading my blog.

I listed the most recent 10 below, well I took out the first because each day that I sign on it shows me too. (I have to figure out how to get it to ignore my signons, anyone know how?)

2
United States
3
United States
Saint Petersburg, Florida
4
United States
Berryville, Virginia
5
Germany
Geeste, Niedersachsen
6
United States
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7
United States
Crossville, Tennessee
8
United States
Hanover, Pennsylvania
9
United States
Baltimore, Maryland
10
Taiwan
Taipei, T'ai-pei
11
Australia
Sydney, New South Wales
12
United States
Henderson, Nevada
13
Japan
Tokyo
14
United States
North Brunswick, New Jersey
15
United States
Santa Ana, California
16
United States
Denver, Colorado
17
United States
Redmond, Washington
18
United States
Fulton, New York
19
Indonesia
Jakarta, Jawa Barat
20
United States

Of course, the great majority of the hits on my site come from the United States of America. It is soothing to know that it is mostly other Americans who read my stuff, heck it is geared toward you here in the USA. It is also kind of fascinating to see just in how many places around the world others have stopped by, have taken a load off of their feet for a few minutes, and relaxed with my blog in front of them. It is also a curiosity of mine to see what people from other countries read in my blogs. I usually get at least3 or 4 foreign hits per day, and as far as I can remember they have come in from all of the continents with the exception of Antarctica. Receiving one from way down that way (or is it way up that way) would be pretty neat.

I guess that after the USA, the country from where I get the most hits would be Canada. Next would be the United Kingdom (broken down further, specifically places in England). The next would be Australia. After that, my guess is, that most come from Germany, South Africa and Indonesia (all about equally). I get them from lots of other places now and then too. I got one today, or yesterday from a location I do not recall seeing in my hit list before - Israel! Whomever it was over there entered my blog at this page: http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2007/03/aiming-versus-point-shooting-in.html. If the person actually read what I wrote, then I can only hope he or she will put my thoughts on the subject to good and just use if the need ever arises. I hope you are one of the good guys, and not some over zealous nut on either side. Shalom.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ammo Price Differences

I just don't understand the current state of affairs regarding the pricing of ammunition. Sure I know, the excuses for higher priced ammo over the last few years have been:

1) Higher fuel prices, so the cost had to go up because it cost more to components to the factories, and ammo from the factories to the stores.

2) A shortage of components because of the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq.

3) Good old inflation.

Okay, I can buy these three reasons; but it seems that when the ammo manufacturers, and the ammo retailers, tell us there are price increases coming and these are the reasons, they leave out what surely, at least in my opinion, must be another reason - out and out price gouging due to greed. For example, I was at an ammunition retailer yesterday, as a matter of fact I was at more than one, in the form of sporting goods stores. I took a look at the price of Remington's .35 Remington Cor-Lokt, 200 grain soft points. One of the stores had a box of 20 rounds for about $24.99 plus tax. The other store had it for the same price give or take a dollar or so. Then tonight I checked online with a major retailer who specializes in great deals on sporting goods (among other things). They wanted $55.77 per box of 20 for the same exact ammunition. That is absurd since I got the same ammo from them for under $14.00 per box of 20 just last August. There is no legitimate way, as I see it, that they have boosted the price by 3.8 times since last August - not when the other retailers are selling it for so much less. As a matter of fact those other retailers had it for about $20 to $22 last August, so they have only gone up a few bucks in price during the time between last August and the present.

Not that anyone out there thinks this is just a one item fluke. The online store has 32 WIN Special for $19.77 per box of 20, same brand Remington, same bullet configuration Cor-lokt, 170 grain softpoint. This time it was one of the retail stores that seemed to have a way too high price; the store was selling the 32 WIN Special (same exact stuff) for almost $40.00 per box of 20 rounds! The role of possible price gouger seemed reversed between the store and the online seller.

