I decided to take in a movie earlier this evening. I walked over to the theater, maybe a mile away, and was truly looking forward to seeing The Book Of Eli. I was way too early, so I took another walk. Got back about 10 minutes early and figured I would go for it thinking the movie would not be crowded with the Superbowl being played. I was right. When the trailers for upcoming movies started I was the sole occupant of the theater. Just before the movie started there were a total of 67 people there to watch it. One or two more came in awhile later.
At 1 hour and 7 minutes into the actual movie (yeah I noted the time when it started and when i left) I got up to look for the manager. I tried,up ti;l that moment to disregard the black scratches continually across the entire screen, and the green scratches, and the flecks of dirt or dust particles too. I tried to convince myself that this was all part of the film. Well if it was part of the film it got to the point where I figured the film sucked. So I left and sought out the manager. He told me, once I mentioned the green streaks or scratches, that they meant the film itself (or whatever medium it is) was scratched. He said he would order a new one and that I was the first person to complain. I find it hard to believe that people are so accepting of low quality and annoying crap like that as to sit there and watch the whole movie all the way through without complaining to the management. Maybe, had it been an excellent movie, I would have stayed but it was mediocre to just okay at best up to the point I got to. I declined the refund and took a free pass. I want to see it all the way through once they get a better copy - he said within two days. I hope so. Even if mediocre to just okay at best, it is a sci-fi adventure and I am a sucker for them.
Oh well, off to dinner I suppose. I am thinking of a nice lamb stew if I can find it. Off to an Irish restaurant I think, as I had planned earlier.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, February 7, 2010
THE WATERS - One Hundred Thousand Memories...-
...sixty thousand sunny days and forty thousand rains...(I hope In got that quote just right).
'The Waters' made every drop of that rain well worthwhile, it was raining last night when I saw them and rainy night or not they filled the air with song and warmth. The Waters is a local Phoenix band. Krystal, Sturgis and a drummer whose name I am sorry I do not know. I have seen them twice now - once just Krystal & Sturgis and once with the drummer too. They are truly wonderful together. Krystal has a voice that fills one with amazement and the accompaniment of Sturgis on Guitar only makes it all the better. I think they are not only a musical duo but also married to one another and I suppose that only helps them make the songs ever so much more enjoyable.
The Waters
Subject: Dubliner Open Mic
Start Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010 9:00PM
End Date: Monday, February 8, 2010 12:00AM
Summary: 3841 E. Thunderbird Rd., Phoenix
NW corner of 40th St. & Thunderbird
I saw them Saturday night at Rosie McCaffrey's. It was an excellent performance; pretty nice bar/restaurant too of the Irish Pub variety. I plan to be at The Dubliner later tonight to hear them again.
All the best,
Glenn B
'The Waters' made every drop of that rain well worthwhile, it was raining last night when I saw them and rainy night or not they filled the air with song and warmth. The Waters is a local Phoenix band. Krystal, Sturgis and a drummer whose name I am sorry I do not know. I have seen them twice now - once just Krystal & Sturgis and once with the drummer too. They are truly wonderful together. Krystal has a voice that fills one with amazement and the accompaniment of Sturgis on Guitar only makes it all the better. I think they are not only a musical duo but also married to one another and I suppose that only helps them make the songs ever so much more enjoyable.
The Waters
Subject: Dubliner Open Mic
Start Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010 9:00PM
End Date: Monday, February 8, 2010 12:00AM
Summary: 3841 E. Thunderbird Rd., Phoenix
NW corner of 40th St. & Thunderbird
I saw them Saturday night at Rosie McCaffrey's. It was an excellent performance; pretty nice bar/restaurant too of the Irish Pub variety. I plan to be at The Dubliner later tonight to hear them again.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Things You See While On Surveillance...
...are sometimes quite unexpected but certainly welcome nonetheless when like this sight. Such are the subjects in this quick surveillance snapshot (and that is all it is - a quick snapshot). Being that I was in the middle of a quite densely populated area these three guys and the other eight or nine that were with them were an amusing treat for me. I can tell you this, they did not tarry long in the busy parking lot that we were in at the time. As a matter of fact they made a speedy get away toward the backside of the lot and toward some backyards almost as soon as I took the above shot. I just had time to flick into the video mode and got a few of them on the run.
Too bad I did not get any shots as good as these of the bad guy.
All the best,
Glenn B
Danish Navy Rescues Hijacked Crew
The Danish Navy came to the rescue of a hijacked ship's crew - see here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584932,00.html?test=latestnews. Danish naval forces boarded the ship and freed the crew and they tout it is some amazing feat although if you read the linked article closely you will probably be of the same opinion as my own - there were no pirates aboard at the time. You see, the article goes on to state that a Russian naval vessel sent forces to board a skiff on which the pirates were apparently making a get away. Oh well, we have to remember this is the Danish Navy giving the story!
Along the lines of possible further embellishment consider that the Danes are also claiming this was the first time that naval forces have ever been sent in to perform a rescue during a hijacking. Are they kidding or are they just splitting hairs? I seem to remember this from recent history: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/. I have to hand it to whoever wrote the article because they point out both the one I just mentioned and another:
"French commandos stormed a yacht last April with five hostages on board but one, skipper Florent Lemacon, was killed during the operation. American snipers also shot dead three pirates in April 2009 holding an American captain hostage on board a lifeboat after the crew of the Maersk Alabama had persuaded the pirates to leave the main ship."
All the best,
Glenn B
Along the lines of possible further embellishment consider that the Danes are also claiming this was the first time that naval forces have ever been sent in to perform a rescue during a hijacking. Are they kidding or are they just splitting hairs? I seem to remember this from recent history: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/. I have to hand it to whoever wrote the article because they point out both the one I just mentioned and another:
"French commandos stormed a yacht last April with five hostages on board but one, skipper Florent Lemacon, was killed during the operation. American snipers also shot dead three pirates in April 2009 holding an American captain hostage on board a lifeboat after the crew of the Maersk Alabama had persuaded the pirates to leave the main ship."
All the best,
Glenn B
North By Northwest (or was that northeast)?
Imagine going to the beach to watch the sunset. A nice way to spend an evening, don't you think! Well, maybe not quite so nice if you go to the beach, walk out on the at least partially frozen sea, then get yourself lost. According to news reports here, and here, this is what it seems happened to a middle aged man in Germany who trekked out onto the ice near St. Peter-Ording close to the Danish border. (A hat tip to Bayou Renaissance man for posting about this here.)Since the temperatures would soon go down to -20C you maybe able to imagine that the man would have succumbed to the cold had he somehow not found his way back to shore or had he not been rescued. This guy was not finding his way to the shore but disorientated or not, he had his salvation with him and kept his wits enough to use it. Lucky for him - someone was watching - even if she was about 350 miles away and note I really mean it was lucky for him - very lucky.
What happened was that this fellow started setting off his camera flash in the hope that someone would see it (at least that is what was reported). Someone did see it and she had the sense to realize it was someone in need who was setting off the flashes. The woman who saw it was looking at her computer screen monitoring a web cam that was set up on the same beach pointed at the very same sunset that our sad-sack nature lover decided to get a better view of by hiking out onto the ice of the frozen North Sea. Local authorities, local to the area where the guy was lost, responded and flashed the headlights of their vehicles on an off to direct the lost and cold sunset worshipper back to shore. Then they, according to one report, chewed him out for having done something so foolish.
I will not even go into how stupid I think it was on the nature lover's part to trek out on the ice of the North Sea (heck I used to preach to my kids never to walk or skate on a frozen pond let alone walk out on a frozen sea) especially as unprepared as he seems to have been for survival. I will comment though on how easily remedied his situation would have been as far as becoming disorientated. Had he had the least amount of knowledge and sense before setting out on a hike in nature, he would have prepared himself with the most basic of equipment to assure he would not get lost. That basic equipment is available to anyone who has a few bucks to spend. It is called a compass. Had he been in possession of a compass all he would have needed to have done would have been to take it out and get a reading from it and then walk toward the direction of shore - that is presuming that he had enough smarts to realize in which direction shore would be found. An easy way to make sure of that would have been to have taken a compass reading before he set off on the ice.
I have a very good sense of direction. Not so much that I can tell you that one way is north with impeccable reliability but in that if I set out on a rambling hike I can almost always find my way back to my starting point without much difficulty. Note I said almost always. I have gotten disorientated before, turned around so much so that I did not know which way to proceed to hit my desired destination. So what did I do? First of all I stopped. Then I made a conscious effort to remain calm. Then I looked and listened. Now you may be thinking - looked and listened for what. Well as I would have, had I been in this guy's shoes, I would have looked for the last light of the sun's setting. That would have given me a sense of direction. If not, say it already was too dark or was snowing and I could not make out direction through the swirling whiteness, then the listening comes to play. I once found myself turned around in the woods and listened intently through the wind and through the sound of tree branches rustling to hear the sounds from a distant highway. Once I picked up the sound of passing vehicles (from about a mile away and in a snowstorm at that) I knew which direction I had to go to get back to my starting point. The thing is, had I not heard the traffic, I would still have been okay. I had a compass with me, and I knew which direction would get me going my destination.
I carry a compass with me virtually every time I am out and about in natural settings on hikes, short walks, backpacking trips, fishing trips and so on. Why? Simply because I do not want to get lost and wind up in a situation that might kill me. I have almost no compass reading skills. I do not plot my hikes using a compass. I go out and hike and I turn around and hike back even if I zigged and zagged to get where I was going. I am lucky in that way because I can usually find my way back with ease. Again, I point out I use a term like usually. I carry the compass in case it does not work out as usual and I do not need to be a map maker to use one effectively enough to get me back to safety. I take a reading for direction before I go, then I have a good idea which way I have to use to return. When I change course, I pick out landmarks and take a new reading from there. I always have an idea of which general direction I would have to walk to get back to where I started out. Mind you, if I was going to go out on an extended backpacking trek into a remote location, I would take maps and I would learn how to orient using those maps, a compass and landmarks. I have a very general idea how to do it already because I have read up on it before but even without such knowledge you can use a compass to make sure you get back to from where you started. In the case of the guy who was lost on the North Sea all he would have had to do was look at the compass and then walk in the direction of land - and maybe also hope he did not fall through the ice at a weak spot.
Now that I am back to that almost completely hapless hiker, let me point out something he did right. He kept his wits about him when he was lost, at least enough to think of using his flash as an emergency beacon. It is important to remain calm if you get lost. It is easy, very easy, to panic but panic helps nothing except maybe that it helps your downfall or demise. Apparently he must have had enough sense to put fresh batteries into his camera before going off to take pictures of the sunset in the frozen north. Why he did not have enough sense to bring along a compass is beyond me. My guess is that he also did not have a flashlight. I carry a flashlight with me, in my pants pocket, almost everywhere I go. I leave it behind pretty much only when I forget it. When I hike, I take extra batteries too.
A flashlight cannot only be used to help illuminate your way but can also be used as a signal device. Think about how lucky this guy was that the woman watching the web cam did not just think he was taking pictures; some people probably would have thought so and paid him no or little mind. If however he had been signalling on and off with a flashlight (such as an SOS signal) it would have been much more obvious that he needed help. The SOS while not the most simple, is certainly one of the most simple distress signals in the world. It is Morse code and essentially means I need help, or send help, or I am in distress. It is simply a series of three dots followed by three dashes followed by three dots. Very easy to accomplish with a flashlight by turning it on and off. Even if you forget the order and put it out as O-S-O or three dashes followed by three dots followed by three dashes - chances are someone would realize you are trying to send and SOS because it is a standard distress signal around the world and it follows the pattern of three. The ironic thing in this situation is that the SOS signal originated in Germany, and one has to wonder if the ice trekker even knew it existed.
If you forget the whole SOS thin then remember this - three of anything is also an international distress code. So if the guy lost out on the ice kept setting off his flash in sets of three flashes, then waited awhile, then repeated the three flashes, it should have signaled that he needed help. Three whistle blasts (another good signal device to carry while hiking), three short bursts of light from a flashlight, three gunshots (not all that great during hunting season so carry a signal whistle), three dark lines - of broken branches or stones or mud or whatever - in the snow out in field (as could be seen by air rescue crews) all would be distress signals. Lucky for our lost Ice Man of the North that he used a light because my guess is no one would have heard a whistle in his case.
