I Have Added A Few New Links To Blogs...

...and you can find them over on the right uner the Grumps, Geeks, and Geniuses - Bloggers All Worth A Read header. They are:

islam - The Religion of Peace

and:

NeoCon Command Center

Enjoy.

All the best,
Glenn B

Well, Romneys out so it just got a lot sadder!

Those are the words from one of my reader's, Rita, in reply to my earlier post Politics Is Sad. Yes, in my opinion, and the following is my opinion, things certainly have taken a sadder, more somber hue to them since this afternoon when Mitt Romney dropped out of the running for the republican nomination to run for the presidency. I truly don't know which of the two remaining Republican candidates (no I am not including Ron Paul - him getting nominated would be preposterous, almost as much as is he running as a Republican).


My bet is that when the smoke clears, and the mirror have all been broken, we will be left with McCain as the nominee for the Republican Party; and therefore my guess too is that in the next few years a serious movement by the conservative base of the Republican Party will move away and regroup as its own new party. For now though, it looks as if George W. Bush may wind up looking like a conservative Republican (and he certainly is not that) when viewed next to the likes of John McCain if he is eventually elected to the presidency.


I will hand McCain one thing though, he is tenacious; he does not surrender easily, or at all. That could be great for the war on terror, but I sort of doubt it when I think of his views on illegal aliens who have entered our country through a criminal act. If he becomes president and remains as lax on immigration as he is now, our future as a nation with its own culture, its own borders and its own identity will have been lost. He has to realize that the great majority of Americans wants a stop to the flow of illegal aliens across our borders, and the removal of most of them who are here illegally. He does not have to give up, or surrender on this issue, he has to realize that as president he needs to bow to the will of the People. If he does not change on this issue, then no matter how hard he fights against terrorism, we will lose the war, because they will flow across our borders like water in a raging river. Yes I know he pledged today to close down and secure the borders. It will do little if he allows to remain within our borders those criminals who have already entered our nation illegally, because they will only lobby, cajole and arm twist until he someday reopens the borders. What a shame this guy now looks like a shoe in. Just like GWB, he claims to be strong in the war on terrorism, yet he wants to allow all the illegal vermin to remain behind, and claims he will close the borders. They were pledged to have been closed already, but the fence is still not up - now is it. Nope folks it is not, and McCain promises to just be another George W. Bush, a version 2.0. In addition he wants to join hips with the likes of feingold and Kennedy, and it looks as if the Republican Party has slapped its conservative core in the face, heck likewise with its moderates too. What a shame indeed, it is truly sad.

All the best,
Glenn B

Remington 241 Takedown Rifle - Partial disassembly and reassembly using takedown feature

BB's Blog reader Fred sent me an email saying he just picked up a model 241 for himself. He is unaware as to how to operate the takedown feature of this rifle and asked that I let him know how it's done. It is a simple operation as follows. Remember to always make sure to follow the rules of firearms safety when you carry out this, or any, disassembly/reassembly of a firearm.

Disassembly: (Note: In the video I say this is one easy step, but as you can see here the takedown can be broken down into several, although still easy, steps).

1) As with virtually any firearm that you are about to disassemble, make sure that it is unloaded.

2) Grasp the rifle, preferably with two hands, one at the rear of the barrel assembly, and the other on the receiver.

3) With a finger of either hand, push or pull the take-down button toward the rear of the receiver. The takedown button is located on the left side toward the front end of the receiver.

4) Holding the button toward the back of the receiver, give a twist to the barrel at the breech end, twisting it as far as it will go in a clockwise direction (when looking from stock toward muzzle).

5) Pull the barrel assembly free of the receiver. Now your model 241 is ready for cleaning, storage, or carry in the taken down mode.

Reassembly:

1) To reassemble the rifle, hold receiver in one hand, barrel assembly in the other hand, and place the breech end of barrel assembly into the receiver in same position as it was when you removed it, and so it is fully seated. Then twist the barrel assembly counter-clockwise (when looking from stock toward muzzle) back into place. When doing so you should hear an audible click indicating that the takedown button has reengaged.

Note that is you have a different version of this rifle than mine, yours may operate differently than the one in the video, and may require different steps for disassembly and/or reassembly.

This may not be Hollywood, or even Bollywood, level video; but I think you get the picture.

All the best,

Glenn B

Politics Is Sad

It is a sad day when Republican voters across America vote for a Republican in the same manner that feel good Democrats & Liberals vote for their candidates. What I mean by that is that most republican voters yesterday in the states won by McCain voted for the guy that made them FEEL better, and probably not for the candidate who would actually do better once in office. I voted but not for McCain.

They who voted for McCain base their votes on lots of things:

1) They believe him a war hero. This translates to they feel bad for him for having been held prisoner by the NV for so many years; and they feel bad about our boys and girls getting killed, hurt, or captured in Iraq and Afghanistan. So they get the weight of their guilt trip off of their shoulders by voting for McCain. Yeah I feel bad about all that too, but sometimes you need to bear the cross to make the right choice.

2) They believed he would, based upon his wartime experience, make the better commander in chief, and this makes them feel good. Maybe and maybe not. In fact, McCain has little if any high level experience in running things. Romney beat him here with his gubernatorial experience, albeit not military command experience.

3) McCain is not a Mormon, neither are the great majority of Americans. Yes this is a feel good issue for Christians, and is probably the only reason that Huckabee remains in the race to try to keep votes from Romney. Huckabee calls himself a good Christian, he should, in my opinion, be ashamed of himself. He will not win, has no chance to win, but he will make every effort to have another Christian (by his definition) win.

4) McCain is seen as more moderate and this makes many people feel all goofy and gushy and good about themselves because they have not voted for a hardliner. Well this is about as far from the truth as could be possible in my understanding. McCain is a liberal Republican. He is about as liberal a Republican as I have ever seen. He is the one who wanted to work out campaign finance reform with FEINGOLD. He is the one who wanted to work out amnesty for illegal aliens with TED KENNEDY! He repeatedly bows down to the far left. If people would only open their eyes and clear out the goofiness they would see him as such, and see that Romney is much more the moderate as compared to a more conservative candidate as was Ronald Reagan. But people hear that Romney is more conservative, and they also hear all this talk of extremists, and they do not want to be too far one way, they want to feel good as being moderate, so they wrongly pick the liberal Republican as the moderate.

5) They feel good voting for McCain because he looks like grandpa, and how could grandpa be wrong.