This is not something limited to this small group of ammo types, nor to these two retailers. If you shop around there are what seem to be some out of this world price differences for the same exact types of ammunition between different retailers. Is there any legitimate reason for the difference in price between these retailers? If there is - well I cannot see it, but if you do then please explain it to me. Of course I guess these prices could be mistakes, but this type of 'mistake' if that is what they are, are becoming all too commonplace lately. I guess the old saying of Buyer Beware is one that makes a lot of good sense; so if you are in the market for ammo, don't be a schmuck, shop around before plopping down your hard earned gelt.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gander Mountain...

...sounds like a nice place to go hiking, hunting, bird watching, camping or whatever. The name brings to mind the songs of birds in the treetops, the wind rustling leaves, geese flying north for the season (or please spring hurry up), fresh - cold - clear streams running full of trout, a secluded mountaintop pond loaded with smallmouth bass, a 12 pointer watching from the edge of the woods - oh you get the picture. Well I was there yesterday out in the parking lot. No its not a mountain with its own parking lot, but was the Gander Mountain store in Middletown, NY. I had occasion to be in Middletown yesterday, and I stopped in at Gander Mountain to use the facilities when nature called. Of course once inside, I could not resist some window shopping - so to speak.

Gander Mountain has a lot of things that the outdoorsman type of sports enthusiast would like. They have everything from fly fishing gear to paintball guns; stuff like: firearms, ammunition, archery gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, boats, motors for boats, camping gear, hiking boots, outdoors clothing, and on and on. They even sold live bait, and when I saw that how could I resist buying some worms for my pet musk turtle! I think that was what did it, I grabbed a cup of worms, then I started grabbing targets, fishing lures, gun cleaning patches, silicone desiccant for my gun locker, outdoors sports magazines, and whatever else I could think of for which I had a need.

I don't get a chance to visit a store like this very often, one dedicated mostly to the sports of hunting/fishing/shooting/boating/camping. Yes there is a Dick's Sporting Goods close to where I live, but they have drifted more toward the likes of the MetroSportsman than to the traditional outdoors man what with there bicycle department, their weight training stuff, their running shoe department, and whatnot. Nothing bad about that, Dicks is a somewhat more generalized kind of sporting foods store. Gander Mountain is a bit more dedicated to the hunter/fisherman types. So all in all I liked my visit to Gander Mountain yesterday, it was a rare treat for me. In the past several years I have been to stores like Gander Mountain, and Cabelas (another more of a hunter/fisherman type store), and Bass Pro Shops (ditto) only about once per year. They are just not all that close to home for me to go to them any more often.

I find all of these places to be okay; but I have to say that I think I actually prefer Gander Mountain. Out of the three chains I just mentioned, I have been to Cabelas the most often. I have visited the one in PA near Allentown, and have been lucky enough to visit their main store in Nebraska (and maybe another one somewhere else, but I cannot remember for sure right now). I have not been all that impressed with Cabelas. Yes I was impresses by the great displays of museum quality animal mounts that they have throughout their stores, all in natural like settings, and I was impressed by the large aquariums full of native American freshwater fish they have; but the fact is I was nowhere near impressed by the selection of merchandise on their racks and shelves at either location that I visited. As a matter of fact I was quite disappointed on y first visit to Cabelas in PA. I was looking to buy ammunition, and figured to get some good prices on it. I also thought, maybe - just maybe - they would have some really good prices on used guns. Well I was wrong on both counts. Their ammunition shelves were almost bare relatively speaking. They were out of stock of ammunition in several calibers, and had very few brands to select from in other calibers. I thought this was possibly due to the fact that I was visiting them just after Christmas, but when I again visited the same store at another time of year - the same thing - and no it was not just after hunting season. As to the prices on used rifles, as far as I am concerned they could not have built a roof high enough for those prices not to have gone through. Oh well, I bought some stuff each time and was on my way, a not so happy camper. There store in Nebraska was a bit better stocked, but again no great selection of ammo in my opinion.

As for Bass pro Shops, I don't remember where I went to one of them, but I seem to recall they had what I needed for fishing; and I think they had other items too - like hunting stuff. I vaguely remember that it was a nicer experience that either of the Cabelas I visited; but nothing to write home about.