If you think your sense of direction is infallible and you figure you cannot get lost - maybe as did this guy - well then I wish you luck when you do get lost - luck like this man had out on the ice. I think though that the chances of such a lucky save repeating itself in the event you get lost are slim to none. So I strongly suggest being prepared before you set out - even on something like a short exercise hike in the woods. You would be surprised how easy it is to get turned around if you fall and hit your head and become dazed even momentarily, or because of something as simple as you hiking off trail or losing a trail. You might also be surprised at how easily people can panic when they become lost and how much easier it is to become even more lost when you panic. So before you go make some preparation. Think about your trip beforehand. Think about what to do if you get lost before you get lost. Think about remaining calm and how you would convince yourself to avoid panic. At the very least carry a compass and a flashlight with fresh batteries. Have a basic idea of how to use the compass. Take a compass reading before you set off, take readings as you go along, keep in mind the general direction that you have to go in order to return to your starting point. Also take along a flashlight, I carry a Mini-mag Light but there are many others available. Those with LED bulbs are much easier on the batteries.
There are many other things I take along on a hike that would help insure my survival if I ever got lost or otherwise stuck out in the woods or another harsh environment unexpectedly. I always carry a knife unless I forget one. Since I usually take two or three I hardly ever forget to have at least one of them with me. When hiking I also carry plenty of water, some high energy food, a small first aid kit, a space blanket, glow sticks (those plastic tubes filled with luminescent goop that is activated when you bend the plastic tube breaking the inner glass tube that contains the catalyst to make the goop glow) a flashlight, an extra light, extra batteries, water, some high energy food, water (did I mention water already), a waterproof hat for warmth, matches in a waterproof container or waterproof matches, a small fire starter like a candle (something that will make it easier to get a blaze going), a magnesium fire starter bar (in case the matches do not work or I lose them) and water. All of that can be carried in a small daypack with room left over for a sweater. I also carry a gun when I legally can do so - which right now is always.
Don't think you need it all - take it all anyway, it may save your life.
All the best,
Glenn B
What happened was that this fellow started setting off his camera flash in the hope that someone would see it (at least that is what was reported). Someone did see it and she had the sense to realize it was someone in need who was setting off the flashes. The woman who saw it was looking at her computer screen monitoring a web cam that was set up on the same beach pointed at the very same sunset that our sad-sack nature lover decided to get a better view of by hiking out onto the ice of the frozen North Sea. Local authorities, local to the area where the guy was lost, responded and flashed the headlights of their vehicles on an off to direct the lost and cold sunset worshipper back to shore. Then they, according to one report, chewed him out for having done something so foolish.
I will not even go into how stupid I think it was on the nature lover's part to trek out on the ice of the North Sea (heck I used to preach to my kids never to walk or skate on a frozen pond let alone walk out on a frozen sea) especially as unprepared as he seems to have been for survival. I will comment though on how easily remedied his situation would have been as far as becoming disorientated. Had he had the least amount of knowledge and sense before setting out on a hike in nature, he would have prepared himself with the most basic of equipment to assure he would not get lost. That basic equipment is available to anyone who has a few bucks to spend. It is called a compass. Had he been in possession of a compass all he would have needed to have done would have been to take it out and get a reading from it and then walk toward the direction of shore - that is presuming that he had enough smarts to realize in which direction shore would be found. An easy way to make sure of that would have been to have taken a compass reading before he set off on the ice.
I have a very good sense of direction. Not so much that I can tell you that one way is north with impeccable reliability but in that if I set out on a rambling hike I can almost always find my way back to my starting point without much difficulty. Note I said almost always. I have gotten disorientated before, turned around so much so that I did not know which way to proceed to hit my desired destination. So what did I do? First of all I stopped. Then I made a conscious effort to remain calm. Then I looked and listened. Now you may be thinking - looked and listened for what. Well as I would have, had I been in this guy's shoes, I would have looked for the last light of the sun's setting. That would have given me a sense of direction. If not, say it already was too dark or was snowing and I could not make out direction through the swirling whiteness, then the listening comes to play. I once found myself turned around in the woods and listened intently through the wind and through the sound of tree branches rustling to hear the sounds from a distant highway. Once I picked up the sound of passing vehicles (from about a mile away and in a snowstorm at that) I knew which direction I had to go to get back to my starting point. The thing is, had I not heard the traffic, I would still have been okay. I had a compass with me, and I knew which direction would get me going my destination.
I carry a compass with me virtually every time I am out and about in natural settings on hikes, short walks, backpacking trips, fishing trips and so on. Why? Simply because I do not want to get lost and wind up in a situation that might kill me. I have almost no compass reading skills. I do not plot my hikes using a compass. I go out and hike and I turn around and hike back even if I zigged and zagged to get where I was going. I am lucky in that way because I can usually find my way back with ease. Again, I point out I use a term like usually. I carry the compass in case it does not work out as usual and I do not need to be a map maker to use one effectively enough to get me back to safety. I take a reading for direction before I go, then I have a good idea which way I have to use to return. When I change course, I pick out landmarks and take a new reading from there. I always have an idea of which general direction I would have to walk to get back to where I started out. Mind you, if I was going to go out on an extended backpacking trek into a remote location, I would take maps and I would learn how to orient using those maps, a compass and landmarks. I have a very general idea how to do it already because I have read up on it before but even without such knowledge you can use a compass to make sure you get back to from where you started. In the case of the guy who was lost on the North Sea all he would have had to do was look at the compass and then walk in the direction of land - and maybe also hope he did not fall through the ice at a weak spot.
Now that I am back to that almost completely hapless hiker, let me point out something he did right. He kept his wits about him when he was lost, at least enough to think of using his flash as an emergency beacon. It is important to remain calm if you get lost. It is easy, very easy, to panic but panic helps nothing except maybe that it helps your downfall or demise. Apparently he must have had enough sense to put fresh batteries into his camera before going off to take pictures of the sunset in the frozen north. Why he did not have enough sense to bring along a compass is beyond me. My guess is that he also did not have a flashlight. I carry a flashlight with me, in my pants pocket, almost everywhere I go. I leave it behind pretty much only when I forget it. When I hike, I take extra batteries too.
A flashlight cannot only be used to help illuminate your way but can also be used as a signal device. Think about how lucky this guy was that the woman watching the web cam did not just think he was taking pictures; some people probably would have thought so and paid him no or little mind. If however he had been signalling on and off with a flashlight (such as an SOS signal) it would have been much more obvious that he needed help. The SOS while not the most simple, is certainly one of the most simple distress signals in the world. It is Morse code and essentially means I need help, or send help, or I am in distress. It is simply a series of three dots followed by three dashes followed by three dots. Very easy to accomplish with a flashlight by turning it on and off. Even if you forget the order and put it out as O-S-O or three dashes followed by three dots followed by three dashes - chances are someone would realize you are trying to send and SOS because it is a standard distress signal around the world and it follows the pattern of three. The ironic thing in this situation is that the SOS signal originated in Germany, and one has to wonder if the ice trekker even knew it existed.
If you forget the whole SOS thin then remember this - three of anything is also an international distress code. So if the guy lost out on the ice kept setting off his flash in sets of three flashes, then waited awhile, then repeated the three flashes, it should have signaled that he needed help. Three whistle blasts (another good signal device to carry while hiking), three short bursts of light from a flashlight, three gunshots (not all that great during hunting season so carry a signal whistle), three dark lines - of broken branches or stones or mud or whatever - in the snow out in field (as could be seen by air rescue crews) all would be distress signals. Lucky for our lost Ice Man of the North that he used a light because my guess is no one would have heard a whistle in his case.
If you think your sense of direction is infallible and you figure you cannot get lost - maybe as did this guy - well then I wish you luck when you do get lost - luck like this man had out on the ice. I think though that the chances of such a lucky save repeating itself in the event you get lost are slim to none. So I strongly suggest being prepared before you set out - even on something like a short exercise hike in the woods. You would be surprised how easy it is to get turned around if you fall and hit your head and become dazed even momentarily, or because of something as simple as you hiking off trail or losing a trail. You might also be surprised at how easily people can panic when they become lost and how much easier it is to become even more lost when you panic. So before you go make some preparation. Think about your trip beforehand. Think about what to do if you get lost before you get lost. Think about remaining calm and how you would convince yourself to avoid panic. At the very least carry a compass and a flashlight with fresh batteries. Have a basic idea of how to use the compass. Take a compass reading before you set off, take readings as you go along, keep in mind the general direction that you have to go in order to return to your starting point. Also take along a flashlight, I carry a Mini-mag Light but there are many others available. Those with LED bulbs are much easier on the batteries.
There are many other things I take along on a hike that would help insure my survival if I ever got lost or otherwise stuck out in the woods or another harsh environment unexpectedly. I always carry a knife unless I forget one. Since I usually take two or three I hardly ever forget to have at least one of them with me. When hiking I also carry plenty of water, some high energy food, a small first aid kit, a space blanket, glow sticks (those plastic tubes filled with luminescent goop that is activated when you bend the plastic tube breaking the inner glass tube that contains the catalyst to make the goop glow) a flashlight, an extra light, extra batteries, water, some high energy food, water (did I mention water already), a waterproof hat for warmth, matches in a waterproof container or waterproof matches, a small fire starter like a candle (something that will make it easier to get a blaze going), a magnesium fire starter bar (in case the matches do not work or I lose them) and water. All of that can be carried in a small daypack with room left over for a sweater. I also carry a gun when I legally can do so - which right now is always.
Don't think you need it all - take it all anyway, it may save your life.
All the best,
Glenn B
Post Script: Before I sign off, let me point out I am a cynic by nature or maybe by way of how I was nurtured. Being a cynic, let me ppint out that neither the lost man nor the woman who was his savior allowed their names to be released to the press. Being the cynic I am it has me wondering, was it just coincidence that both were watching the same sunset that saved the man or was it all a set-up? How does this tie in with them not wanting their names released? You see, if they are friends, and their names are released, then a mutual acquaintance of both could put one and one together to come up with three and realize something is amiss. Of course, it probably was not a scam and with luck like mine I suppose it is just envy of that guy's good fortune that turned on my cynical switch.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Today In History - Something Happened That Possibly Was More Important Than Anyhting Accomplished By MLK...
...but little if any recognition is given to the historical importance of this day for African Americans. It being Black History Month - you would think you would hear about something of such great importance to African Americans - especially as important as this event even if it was something done by other than African Americans. Why? If only because it had such a great effect for them but even more so because it allowed them to create great effect afterwards. Yet, I have not heard anything from our president about today being a day of significant importance for African Americans. Now it is possible I missed it because I have not listened to or watched every news program today although I did look online and I did watch the news this morning for an hour or more and I did listen to the news several times today on the radio. In what news reports I watched this morning, and from what I heard today on the radio, and from what I have seen online, I have not heard or seen any mention of today's great significance for the black community.
I also just checked the White House web site and guess what - no mention of it there either, nor on the White House blog. Imagine that! I have to wonder just how many people realize just how important a day this was, and is, historically for African Americans (and others).
Do you know the historical significance? Today, February 3rd, in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified. It was a big step forward in American history. Sure there was still an awful lot to overcome, but nonetheless it was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history. Its effects changed this country forever even if it took until recent decades for the changes to kick into overdrive and until recently for them to reach their highest potential. I am assuming, by now, you know exactly what this is about but if not let me spell it out for you word for word:
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Of course, there was also another major piece of legislation that was ratified on this date, but this time in 1913. It also brought about major change in the lives of Americans and it is one for which we are still paying and suffering to endure. It is something that our children and their childrens' children will have to suffer and pay for as well. Maybe you have guessed it. Yes, on this date in 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified. That is the one that gave Congress the power to levy the Income Tax:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
One had a grand result in equality for all. The other, I think, was a disaster of inequality and injustice because I believe it steals the fruits of peoples' labors and doles them out to they who refuse to work. What a faulty system and what a shame because it has over the long run led to the type of economy under which we now find ourselves burdened - tax and spend and tax again and spend again - ad infinitum. There is a great irony in that both of these amendments were ratified today - one leading to burdening the people with income tax and leading up to our current tax and spend economy - the other leading to equality in voting, regardless of prior servitude, that ultimately led to the election of our current president - a president who would apparently tax us and our children into servitude.
All the best,
Glenn B
References:
http://www.todayinhistory.com/
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmintro1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
I also just checked the White House web site and guess what - no mention of it there either, nor on the White House blog. Imagine that! I have to wonder just how many people realize just how important a day this was, and is, historically for African Americans (and others).
