...a place where it just could not get much better - at least for a welfare slug.
A hat tip to mein guter freund Rich M. for finding that one.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Call Boxes, Safe Zones and Whistles Better Than Guns To Defend Against Rapists?
That is, in essence, what Colorado Legislator Joe Salazar reportedly said recently as he seemingly implies that women are too stupid to know a real threat and know when to employ deadly force to protect themselves.
Just seeing him and judging by how he has dressed himself, I would guess that someone who judges books by their covers, might suspect him of being a woman hater, or a member of NAMBLA, or maybe even just a pervert of commoner sort seeking to take advantage of a woman by way of dropping a few roophies in her drink, and/or a politician. A judgemental person also probably would have thought of him as a supporter of gun-control. Finally, it might be easy for someone to have thought him an asshole just because of the gold lamé bowtie.
After me having listened to him to him on the subjects of rape and gun control on college campuses, I would have to say that, had you had such an opinion of him based only on how he appeared, I guess I would have to say 'wow, what a good judge of character are you'. Now, I am not one to judge a book by its cover nor a person solely by how he is attired. So I allow you to judge for yourselves by reading the article at this link and watching the below video.
All the best,
Glenn B
Just seeing him and judging by how he has dressed himself, I would guess that someone who judges books by their covers, might suspect him of being a woman hater, or a member of NAMBLA, or maybe even just a pervert of commoner sort seeking to take advantage of a woman by way of dropping a few roophies in her drink, and/or a politician. A judgemental person also probably would have thought of him as a supporter of gun-control. Finally, it might be easy for someone to have thought him an asshole just because of the gold lamé bowtie.
After me having listened to him to him on the subjects of rape and gun control on college campuses, I would have to say that, had you had such an opinion of him based only on how he appeared, I guess I would have to say 'wow, what a good judge of character are you'. Now, I am not one to judge a book by its cover nor a person solely by how he is attired. So I allow you to judge for yourselves by reading the article at this link and watching the below video.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Olympic Arms To The State of New York - No Sales To NY State Or Its Law Enforcement
Olympic apparently released this press release this past Tuesday. I hope it is just not meaningless chatter, I truly hope that they were a supplier of firearms to more than just a few departments within NY State, especially to the state police and the NYPD.
My source for the following was: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=573076246049586&id=114264921930723, and a hat tip to Richie M for letting me know about this.
"Press Release: Olympic Arms, Inc. Announces New York State Sales Policy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Olympic Arms is a staunch believer in and defender of the Constitution of the United States, and with special attention paid to the Bill of Rights that succinctly enumerates the security of our Divinely given Rights. One of those Rights is that to Keep and Bear Arms.
Legislation recently passed in the State of New York outlaws the AR15 and many other firearms, and will make it illegal for the good and free citizens of New York to own a large selection of legal and safe firearms and magazines. We feel as though the passage of this legislation exceeds the authority granted to the government of New York by its citizens, and violates the Constitution of the United States, ignoring such SCOTUS rulings as District of Columbia v. Heller - 554, U.S. 570 of 2008, McDonald v. Chicago - 561 U.S. 3025 of 2010, and specifically the case of United States v. Miller – 307 U.S. 174 of 1939.
Due the passing of this legislation, Olympic Arms would like to announce that the State of New York, any Law Enforcement Departments, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders within the State of New York, or any New York State government entity or employee of such an entity - will no longer be served as customers.
In short, Olympic Arms will no longer be doing business with the State of New York or any governmental entity or employee of such governmental entity within the State of New York - henceforth and until such legislation is repealed, and an apology made to the good people of the State of New York and the American people.
If the leaders of the State of New York are willing to limit the right of the free and law abiding citizens of New York to arm themselves as they see fit under the Rights enumerate to all citizens of the United State through the Second Amendment, we feel as though the legislators and government entities within the State of New York should have to abide by the same restrictions.
This action has caused a division of the people into classes: Those the government deems valuable enough to protect with modern firearms, and those whose lives have been deemed as having less value, and whom the government has decided do not deserve the right to protect themselves with the same firearms. Olympic Arms will not support such behavior or policy against any citizen of this great nation.