Gander Mountain stick in my mind a little better than Bass Pro Shops, maybe because I was to at least GM twice (I think I was also once at another location where I visited one a third time). Besides that, they seem to have better stocked shelves than did Cabelas. The Cabelas store in PA was, if I recall correctly, much bigger than the Gander Mountain in Middletown, so it should have been stocked better, but I don't think that was the case. For example when I looked at the ammunition supply that Gander Mountain had on hand yesterday, they had just about everything I could imagine the average shooter, and even the somewhat rabid gun enthusiast, in the USA would have a need for; and they had lots of it. There shelves did not have bare spaces as did those at Cabelas when I visited there. Instead, Gander Mountain had the boxes of ammo neatly stacked, row upon row upon row. Sadly though prices were nothing to be desired as far as I am concerned. Last time I bought .35 Remington ammo for my Marlin 336, I paid about per box I think it was $24 plus tax at Gander Mountain yesterday. Yes ammo prices have gone up, but not that much since I last bought that .35 Remington last August. As a matter of fact I bought that ammo for $13.97 a box plus shipping. Now while you may think shipping added considerably to that price, I do not believe it would have added more than what it cost me to drive about 180-185 miles round trip to get to Gander Mountain from my home; remember that gas is going for $3.25 to $3.50 a gallon for regular around here, and I get about 30MPG on the highway, but also do a good amount of that trip - about 60 miles in total - through a fairly congested urban area (is that a nice way to refer to the roads in and around NYC). Yes the prices seemed high at Gander Mountain. The thing is though, if you needed it, they likely had it.

While I decided against buying any ammo, I did pick up gun cleaning patches (expensive too but that is all over), targets, some fishing hook and lures, live bait (for the turtle - really), and some other odds and ends. I was thinking of maybe buying a used rifle there, but from what I could tell, they had no great deal on used rifles. As far as the new rifles and handguns went, I guess their prices seemed about average. Now while the atmosphere was much nicer at Gander Mountain than someplace like Walmarts, I am pretty sure I could have done better at Walmarts, and the closest Walmart to my home that sells firearms and ammo is nowhere nearly as far away as 90 miles (45 miles, maybe even 60, but not 90). Before I go to far afield off subject, let me get back to Gander Mountain. Yes the atmosphere at Gander Mountain was nice indeed, almost making it worth a trip just to shop there. The sales clerks were courteous and friendly, they knew there stock, and were eager (but not in your face eager) to help the customers.

All in all I guess it was worthwhile for me to have stopped inside. Of course had the prices been somewhat better, I would have wound up buying an lot more, and probably wound up getting a scornful look from the wife when the next credit card bill arrived in the mail. As it was I spent about $95, for what did not seem like about $40 worth of stuff; but then I am just past 1/2 a century old, and I remember when candy bars were a only nickel.

Happy Hunting,
Glenn B

Death Wish and Bernhard Goetz - Both An Inspiration

I watched Death Wish last night. Lousy filming, lousy sound, lousy acting (except for Charles Bronson and Vincent Gardenia), but a great plot; and an absolutely powerfully inspirational film. I remember back in the mid-late 70's, and the early to mid 80s, that this movie was played to the hilt on local TV stations whenever the crime rate went up in New York City. If I recall correctly, there was at least one period in there where it was on one channel at least 10 times in a one week period. That was something almost unheard of back then on broadcast television especially considering the fact that the stations all tuned out by about 4AM at the latest. Yes, if you turned on the TV in the wee hours of the AM, all you might get was a test pattern. Still though, one of the local channels, it was either channel 5, 9 or 11, and I think it was channel 9 (don't recall the actual channel call sign - but maybe WXOR or WPIX, or something like those) played it over and over again at the height of a crime wave that had muggings, assaults, rapes, and crimes on the streets and in the subways going through the roof. It was sort of as if this movie was seen as the Great White Hope because in those days most of the crime was attributed, correctly or incorrectly, as caused by African-Americans. Well after a week or two of these channels playing Death Wish over and over again, I guess the bad guys, whatever their race might have been, got the idea that maybe, just maybe, there was some New Yorker out there who was going to take the hint, and who was going to ride the subways or stroll the streets just waiting for some goon to try to accost him and then BANG, BANG, BANG! I know there was probably at least one New Yorker doing just that, hoping for an arse hat to try to mug him, and then he (the good guy) was hoping to get to act in self defense, or defense of another, and would put a stop to the bad guy. Of course I was working my first job as a Border Patrol Agent from late 79 through October 83, so if it was me I would have had to have been on vacation; although after 83 it would have been a different story. In other words no it was not me, but had I been accosted with life threatening force I certainly would have defended myself with the same.