Do you know the historical significance? Today, February 3rd, in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified. It was a big step forward in American history. Sure there was still an awful lot to overcome, but nonetheless it was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history. Its effects changed this country forever even if it took until recent decades for the changes to kick into overdrive and until recently for them to reach their highest potential. I am assuming, by now, you know exactly what this is about but if not let me spell it out for you word for word:
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Of course, there was also another major piece of legislation that was ratified on this date, but this time in 1913. It also brought about major change in the lives of Americans and it is one for which we are still paying and suffering to endure. It is something that our children and their childrens' children will have to suffer and pay for as well. Maybe you have guessed it. Yes, on this date in 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified. That is the one that gave Congress the power to levy the Income Tax:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
One had a grand result in equality for all. The other, I think, was a disaster of inequality and injustice because I believe it steals the fruits of peoples' labors and doles them out to they who refuse to work. What a faulty system and what a shame because it has over the long run led to the type of economy under which we now find ourselves burdened - tax and spend and tax again and spend again - ad infinitum. There is a great irony in that both of these amendments were ratified today - one leading to burdening the people with income tax and leading up to our current tax and spend economy - the other leading to equality in voting, regardless of prior servitude, that ultimately led to the election of our current president - a president who would apparently tax us and our children into servitude.
All the best,
Glenn B
References:
http://www.todayinhistory.com/
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmintro1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
I Am Not Advocating Violence, But Just Wondering...
...what would happen if after the next terrorist attack on the United States, committed by a Muslim, someone in the USA, a citizen and other than a Islamist, were to go out and kill a large number of Muslims. For instance, FOX News today reported that U.S. Officials are saying a terrorist attack within the USA is imminent (government officials reportedly said it will take place within the next 6 months). Let us for a moment assume that this information is correct. let us ow look forward and imagine that the attack has just take place. For our hypothetical purposes here, let us also imagine that the attack involved a single bomber or a small group of bombers who set off several explosive devices inside of the NYC subway system during rush hour killing hundreds of people and wound hundreds more. Let also also imagine that al Qaeda claims responsibility for the bombing and that they promise more to be forthcoming in the very near future.
Now, imagine if you will, a U.S. citizen maybe like me (no I have no intention of doing anything like this), maybe like you, maybe like anyone of us has had enough. He is incensed, he is fed up, he is disgusted with the response of the U.S. Government and state and local governments which all tell 'we the people' to remain calm because 'the system has worked' and government is doing all it can to protect us. Now imagine that this person goes out and buys a shotgun and also buys a few hundred rounds of ammunition. Then imagine this person showing up at services at the local Muslim mosque and opening fire during services. Imagine that 20 or 30 Muslims are killed. Imagine that 40 or 50 ore are wounded, most seriously with some almost sure to die from their wounds.
Can you imagine the outcome of such a scenario. What would it be? Would he be condemned by the Muslim community as a racist? Would the press hail him or demionize him? Would the terrorists think twice before committing another act of terrorism in the USA? Would they instead retaliate? If there was retaliation, would other US Citizens be prompted to take similar action and have them killing Islamists. What would the reaction of our government be - both out in the open and behind closed doors? What would be the reaction of 'we the people'?
Remember, this country has a small Muslim population by comparison percentage wise to places like Denmark, France and great Britain. Would violence in the USA against Muslims help to reduce or increase the threat of terrorism within our shores and in the long run would it help prevent any potential for an Islamic takeover of our country.
As I said, and I want to stress this - I am not advocating any form of illegal violence, I am only wondering what would happen if such would take place - what would the short term - mid-term and long term results be? What do you think?
All the best,
Glenn B
Now, imagine if you will, a U.S. citizen maybe like me (no I have no intention of doing anything like this), maybe like you, maybe like anyone of us has had enough. He is incensed, he is fed up, he is disgusted with the response of the U.S. Government and state and local governments which all tell 'we the people' to remain calm because 'the system has worked' and government is doing all it can to protect us. Now imagine that this person goes out and buys a shotgun and also buys a few hundred rounds of ammunition. Then imagine this person showing up at services at the local Muslim mosque and opening fire during services. Imagine that 20 or 30 Muslims are killed. Imagine that 40 or 50 ore are wounded, most seriously with some almost sure to die from their wounds.
Can you imagine the outcome of such a scenario. What would it be? Would he be condemned by the Muslim community as a racist? Would the press hail him or demionize him? Would the terrorists think twice before committing another act of terrorism in the USA? Would they instead retaliate? If there was retaliation, would other US Citizens be prompted to take similar action and have them killing Islamists. What would the reaction of our government be - both out in the open and behind closed doors? What would be the reaction of 'we the people'?
Remember, this country has a small Muslim population by comparison percentage wise to places like Denmark, France and great Britain. Would violence in the USA against Muslims help to reduce or increase the threat of terrorism within our shores and in the long run would it help prevent any potential for an Islamic takeover of our country.
As I said, and I want to stress this - I am not advocating any form of illegal violence, I am only wondering what would happen if such would take place - what would the short term - mid-term and long term results be? What do you think?
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Defending My Favorite Holiday
My favorite holiday falls on this day every year. What's that you say? This is not a holiday. Well then, it should be and anyway I treat it like one regardless. There is no better makebelieve or real holiday in all the year as far as I am concerned. Of course there are some great days to enjoy throughout the year such as: my daughter's and son's birthdays, my wife's birthday, our anniversary, my own birthday, Christmas Eve and Christmas - and before I forget Halloween and Thanksgiving are right up there - in fact Thanksgiving is my favorite real holiday bar none (well maybe except for Festivus - that is a real one, isn't it). I should point out though that there is no other holiday real or fake that comes close to Groundhogs' Day - it is my favorite holiday among them all even if it is only a holiday in my mind. "Why is that?" you may ask.
It is because on Groundhogs' Day no one expects anything from me. I do not have to remember, at my peril, that it is my anniversary or another important day in someone else's life. I do not have to worry about hurthing someone's feelings by forgetting their special day. I don't have to worry that I may suffer an eternity in hell for missing church on a high holy day or for not having remained religious. I don't have to look for the card with the religious saying or witty little jingle or the phrase saying how much I love someone or how much they mean to me or about how much I hope they enjoy the holiday or their birthday. I do not have to shop for the perfect gift(s) for weeks on end only to find out - after shopping for it, buying it, wrapping it and remembering to give it on time - that the other person already had what I got or that said person loathed that perfect gift that I picked out. I don't have to worry about wishing somebody a happy birthday only to find out I made them feel older. I do not have to worry about choosing between Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah and finding someway to offend someone no matter how hard I try to get it right. I don't have to starve myself in anticipation of some great and festive meal only to find out the turkey is dry as a sun bleached bone or the lamb has so much garlic in it as to make you gag. I don't have to figure out how to put on a smile while chewing and then lick my lips and say: MMMMmmmmmmmmmm Gooooooooooooooooood to whomever prepared a feast fit for Frankenstein. I don't have to worry about overeating when the holiday meal turns out great (and mind you most of them turn out better than that) and then having to sit around with my pants open because I overdid it. I don't have to worry about the strain and stress of getting the whole family together and then someone (used to usually be me but I got better for the most part) opening his or her mouth over something stupid and ruining the meal for everyone. I do not have to worry about getting dressed up (never really do anyhow but do try to look somewhat better on holidays). I don't have to worry about only having one or two drinks early on because I may be the one stuck driving home later on from a relative's home. Heck, I do not even have to worry about driving to the relatives' home at all cause none of them celebrate this holiday. I don't have to worry if we got enough food, or enough wine or beer, or desert. I don't have to worry about a gosh darned thing because today is my favorite holiday and a makebelieve one at that - today is Groundhogs' Day - and I don't have to do a thing to enjoy it except to celebrate it in my own private way while the Groundhog does all the work.
Celebrating it, at least for me, means doing nothing at all special - well except for making sure to be up fairly early to hear the announcement as to just what the fat furry short tailed burrowing little buck toothedbastard rodent had to say about how long winter will last. Of course, I go with the expert, the one, the only Punxsutawney Phil of Pennsylvania and of legend. He may not be right all of the time, some say he is on track with his predictions as few as 39% of the time see here. Others give him an on target percentage of 80%, see here. How ever many times he gets it right or wrong, I can tell you this, listening to a pretty much mindless Groundhog, about the weather, is as good as or better than giving any credence to most meteorologists and weathermen. In fact, or maybe in fiction, the groundhog's forecasts are undoubtedly much more accurate than any predictions of doom and gloom as presented by Al Gore and the global warming lunatics (or should that be climate change lunatics now that the little adorable rodent has predicted 6 more weeks of winter).
Now of course, Punxsutawney Phil has his detractors. There are several other imposters out there such as Staten Island Chuck in NY and others across the nation, some of whom actually disagree in their forecasts and who have tried to tell us that spring is just around the corner. Ask anyone up in the northeast what they think of that, and of global warming right about now! I think they will agree that Punxsutawney Phil has got it right again! Then there is also PETA - the wacko (as I see them) animals rights group that reportedly wants to see Punxsutawney Phil replaced with a robot. No folks, I am not making that up, click on this link and see for yourselves.
Detractors or not, Phil and his holiday are okay by me. I mean I look at it this way: The little fur ball does all the heavy lifting today; there is nothing expected from me regarding this holiday and that is why I like it so much. He has to stay awake, come out nice and early, confront the camera and cheers of the throng who come to see him, make his prediction under pressure before the masses, and he has to put his own reputation on the line each year when he predicts whether or not we will have 6 more weeks of winter or not. And if he is right or wrong - who cares. It is not like he ruined any one's day by getting it wrong - is it? Well at least he hasn't ruined any one's day who is older than about 5 or 6 or with an IQ above the minus levels. It is a day all in fun, meant to be mildly festive with no stress or strain on anyone except maybe Phil and the guys who pull him out of his hole at an all too early hour - and if that stresses them out a little bit - heck it only happens one day out of the year. Just looking at the little brown booger will tell you this - he is well cared for, and just about as happy as awoodchuck groundhog could be. I can tell you this, while those (in my opinion) bums at PETA may someday lobby successfully to make it illegal to ever again enjoy a medium rare hamburger smothered with fried onions and slathered with real Cheddar cheese, I will fight tooth and nail to prevent them from taking the groundhog out of Groundhogs' Day. Replacement with a robot indeed - what sour pussed weenies they all must be to even hint at such a thing!
This is without a doubt the best holiday of all time. With that, I wish you all, each and everyone (except you folks at PETA and like groups):
All the best,
Glenn B
It is because on Groundhogs' Day no one expects anything from me. I do not have to remember, at my peril, that it is my anniversary or another important day in someone else's life. I do not have to worry about hurthing someone's feelings by forgetting their special day. I don't have to worry that I may suffer an eternity in hell for missing church on a high holy day or for not having remained religious. I don't have to look for the card with the religious saying or witty little jingle or the phrase saying how much I love someone or how much they mean to me or about how much I hope they enjoy the holiday or their birthday. I do not have to shop for the perfect gift(s) for weeks on end only to find out - after shopping for it, buying it, wrapping it and remembering to give it on time - that the other person already had what I got or that said person loathed that perfect gift that I picked out. I don't have to worry about wishing somebody a happy birthday only to find out I made them feel older. I do not have to worry about choosing between Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah and finding someway to offend someone no matter how hard I try to get it right. I don't have to starve myself in anticipation of some great and festive meal only to find out the turkey is dry as a sun bleached bone or the lamb has so much garlic in it as to make you gag. I don't have to figure out how to put on a smile while chewing and then lick my lips and say: MMMMmmmmmmmmmm Gooooooooooooooooood to whomever prepared a feast fit for Frankenstein. I don't have to worry about overeating when the holiday meal turns out great (and mind you most of them turn out better than that) and then having to sit around with my pants open because I overdid it. I don't have to worry about the strain and stress of getting the whole family together and then someone (used to usually be me but I got better for the most part) opening his or her mouth over something stupid and ruining the meal for everyone. I do not have to worry about getting dressed up (never really do anyhow but do try to look somewhat better on holidays). I don't have to worry about only having one or two drinks early on because I may be the one stuck driving home later on from a relative's home. Heck, I do not even have to worry about driving to the relatives' home at all cause none of them celebrate this holiday. I don't have to worry if we got enough food, or enough wine or beer, or desert. I don't have to worry about a gosh darned thing because today is my favorite holiday and a makebelieve one at that - today is Groundhogs' Day - and I don't have to do a thing to enjoy it except to celebrate it in my own private way while the Groundhog does all the work.
Celebrating it, at least for me, means doing nothing at all special - well except for making sure to be up fairly early to hear the announcement as to just what the fat furry short tailed burrowing little buck toothed
Now of course, Punxsutawney Phil has his detractors. There are several other imposters out there such as Staten Island Chuck in NY and others across the nation, some of whom actually disagree in their forecasts and who have tried to tell us that spring is just around the corner. Ask anyone up in the northeast what they think of that, and of global warming right about now! I think they will agree that Punxsutawney Phil has got it right again! Then there is also PETA - the wacko (as I see them) animals rights group that reportedly wants to see Punxsutawney Phil replaced with a robot. No folks, I am not making that up, click on this link and see for yourselves.