Olympic Arms invites all firearms manufacturers, distributors and firearms dealers to join us in this action to refuse to do business with the State of New York. We must stand together, or we shall surely fall divided.
Sincerely,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Olympic Arms is a staunch believer in and defender of the Constitution of the United States, and with special attention paid to the Bill of Rights that succinctly enumerates the security of our Divinely given Rights. One of those Rights is that to Keep and Bear Arms.
Legislation recently passed in the State of New York outlaws the AR15 and many other firearms, and will make it illegal for the good and free citizens of New York to own a large selection of legal and safe firearms and magazines. We feel as though the passage of this legislation exceeds the authority granted to the government of New York by its citizens, and violates the Constitution of the United States, ignoring such SCOTUS rulings as District of Columbia v. Heller - 554, U.S. 570 of 2008, McDonald v. Chicago - 561 U.S. 3025 of 2010, and specifically the case of United States v. Miller – 307 U.S. 174 of 1939.
Due the passing of this legislation, Olympic Arms would like to announce that the State of New York, any Law Enforcement Departments, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders within the State of New York, or any New York State government entity or employee of such an entity - will no longer be served as customers.
In short, Olympic Arms will no longer be doing business with the State of New York or any governmental entity or employee of such governmental entity within the State of New York - henceforth and until such legislation is repealed, and an apology made to the good people of the State of New York and the American people.
If the leaders of the State of New York are willing to limit the right of the free and law abiding citizens of New York to arm themselves as they see fit under the Rights enumerate to all citizens of the United State through the Second Amendment, we feel as though the legislators and government entities within the State of New York should have to abide by the same restrictions.
This action has caused a division of the people into classes: Those the government deems valuable enough to protect with modern firearms, and those whose lives have been deemed as having less value, and whom the government has decided do not deserve the right to protect themselves with the same firearms. Olympic Arms will not support such behavior or policy against any citizen of this great nation.
Olympic Arms invites all firearms manufacturers, distributors and firearms dealers to join us in this action to refuse to do business with the State of New York. We must stand together, or we shall surely fall divided.
Sincerely,
Brian Schuetz
President
Olympic Arms, Inc."
President
Olympic Arms, Inc."
If all of the firearms and ammunition manufacturers within the USA stood behind us and the 2nd Amendment like that, there would be nothing to gun control at all except being able to hit your target while using whatever firearm and ammo you desired.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Oh My Achin' HP Laptop
I just got off the phone with the HP Technical Service department. I dealt with them for hours on Sunday, waited for them to call me back at 10AM on Monday, as promised, but they only called at 3PM when I was at work ad I could not take the call. Yesterday, they called to leave me a message saying they were happy to have resolved my problem and to call them for anything further. As I am off from work today, and since they never esolved any of the problems I described to them, I gave them a call at a little after 1PM. I was on the phone only 48 minutes and 46 seconds this time (sure beats a couple or a few hours). I explained that on Sunday night, after getting off the phone with HP tech service, I backed up my files and then performed the full battery of tests available under F2, within System Management, and that the laptop failed the Hard Disk Long DST. The service rep told me the hard drive had to be replaced and I would have to pay $49.95 for onsite service. I reminded him, as I have had to remind them each time I have called them, I have onsite service included with the premium warranty I purchased.
I was then put through to a supervisor. He told me the hard drive had to be replaced and so too the graphics card (having a problem of which they are aware although you could have fooled me that they were aware of such a problem just this past Sunday when I first called them about it). He also told me that they would also address the fingerprint reader (also showing a problem) once the hard drive was replaced because to fix it required the hard drive operating properly. He said I would have to send it in via FedEx and I said "whoa" and explained I have onsite service under my warranty. He explained that if just the hard drive, they would replace it onsite but since the video adapter is also having problems that has to be replaced at their service center since it is beyond the capabilities of an onsite tech. I believe that to be bullshit but what can one do. The supervisor also kept telling me how if it was damaged by a fall, or liquid spills or anything like that it will not be covered. I have not spilled anything on it nor ever dropped it. In fact, an HP service technician was just here a couple of weeks ago to replace the keyboard because two keys popped off of it. Back then, the HP service representative, at their service center, insisted on the same thing, that I had somehow damaged the computer. He insisted it must have been dropped, and thus the keys broke off. The onsite technician, who fixed it, looked it over and assured me there was absolutely no damage to it, except that the keys fell off in normal use. They have been so insistent about the possibility of it having been damaged as to make me wonder, that when I send it to them, they may try to trump up things by saying it was damaged somehow and thus is not under the regular warranty. I am going to take a lot of pictures of it, to document its condition, before I send it to them.