You get the idea, and there are a bunch of other feel good reasons that people probably voted for McCain. The thing is though, when and if the reality of him becoming President ever strikes, those same feel good folks will awaken one day feeling miserable that they put this RINO into office. Romney is the more moderate candidate. He is also the more conservative candidate. Of course I would liked to have had a choice in my state's primary for someone other than the 4 goofballs (McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Paul) who remained in the running. Those such as Tancredo, or Thompson (both moderate to strong conservatives, but not extremists), or even Giuliani (a socialy moderate conservative) who would have been better than the remaining candidates (It is a sad day when Republican voters across America vote for a Republican in the same manner that feel good Democrats & Liberals vote for their candidates. What I mean by that is that most republican voters yesterday in the states won by McCain voted for the guy that made them FEEL better, and probably not for the candidate who would actually do better once in office. I voted but not for McCain.

They who voted for McCain base their votes on lots of things:

1) They believe him a war hero. This translates to they feel bad for him for having been held prisoner by the NV for so many years; and they feel bad about our boys and girls getting killed, hurt, or captured in Iraq and Afghanistan. So they get the weight of their guilt trip off of their shoulders by voting for McCain. Yeah I feel bad about all that too, but sometimes you need to bear the cross to make the right choice.

2) They believed he would, based upon his wartime experience, make the better commander in chief, and this makes them feel good. Maybe and maybe not. In fact, McCain has little if any high level experience in running things. Romney beat him here with his gubernatorial experience, albeit not military command experience.

3) McCain is not a Mormon, neither are the great majority of Americans. Yes this is a feel good issue for Christians, and is probably the only reason that Huckabee remains in the race to try to keep votes from Romney. Huckabee calls himself a good Christian, he should, in my opinion, be ashamed of himself. He will not win, has no chance to win, but he will make every effort to have another Christian (by his definition) win.

4) McCain is seen as more moderate and this makes many people feel all goofy and gushy and good about themselves because they have not voted for a hardliner. Well this is about as far from the truth as could be possible in my understanding. McCain is a liberal Republican. He is about as liberal a Republican as I have ever seen. He is the one who wanted to work out campaign finance reform with FEINGOLD. He is the one who wanted to work out amnesty for illegal aliens with TED KENNEDY! He repeatedly bows down to the far left. If people would only open their eyes and clear out the goofiness they would see him as such, and see that Romney is much more the moderate as compared to a more conservative candidate as was Ronald Reagan. But people hear that Romney is more conservative, and they also hear all this talk of extremists, and they do not want to be too far one way, they want to feel good as being moderate, so they wrongly pick the liberal Republican as the moderate.

5) They feel good voting for McCain because he looks like grandpa, and how could grandpa be wrong.

You get the idea, and there are a bunch of other feel good reasons that people probably voted for McCain. The thing is though, when and if the reality of him becoming President ever strikes, those same feel good folks will awaken one day feeling miserable that they put this RINO into office. Mark my words on it, and call me on it in about 3 or 4 years to tell me if I was wrong.

Romney was and remains the better choice to be a good president for America; heck as much as I hate to say it - so does Hilary Clinton (that is how strongly I oppose McCain). I doubt though that I could vote for her. Neither one of them in office would make me feel good, but both probably would do better by the country. Romney would almost certainly do much better than McCain. Well, with what we have left for whom to vote, I shiver at the thought of the next 4 years.

All the best,

Glenn B

Quarterly Qualifications

It was a warm day for one in the beginning of February today, at least by New York City standards, warm and damp, and even sometime wet. The steel gray clouds held low and promised rain, and every now and again they obliged that promise today, and the rains fell. Mostly gentle drizzle, sometimes a bit harder, up to a steady rain, but nothing to severe. Then back to being just damp again. That was okay by me, it had my spirits pretty high because I had to go to the range today for quarterly qualifications and the range is an outdoor one. With great timing, great for us shooters, the skies held back their tears as we left our training in the classroom and headed outside to shoot. So it turned out to be damp and warm, at least for a February qual. Warm meaning about in the low to mid 50s; and you can bet, that was good.

What wasn't so good though was my first score on the pistol course of fire. I have not shot as poorly as that in at least 24 years , and I mean that literally. When my range officer got done scoring it, he looked at it again, and asked me: "Where were you?" Where was I indeed to have scored a 220 out of a possible 250. I don't know, though I can think of some excuses, but excuses don't make one shoot better, or do they. I figured on what to do to improve by examining those excuses and a couple of other possible variables, and I then shot a 241 out of 250 on the second go round. Now that is none to great either. I have been known to shoot my fair share of perfect scores, but not that much in the last couple of years. That drop in score from the mid to high 240s, from scores in the mid to low 240s, which is what I usually shoot lately, is probably due to the eyesight not being what it once was. Oh well, that I can live with. A 220 score though, that is a tough one to live down for me, but I guess we can all have our off moments - better those off moments come at the range than in a gunfight.

As for shotgun, a perfect score. As to the MP-5 Submachine gun, I shot a 243 out of 250, which was good enough to satisfy me. Had I not turned around my pistol score though on that second go round, I would have been heartily disappointed for the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the week. I still cannot believe I shot a low score like a 220, very disappointing indeed. Still though it was uplifting to have brought up my score the second time around; so I guess I left the range a happy camper, qualified for another quarter, and with some extra ammo for practice. I'll be pretty sure to be shooting the practice ammo in the near future, I don’t want another 220 next time. As for the clouds, they remained friendly, the air remained crisp (or warm depending on how you look at it for February), and all in all it made for a great day at the range. Yes you can even shoot poorly and still have a great day at the range. Like fishing, a bad day shooting is better than a great day in the office; and this while not my best of days at the range, was far from a bad one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Voting Is Not All We Can Do - But There Are Restrictions On Political Activities of Government Employees

Well tomorrow (or is it today already, I guess I am up late again) is the so called Super Tuesday, and I wonder is it a coincidence that it so closely follows the Super Bowl. Yeah that’s all it could be I would think, a coincidence. Well anyway, I am a registered Republican, or was at least the last time I registered to vote a few years back (I registered then to change from independent to Republican). I live in New York State, and New York happens to be one of the states holding its primaries tomorrow. That means I guess I'll have to get up a bit early tomorrow today, stretch a bit, shake off the chill, and head to my polling place.