Detractors or not, Phil and his holiday are okay by me. I mean I look at it this way: The little fur ball does all the heavy lifting today; there is nothing expected from me regarding this holiday and that is why I like it so much. He has to stay awake, come out nice and early, confront the camera and cheers of the throng who come to see him, make his prediction under pressure before the masses, and he has to put his own reputation on the line each year when he predicts whether or not we will have 6 more weeks of winter or not. And if he is right or wrong - who cares. It is not like he ruined any one's day by getting it wrong - is it? Well at least he hasn't ruined any one's day who is older than about 5 or 6 or with an IQ above the minus levels. It is a day all in fun, meant to be mildly festive with no stress or strain on anyone except maybe Phil and the guys who pull him out of his hole at an all too early hour - and if that stresses them out a little bit - heck it only happens one day out of the year. Just looking at the little brown booger will tell you this - he is well cared for, and just about as happy as a
This is without a doubt the best holiday of all time. With that, I wish you all, each and everyone (except you folks at PETA and like groups):
HAPPY GROUNDHOGS' DAY
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, January 29, 2010
New Blog Link Added - Sheepdog's Blog
Tonight I added a new blog link to my blog roll:
Sheepdog's Blog under 'Grumps, Geeks, Gun Guys, and Geniuses - All Worth A Read and Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link - Thanks'
All the best,
Glenn
Sheepdog's Blog under 'Grumps, Geeks, Gun Guys, and Geniuses - All Worth A Read and Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link - Thanks'
All the best,
Glenn
Linked To A Medical Info Site
I was checking the Internet tonight to see if I could figure out what other sites to this blog. I like to keep up on who provides links to this blog on their blog roll. If I find another blog with a respectful link to my site in its blog roll, I give that blog a reciprocal courtesy link. I also list lots of links on my blog site that do not reciprocate to me but I try to make sure that anyone who gives a link to my blog (in a respectful manner) gets likewise from me for their site.
Well, while looking tonight, I was quite surprised to find that my blog - or at least a post in my blog - was given a link on OrganizedWisdom.com at:
http://organizedwisdom.com/Ear_Damage_from_Gunshots and at:
http://organizedwisdom.com/Ballseyes_Boomers_Ballseyes_Firearms_Training_and_Tactics_4_Eyes_and_Ears/17190/5086/health
Not only did they provide a link but it was lsited under the header:
All the best,
Glenn B
Well, while looking tonight, I was quite surprised to find that my blog - or at least a post in my blog - was given a link on OrganizedWisdom.com at:
http://organizedwisdom.com/Ear_Damage_from_Gunshots and at:
http://organizedwisdom.com/Ballseyes_Boomers_Ballseyes_Firearms_Training_and_Tactics_4_Eyes_and_Ears/17190/5086/health
Not only did they provide a link but it was lsited under the header:
"The Top 10 Resources on Ear Damage from Gunshots
Expert-approved health links for the Ear Damage from Gunshots WisdomCard"
What does that do for me? Not much except to amuse me greatly. They provide that link under a section about 'Ear Damage From Gunshots'. I am okay with that because their posting of it the link seems to indicate they are not anti-gun since my post basically tells you how to protect your eyes and ears while enjoying shooting sports. I am not saying they are pro-gun but hopefully are at least neutral.
What does that do for me? Not much except to amuse me greatly. They provide that link under a section about 'Ear Damage From Gunshots'. I am okay with that because their posting of it the link seems to indicate they are not anti-gun since my post basically tells you how to protect your eyes and ears while enjoying shooting sports. I am not saying they are pro-gun but hopefully are at least neutral.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
This Wireless Computing Thing...
...is all new to me. Sure, at home we have a router (I think that is what it is called) and three computers in the house get the Internet over that. The main PC in the living room is hardwired. The thing is though that the other 3 computers are never used by me. One is an old desktop in my son's room, the other is a laptop shared by him and my wife that my daughter gave to them, the third is a newer laptop that my daughter bought. The PC I am on right now is the laptop that my wife gave me for Christmas. (Wow a 5 computer home all of a sudden, when not too long ago I think we had 2 and that seemed extravagant to me.) Well anyway, I don't ever use one of the ones set up for wireless but this evening is different.
I just got to my apartment in Phoenix after a long day of work. I decided that since it was pretty nice outside, at least fairly warm and I am guessing it to be around 65, I would sit at poolside and do something on the laptop. Then I remembered it was not hardwired outside and that the apartments do not have Wi-fi or anything like it. Well I clicked on an icon for wireless access and several wireless available connections showed up. As I thought, they almost all required a password because these were network or wireless connections that people were using and had paid for and into which they did not want freeloaders trespassing. As it turns out, one was not password protected, it is called Lynksys (which I believe is a wireless provider). So I logged on and here I am posting to my blog. I am just amazed at how someone can do this.
I imagine this is legal since the access was available over the air and did not require a password. I imagine that maybe this is the free wireless Internet access from a cafe about a block away. Does it travel that far, I guess it must because I cannot imagine anyone not password protecting their own wireless Internet access! If it does not travel that far, I wonder from where it would be coming to be available to me? Is some shifty character leaving his or her wireless account unprotected by a password so others can sign on using it and then the steal info off of my PC. I hope not but my PC is in protected mode right now regarding the Internet connection. Or is a Wireless Internet Provider being nice and putting it out in the area. I doubt that because while I do believe in fairies, I do not believe in the Internet Fairy? I suppose I am just receiving the benefit of the corner cafe's free wireless Internet or that of someone who has not password protected their access. Oh well - if I am doing something wrong, someone please let me know ASAP. Otherwise I intend to use this as often as it is nice enough to sit outside at poolside to blog.
You see, the setting out here is sort of like it was in the 1954 Hitchcock classic 'Rear Window' starring Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly as the good guys and with Raymond Burr (of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) as the bad guy. Although not a courtyard anywhere nearly as complicated as the one in the movie set, this one is pretty neat even if only rectangular with a pool in the middle. The numerous balconies opening out onto it provide an aura of intrigue that makes one wonder what is going on behind those rear windows. Luckily for me, my room does not face the pool area so I won't be tempted to go looking. Still though, there is an intriguing atmosphere here and being able to blog while in the middle of it is simply marvelous.
I suppose the names of some of the wireless connections also add to the intrigue. For example one has to wonder who are the folks and what are the stories of the people who gave their wireless Internet links names like: HolyCute, Tatardini, TheAttic, lordsquishy, sandbags, H.A.L. and ILOVECOCK (I swear that is one of them but I could never have imagined anyone being so brazen as to use something like that for their network name until now). Oh well, hopefully I may meet some of them and get to know them and also hopefully I will never find out about some of them like that last one. As it is though, night is coming on, what with it being an overcast evening and it is getting almost to dark to see the keyboard. The atmosphere is indeed intriguing and has me almost expecting to see Jimmy Stewart looking out of one of the windows at me, or maybe Bogart coming out of a doorway as in 'In A Lonely Place'.
All the best,
Glenn B
I just got to my apartment in Phoenix after a long day of work. I decided that since it was pretty nice outside, at least fairly warm and I am guessing it to be around 65, I would sit at poolside and do something on the laptop. Then I remembered it was not hardwired outside and that the apartments do not have Wi-fi or anything like it. Well I clicked on an icon for wireless access and several wireless available connections showed up. As I thought, they almost all required a password because these were network or wireless connections that people were using and had paid for and into which they did not want freeloaders trespassing. As it turns out, one was not password protected, it is called Lynksys (which I believe is a wireless provider). So I logged on and here I am posting to my blog. I am just amazed at how someone can do this.
I imagine this is legal since the access was available over the air and did not require a password. I imagine that maybe this is the free wireless Internet access from a cafe about a block away. Does it travel that far, I guess it must because I cannot imagine anyone not password protecting their own wireless Internet access! If it does not travel that far, I wonder from where it would be coming to be available to me? Is some shifty character leaving his or her wireless account unprotected by a password so others can sign on using it and then the steal info off of my PC. I hope not but my PC is in protected mode right now regarding the Internet connection. Or is a Wireless Internet Provider being nice and putting it out in the area. I doubt that because while I do believe in fairies, I do not believe in the Internet Fairy? I suppose I am just receiving the benefit of the corner cafe's free wireless Internet or that of someone who has not password protected their access. Oh well - if I am doing something wrong, someone please let me know ASAP. Otherwise I intend to use this as often as it is nice enough to sit outside at poolside to blog.
You see, the setting out here is sort of like it was in the 1954 Hitchcock classic 'Rear Window' starring Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly as the good guys and with Raymond Burr (of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) as the bad guy. Although not a courtyard anywhere nearly as complicated as the one in the movie set, this one is pretty neat even if only rectangular with a pool in the middle. The numerous balconies opening out onto it provide an aura of intrigue that makes one wonder what is going on behind those rear windows. Luckily for me, my room does not face the pool area so I won't be tempted to go looking. Still though, there is an intriguing atmosphere here and being able to blog while in the middle of it is simply marvelous.
I suppose the names of some of the wireless connections also add to the intrigue. For example one has to wonder who are the folks and what are the stories of the people who gave their wireless Internet links names like: HolyCute, Tatardini, TheAttic, lordsquishy, sandbags, H.A.L. and ILOVECOCK (I swear that is one of them but I could never have imagined anyone being so brazen as to use something like that for their network name until now). Oh well, hopefully I may meet some of them and get to know them and also hopefully I will never find out about some of them like that last one. As it is though, night is coming on, what with it being an overcast evening and it is getting almost to dark to see the keyboard. The atmosphere is indeed intriguing and has me almost expecting to see Jimmy Stewart looking out of one of the windows at me, or maybe Bogart coming out of a doorway as in 'In A Lonely Place'.
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, January 25, 2010
A Hiking I Did Go - And It Was About Time Too
I have been here in Phoenix since December 28th and today was the first day I went for a hike. I started a diet about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ago and probably have not lost more than a couple or three pounds. The thing is I have not been exercising as I should have been doing. My old friend, or should I say nemesis, Arthur I. Tis was pestering me (and has been still for several months now). I have to get over it and stop using it as an excuse because it is nowhere near as as bad now as it was a few months ago. In other words, I have no excuses except laziness for not exercising lately, at least since I have been here in Arizona. In fact, I guess I have exercised somewhat by going for walks up to about 4 miles through the city. These have been pretty tame at least for pace and difficulty and today I finally decided to get my behind in gear and to get out to do some hiking up in the mountains. 
I drove out of Phoenix's northeast corner and headed north-northeast along route 87. After about and hour and fifteen minutes I arrived at the trailhead for the Pine Creek Loop Trail which leads to the Ballantine Trail. I had headed that way knowing exactly where I wanted to hike but certainly could not remember the name of the place. You see, about 6 or 7 years ago, I was out here on another work assignment and I spent quite a few mornings, afternoons and evenings hiking along the same trails. It was exactly as I remembered it when I arrived at the trailhead about 49 miles from my apartment. The temperature was fairly cool at about 50 degrees F, the sun was shining and there was a very slight breeze - perfect weather for a hike. I started out from the trailhead at about 2,240 feet and headed up the south portion of the loop. This is a steep climb, especially for an overweight middle aged guy like me who is out of shape and who was carrying about a 25 pound backpack. I have read accounts that this trail is easy, maybe if you start out on the much less steep north portion and return on the south portion. I started the other way around, and at least one other hiker who has written an online description of this trail agrees with me that taking the south portion of the loop going in is on the tougher side because it is a pretty steep climb. See the uppermost pic to see what it looked like looking down from about 3/4 of the way to the summit of the Pine Creek Trail, click on it to enlarge to see the truck on the highway below.