As it now stands, the three day turn around, that I would have had with onsite service, is about to turn into a ten day to two week turn around because they have to mail me a shipping box, then I mail it back to them with the laptop inside of it, then they repair it and return it to me. They offered to get it done in an expedited fashion if I wanted to pay another $15.95 but I said forget it. Perhaps, I am about to discover just how badly I am addicted to using my laptop over that time period.
I never had any such problems with Dell. Thus, I am pretty sure that in the future I will not be a repeat customer at HP but will be a returning customer at Dell. When I had various problems with my Dell PCs, had a few of them, they replaced parts pronto with an onsite service technician coming to fix it after first running diagnostics online. No questions asked, no hemming, no hawing, no having me send in the computer, no insisting I must have dropped it or spilled something on it, they just fixed it and there were no charges for me to expedite things because they sent the part expedited delivery as part of the warranty coverage. With Dell, I always spoke to someone in the USA (except for one Dell Desktop that I bought my daughter and for which I did not purchase a premium extended warranty) instead of someone in India. Maybe that is where the part comes from too, who knows! I only got this laptop last August and figure to be stuck with it, and with this kind of service, for a few years until I will need to buy a new one.
All the best,
Glenn B
I was then put through to a supervisor. He told me the hard drive had to be replaced and so too the graphics card (having a problem of which they are aware although you could have fooled me that they were aware of such a problem just this past Sunday when I first called them about it). He also told me that they would also address the fingerprint reader (also showing a problem) once the hard drive was replaced because to fix it required the hard drive operating properly. He said I would have to send it in via FedEx and I said "whoa" and explained I have onsite service under my warranty. He explained that if just the hard drive, they would replace it onsite but since the video adapter is also having problems that has to be replaced at their service center since it is beyond the capabilities of an onsite tech. I believe that to be bullshit but what can one do. The supervisor also kept telling me how if it was damaged by a fall, or liquid spills or anything like that it will not be covered. I have not spilled anything on it nor ever dropped it. In fact, an HP service technician was just here a couple of weeks ago to replace the keyboard because two keys popped off of it. Back then, the HP service representative, at their service center, insisted on the same thing, that I had somehow damaged the computer. He insisted it must have been dropped, and thus the keys broke off. The onsite technician, who fixed it, looked it over and assured me there was absolutely no damage to it, except that the keys fell off in normal use. They have been so insistent about the possibility of it having been damaged as to make me wonder, that when I send it to them, they may try to trump up things by saying it was damaged somehow and thus is not under the regular warranty. I am going to take a lot of pictures of it, to document its condition, before I send it to them.
As it now stands, the three day turn around, that I would have had with onsite service, is about to turn into a ten day to two week turn around because they have to mail me a shipping box, then I mail it back to them with the laptop inside of it, then they repair it and return it to me. They offered to get it done in an expedited fashion if I wanted to pay another $15.95 but I said forget it. Perhaps, I am about to discover just how badly I am addicted to using my laptop over that time period.
I never had any such problems with Dell. Thus, I am pretty sure that in the future I will not be a repeat customer at HP but will be a returning customer at Dell. When I had various problems with my Dell PCs, had a few of them, they replaced parts pronto with an onsite service technician coming to fix it after first running diagnostics online. No questions asked, no hemming, no hawing, no having me send in the computer, no insisting I must have dropped it or spilled something on it, they just fixed it and there were no charges for me to expedite things because they sent the part expedited delivery as part of the warranty coverage. With Dell, I always spoke to someone in the USA (except for one Dell Desktop that I bought my daughter and for which I did not purchase a premium extended warranty) instead of someone in India. Maybe that is where the part comes from too, who knows! I only got this laptop last August and figure to be stuck with it, and with this kind of service, for a few years until I will need to buy a new one.