There is no way that I am going to miss my opportunity to help shape this next presidential election, and voting in the primary is the least I can do. That and actually voting in an election are about the most I can do to effect a partisan election without having to wonder if I am jeopardizing my career. That is because I am a federal LEO, and because of how the Hatch Act therefore limits my partisan political activity rights as a citizen. Sure I can do other things, but it gets tricky and every year the government is sure to ram the hatch Act reminders down the throats of federal workers, especially those subject to additional limitations. Most federal law enforcement officers are subject to those additional limitations. Most do not want to get screwed over by violating some act of Congress that they do not fully understand, so most do not get all that involved in politics, and not at all in partisan politics. I mean can you blame them since they could possibly get in trouble for having friends over for dinner and to talk about politics and for whom you think you should all vote (since this could be construed as organizing a partisan political meeting). The minimum penalty for a violation is 30 days of suspension without pay, and the maximum to removal from service. See this site for more info on the rules, and pay attention to the limitations seen on page 7:

http://www.osc.gov/documents/hatchact/ha_fed.pdf.

Imagine that the government told some of you, who are not government workers, that your rights to participate in partisan political activities was limited by an Act of Congress. Bet you would be PO'd for sure. Me, I have come to accept it, and I voice my political opinion loudly and proudly through my blog because that is one of the things I can do legally. I also make some cash contributions to candidates now and then. Other than those things - I vote, and I do so regularly. So tomorrow I will vote in the Republican Party's primary here in New York. Yes I am still a registered Republican despite my disappointment with the lack of conservatism by the party on many issues, and there sticking to some of those conservative values too much on other issues. I recommend that if you are a registered voter in NYS, or elsewhere, you too go and vote in the primary for your party or for one of the parties as allowed by law.

Me I have a good idea of for whom I will vote, and while I cannot urge you to vote for the same person, I can give you my opinion of whether or not he is the best candidate. I am probably going to vote for Mitt Romney. Why? Well because I believe he is a thousand times better than McCain, and at least that much better than Huckabee; and while I realize that is not saying much, I cannot find myself voting for either McCain or Huckabee. McCain, war hero and all, is in my opinion a far left leaning RINO. McCain, heck, he would give up our borders to invaders from the south, and that is enough for me to realize he is out of touch with reality and with the wishes of the American People. Remember he is the one who wanted to team up with Ted Kennedy (supporter of Barrack Obama the most liberal senator in the USA). I guess that Laura Ingraham basically summed it up for me in regard to McCain, when she in essence said, she would rather support Hillary Clinton than McCain because she believes Clinton to be more conservative! If you missed that, look here to this video at FoxNews.com.

As for Hickabee Huckabee, I beleive he is a man of his convictions, but not necessarily of reality. I think he is sort of a Republican Jimmy Carter. As for his partisan convictions, Huckabee is a man who stands too much on his religion, and who does not want to move into the 20th century, let alone the 21st century, regarding his outlook on social issues. Huckabee could have been my guy, he is right on the mark as far as I am concerned on many issues, but he really is way too far right socially, and I mean way to far. My bet is that he truly believes that dionosaurs walked the earth 5,000 years ago along with Adam and Eve. In my opinion he is almost as religiously wound up as would be an Islamo Fascist but of course just under the guise of another religion. While I am not religious to any great extent, I can well tolerate those who have religious convictions, but not those who are so religious as to be intolerant of others. Even the Pope is more moderate than he as I see it.

Romney is the better evil (is that an oxymoron or what) of the three; or let me just say the least of three evils. I sure do not like a lot of what he did in MA, but again, he sure beats the other two hands down as for being the better man of the three. What a shame to have to be left with the least evil of so many evils as a candidate for whom to vote, but that is how I see it.

Well, that is about it. Tomorrow Today - I'll vote; and who knows - maybe I'll have an epiphany before then and see them all in new light with the dawning of a new day. Right now all I can do is lament that Tom Tancredo did not receive more support, and that he did not have better name recognition when he went into the race. He was, as far as I am concerned the best guy that was in the running since Ronald Reagan.

All the best,
Glenn B

THE SUPER BOWL 4:00 minutes left in the game

I DON'T CARE WHO WINS - BUT WHAT A GAME! Gotta love this game, pretty good defense on both sides. A true battle, a better game than any loud mouthed, obnoxious, Patriots fan apparently thought it would have been; and almost as good as any loud mouthed, obnoxious, Giants fan thought it would be. No matter what winds up being the final score, I like it.

Byt the way, this is only the third game I have watched this year. More this year than in the last two combined.

All the best,
GB

Ballseye's Firearms Training and Tactics: A Self Defense Shooting, The Immediate Aftermath - What To Do If You Win

On one of the forums over at The High Road someone asked if we have a "medical obligation" to assist someone is we shoot them in self defense. I left a reply on THR, but also figured I would share my very long answer here on my blog, with some revisions and additions (not many of these though). This is my opinion, based upon my personal experience. It is long, but I think you may learn something from my experience, and from my opinion. Bear in mind, anything I mention below is my opinion; you need to act appropriately in whatever situation you find yourself based upon the totality of the circumstances and on your own ability to think and act under those circumstances. This therefore is meant as a sort of general guideline; but again I stress this is my opinion. Before reading on, and before taking any action based upon what you read here, see my disclaimer to the right on my blog home page.

These are the things I think you need to do in the immediate aftermath of you shooting someone in self defense or defense of an innocent.

After you wound someone in self defense:

You have a moral obligation to render at least first aid, if you know how to do so. You also have a moral obligation to render aid beyond that is you are so qualified. However, you have other obligations first - before rendering aid to someone you wounded in self defense or in defense of another innocent.

You have the obligation to ascertain that the area is clear of dangers to you and other innocents, this includes that the area be free of other dirt bags looking to do you harm, bad guys usually work in teams. YOU DO NOT WANT TO GET BLINDSIDED.

You have the obligation to secure the bad guy's weapon(s).You have the absolute moral and common sense obligation to yourself, and to other innocents, to make sure that the bad guy has been stopped. This includes immobilizing the bad guy with restraints, even if you think he may be dead or mortally wounded. Remember that just a moment before he was a deadly threat, and just because he has stopped for the moment, does not mean he will remain so. If you cannot get the assistance of another person to do this, you will have to secure your weapon, and the bad guy's weapon, and then secure the bad guy yourself.