Regardless, I took the steeper trail going in. I got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in and had to take a break for about 10 minutes, it was pretty steep and I am out of shape. Too bad I did not realize that the north loop was there and easier, I just did not remember it until I was well under way with the hike. As I hiked I remembered that the trail had another side to it and was a loop but it was too late I was committed to this side first. I got to the Ballantine Trailhead in about 42 minutes of actual hiking. I averaged about 2.14 mph over the 1.5 miles of that portion of the hike. Not bad for a fat old man going up such a steep hill with a 25 pound pack but I figure that if I actually stay here for another two months I will better that by about .75 mph. I was walking at a 2.85 to 3.0 mph rate on my hikes at Madera Canyon back in the spring (that is if memory serves me right). All it will take is that I continue with the hiking. After that I figure I hiked about .35 to .5 miles up to an elevation of 2,800 feet. I figured this using the same pace I made up the steepest portion of the Pine Creek Loop Trail but truth is I was walking faster now as it was easier going, so maybe it was .5 miles but I will be conservative and figure it at the same slower speed. I used a GPS to figure the elvation, not a 
real hiking GPS but one from my car. Then I took a nice long break and enjoyed the a quick lunch of a hard boiled egg, several macadamia nuts and a bottle of water. Along with lunch, I also enjoyed the scenery including deep dark blue skies, red rock formations, the cacti and ohe flora, snow covered mountain peaks and so on. While sitting there I thought I saw some movement among the rocks and sure enough, despite the pretty low temperatures, there was a lizard on one of the boulders soaking up some rays. I thought I had seen a lizard or two while hiking up the trail but only caught a quick movement out of the corner of my eye each time. Now I was sure I had seen those others, just not clearly. See the accompanying pic.
After about an hour or so at the spot where I decided to stop, I headed back down toward my car. I figured that a 3.5 mile hike or so would be good enough for me and that is what I figured I would complete once back to the car. My calculations later revealed it was closer to 3.7 miles, maybe even 4 that I had actually hiked. The trail down was much easier as almost all of it was downhill. This time I walked the north end of the Pine Creek Loop Trail and I have to point out it would have been much easier on me had I also chosen that way in and used the southern portion of the loop on the way out. Of course you can use just one to come and go on if you choose. If you chose the south trail both coming and going, it provides steeper climbing because some of it going out is also uphill. This is because on the inbound trip you climb to a small peak then drop down to Ballantine Trailhead. So you have to go up that short portion when going out on the south trail.
Hopefully I will keep up the hiking at least once or twice a week as I did when I was in Tucson. The exercise combined with my no junk food snacks diet really peeled the pounds off, too bad I did not stick with it once I was back in NY. This time I will try harder. Even if the pounds do not come off as much (since I only started hiking now after being here almost a month and I started right away in Tucson and had 4 months to lose weight when there as opposed the the two I have remaining here) it will be worth the effort for cardio and for getting out to see the lay of the land. It was truly a beautiful hike, and is only about 48 miles from the center of downtown Phoenix. As for the trail, it was pretty eroded in places and some of it passed over granite that was crumbling and wet so it can be slippery. It was also pretty muddy in places as the area had record rainfall last week. This left the two creeks, that you see on this hike, cascading down the mountain sides into the valley below, it also left parts of the trail pretty muddy and slippery but not too bad to walk on if you were careful. I think more rain has been promised for later in the week, so I expect trail conditions will be much the same if I get a chance to go there again on my next days off which are Sunday and Monday next week. If you live in or are visiting the area and have never hiked this trail, I highly recommend it. I also recommend taking the Ballantine Trail much further than did I. It is a beautiful hike as remember from my trip out here several years ago when I hiked most of it several times and all of it at least once.
All the best,
Glenn B
Ballseye's Gun Shots 46 - The Cost of Ammunition - It Baffles Me
Not all that long ago, I bought a case of 7.62x39 at a good price as compared to the prices over the year before the purchase. I was happy, I thought that even though it was still pretty expensive the fact that the price had come down was an indication to me that all ammo prices would be falling soon. I guesses that because oil prices had fallen, then ammo prices would fall too; you may remember that most raises in ammo pricing was said to be due to the increase in the cost of oil (i.e.: as in the cost of gasoline being used to transport it). I am no longer too certain of that, in fact I doubt my earlier assessment was even close to the mark.
The reason I am so doubtful that ammo prices will soon be falling is because ammo prices seem to be stagnant for some types of ammo, going up higher than ever for some other types of ammunition and because other types are just not available. The particular thing that brought this to my attention was that I have been finding it next to impossible to find .35 Remington 200 gr. soft-points at a reasonable price. The SportsmansGuide.com actually has this round from one manufacturer - Remington. They are going for $29.37 a box of 20 rounds, - plus shipping. This is up from the $22 - $24.00 per box that the same company was charging only a few months ago as I recall. It is also well above a 100 percent increase in price for the same type of ammo when I bought it just under 2 years ago for $13.97 per box, see here. That ammo was by Winchester, but was the same grain weight and usually sells within a buck or two either way of the Remington ammo. Folks let me repeat, that was less than 2 years ago! That is an amazing price increase, almost a 114% increase!
Now add that price increase to the fact that a place like SportsmansGuide.com also usually offers about 5 or 6 choices of ammo in that same caliber differing either by brand and or by grain weight (150 and 200 grains are typically available). If you go to the link for the available .35 Remington they have as of this writing, you will see they have only two types including the highly overpriced one, in my opinion, that I mentioned above. I went to some other sites to such as CheaperThanDirt.com, Natchez Shooters Supply. Cheaper Than Dirt offers 5 types of .35 Remington broken down to offerings from 4 manufacturers in 200 gr. and one offering from one of those same manufacturers in 150 gr. Only the 150 gr. (the less popular one as far as I am aware) is available from them. Natchez Shooter Supply also offers 4 brands in 200 gr. and one of those brands in 150 gr. They have the Hornady LeverEvolution at 22.24 per box, all the others are sold out. A few other websites had similar offerings or none at all in stock when it came to .35 Remington.
A quick check of several other websites who offer ammo for sale revealed that other even more popular ammo is also out of stock for the most part. Lots of them advertise 7.62x39 but are out of stock on most of the types they offer. AIM Surplus offers three types of 7.62x39 ammo on their current site (at the time I wrote this). They show two offerings of 500 round half cases and both of them are out of stock. Individual boxes of 20 rounds per box are available in Wolf at $4.59 per box or $4.39 per box if you buy 50 or more (50 boxes would make for a case of 1,000 rounds). That would be $219.50 plus shipping for a thousand rounds; actually a good price by today's pricing. While that is a good price, I have to wonder though, do they actually have 1,000 rounds in stock and how much it would come to with shipping. Usually places like AM offer a few types of Wolf in that same caliber. The one currently offered is in FMJ only.
Ammoman.com also offers Wolf 7.62x39 ammo here. They also offer it at a decent price as far as current pricing goes. They offer it in FMJ at $239.00 and in JHP at $259.00, shipping included for both. They do not offer soft points nor in other grain weights which used to be readily available. As a matter of fact, I did not see the grain weight of the bullets mentioned anywhere for this particular ammo. hey also offer some Egyptian made ammo in this caliber but it uses corrosive primers as I understand it. They have 10 other types of 7.62x39 ammo listed on their site, but it is all out of stock as I write.
Classic Arms offers the Wolf 7.62x39 at $289.00 per case in both the FMJ and Soft-Point. I do not know if it includes shipping. Regardless, it is not a good price in my opinion. They also have some other ammo in this caliber, but it too is listed as corrosive. Corrosive ammo is not for me but if you like it, it looks to be a decent deal at $249.95 for a case of 1,260 rounds of brass cased ammunition. Again though, note the primers are corrosive.
There are other examples of high priced ammo that I have seen lately. For instance I visited Big 5 Sporting Goods here in Phoenix. They had .32 ACP FMJ in 50 round boxes going for just over $32.00 per box! Maybe it was the wrong price, the clerk said it was not, but that is an insanely high price as I see it. I checked Internet pricing for the same ammo, it was offered by SportsmansGuide.com at $33.97 per box of 50 rounds. Granted that SportsmansGuide.com also had several other types and brands of .32 Auto available and some of the prices, at less than half of the above, were much more reasonable for what amounts to basically the same ammo. I don't get it though because no regular .32 Auto is, in my estimation, worth anywhere near $34.00 per box, including Remington green boxed ammo which is the one going for nearly that amount. Even Magtech 65 gr. FMJ in .32 auto was high priced at $12.87 per box, although I will admit this is much closer to what the price for such ammo should be to be considered decently priced in my mind. Just about 2 years ago I was getting it for about $8.00 to $9.00 per box.
Sticking with .32 Auto, I took a look to CheaperThanDirt.com. They offer ten types of .32 auto but only show one available as I write. The one they offer is a specialty ammo so maybe I should not even bother mentioning that it costs $13.39 for only 8 rounds! By the way, I went back and checked availability on SportsmansGuide.com because I forgot to do so. Of the 24 types of .32 Auto (also called .32 ACP) on the page for SportsmansGuide.com, they only had 4 types listed as in stock!
The reason I am so doubtful that ammo prices will soon be falling is because ammo prices seem to be stagnant for some types of ammo, going up higher than ever for some other types of ammunition and because other types are just not available. The particular thing that brought this to my attention was that I have been finding it next to impossible to find .35 Remington 200 gr. soft-points at a reasonable price. The SportsmansGuide.com actually has this round from one manufacturer - Remington. They are going for $29.37 a box of 20 rounds, - plus shipping. This is up from the $22 - $24.00 per box that the same company was charging only a few months ago as I recall. It is also well above a 100 percent increase in price for the same type of ammo when I bought it just under 2 years ago for $13.97 per box, see here. That ammo was by Winchester, but was the same grain weight and usually sells within a buck or two either way of the Remington ammo. Folks let me repeat, that was less than 2 years ago! That is an amazing price increase, almost a 114% increase!
Now add that price increase to the fact that a place like SportsmansGuide.com also usually offers about 5 or 6 choices of ammo in that same caliber differing either by brand and or by grain weight (150 and 200 grains are typically available). If you go to the link for the available .35 Remington they have as of this writing, you will see they have only two types including the highly overpriced one, in my opinion, that I mentioned above. I went to some other sites to such as CheaperThanDirt.com, Natchez Shooters Supply. Cheaper Than Dirt offers 5 types of .35 Remington broken down to offerings from 4 manufacturers in 200 gr. and one offering from one of those same manufacturers in 150 gr. Only the 150 gr. (the less popular one as far as I am aware) is available from them. Natchez Shooter Supply also offers 4 brands in 200 gr. and one of those brands in 150 gr. They have the Hornady LeverEvolution at 22.24 per box, all the others are sold out. A few other websites had similar offerings or none at all in stock when it came to .35 Remington.
A quick check of several other websites who offer ammo for sale revealed that other even more popular ammo is also out of stock for the most part. Lots of them advertise 7.62x39 but are out of stock on most of the types they offer. AIM Surplus offers three types of 7.62x39 ammo on their current site (at the time I wrote this). They show two offerings of 500 round half cases and both of them are out of stock. Individual boxes of 20 rounds per box are available in Wolf at $4.59 per box or $4.39 per box if you buy 50 or more (50 boxes would make for a case of 1,000 rounds). That would be $219.50 plus shipping for a thousand rounds; actually a good price by today's pricing. While that is a good price, I have to wonder though, do they actually have 1,000 rounds in stock and how much it would come to with shipping. Usually places like AM offer a few types of Wolf in that same caliber. The one currently offered is in FMJ only.
Ammoman.com also offers Wolf 7.62x39 ammo here. They also offer it at a decent price as far as current pricing goes. They offer it in FMJ at $239.00 and in JHP at $259.00, shipping included for both. They do not offer soft points nor in other grain weights which used to be readily available. As a matter of fact, I did not see the grain weight of the bullets mentioned anywhere for this particular ammo. hey also offer some Egyptian made ammo in this caliber but it uses corrosive primers as I understand it. They have 10 other types of 7.62x39 ammo listed on their site, but it is all out of stock as I write.
Classic Arms offers the Wolf 7.62x39 at $289.00 per case in both the FMJ and Soft-Point. I do not know if it includes shipping. Regardless, it is not a good price in my opinion. They also have some other ammo in this caliber, but it too is listed as corrosive. Corrosive ammo is not for me but if you like it, it looks to be a decent deal at $249.95 for a case of 1,260 rounds of brass cased ammunition. Again though, note the primers are corrosive.
There are other examples of high priced ammo that I have seen lately. For instance I visited Big 5 Sporting Goods here in Phoenix. They had .32 ACP FMJ in 50 round boxes going for just over $32.00 per box! Maybe it was the wrong price, the clerk said it was not, but that is an insanely high price as I see it. I checked Internet pricing for the same ammo, it was offered by SportsmansGuide.com at $33.97 per box of 50 rounds. Granted that SportsmansGuide.com also had several other types and brands of .32 Auto available and some of the prices, at less than half of the above, were much more reasonable for what amounts to basically the same ammo. I don't get it though because no regular .32 Auto is, in my estimation, worth anywhere near $34.00 per box, including Remington green boxed ammo which is the one going for nearly that amount. Even Magtech 65 gr. FMJ in .32 auto was high priced at $12.87 per box, although I will admit this is much closer to what the price for such ammo should be to be considered decently priced in my mind. Just about 2 years ago I was getting it for about $8.00 to $9.00 per box.