So I am not saying it was me though it could have been me, but I am saying that I know of at least one good citizen who did this quite a few, or should I say several, times. Heck there must have been more than just me one guy out there on the lookout for evildoers. If not, at least the bad guys must have thought it the case, because sure as shootin the crime rate took a nosedive after this movie was played over and over again. I have got to hand it to whomever it was who made the decision to play this movie in what seemed like an almost constant barrage of the senses if only because it was almost a public service message. Besides that is was a message that seemed to work, at least temporarily. Then again, it wasn't just a television fantasy, or the product of the paranoid imaginations of the dirtbags who commit such crimes, because there were armed citizens, and even some real vigilantes, out there. In the mid seventies they were out there with whatever weapons they could bring to hand like baseball bats, chains, clubs, canes, knives, machetes, and even just fists; and they were looking for The Son of Sam. I know, I was out there hoping to find him too. All of my friends were there in 76 and 77 - but all we had were bats and chains; yet I consider him lucky we did not come across him in the act. We would have been richer with the reward, the people of NYC would have been safer without him, and he would have been – well let’s just say he would not have been on a killing spree any longer.

Then, a short time later, in the early 80s there was another guy out there who was maybe or maybe not actually looking for trouble, and who was ready if the worst came upon him. He was Bernie Goetz. That was in December 1984. If Mr. Goetz does not fit, to some small degree, the character of Death Wish's Paul Kersey, then no one does. Bernie Goetz was riding on the NYC subway when he was approached by at least two of four scumbags African-American youths, at least one of whom demanded money from him. After the demand was made twice, Mr. Goetz rose from his seat, drew a .38 caliber revolver, and fired five shots in rapid succession. Here is how the shooting part it is reported in Wikipedia (I don’t put too much faith in Wikipedia but as I recall this part seems pretty accurate, although the part about the screwdrivers is questionable to me – as I recall two of them were armed with screwdrivers and the police found them to have been armed with such, but you have to go to the complete Wikipedia article to read about that at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Goetz ):


"After the second demand or request for money, Goetz rose from his seat, and from beneath his blue windbreaker fast-drew a .38 Special five-shot Smith & Wesson revolver and fired five shots with speed shooting. (Speed shooting is a very fast technique, primarily effective at close range, where the shooter initiates trigger pull prior to the sights being aligned on the target.) In media interviews, Goetz, who had prior firearms and target shooting experience, described how he discharged all five rounds in less than 1.6 seconds. (Some eyewitness testimony stated all shots were fired within one second.) The first hit Canty in the center of the chest; the second shot struck Allen in his back and came out his arm; the third shot hit the subway wall just in front of Cabey; the fourth shot hit Cabey in the left side, severing his spinal cord and rendering him paraplegic; the fifth shot went through Ramseur's arm and lodged itself in his left side. Goetz then immediately looked at the first two men to make sure they were "taken care of." Goetz then saw Cabey moving on the bench and confessed to approaching Cabey and saying, "You don't look too bad; here's another," and then attempted to shoot Cabey again in the stomach, with an empty gun. Cabey, who was briefly standing prior to the shooting, was sitting on the subway bench during all attempted shots. In his subsequent police statement, Goetz explained, "if I had had more [bullets], I would have shot them again, and again, and again." All four men survived, though Cabey was permanently paralyzed and suffered brain damage as a result of the bullet that severed his spine."