You have the obligation to make sure you are not wounded, and if you are wounded to make sure you take care of yourself. (I added this since my reply at THR.)

You have the obligation to yourself and others to explain what just happened and to request assistance. Have someone else call 911 - NOT YOU - if at all possible (you calling 911, and saying something stupid in the haste and excitement of the moment could be devastating to you in court later). Tell them to explain to the 911 operator that a BAD GUY HAS JUST BEEN STOPPED IN THE COMMISSION OF A VIOLENT FELONY (word it however applicable).

You have the self saving obligation to make sure that the person calling 911 gives them the description of the GOOD GUY - that would be YOU, and to make sure that 911 got it right.

Tell the person to repeat to 911, that this is the description of the good guy.

Tell the person calling 911 to say that “YOU (meaning yourself) require immediate medical attention from a doctor.

All the above should not have taken much more than a minute or two, maybe as little as 15 seconds.

Now help the badguy.

If you do assist someone who is injured, you should say out loud, as you are doing it, what it is you are doing. It is just like CPR when you are taught to say what you are doing out loud. Checking for pulse, checking for breathing, and in a shooting - trying to stop bleeding, applying pressure to the wound, and so forth. Use a loud, slow, clear voice. This way they will not mistakenly think you are trying to kill the guy, or that you are in the process of going through his pockets to rob him, after just having shot him. Police who arrive on scene may also hear you saying this and thus be less likely to mistake you for a bad guy doing a bad thing. (At this point your weapon had best be put away and secure.)

You have the legal and moral obligation to await the arrival of law enforcement on the scene.

You have the obligation under law, and by way of common sense, to obey the commands of uniformed law enforcement officers - otherwise you may well end up STOPPED. If a uniformed cop yells out: "Police don't move, and you still have your gun out, you had better not move, not even to turn to look at him. Even if you are then unarmed, or armed and the weapon is secure, do not move. Follow their instructions, or you could wind up dead.

If a plain clothes officer is giving commands, ask to see some form of ID.

Remember the police are in control - not you.

Once the police are calm, request immediate medical attention from a doctor.

Upon arrival of the police, you do not have no to speak to the police other than telling them who you are, and such, and you can tell them you defended yourself against a life threatening situation. Let them know you are armed if they do not ask first, then calmly tell them so, but make sure your hands are in plain sight.

Get it, that is all you say about what happened: "I defended myself against a life threatening situation." If they ask, did the guy have a gun, did he have a knife, did he have a brick - what do you say? You say: "Officer I will answer your questions upon advice of legal counsel. As for right now officer, I am requesting immediate medical attention, from a doctor. " You do not need to go into details.

Tell the police you will speak to them more in the presence of a lawyer. You do not need to go beyond that.

Tell them you need the medical attention of a doctor immediately.

You have an absolute obligation to yourself to tell the police officers you want immediate medical attention from a doctor. You will not be well, believe me, even if you think you do feel okay, you will not be okay! Get that, understand that, you need immediate medical attention. Some of the things you may actually feel could be: chest pains, talkative, euphoric, talkative, headache, talkative, strong, talkative, hyped up, talkative, speedy, talkative, dizzy, talkative, faint, talkative, disoriented, talkative, hot, talkative, cold, talkative, weak, talkative, ready to pee your pants, talkative, wet in the pants back and or front, talkative, nervous, talkative, justified, talkative. I can almost assure you without a doubt - your pulse and blood pressure are probably abnormal all while you are feeling talkative.

Why are you feeling talkative? Well because if you are normal you want to have other people understand you did something right, not wrong - that you were the good guy. Be forewarned though, a wrong word here, a sentence you word poorly, can be misinterpreted by police and later by a jury even though you mean it another way. Think about whether or not you want to possibly say something that will result in you going to jail for life if a police officer asks leading questions (and it is part of their job to ask questions, and leading questions are quite alright in law enforcement interrogations and interviews) and you blurt out something wrong. I do not mean something you did wrong, but that you somehow in the eyes of the law say it wrong even though you did it right, and meant to say something one way but just said it in a way that could be misconstrued.

Ask for immediate medical attention from a doctor.

Now of course, if there was another guy, a bad guy, you can and should tell police. If there is another victim requiring aid, do likewise – tell the police. Give a description, tell them if you think he was armed (reserve anything about the guy you just shot having been armed unless you actually have his gun and have secured it). Ask for immediate medical attention.

When EMS arrives, when a paramedic show up, ask them for IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION FROM A DOCTOR.

I was involved in a shooting once where I hit the bad guy. The shooting itself could fill pages, it is a long story, I like to blab. So I'll not go into it here except to say I was fully justified; but I will go into the immediate aftermath because it is pertinent to this type of a situation. I started to blab like an opera singer to the police when they arrived. I was the center point of a semi-circle of several uniformed officers up to an NYPD Lieutenant. There were also at least a few detectives on scene. I answered every question they were asking me, I even answered the proverbial Officer DipShit who said if I actually hit the guy then surely 'I INTENTIONALLY must have shot him in the back based upon what I described because according to me (this is in the eyes of this one officer) I had shot the guy as he retreated, and I had back shot him'. I never described it that way, not in any way shape or form, but officer Joe DipShit thought I had, go figure. A regular officer arriving along with a white shirt (the NYPD Lt.) suddenly burst into the middle of the semicircle, gets in my face, and I mean right in my face, and in an overwhelming loud and commanding voice he says to me: "Sir, do you require medical attention? I think you should seek immediate medical attention." He did that about 3 or 4 times, maybe even 5, and I did not know why. He added things like my blood pressure may be high and so on.

I was having the hint slapped in my face, his face was a few inches from my face. He kept barking this out, and after each question from another one of the officers, he would again ask me (actually almost command me to answer him) if I wanted medical attention. It never made sense to me, not then anyhow, why he was doing this. He was doing this because I was being a blabbermouth. I had nothing to hide, but read again what I wrote above about Officer Joe DipShit and his conclusion after having heard my statements as to what had happened. I was exonerated (by a grand jury) of any wrong in this, but as Ralph Kramden would have said: “I have a Big Mouth!”. That could have screwed me over if more officers than just that one had thought I was saying what he thought I was saying, and in fact had I shot the guy in the back. It wound up good for me I had not in light of how that one guy thought.