Sticking with .32 Auto, I took a look to CheaperThanDirt.com. They offer ten types of .32 auto but only show one available as I write. The one they offer is a specialty ammo so maybe I should not even bother mentioning that it costs $13.39 for only 8 rounds! By the way, I went back and checked availability on SportsmansGuide.com because I forgot to do so. Of the 24 types of .32 Auto (also called .32 ACP) on the page for SportsmansGuide.com, they only had 4 types listed as in stock!
Other ammo is also very high priced as compared to a couple of years ago. back then I could pick up a brick of .22LR ammunition form less than $10 and there were a variety of brands available at that price. Yesterday, at the Cross Roads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix, AZ, I saw a brick of CCI Blazer in .22LR selling for $22.00 and a brick of American Eagle going for $19.99. Those prices are ridiculous, well at least in my estimation. I don't know the cause of the price increases. Fist they said it was due to the cost of gasoline, then they said it was due to the cost of everything going up because the cost of gasoline went up. Gas prices have fallen quite a bit but not most ammo prices. Then they said it was due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the shortages of materials to make ammo because of military contracts. Yet 7.62x39 is again available, if not as much as before it is out there, and it would be one of the most used by foreign military groups. Then they laid blame on the anticipated buying frenzy that most of us predicted would take place if Barack Obama was elected president. The buying rage took place for sure. maybe it is a combination of all three things, maybe other things added in too. The thing is that the industry has had more than enough time to rebound from all of the above and probably should be able to keep it coming but for some reason it is not doing so. I wonder if the ammo shortages and high pricing is also due in part to our the fact that our productive capabilities are dwindling as we become closer and closer to becoming a 3rd world nation. maybe and maybe not, but whatever the reasons, it is of grave concern to me because it seems to be indicative of something not being right with the way things are going. Oh, one other thing - I don't think it is due to the recession - and yes we are still in a recession even if the current administration denies it. Just look to last months housing sales if you doubt we are in a recession. Despite a slow to poor economy and being in a recession, the fact is that when ammunition is available, sales of it remain brisk even at inflated prices. So it is not like they are not selling enough of it, heck maybe they are selling to much but somehow - what with our technology and capabilities I tend to doubt it - or just do not want to believe that our manufacturers cannot, for whatever reason, keep up with demand..
Please note, I am no trying to indicate in any way anything degrading about any of the above companies, be they ammunition retailers or manufacturers. I have used just about all of them for purchases before and will probably continue to do so. All I am saying is that prices are high compared to just 2 years ago, way higher, and even when some pricing seems good now the truth is that ammo is not as readily available as it was a year or two ago. I guess I am also saying that some if it still seems to be going up in price too such as the .35 Remington. I have to wonder when the increases in price are going to stop, when ammo prices will fall if ever) and when the availability of ammo will increase to what it was just a short time ago.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 24, 2010
If I Have Ever Seen A Team Blow A Football Game...
...I saw it this evening in the Minnesota Viking loss to the New Orleans Saints. It was a disgrace - too many men in the huddle resulting in a penalty taking the Vikings out of field goal range with very little time remaining. Then Favre passing across the field instead of running down the wide open right side of the field - he certainly could have gotten back into field goal range and they would likely have won the game then and there (heck he could have crawled to regain the yardage the field was so wide open). What a way to blow it! New Orleans deserved to win just for not screwing up as much.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Gun Show Booty
When I went out late this morning I was greeted by cool crisp air that was invigorating to say the least. I guessed it was either in the high forties or low fifties and the thermometer in my car confirmed my guess, it was right at 50. Nice day to do something instead of staying cooped up in the apartment and I was off to enjoy it. I did not have to go far, just about 2 miles and I arrived at my destination - the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix. When I got there I drove up to the parking lot attendants' booths and saw why so many people were parking outside on the street and walking in. The parking fee was $10.00! No wonder the couple just outside the entrance who were operating a parking had a lot that was almost full for $5.00 a car! I decided I could use the walk and parked a long block away from the entrance. I guess I had to walk about 1/4 of a mile to get in to the show, but the exercise I got on such a fine morning and the money I saved were well worth the minimal effort.
Once in the fairgrounds are I the admission fee - a whopping $14.00. I had thought the gun show at Middletown, NY had gotten expensive last time I was there, it was around $9.00 to get in; it seems I had no idea what expensive really was back then. Oh well, I coughed it up anyway because I did want to see what was for sale despite the fact that I would not be able to buy a gun since I am a NY resident. After getting over the shock of the admission fee, I made my way into the show. It was being held in three large buildings that probably also do lots of other duties at other fairground events like rodeos, stock shows, antique shows, country fairs and so on. Luckily I walked into the largest of the buildings first. I say that was lucky because it was the one with the most displays of guns as opposed to displays of items that have nothing to do with guns and that I believe don't belong at guns shows. As seems to be the case with every gun show I have visited in various states, gun shows nowadays also draw a good number of vendors who sell things like: knives, books, military surplus items other than firearms, candy, tee shirts, beef jerky, hand lotions, toys, Nazi memorabilia and other things. Some of those things go hand in had with guns such as the knives (well if only because most guns shows are listed as gun & knife shows), books about guns and maybe some of the Tee-shirts (at least those with gun themes or logos on them). Stuff like candy, beef jerky, hand lotion and Nazi memorabilia have no place therein in my opinion.
The Nazi memorabilia and reproductions of medals, and Nazi armbands that one dealer had on display were enough to get my blood boiling. This especially in light of the fact that the Crossroads of the West Gun Show rules plainly state that prohibited items include items glorifying Nazism or items offensive to the general public. I would have to say that a table full of Nazi armbands, medals, flags, books and other propaganda was pretty offensive. I know, I know - freedom of speech. Truth is freedom of speech applies to a right/freedom that the government cannot deny you, however a private concern such as Crossroads of the West is fully within its own rights to prohibit such items at its shows. Too bad they do not enforce their own rules. If it was up to me I would have thrown the guy out post haste. I wasn't going to let one jerk ruin my day though and moved on quickly from in front of that guys table.
As I walked around the show, going from one aisle to the next, I have to admit I was pretty impressed. In this, the larger of the three buildings used for the gun show, there were lots of tables from which the vendors were selling pretty much nothing other than guns, guns parts, gun gear and accessories, and ammunition. Yeah there were some vendors like the guy with the Nazi crap, and some selling things like tee-shirts, or beef jerky, but this gun show was definitely geared toward selling guns and lots of them. That was like a breath of fresh air compared to some shows I have been to in recent years. I don't know how many tables were set up but there were definitely hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand (between all three exhibit buildings).
Since I could not buy a gun, I only gave most some glancing looks. Well actually I could have bought one from an FFL dealer if he would have been willing to ship it to an FFL in NY for me - but the expense of that would not have been worthwhile unless I would have found an earth shattering deal. No deals like that were to be had, at least none that I saw. There were some good prices on guns though but you really had to do some hard looking. The reason you had to look so hard was because of many of the guns had very high to ridiculously high prices. For example there were Russian SKSs going for over $600 each. They were in crappy condition too. This seems to be the norm at every gun show I have been to in the past two years. I saw A Mosin Nagant M44 selling for almost $400. It was at best in good condition and also at best a $125 gun.
There was a difference here though - from those other overinflated shows - not all of the dealers were selling at overinflated prices, some actually had decent to good prices - and a select few had some great deals. I suppose most of the good deals though were to be found among the non-dealers who came to the show and brought along a gun of three to sell. There were quite a few people looking to make private sales, and some of them had some good deals up for offer, I figure to have seen at least 30 people walking around with firearms offered for private sales.
As I made my way around the tables, my eye was caught once or twice (maybe even four or five times) by something extra nice. For example there was a nice Stevens Pump action .22 rifle. It was going for $250 and was in truly excellent condition. I If I would have held it and looked at it long enough to have gotten the model number I probably would have gone into withdrawal what with my not being able to buy it. There was also a Beretta Model 70 Jaguar (I think it was actually a Model 72, but again did not handle it due to fear of going into withdrawal). It was pretty nice, at least the side I could see. Fine to near excellent finish. It had the long barrel on it, and came with the original box from the look of it. he woman selling it was asking $350. That was no bargain but it was a nice gun and if she would have come down in price then someone probably would have bought it. If I saw it back in NY I would have haggled my best. As it was, I just passed it buy with a twinkle in my eye.
Of course, if you know me at all, then you know it is nigh impossible for me to go to a gun show and not buy something. I stopped at several tables exhibiting knives being that I have had it in mind to buy a boot knife. I saw one that was a piece of junk and passed on it. Now this being a gun show meant I would almost certainly have to buy something gun related. As it wound up I did buy a few things. My first purchase came when I was making my second go round of each of the buildings and was at a conglomeration of one ammo dealer's tables. I picked up a couple of boxes of Sellier & Bellot .40 S&W 180 grain FMJ. I also grabbed a single box of Winchester 9MM Luger 115 gr. FMJ ammo. This was a 'value pack' with 100 round s in the box. I haven't bought much 9mm ammo over the years, i get most of mine for free from work so I don't know if it was a good price for the value pack at $24.95 but other dealers had the same thing for up to $28.00 and none were less expensive than the guy from whom I made the purchase. The .40S&W went for $$14.95 a box. I have never bought .40S&W as far as I can remember also getting all of it from work. I want to shoot some while out here in Phoenix and I was already told the office out here probably does not have a lot of spare ammo for those of us here on detail - so I broke down and bought my own. Combined with what I brought with me, maybe a box each of .40S&W and 9MM, I now have enough for a short range day. I forgot to pick up ammo for my shotgun - shame on me.
As I was making my way around he ammo table, I was pretty surprised when a young lass of about 12 asked me if I had everything I needed. When I said I did, she took the ammo, scanned it (yes they had a register, a scanner, and a pretty professional set-up), and then I suppose it was her dad who took the cash. She then bagged it up for me, and asked the gentleman if it needed 2 bags, he said yeas and she added the other bag. I am happy she thought of it, I would have hated for the bag to break and then need to be scrambling for rounds everywhere. Very polite people, they said "thank you" a few times after making the sale, a courtesy that is often missing in today's world. They were with the Miwall Corp..
They had a fairly good selection of ammo at that set of tables but they were out of CCI Standard Velocity .22LR rounds. While making my way around the show, I found another pretty big set of ammo tables in one of the other buildings. They had what I wanted and I got a 100 rounds of the CCI .22LR ammo. When I get the chance, I'll see how it shoots in my Henry Survival Rifle. I guess that Miwall Corp has sort of a monopoly on ammo sales at this show, at least they sell most of the ammo, because this other set of tables was also run by the same company. The lady who helped me there could have learned some manners from the girl and gentleman at their other set of tables a 'thank you' did not come out of her pie hole. Well, I had my ammo and that was good enough for me even if she did not display the same courtesy during the sale as did the others.
My last purchase was made for Brendan. I picked up a couple of magazines for his AK. They are 30 round magazines, and according to the guy who sold them to me they are 1970 or 80 era military surplus magazines. I made sure to ask him about this because they have to be pre-ban mags to be legal in NY. NY instituted an 'assault weapons ban' that included high capacity magazines the same time the federal bad was initiated back in the 90s under Clinton. The federal ban has fallen by the wayside but not the ban in NY because there was no sunset provision in it. Now I have to depend upon the honesty and integrity of those from who I buy any high cap magazines because the mags are not marked in any way to indicate anything about time of manufacture or anything else for that matter. I am pretty certain though that they are military surplus because of no markings and I figure the dealer was being honest as to date of manufacture as I don't see why he would not be. If I remember right, we bought some magazines from the same guy when I was in Tucson last spring; Brendan came to visit and we got a chance to go to a gun show in Tucson then. Anyway, this dealer looked very familiar to me. I also am pretty sure it was the same guy because of how he held the bag open for me to put the mags inside, he would not touch them when I went to hand them to him for him to put into the bag; I recall that happening at the earlier gun show in Tucson too - just an eccentricity that wound up being a memory jogger. Don't get me wrong, nice dealer - no complaints from me - especially not about his prices at 2 for $30 and I am pretty sure he had manners enough to say thank you for the sale.
By the time I was done, it was already about 3PM. I got there just before noon, so I spent a bit over three hours there. With the cost of the show added onto the cost of the items I bought, I wound up paying a pretty big premium for them. Of course, the price of admission also allowed me to see all those guns for sale and I suppose it was almost worth it. Again, I have to point out that $14 for a gun show admission fee is extravagant to say the least but I have to admit I enjoyed myself immensely anyhow it was a Gun Show geared toward selling guns after all.