Goetz fled. He eventually turned himself in to authorities. At least one of the four youths was reported to have admitted they were intent on robbing Goetz. Even though he surrendered, if Mr. Goetz would have kept his mouth shut, if he would have let the witnesses do the talking, if he would have let the 4 guys he shot do the talking, he probably only would have been convicted of possession of a firearm and never been convicted in civil court. Heck the first grand jury did not charge him with anything but weapons charges, they found he had not committed a crime in the shootings. A second grand jury indicted him but the charges were later dismissed in part reportedly because of the fact that one of the subjects had said they were robbing Goetz at the time of the shootings. The NY State Court of Appeals (NY’s highest court) overturned the dismissal of the charges and Goetz went to trial. He should have kept his mouth shut, but unlike Paul Kersey in Death Wish, Mr. Goetz apparently suffered from Ralph Kramden’s biggest fault: A BIG MOUTH!

It is quite possible, that had Goetz remained silent, he would have even been told to get out of town as had Paul Kersey been told by the NYPD detective played by Vincent Gardenia in Death Wish. Instead of keeping quiet though, Goetz blabbed; not only did he blab, but he ranted. He told police that he wanted to kill the 4 whom he had shot, he said he wanted to murder them. He appeared to be a raving madman. I think in fact he was somewhat mad, but I think that was after the fact, due to the shock of the shooting. My personal opinion was then, and is now, that Bernhard Goetz fired the first shots in self defense, and continued shooting in the heat of the moment. After all was done he was, in my opinion, foolish. Yet he was, in my opinion, foolish for only one thing that he did. He was not foolish because he illegally carried a gun. While I do not condone violating the law, I can understand why someone would want to be armed on the NYC subway system - especially back then because it was worse than the wild west if only because those who wound up getting robbed or otherwise accosted had no way to reasonably fight back. They lived in a society where just about only the bad guys were armed (hmm, just like that today as far as being armed in NYC goes). He was not foolish because he practiced with his gun. The fact is he was quite the marksman, and he was quick too. He knew how to shoot for sure, and if you are going to carry a gun you may as well know how to use it well. He was not foolish because he was willing to shoot someone to protect himself or others from grave bodily harm or death at the hands of people he believed were bad guys. That is the right, and the duty, of every human being. He was not even foolish because he may have jumped the gun and shot these guys before they actually posed a verifiable threat to his life or limbs (though I think had it spelled it out without bravado, after thinking first, he certainly would have explained his way out of the shooting charges as self defense and would have won his civil case). That decision, the decision to fire when he did, was one made under the stress of the moment, and had he kept quiet, the chances are that witnesses who came forward would have supported his side of the events enough, and the 4 youths reported conflicting stories would have discredited themselves enough to have Mr. Goetz not only walk free on the shooting/attempted murder charges, but also walk away with all of his money in his pocket. As it wound up, he did get robbed in the end. No he was not foolish for any of those things; but he was, in my opinion, foolish because of his big mouth by which he wrote his own express train ticket to the slammer on weapons charges, and the sentence was increased after he lost an appeal; and because I believe it was in great part his boasting that caused him to lose the civil trial wherein he lost 43 million dollars. A lot of money. Of course he filed bankruptcy and reportedly has not paid anything yet, but should the he ever win the lottery, he will not likely see a penny of it. The amazing thing is that he was not convicted of the shooting charges (which in fact were attempted murder charges), but only of a weapons charge. Still had his mouth remained sealed, he probably would have not been charged with attempted murder, and would have likely been hailed as a hero, given a parade, given some sort of a reward, never been found guilty of anything in either the criminal or civil cases, and he maybe would have done no jail time at all. Those who lived through that time in NYC can tell you, Bernie Goetz was considered a hero by most New Yorkers. Even the CORE was standing strong behind him. As it was though, his case dragged on for many years, he was subjected to criminal trial, civil trial, a criminal conviction, a jail sentence, and a decision against him in civil court by which he owes someone 43 million dollars. There is one other thing though about which he was not, in my opinion, foolish at all; and I have got to say this one thing makes up for anything he did that may have been foolish in my view. He came out a survivor, and a winner, in a fight for his life because he was prepared to do just that, fight for his life.