Now you may wonder why did that one officer get in my face and tell me to shut up when I as being interviewed/interrogated by the other officers and detectives on the scene - including a lieutenant. That was like stepping on his on willy, and stomping hard at that because NYPD lieutenants are like demi-gods in the ranks of the NYPD. I don't know for sure; but my guess is that he found out I was another law enforcement officer, and he reacted as he would for a coworker. You see, I later learned he was a union representative of some sort with the Policeman's Benevolent Association (the NYPD police union). I asked some cops I knew about this later on. They assured me that anyone involved in a shooting is better off to FIRST ask for IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION FROM A DOCTOR, then ask for a lawyer. Why from a doctor? Well, this is because it likely means they will have to take you to a hospital and get you out of what is potentially a hostile environment as would be your environment had you been being interrogated by an officer Joe DipShit of your own; and even more importantly it assures you will be given prompt medical attention to rule out any life threatening condition that was a result of your having been involved in a traumatic (both physically and mentally) incident. Yes you will have been traumatized in some way if you shoot someone if you are a normal person.

I am in law enforcement myself; and I can tell you without a doubt: If I ever shoot anyone again, I may answer some questions on scene as I pointed out above, and I will remain polite and professional to any responding officers, but I will also make darned sure to request, and demand if need be, immediate medical attention from a medical doctor because now I know that after a shooting such is required to assure my own health and well being. Then I will ask for an attorney. Then, once it has been determined by a doctor that I am capable of being interrogated or interviewed, I'll answer more questions on the advice of my attorney.

Bear in mind, I am not telling you to do anything wrong here. You are not failing to render assistance to a wounded person, you are not impeding an investigation or lying, you are seeking to make sure that you and other innocents are alright before anything else - that's why you took those defensive actions in the first place. And try to remember, you are not weak because you help the badguy after you stop him, you are morally superior if anything; and of course you help assure he will spend a long time in jail with Bubba his big hairy cellmate. Of course, you need not help in most palces, but it is probably what I would choose to do.

All the best,
Glenn B

What Caliber For Groundhog?

Okay, so its Groundhog Day. Yeah I know, I wrote a nice piece about it earlier, but I was just over at The High Road, and someone brought up the fact that no one had psoted a thread asking "Which Caliber For Groundhog" today. I thought that was rather an interesting subject. So which caliber would you choose if hunting the elusive, and oft times hard to kill (see the movie Caddy Shack), groundhog?

As for me, I'd probably use a rifle in .22WMR caliber. Sure it means you have to get prtetty close, but if you can get in with 50-75 yards, you should have a good chance at a kill shot.

Once you decide how to kill it, one other question arises - how to cook it!

Now that I have added the picture of my wife with a scoped Marlin 25MN, let me just add: wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get her to shoot them, clean them and cook them. As it is I only ever got her to the range once; but she is one heck of a great cook.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Yes folks, if you are not up on your history, or have not guessed the importance of today’s date (besides it being Groundhog's Day), well today's date, back in 1848 that is - was the one about which all modern day La Raza type Mexicans are so pissed off. The day on which the Mexican-American War came to its final outcome, the day Mexico ceded over 1/2 of its territory to the United States of America after having its ass kicked been defeated by us militarily. The one which was actually the result not of initial American Aggression against Mexico, but of the then Mexican Government's own aggression against her own people, and Mexico's promise to declare war on the USA if the USA annexed Texas. Texas, which by the way, had become a Republic but only after Mexicans who lived within Coahuila-Tejas first broke away from Mexico, taking Tejas (Texas with them and allowing for it to later declare itself a Republic). Confused, let me explain.

You see the hostilities were started by a corrupt and oppresive government, the government of Mexico. Mexicans of the state of Coahuila-Tejas in then northeastern and centraleatsern Mexico revolted against President Antonio López de Santa Anna and his government. You may remember him, he is the one who in charge of Mexico at the time that the Mexican Army attacked the Alamo. It all started in 1835 when people of northern Mexico in Coahuila-Tejas province revolted against Mexico's new oppressive regime (can you imagine that, an oppressive government in power in Mexico). Well the following year, those in Tejas (Texas) declared themselves independent, extended their border down to the Rio Grande, and they soon formed the Republic of Texas. In 1845, the US Government annexed Texas and since Mexico had threatened war with the U.S.A. if such took place, a lot of border battles followed.

Eventually in 1846, the U.S. Congress declared war against Mexico. Our nation then proceeded to whoop their behinds, and I would guess that calls of "Remember The Alamo" may actually have been cried out in some of the ensuing battles. The war went on for about 2 years, that is until U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott invaded Mexico at Vera Cruz, advanced through Pueblo, and then took Mexico City. Mexico City fell in August 1847. A treaty, of the same name as the city in which it was signed, between Mexico and the USA was signed in the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848.

The treaty ceded over one half of Mexican territory to the U.S.A. This was a devastating defeat for Santa Anna and the Mexican people; yet Mexico had been urged by other nations (world powers at the time) such as England and france not to war with the U.S.A. as they too, like the U.S.A. recognized The Republic of Texas as an independent country. This fell on deaf ears in Mexico. As a result the U.S.A. got California, New Mexico, Arizona, and sections of Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Mexico got 15 million dollars in return for war damages. The U.S.A. did not take Texas from Mexico then, since it had already been annexed by the Congress as the Republic of Texas; but it did assure that the Rio Grande was the southern border of Texas. Rest assured this treaty strengthened the fact that Texas was no longer part of Mexico.

One other thing, the U.S. agreed to police its side of the border. This is part of an international treaty, something that the Constitution regards as the law of the land. Isn't it funny though how our politicians have almost assured that our side of the border is not properly policed, and an invasion of U.S. soil from Mexico continues to this day. What a shame. Well, if you did not know already, now you know why members of such extremist groups as La Raza, and some Mexican extremist are pissed off at the U.S.A.. Not much of a country as far as I am concerned, not much of an ability to raise armies, and sore losers at something they started through their own mistreatment of their own people. Now they are mad at us because our country brought it all to a conclusion. Sort of like the Muslim extremists, emotional memories of bygone years that will never be again no matter how hard they try. Why won't they succeed, because of the ultimate resolve of the American people.

I have got to say though, that with the help of our politicians and the like, they have almost succeeded in gaining back those ceded parts of Mexico. Note I said ALMOST. As long as We The People are strong in our resolve to remain Americans, then we will do so. Don't give up the fight.