All the best,
Glenn B
Once in the fairgrounds are I the admission fee - a whopping $14.00. I had thought the gun show at Middletown, NY had gotten expensive last time I was there, it was around $9.00 to get in; it seems I had no idea what expensive really was back then. Oh well, I coughed it up anyway because I did want to see what was for sale despite the fact that I would not be able to buy a gun since I am a NY resident. After getting over the shock of the admission fee, I made my way into the show. It was being held in three large buildings that probably also do lots of other duties at other fairground events like rodeos, stock shows, antique shows, country fairs and so on. Luckily I walked into the largest of the buildings first. I say that was lucky because it was the one with the most displays of guns as opposed to displays of items that have nothing to do with guns and that I believe don't belong at guns shows. As seems to be the case with every gun show I have visited in various states, gun shows nowadays also draw a good number of vendors who sell things like: knives, books, military surplus items other than firearms, candy, tee shirts, beef jerky, hand lotions, toys, Nazi memorabilia and other things. Some of those things go hand in had with guns such as the knives (well if only because most guns shows are listed as gun & knife shows), books about guns and maybe some of the Tee-shirts (at least those with gun themes or logos on them). Stuff like candy, beef jerky, hand lotion and Nazi memorabilia have no place therein in my opinion.
The Nazi memorabilia and reproductions of medals, and Nazi armbands that one dealer had on display were enough to get my blood boiling. This especially in light of the fact that the Crossroads of the West Gun Show rules plainly state that prohibited items include items glorifying Nazism or items offensive to the general public. I would have to say that a table full of Nazi armbands, medals, flags, books and other propaganda was pretty offensive. I know, I know - freedom of speech. Truth is freedom of speech applies to a right/freedom that the government cannot deny you, however a private concern such as Crossroads of the West is fully within its own rights to prohibit such items at its shows. Too bad they do not enforce their own rules. If it was up to me I would have thrown the guy out post haste. I wasn't going to let one jerk ruin my day though and moved on quickly from in front of that guys table.
As I walked around the show, going from one aisle to the next, I have to admit I was pretty impressed. In this, the larger of the three buildings used for the gun show, there were lots of tables from which the vendors were selling pretty much nothing other than guns, guns parts, gun gear and accessories, and ammunition. Yeah there were some vendors like the guy with the Nazi crap, and some selling things like tee-shirts, or beef jerky, but this gun show was definitely geared toward selling guns and lots of them. That was like a breath of fresh air compared to some shows I have been to in recent years. I don't know how many tables were set up but there were definitely hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand (between all three exhibit buildings).
Since I could not buy a gun, I only gave most some glancing looks. Well actually I could have bought one from an FFL dealer if he would have been willing to ship it to an FFL in NY for me - but the expense of that would not have been worthwhile unless I would have found an earth shattering deal. No deals like that were to be had, at least none that I saw. There were some good prices on guns though but you really had to do some hard looking. The reason you had to look so hard was because of many of the guns had very high to ridiculously high prices. For example there were Russian SKSs going for over $600 each. They were in crappy condition too. This seems to be the norm at every gun show I have been to in the past two years. I saw A Mosin Nagant M44 selling for almost $400. It was at best in good condition and also at best a $125 gun.
There was a difference here though - from those other overinflated shows - not all of the dealers were selling at overinflated prices, some actually had decent to good prices - and a select few had some great deals. I suppose most of the good deals though were to be found among the non-dealers who came to the show and brought along a gun of three to sell. There were quite a few people looking to make private sales, and some of them had some good deals up for offer, I figure to have seen at least 30 people walking around with firearms offered for private sales.
As I made my way around the tables, my eye was caught once or twice (maybe even four or five times) by something extra nice. For example there was a nice Stevens Pump action .22 rifle. It was going for $250 and was in truly excellent condition. I If I would have held it and looked at it long enough to have gotten the model number I probably would have gone into withdrawal what with my not being able to buy it. There was also a Beretta Model 70 Jaguar (I think it was actually a Model 72, but again did not handle it due to fear of going into withdrawal). It was pretty nice, at least the side I could see. Fine to near excellent finish. It had the long barrel on it, and came with the original box from the look of it. he woman selling it was asking $350. That was no bargain but it was a nice gun and if she would have come down in price then someone probably would have bought it. If I saw it back in NY I would have haggled my best. As it was, I just passed it buy with a twinkle in my eye.
Of course, if you know me at all, then you know it is nigh impossible for me to go to a gun show and not buy something. I stopped at several tables exhibiting knives being that I have had it in mind to buy a boot knife. I saw one that was a piece of junk and passed on it. Now this being a gun show meant I would almost certainly have to buy something gun related. As it wound up I did buy a few things. My first purchase came when I was making my second go round of each of the buildings and was at a conglomeration of one ammo dealer's tables. I picked up a couple of boxes of Sellier & Bellot .40 S&W 180 grain FMJ. I also grabbed a single box of Winchester 9MM Luger 115 gr. FMJ ammo. This was a 'value pack' with 100 round s in the box. I haven't bought much 9mm ammo over the years, i get most of mine for free from work so I don't know if it was a good price for the value pack at $24.95 but other dealers had the same thing for up to $28.00 and none were less expensive than the guy from whom I made the purchase. The .40S&W went for $$14.95 a box. I have never bought .40S&W as far as I can remember also getting all of it from work. I want to shoot some while out here in Phoenix and I was already told the office out here probably does not have a lot of spare ammo for those of us here on detail - so I broke down and bought my own. Combined with what I brought with me, maybe a box each of .40S&W and 9MM, I now have enough for a short range day. I forgot to pick up ammo for my shotgun - shame on me.
As I was making my way around he ammo table, I was pretty surprised when a young lass of about 12 asked me if I had everything I needed. When I said I did, she took the ammo, scanned it (yes they had a register, a scanner, and a pretty professional set-up), and then I suppose it was her dad who took the cash. She then bagged it up for me, and asked the gentleman if it needed 2 bags, he said yeas and she added the other bag. I am happy she thought of it, I would have hated for the bag to break and then need to be scrambling for rounds everywhere. Very polite people, they said "thank you" a few times after making the sale, a courtesy that is often missing in today's world. They were with the Miwall Corp..
They had a fairly good selection of ammo at that set of tables but they were out of CCI Standard Velocity .22LR rounds. While making my way around the show, I found another pretty big set of ammo tables in one of the other buildings. They had what I wanted and I got a 100 rounds of the CCI .22LR ammo. When I get the chance, I'll see how it shoots in my Henry Survival Rifle. I guess that Miwall Corp has sort of a monopoly on ammo sales at this show, at least they sell most of the ammo, because this other set of tables was also run by the same company. The lady who helped me there could have learned some manners from the girl and gentleman at their other set of tables a 'thank you' did not come out of her pie hole. Well, I had my ammo and that was good enough for me even if she did not display the same courtesy during the sale as did the others.
My last purchase was made for Brendan. I picked up a couple of magazines for his AK. They are 30 round magazines, and according to the guy who sold them to me they are 1970 or 80 era military surplus magazines. I made sure to ask him about this because they have to be pre-ban mags to be legal in NY. NY instituted an 'assault weapons ban' that included high capacity magazines the same time the federal bad was initiated back in the 90s under Clinton. The federal ban has fallen by the wayside but not the ban in NY because there was no sunset provision in it. Now I have to depend upon the honesty and integrity of those from who I buy any high cap magazines because the mags are not marked in any way to indicate anything about time of manufacture or anything else for that matter. I am pretty certain though that they are military surplus because of no markings and I figure the dealer was being honest as to date of manufacture as I don't see why he would not be. If I remember right, we bought some magazines from the same guy when I was in Tucson last spring; Brendan came to visit and we got a chance to go to a gun show in Tucson then. Anyway, this dealer looked very familiar to me. I also am pretty sure it was the same guy because of how he held the bag open for me to put the mags inside, he would not touch them when I went to hand them to him for him to put into the bag; I recall that happening at the earlier gun show in Tucson too - just an eccentricity that wound up being a memory jogger. Don't get me wrong, nice dealer - no complaints from me - especially not about his prices at 2 for $30 and I am pretty sure he had manners enough to say thank you for the sale.
By the time I was done, it was already about 3PM. I got there just before noon, so I spent a bit over three hours there. With the cost of the show added onto the cost of the items I bought, I wound up paying a pretty big premium for them. Of course, the price of admission also allowed me to see all those guns for sale and I suppose it was almost worth it. Again, I have to point out that $14 for a gun show admission fee is extravagant to say the least but I have to admit I enjoyed myself immensely anyhow it was a Gun Show geared toward selling guns after all.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, January 22, 2010
Jack Daniels Single Barrel...
...is a nice way to end the day when you feel like a drink after work. I used to drink JD black label (there regular spirits) years ago but I have since matured and mellowed my tastes and now find Irish Whiskey, especially Knappogue Castle Single malt, much more to my liking. That being said and me being in Phoenix, I will add that I haven't had one of my favorites in almost a month now. I simply cannot find it in what pass for liquor stores here in Arizona. These stores have a small to very small liquor selection, a lot of cheap beer and groceries. They are more like a convenience store that sells booze too. I have not been able to find a store specializing in just fine spirits. I am sure they must be here but I don't have a clue as to where to look. Luckily, I am a Costco member. They have a pretty good selection of liquors and wines. Their selection is better than the 10 or so liquor stores I have visited already. While they did not have Knappogue Castle either, they did have Jack Daniels Single barrel and at a good price. So I picked up a bottle. It ain't bad either. Much more sweet than Irish whisky or even than Scotch, a very oak like taste, with other flavorful input but I'll be darned if I could pick em all out. I don't know if it is worth the extra price over regular Jack D, probably not but it was worth buying just to try it out at least for one bottle's worth.
I'll keep looking for the Knappogue Castle though, it truly is my favorite. If I do not find a source for that, then when the JD runs out, it will be a bottle of Irish of one sort or another. Then again, I may just get another bottle of the Jack Daniels Single Barrel - as I said - it ain't bad!
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Gun Show Phoenix
There is a gun show scheduled to be held in Phoenix this coming weekend and I intend to be there on at least one of the days. It is scheduled January 23 (9AM-5PM) & 24 (9AM-4PM) and is to be held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. If you see me there please make sure to say hi and maybe we can shoot the sh... Don't be fooled, I am no longer the handsome young devil in the pic that is tagged to my blog. I now look scruffier, more wrinkled and fatter (although I am sticking to my diet), just look at the new pick to see what I mean.I won't be able to buy any guns unless I arrange to have them shipped from an FFL here to an FFL back in NY. I think the added expense of that makes a firearms purchase close to impossible. I may pick up some accessories or whatever. Even if I do not buy, I will enjoy looking. Hope to see you there - I'll probably be there on Sunday since I an scheduled to work on Saturday.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Now Back To The Important Things - The Addams' Family TV Series
I joined Netflix last week, and since I have done so I had two DVDs sent to my home for my family to watch. One was star trek, the latest movie. The other was Disk one of the first year of the television series The Addams' Family. I have been downloading the same and watching it on my PC here while away from home in Phoenix. I plan to watch at least the first season here, and probably watch the next two seasons when i get home (only because season 2 and 3 cannot be downloaded and i used my home address for DVD mailings).
As for the show itself, it was and remains the greatest television show that ever graced the boob tube (no degradation intended toward the show). It was advant garde, extremely funny verging on hilarious, and it actually made some pretty good political and social statements. In addition, the characters in the show exhibited the absolute best manners of any show characters i have ever seen. Just listen to the family as they speak to one another. They may have been creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky and all together ookie but them were polite, they did things together as a family (no matter how weird) and while they did not understand with the customs or habits of others they respected them so long as they were decent. They were, in comedy, the all American nuclear family more so than Dick van Dyke and his spawn, more so than Andy, pie and Aunt Bea, more so than Danny Thomas and his clan, more so than the Cartwright's, more so than the Waltons, more so than Steve Urkel's neighbors (I forget the family name), more so than those on the Cosby show, more so than friends and on and on - they were it. Weird for sure, but yet polite, nice, with strong family ties and values and they had other good conservstive values too - heck they were filthy rich because of investments and good business.
Besides all that the show was insanely funny. The only other shows of its time that came close were Get Smart and F Troop. Shows since then like Seinfeld were funny - sure they were but lost something in the way they tolerated everything - especially the lack of family togetherness in the younger characters, in other words none of Jerry's crew were married with kids. Believe me folks no other show came close to the wonderfulness of The Addams' Family - not even The Muntsers.