I don’t know if those guys were really trying to rob him, I believe though that such is exactly what they were doing. For all I know, they could have been angels, but the record seems to indicate at least some of them were not. The thing is though that, in my opinion, Mr. Goetz read the situation correctly, and he was, as I believe it to have been, in grave danger when he drew and fired; or at least a reasonable person would have thought so. (this case later set new precedent in that 'what a reasonable person would have believed now included what a reasonable person would have believed based upon his own life's experience). Heck at least one of the guys later said they were robbing him, and if I recall correctly three of them wound up admitting such. I do think that Mr. Goetz sort of flipped out after the first shots, or maybe just because he thought he was being robbed, then he fell back on stuff he had seen in movies, and that included his big mouth ala Clint Eastwood characters like Dirty Harry. Lucky for him though, someone, or some few, on the jury on the criminal case must have seen Death Wish. It was an inspirational movie back then; and I am pretty darned rootin tootin shootin sure that Bernie Goetz was inspired by it; and so were his jurors at least on the criminal trial. They were also effected by something else – the crime rates. Read the Wikipedia article in full, look at the crime rates in NYC as compared to the rest of the nation – 70% higher in violent crimes! WOW. NYC needed something, and had Charles Bronson been available to take the place of Bernie Goetz in real life, the city of New York would have greeted him with open arms. Instead Bernhard Goetz, filled in for Bronson when it came to reality. When you think about it, had Goetz never turned himself in (it was imminent though that he would be captured as the police were already zeroing in on him), had he somehow remained free and then returned to New York once things had cooled down, well maybe - just maybe - he would have done it again. Maybe, like the character of Paul Kersey, Goetz would have gone hunting, so to speak, using himself as bait on a regular basis. He would have gone looking for trouble in the hopes of doing something about it. My guess is that if such would have happened, if by some quirk of fate Goetz had played and replayed the role of Paul Kersey in real life, and had kept his mouth shut as did Charles Bronson’s character in Death Wish, the crime rate in NYC would have hit rock bottom, and the people of NY still would be holding Bernie Goetz 'Mystery Vigilante Day' as an annual celebration, and had the NYPD ever by chance identified him, they very well may have told him: "Get out of town", and then just looked the other way.

Yes Death Wish was one hell of an inspirational movie, and it still is today. Bernhard Goetz's actions were also inspirational, so much so that while I was watching Death Wish, I was also thinking of him and the 4 guys he shot. I watched the movie last night, I thought about Bernie Goetz, I thought about my son Brendan Bernhard Bartley (a coincidence to the Goetz name, the Bernhard in my son's name comes from my great-grandfather) and my having taught him how to shoot so as to be able to not only enjoy the sport but to be able to defend himself; and then this afternoon I went to the Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, and I cranked off about 300-400 rounds. No I am not about to take a ride on the subways, armed to the teeth, I gave up riding the NYC transit system, except for rare travel on it, long ago. Nor am I going to, as much as I might be inspired to, go for a late night stroll in the streets of any of the boroughs of NYC taking the chance that I either will wind up a statistic in the mix of some dirtbag's rap sheet or a hero; last time I did something like that (not pre-intentionally mind you) I wound up getting the nickname Ballseye!

By the way, just to let you know: Charles Bronson, he is gone forever, but Death Wish remains an all time classic. As for Bernie Goetz, he and those shootings also remain an all time classic. According to Wikipedia, he is still living in NYC. He has run for mayor and other public office. He is involved in the so called 'Squirrel Community' and he cares for and feeds NYC squirrels (a favorite pastime of many New Yorkers). He still runs his own electronics related business, which is supposedly called Vigilante Electronics (I will have to look him up someday and maybe visit his shop if he has one), and supposedly has not paid a cent of that settlement. I'd be willing to bet one other thing about him, I'd bet that no one has had the balls to try to rob him since way back in 1984; there is just too much of Paul Kersey in him. Oh, and lest I forget, the crime rate in NY City started to plummet after the Goetz shootings, and they then remained in a downward spiral after that. Of course this is not just due to what he did on the subway, but you can bet he and his actions were at least in part one heck of an inspiration for bad guys to think twice. One other thing to bet on, at least I would bet it - he saw Death Wish before the shootings.


All the best,
Glenn B