To see where I got most of my info, and to see more detailed information on tis subject, see:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/ghtreaty/ (go figure how they list this under The Hispanic Reading Room - this is American History, something of which Americans should be proud, and which we should hold in a place of honor - this is American History for the American reading room!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe-Hidalgo

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=009/llsl009.db&recNum=975 (shows a readable copy of the treaty)

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h142.html

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h142.html

For years I have insisted that February 2 should be a National Holiday. People have looked at me strangely throughout those years because of my insistence about the importance of today's date. Well all of the above is just another reason to have Groundhog's Day named as a National Holiday in the USA! I mean - don't you see the connection betwixt the two -GroundHogs' Day and The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo!

All the best,

Glenn B

All Hail The Mighty Beast...

...who lives half his life hidden away from our eyes shrouded in mystery, he whom the multitude seek out on this winter day, to whom the millions look in anticipation of his predictive powers, all hail the Groundhog!

Today should be a national holiday - heck it should be an international holiday, maybe even a holy day - all because while the groundhog commands our attention in such overwhelming numbers, he does so without demading, or even expecting anything of us, except maybe for our affection on this one day out of the whole year. If so many people around the world can look to this little weatherman for guidance - there has got to be something to it - and I sure don't mean his ability or inability to predict whether or not we get 6 more weeks of winter weather - because folks - whatever he says - mother nature often contradicts. So what power is it that the groundhog holds over us, to hold millions wrapt in anticipation of his predictions. I'll be darned if I know, but it sure is something. By the way, this year, the most famous groundhog of them all Punxsutawney Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of winter and even with such a bleak outlook before us, millions love him.

All the beast,
Glenn B

Gun Show Blues...

...are what I am feeling right now. I had planned on going to a gun show tomorrow at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, NY. Then my son copped out and went to see his girlfriend at her college. Of course, he took the Ford. Turns out my wife is working tomorrow, so that means she will have the Toyota. Unless I can bicycle the 95 miles or so tp the fairgrounds, I guess am going to be stuck at home. That stinks, especially because I was to meet a good friend up at the show tomorrow. The only hope left is to wake up early and convince my wife to let me drive her to work, then take the car. I'll leave her a note about it, so she sees it when she wakes up; and I'll get up early too, but somehow I doubt she'll go for it since we have not been talking for the last few days. Oh well, life goes on either way, but I hope she goes for it, so I can go to it.

All the best,
Glenn B

As If In Answer To The Question...

...that I posed here, I saw this headline tonight: Pelosi, Boehner say econ bill won't benefit illegal immigrants. Could they be getting the message, or is it just going to be this way because it is an election year, and them arranging tax rebates for illegal aliens would guarantee an ultra leftist demoncrat Democrat not getting into The Whitehouse. Heck, I am no lib on this issue for sure, but I could almost see giving tax rebates to illegal aliens who actually paid taxes before giving rebates to citizens who paid no taxes because they did not earn enough money. But then again, if we did give rebates to illegal aliens, then I think the law should be written that said money immediately must go to pay for their air or bus tickets to facilitate their deportations. Of course,, that is just my personal opinion, and not my government employee opinion; and in no way does my opinion - quite obviously - reflect the opinion of the United States Government, the President, The Vice president, The Head of ICE which is my agency, or any political candiadte likely to win their party'snomination. If only my opinion did reflect theirs though (or should I say that theirs should be reflective of mine), things might be better in this country for her citizens and legal resident aliens.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye The Happy Homemaker...

...or so you might believe after the amazing feat of wax removal I did from my ears basement carpet today. It seems that last week, someone lit a large candle, but had placed it only in a shallow dish, atop our entertainment center in the basement. I thought nothing of it when I later went down into the cellar to watch the tube for a bit. Never gave even a small thought to the dish being too shallow that is, I did know the candle was burning and enjoyed its rose scented aroma.

Well as things would have it, I fell asleep on the couch. When I awoke in the morning, the candle, what was left of it, was still burning. As it turned out, it had a hole melted in its side, and the melted wax had run out of it, into and overflowing the dish, onto the top of the entertainment center, and down over the front of it onto the floor. Lucky me there was no fire. Unlucky me though because now I took the blame for htis mess, and I had not put the candle in that small dish, nor had I lit it. I did not blow it out either, but I often let candles burn all night, ones that I have placed into a proper candle holder for such. Oh well, today, after about a week of procrastination, and waiting to see if my eager as a beaver son Brendan would do anything to clean it up, I got down to business, and that was carpet cleaning 303. Yes this was advanced stuff therefore that 303 designation instead of 101 or 202. Lucky for me I watch those two English birds on the BBC channel. You know them don't you? Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie who do the show - How Clean is Your House. I thought I remembered something about using an iron to clean the wax up, but I'd be darned if I could remember the method. So what to do but to check on the Internet! I found two sets of instructions, both very similar in nature. In essence each said to scrape off as much wax as possible without damaging the carpet. Then to warm up the clothes iron, take a clean cloth, place it over the mess, and iron over the cloth until the wax melted and could be soaked up into the cloth. Repeat as needed until there is no more wax. Okay, I tried it, but I decided that if I would try it to try it with minimal heat first, and then increase the heat, instead of setting the iron on high steam heat right off. At the minimum setting it did little good, so I then set my iron at about the halfway mark for heat. Just under the lowest steam seeting on mine. I ironed over the cloth that was laid above the top of the mess, then took a peek, and as things would have it, most of the wax appeared to be gone. I could see some of it in the cloth, but surely some must have drained further into the carpet. I didn't and don't care, I went at it again. Then a third and final time, and it looked as good as new.

My carpet is nylon. It can melt, and that is why I started at a low heat setting and worked up. The cloth between the carpet and iron probably helps prevent damage to the carpet, but I would think you need to be very carefuul if you try this, not to burn or melt the carpet fibers (or yourself). As for the cloth, I used an old terry cloth cotton towel.

Right now, all candles have been removed from our basement, incense sticks too. I would hate to wake up choking on smoke some night after falling asleep while watching the Twilight Zone.

All the best,
Glenn B

The World Is My Oyster...

... to borrow that phrase. Every now and then I tell you about some far away places from wherein people are viewing my blog. It always surprizes me that folks in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, The Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Venezuela, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, and many other exotic a location stop by for a read. Of course I also get hits, the largest number of them, from all over the USA. It amazes me when folks who view my site return for a second look, or even third looks, and more. Someone out there must at least like some of what I write, and for me that is a good feeling.