Well, time to go, I have some shows to catch up on - maybe episodes 5 and 6 tonight before hitting the hay.
All the best,
Glenn B
As for the show itself, it was and remains the greatest television show that ever graced the boob tube (no degradation intended toward the show). It was advant garde, extremely funny verging on hilarious, and it actually made some pretty good political and social statements. In addition, the characters in the show exhibited the absolute best manners of any show characters i have ever seen. Just listen to the family as they speak to one another. They may have been creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky and all together ookie but them were polite, they did things together as a family (no matter how weird) and while they did not understand with the customs or habits of others they respected them so long as they were decent. They were, in comedy, the all American nuclear family more so than Dick van Dyke and his spawn, more so than Andy, pie and Aunt Bea, more so than Danny Thomas and his clan, more so than the Cartwright's, more so than the Waltons, more so than Steve Urkel's neighbors (I forget the family name), more so than those on the Cosby show, more so than friends and on and on - they were it. Weird for sure, but yet polite, nice, with strong family ties and values and they had other good conservstive values too - heck they were filthy rich because of investments and good business.
Besides all that the show was insanely funny. The only other shows of its time that came close were Get Smart and F Troop. Shows since then like Seinfeld were funny - sure they were but lost something in the way they tolerated everything - especially the lack of family togetherness in the younger characters, in other words none of Jerry's crew were married with kids. Believe me folks no other show came close to the wonderfulness of The Addams' Family - not even The Muntsers.
Well, time to go, I have some shows to catch up on - maybe episodes 5 and 6 tonight before hitting the hay.
All the best,
Glenn B
Brown Wins - Hopefully a Harbinger of Things to Come
It was just announced by Fox news, while I was making my donation to the American Red Cross for Haitian Earthquake relief, that Scott Brown has been projected as the winner in the Massachusetts senatorial race. It was by a virtual landslide considering how much of a Democrat stronghold is MA! (It was also hinted that Martha Coakley is about to concede.)
HEALTH CARE REFORM - QUITE POSSIBLY DEAD UNLESS THE DEMOCRATS IN DC DO SOMETHING UNETHICAL OR ILLEGAL.
CAP AND TRADE - PROBABLY DOWN THE DRAIN!
IMMIGRATION AMNESTY - PROBABLY A MOOT POINT NOW!
THE RKBA PROBABLY STRENGTHENED!
One can only hope that the elections in November of THIS YEAR go likewise - sending not only a message to the likes of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid but delivering a mandate to them forcing them to surrender to the will of the American People under our Constitution.
All the best,
Glenn B
Hip-hip-hooray!
HEALTH CARE REFORM - QUITE POSSIBLY DEAD UNLESS THE DEMOCRATS IN DC DO SOMETHING UNETHICAL OR ILLEGAL.
CAP AND TRADE - PROBABLY DOWN THE DRAIN!
IMMIGRATION AMNESTY - PROBABLY A MOOT POINT NOW!
THE RKBA PROBABLY STRENGTHENED!
Hip-hip-hooray!
One can only hope that the elections in November of THIS YEAR go likewise - sending not only a message to the likes of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid but delivering a mandate to them forcing them to surrender to the will of the American People under our Constitution.
All the best,
Glenn B
Haiti, The Earthquake, and Donations
I don't hold the country of Haiti in high regard. I was there in 1996 or maybe it was 1998 for a 30 day work assignment. I was asked to go back a second time but that for only a few days right after my first stay. I was hesitant to do so but did it because it seemed an important assignment, the fate of the first mission (a training mission teaching Haitian law enforcement how to smuggle interdict narcotics coming into and leaving the country. The first mission would continue if a group of diplomats, who dragged me along with them, could convince Haitian government officials that the program was worth it. We did as far as I know convince them. It was probably all for naught as Haiti was the most corrupt country I have ever visited in my limited travels, and this was also the opinion of some others on my team who had traveled world wide and who had been in many other very poor countries. The country was an ecological disaster. It was densely overpopulated, the people were poor, they were under the control of a corrupt and probably somewhat tyrannical government (which was a great improvement over the previous administration there, it was extremely unbalanced in regard to class structure from the ultra rich directly to the dirt poor with virtually no middle class. It was dirty, is stank to the high heavens, the people (at least those with any money) were obviously racists for the great part and disliked American although they made lots of money in the good old US of A. To say it was an utterly wretched shithole full of the scum of the earth would be an understatement.
Yet there was something in the Haitian poor that was almost unfathomable. It was hope. You could see it in the eyes of the school children, those lucky enough to be in school. You could see it in the yes of those who shopped in the markets, or those who sold there. You could see it in the eyes of the guys who carried the individual buckets of water to the wheelbarrows to mix the concrete for construction projects by hand. You could see it in the few beggars who were on the streets (here were very few beggars in evidence). You could see it on the faces of those who were aid workers. You cold see it on the faces of those few of the minute middle class who had jobs and were doing fairly well. You could see it on the faces of the folks standing there in their shanties and illuminated by a single electric light bulb in a bare socket hanging on a wire from a hook on the ceiling. What gave them hope was beyond me - that is unless it was all the handouts they were getting from the rest of the world at the time. They were the poorest nation in the northern hemisphere without a doubt and had little prospect of improvement within that century or this one. I had the thought that the best thing that could have happened to Haiti is that a 90 foot tidal wave would have swept away 75% of its population. I still believe it, that short of a miracle, that would have been the best thing that could befall Haiti and her people. Why? Not because I wished Haiti or Haitians ill but because if the country's population was reduced by about 75% the survivors maybe would stand a chance at a decent life - for example they would have almost enough resources, more employment per capita and so on. Of course, I never wished such on anyone in Haiti, it was just sort of a theory about what possibly would become their salvation, albeit by way of a horrible twisted path to get there.
The earthquake that just hit Haiti is not the same as the disaster that I believed would, in the end, help Haiti. Hundreds of thousands may have been killed and hundreds of thousands may have also been injured. Haiti's infrastructure, what little there was of it, is devastated for the most part. They are, in essence, helpless to help themselves They already were in terrible shape and have been left a hundred times worse off than they were. many countries of the world were helping them, and they probably were much better off than when I was last there, slowly but surely building up, but all of that or almost all of that has now been destroyed and they are back at a place beyond their worst state in the last 40 or 50 years by my guess. A lot of this is due to their own fault. Overpopulation, corruption, greed, raping the environment of the nation were caused, mostly, by Haitians. Then the nations of the world, or at least those of the United Nations (that disaster that should be shut down) stepped in and created the ultimate welfare state. Yes the country was building up but still remained, after about 12 or 14 years since my visit, the poorest country in the northern hemisphere. Why, because the country was now being raped by the UN under the guise of helping them.
Their situation, that of the people of Haiti, is now dire. Even though I feel no affinity for this country, I do feel for the people who are suffering. So why do i feel for them? I may not be religious now, but I was raised as a Catholic - a Christian - and to believe that charity (not welfare) is a good thing. They need help and they need it now. Sure, we are not as well off as we were a few years ago here in the USA, but we are darned sure better off than were Haitians just a few days ago, and are a million times better off than them since the earthquake. With that in mind, I am going to send them a donation as soon as I am done with this post. I ask that you consider doing, no make that I ask that you do send a donation likewise. Mine will go through the Red Cross or some other large organization that helps when a crisis like this hits. The banking crisis, the health care crisis, the economic crisis - they all look like a BB in a boxcar compared this smashing catastrophe in Haiti that resembles the size of the boxcar in comparison. So I urge you to give what you can. Give $1,00 or$50 or $25 or even $5 but give something.
I can only hope that some of the few good Haitian folks whom I met are alive and well. I hope our troops who were stationed there are also well. I also hope and pray for my fellow federal agents who are assigned there (probably mostly DEA agents). While I was there, I stayed at the Hotel Montana in Petionville (suburb of Port Au Prince). I understand it was destroyed; their website says it is closed until further notice. I met quite a few nice people there, some of the ones who I described above, those who showed hope on their faces for the future of their country and their countrymen. I can only hope that the look of hope will be reborn in their eyes after this disaster. With our help, maybe it will and maybe Haitians will be able to rebuild to the point where they will prosper. The road will be long and hard for them and our help at this time will maybe get them going in the right direction.
Edited to add: I donated $50.00. More than some and a lot less han others but I am sure it will help a lot. Please do likewise, give whatever you can afford. Nogt to create a welfafre state mind you but to help those who have almost no way of helpmg themselves in the face of an overwhelming disaster.
All the best,
Glenn B
Yet there was something in the Haitian poor that was almost unfathomable. It was hope. You could see it in the eyes of the school children, those lucky enough to be in school. You could see it in the yes of those who shopped in the markets, or those who sold there. You could see it in the eyes of the guys who carried the individual buckets of water to the wheelbarrows to mix the concrete for construction projects by hand. You could see it in the few beggars who were on the streets (here were very few beggars in evidence). You could see it on the faces of those who were aid workers. You cold see it on the faces of those few of the minute middle class who had jobs and were doing fairly well. You could see it on the faces of the folks standing there in their shanties and illuminated by a single electric light bulb in a bare socket hanging on a wire from a hook on the ceiling. What gave them hope was beyond me - that is unless it was all the handouts they were getting from the rest of the world at the time. They were the poorest nation in the northern hemisphere without a doubt and had little prospect of improvement within that century or this one. I had the thought that the best thing that could have happened to Haiti is that a 90 foot tidal wave would have swept away 75% of its population. I still believe it, that short of a miracle, that would have been the best thing that could befall Haiti and her people. Why? Not because I wished Haiti or Haitians ill but because if the country's population was reduced by about 75% the survivors maybe would stand a chance at a decent life - for example they would have almost enough resources, more employment per capita and so on. Of course, I never wished such on anyone in Haiti, it was just sort of a theory about what possibly would become their salvation, albeit by way of a horrible twisted path to get there.
The earthquake that just hit Haiti is not the same as the disaster that I believed would, in the end, help Haiti. Hundreds of thousands may have been killed and hundreds of thousands may have also been injured. Haiti's infrastructure, what little there was of it, is devastated for the most part. They are, in essence, helpless to help themselves They already were in terrible shape and have been left a hundred times worse off than they were. many countries of the world were helping them, and they probably were much better off than when I was last there, slowly but surely building up, but all of that or almost all of that has now been destroyed and they are back at a place beyond their worst state in the last 40 or 50 years by my guess. A lot of this is due to their own fault. Overpopulation, corruption, greed, raping the environment of the nation were caused, mostly, by Haitians. Then the nations of the world, or at least those of the United Nations (that disaster that should be shut down) stepped in and created the ultimate welfare state. Yes the country was building up but still remained, after about 12 or 14 years since my visit, the poorest country in the northern hemisphere. Why, because the country was now being raped by the UN under the guise of helping them.
Their situation, that of the people of Haiti, is now dire. Even though I feel no affinity for this country, I do feel for the people who are suffering. So why do i feel for them? I may not be religious now, but I was raised as a Catholic - a Christian - and to believe that charity (not welfare) is a good thing. They need help and they need it now. Sure, we are not as well off as we were a few years ago here in the USA, but we are darned sure better off than were Haitians just a few days ago, and are a million times better off than them since the earthquake. With that in mind, I am going to send them a donation as soon as I am done with this post. I ask that you consider doing, no make that I ask that you do send a donation likewise. Mine will go through the Red Cross or some other large organization that helps when a crisis like this hits. The banking crisis, the health care crisis, the economic crisis - they all look like a BB in a boxcar compared this smashing catastrophe in Haiti that resembles the size of the boxcar in comparison. So I urge you to give what you can. Give $1,00 or$50 or $25 or even $5 but give something.
I can only hope that some of the few good Haitian folks whom I met are alive and well. I hope our troops who were stationed there are also well. I also hope and pray for my fellow federal agents who are assigned there (probably mostly DEA agents). While I was there, I stayed at the Hotel Montana in Petionville (suburb of Port Au Prince). I understand it was destroyed; their website says it is closed until further notice. I met quite a few nice people there, some of the ones who I described above, those who showed hope on their faces for the future of their country and their countrymen. I can only hope that the look of hope will be reborn in their eyes after this disaster. With our help, maybe it will and maybe Haitians will be able to rebuild to the point where they will prosper. The road will be long and hard for them and our help at this time will maybe get them going in the right direction.
Edited to add: I donated $50.00. More than some and a lot less han others but I am sure it will help a lot. Please do likewise, give whatever you can afford. Nogt to create a welfafre state mind you but to help those who have almost no way of helpmg themselves in the face of an overwhelming disaster.
All the best,
Glenn B
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