Today I was pleased to see, from my Site Meter account, that I have at least one pearl in each continent today except for Antarctica. In the last 100 hits on my site, there have been people visitng it from: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America (most of you), and South America. I can say without a doubt - that is neat, just a good feeling.



Thanks,
Glenn B

Seafood/Pork/Beef Combo Whatzitcalled...

One nice chunk of pork belly, about 1 pound, cut into small pieces, about a pound of the meat from beef short ribs, also cut into small pieces (about 1/2x1/2"), one pound of baby octopus cleaned and cut into small mouth sized pieces, one pound of squid cleaned and cut like the octopus, one pound of cleaned shrimp (25-30 count per pound), one small can tomato paste, two 8 ounce cans of plain tomato sauce, garlic powder to taste, sea salt to taste, black pepper about 1/2 teaspoon, two large dollops of hot pepper sauce with garlic to taste (some stuff I picked up in Chinatown), a few sprinkles of cinnamon (maybe even a 1/8 teaspoon), a bit or oregano (only a few sprinkles), about 6 green onions diced at least from the bottom to halfway up the greens), about 1/2 pound of very small potatoes (this were about the size of walnuts) cut into halves or quarters.

I browned the pork to crispy on the outside, then the beef in the same pan in just a squirt of olive oil. Then added the octopus and squid to it and let it cook for a while in a deep pan. I did this as I got the other ingredients ready. I added all the other ingredients, except the shrimp, into a large pot, put the browned the beef, pork belly, octopus and squid into the pot with the sauce ingredients, and then brought it to a boil. As soon as brought to a boil, I lowered flame and let it simmer for one hour. Then I added the shrimp for about 5 minutes. All the while, as this was cooking I kept checking to make sure it did not boil over, and I stirred every 15 to 10 minutes for just a bit.

Whatzitcalled - who knows: but boy does it taste good right out of the pot. Tomorrow it will be for my lunch over a bit of white rice. My son thought it was good too, and especially liked the hot flavoring I added. Next time though, only the other spices, no really hot stuff, I want to enjoy the taste of the seafood more than the hot stuff. Next time, I think I'll use fresh tomatoes, maybe some fresh basil leaves, and no to very little sauce or paste.

All the best,
GB

McCain Wins Florida...

...and all I can think is yikes. I cannot tell you for whom I think you should vote (as federal LEO, not permitted by the Hatch Act), but I can tell you for whom I do not want to have to vote. That would be John Amnesty/Anti-Gun/No Business Savvy/Ted Kennedy Buddy McCain. Does that mean it will come down to a choice, for me, between Romney and Huckabee at the Republican primary here in NY? On the one hand I could vote for an anti-gun, tax increasing by way of socialized medicine for all, governor from an ultra far left wing state (the one that keeps voting in Kennedy), or I could vote for a guy who probably believes that if dinosaurs ever lived they walked the earth within the last 5,000 years with Adam and Eve, or I suppose I could vote for McCain if I somehow get hit on the head and wind up at the polling place rather disorientated. What a choice of three knuckleheads, but any of them (well maybe not McCain) have got to be better that Mrs. Senator Rodham-Clinton or Senator B. Obama.

Whatever happened to real men, who could take over the reins as real leaders? I miss President Ronald Wilson Reagan, and I miss him a whole lot at that. He was a good man, a very good leader, and a great American.

All the best,
Glenn B

Taxes Suck...

...and will apparently suck big time for me this year. I have all my necessary tax records except the W2 from one of my wife's two jobs. Since that job is roughly the same amount of hours as her other one, and the pay will work out the same, I am assuming that the same amount of tax was deducted from each job. My wife has them take out too little, not by my advice mind you. I was all ready to take her on a 6 day Caribbean cruise in April for our 22nd year married, but that looks as if it about to sink. From my best estimation, to my worst, we will owe between $2,500 and $3,300 in state and federal taxes. Being that on just my salary alone we would have been owed over $3,000 in refunds you can figure they took way too little out of her pay. She does not make all that much in a year, but when added to my salary, it gets to the point where we lose some very nice deductions (such as the deduction for college loan interest). Subtract from our deductions/credits because Brendan turned 18, so we lost the child credit, we no longer have our daughter listed as a dependent (well we can, but it may be much more advantageous for her to claim herself instead of me claiming her as she can get a great credit for her college tuition, and we cannot claim it even if she is listed as our dependent) and we wind up getting raked over the taxman's coals this year.

I am a little bit, no let me say a whole lot, pissed off that the wife did not put in new withholding forms last year! Hell, I had filed my withholding last year so a set amount of extra cash would be taken from each of my paychecks, and I also claimed 'married, but withhold at the higher single rate', all hoping that would do the trick. It surely did not. Now the money has to come from somewhere. So we probably have to tap the savings account which is not a whole heck of a lot. Our bank account probably has about 2.5 times, or less, of the amount we will owe in taxes. I hate to do that to our savings, but I sure hope the wife learns a lesson from this. Some of the money we have in the bank was marked for a tree removal (they want $2,000 to chop it down and haul it away - a big oak tree), and more for my son's bedroom furniture (his set was literally falling apart) and more for needed electrical work in our house. If we pay off the taxes with the savings, it will leave very little after those other expenses are also subtracted from it, and then up pops the question of the cruise. No cruise for us, not if I am right about how much we will owe in taxes, and how diminished our savings are about to become.

Oh well, life goes on, and is pretty good without the cruise; but it sure would have been a nice boost to the morale of the marriage. As it is now, we have to tighten our belts a bit, and start saving to boost up the funds, not go on the cruise, and keep grating on each others' nerves. Maybe a nice vacation to Hoboken this year (if you ever lived in Brooklyn, you have probably heard that line before)! It, that is the belt tightening, will not be easy with the bills as they are now, but it definitely is something we can and will have to do in the upcoming year if I am really to retire at the end of it. Taxes suck. Maybe I can sell some guns at the gun show this weekend, although I hate to even consider it. Then again, maybe I can avoid that if I strike it rich - ha ha. Still, I have definitely got to get some time out with my metal detector. Really though, the way it looks now, I should not have bought the metal detector even though the money I paid for it all came from Christmas presents. Now I see I should have put that money to better use now that I realize my probable tax liability - 20/20 hindsight. Did I say taxes suck!

All the best,
Glenn B

3:10 To Yuma - A Very Disappointing Movie

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS MOVIE, AND DO NOT WANT IT RUINED FOR YOU, THEN DON'T READ THIS.

Last night my son rented 3:10 To Yuma. It was a movie I had recommended that he watch. A movie as I remembered that was about good versus bad, morality versus immorality, doing right versus doing wrong; and the guy who winds up being the good guy was indifferent at first, but really figuratively got on the white horse after all. Am I that forgetful that such is how I recall the original from way back when, even when in that original the bad guy helps the good guy out of the mess and into the train. The thing is in this new version, the good guy is made to look morally inferior not to the bad guy, but to his own set of morality. Then he is gunned down in front of his son. Then the bad guy is made to look moral, in a perverse twisted sort of a way, by shooting his own gang, then putting himself behind bars on the train. Finally to add insult to injury as if something out of Roy Rogers he whistles for his faithful horse to follow as he is off to the territorial prison at Yuma. Please tell that was as screwed up as I saw it to be, let me know there is some decency left, if not in Hollywood, then in the hearts, minds, and souls of we who get duped into watching crap like that.

Yeah it could have been a great movie, if only the idiot who took the liberty with the movie had not taken liberties with the roots of morality by illustrating good and evil partnered up in one of the most depraved mergers of the two that I have ever witnessed. What a shame that people see it that way today.

Maybe I am too old fashioned, maybe too much of a dreamer; hell no - I know there is real good out there, and real evil too - and this movie was an absolute pervsion of the whole concept of either. Truly a disappointment in that regard, otherwise a good action, albeit very violent, movie.

All the best,
Glenn B

Let's See - my checklist:

I've got my:

heavy clothing
boots
metal detector
batteries
directions for the M/D
carry bag
screen sifter
small shovel (garden variety, one hand, small size)
larger shovel (army type, folding)
gas in the car
cell phone (in case I strike it rich and need to called for armed backup)

Heck, except for some presents I'll be picking up for my mom along the way - that should just about do me fine.

I'm off............
Glenn B

All that did not matter one bit, it was too dark by the time I got to the beach! Oh well, next weekend.

Adventure...

...is a worthy cause for its own sake, and one heck of a good way to spend at least part of the day. I do it at my job now and then, and though it has been over 28 years a career now, going out after bad guys is still an adventure each and every time. Today's journey though will included with it an adventure of a different nature. Today I go to visit my mom in a rehab center, Its about a 70 -80 mile drive, so I have only gotten there on the weekends, which was last weekend, the weekend before I was ill and could not make it to see her in a hospital out that way. Well I'll be seeing her today and that in and of itself is always an adventure. Sometime it can be one much like two cavaliers drawing swords and going at it for a half hour or so, at other times more like to armies facing each other off with machine guns, and yet at others more like a sailboat adrift on calm seas meeting a beautiful rose colored sunset. Yeah sometimes we rub each other the wrong way, but hopefully not today. It will be an adventure just finding out.

After the visit, I be taking my amply butt down to the beach for a nice long walk. "What beach?" you ask. Does not matter to me, I'll pick one as I go along, that will be part of the other adventure which I will enjoy today. Probably one with few if any people on it, though in the summertime that would be another story. Yet I will admit, some of the beaches around here, while not full of sun worshippers in January, do get their fair share of strollers who love the smell of salt in the air, the crashing of the waves on the shore, and the squealing of the gulls in flight. While I find some pleasure in those things, my goal today is too look at the beach in another way, as a treasure trove of: gold doubloons, necklaces torn loose by a wave, gold and silver rings all slipped from a finger, coins of the realm (whether this one or from a hundred years gone by); and all these things finally washed ashore after thousand upon thousands of waves have swept them hither and tither, and finally to within my grasp unseen neath the sands.

You got it folks, the metal detector arrived on Friday, and after I visit my mom today for a few hours, I will be out and about testing it out. If I come up with anything other than old fashioned soda/beer can pull tabs, rusty nails, and bottle caps, well then I'll share the view of my booty right here on this blog. (Yes, of course I mean booty in the pirate sense, and not the rapper sense, though I will agree I understand how both can be deemed treasure.)

Well, enough ranting from me. Time is wasting and I need to get myself cleaned up and on the road. Of course, I guess I should dress up warmly too since it is about 32 degrees Fahrenheit out there today, and with the wind they say it feels like 22 degrees. I am guessing it will feel all the much colder at the beach. Boot too, I think I should wear. Since I have about an hour and a half to a two hour ride ahead of me, depending on traffic, let me finish by saying "Later for all of you".

Have a good day,
Glenn B

New Haven, CT Aldermen - 25 of You Should Be Ashamed of Yourselves

Let's Help Then Stay illegally... and then try to make the federal agency responsible for enforcement of Immigration laws look like they have done something bad when they enforce the law of the land, (Why did you do cast blame on immigration and Customs Enforcement - was it to cover up your own shameful act?) Are you saying, 'let's disrespect the memory of someone like hero Senior Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar Jr., who is less than a week deceased because of doing his job and trying to capture suspected illegal aliens and drug smugglers, by not honoring his memory, but instead calling federal agents vindictive when they do their jobs and arrest illegal aliens in New Haven, CT'? It suurely seems that is what you are trying to say.

I say that instead of helping illegals, you should be praising Aguilar as his fellow border patrol agents for trying to keep our nation free of illegal aliens, many of whose first act on our soil is a crime. I say this not as an ICE Agent, but as my personal opinion as a citizen of the United States of America.

To the people of New Haven, CT who support giving identity cards to illegal aliens to help facilitate their stay within the United States of America, and especially to the New Haven board of aldermen, the 25 of you who voted 25 - 1 in favor of this - I say, as part of my personal opinion:

YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO YOUR NATION

YOU, ALL 25, SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES

To the one person who voted against it, you are a good man or woman. As for the vote of the others, this vote is, in my opinion, abject disrespect for the laws of our great nation, and for legal immigrants and U.S. Citizens. It makes me think the time is nearing for some sort of a revolt. 'We The People' really need to wake up, because the term 'We The People' was never meant to include invaders, or those who collaborate with them; and that is exactly how I perceive illegal aliens - as invaders, and those who help them as collaborators. My prediction, as seen in my post immediately previous to this one can be seen as already unfolding in stories like this one. If you do not know what I am writing about, see:

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jan26/0,4670,ImmigrantsIDCards,00.html

With Hope Yet,
for a better America,
Glenn B

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