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, February 11, 2013
Hey Jo, Where You Going With That Gun In Your Hand
Yeah, I know, the Hendrix song is Hey Joe and not "Hey Jo" like it says in the title of this blog post. I wrote it like that because this post is for someone special. It's for my good friend Jo, one of the Farmer's Oval Schaefer Girls (you had to be in our circle of friends to understand). I just found out she is a shootist. Not only is she a shooter, she is a pretty darned good shot at that.
Hey Jo, just let me say that while you listen to this music video, I hope you have a Schaefer in hand, an ice cold one. They would go good together.
All the best,
Bart
Hey Jo, just let me say that while you listen to this music video, I hope you have a Schaefer in hand, an ice cold one. They would go good together.
All the best,
Bart
No Blog Posts Yesterday And Maybe No Others Today
I spent at least a few hours yesterday, in online chat and on the phone, with HP Tech Service. Seems my video controller/adapter is not working properly, so I got in touch with them. The guy in online chat could not figure it out and had me update the BIOS. As I explained to him, I tried to update the BIOS last month through HP Support Assistant when it notified me that a new BIOS was available. The computer did not start properly after that, I got a blue screen telling me the BIOS was not "...fully ACPI compliant...:. That led to HP Tech Service helping me try to do a system restore. That did not work. Then the tech rep had me do a rollback to the previous BIOS which did work. The next thing I knew was the laptop had the graphics card problem.
Well, the tech service rep insisted I try another BIOS update yesterday. I did as he said and again wound up at a screen telling me there was a problem starting Windows and that gave an option to start normally or to have the computer fix the problem. He said start it normally and again it wound up with the blue screen and the not fully ACPI compliant stuff. Of course, by then, I could no longer use the laptop and thus lost all connection to the HP Service Tech that had been in the chat with me.
I called HP Technical Service. I explained everything above to the tech service rep at least three times. He suggested a system restore. It did not work just as it had not back in January. Then he asked for permission to do a system recovery which would have wiped out any unsaved files on the computer. I asked if first we could do a BIOS rollback, and I explained that if it worked, I would save my files and then we could do the system recovery. He said he would put his supervisor on with me. Then he came back on the line and asked how to find the BIOS rollback. Funny, he had to ask the customer how to fix his company's product. So much for high quality tech service from HP. Well, I told him that I remembered the PC had to be restarted, while tapping F2.That brought up System Diagnostics and one of the options was BIOS Management. Under that, one could find BIOS Rollback. Wound up, I did the rollback and it worked at least to get me back to a working laptop although that did not fix the graphics card problem. The tech service guy said I should backup my files and he would call again the following morning at 10 AM. I backed up my files last night.
Somewhere in there (cannot recall if it was before or after the BIOS rollback) the tech service guy had me run a hard disk short DST test and some others. It passed all of them. Well, today, while waiting for the promised callback from tech service (which never came), I decided to run some tests myself. There was a Hard Disk Long DST Test that he did not have me run. I ran that test, and a battery of others like a memory test, a couple of different tests of the hard disk and a WLAN test, under system tune-up that as one of the options within System Diagnostics. All the tests except two were passed. One that was not passed was apparently not run as the result showed: Not Available. Tat was the Hard Disk Optimized test or something like that. The other test failed. That was the Hard Disk Long DST. My guess would be I have problems on the hard disk. Funny, once again it is the customer who figures it out and not the tech service reps.
As for tech service, I am still awaiting a call from the HP Technical Service representative to whom I spoke yesterday. I guess his 10AM is different than mine and maybe he plans on calling me at 10AM his time. Yes, I did tell him to call me at 10AM New York time. Oh well, time and a ringing phone will tell.
All the best,
Glenn B
Well, the tech service rep insisted I try another BIOS update yesterday. I did as he said and again wound up at a screen telling me there was a problem starting Windows and that gave an option to start normally or to have the computer fix the problem. He said start it normally and again it wound up with the blue screen and the not fully ACPI compliant stuff. Of course, by then, I could no longer use the laptop and thus lost all connection to the HP Service Tech that had been in the chat with me.
I called HP Technical Service. I explained everything above to the tech service rep at least three times. He suggested a system restore. It did not work just as it had not back in January. Then he asked for permission to do a system recovery which would have wiped out any unsaved files on the computer. I asked if first we could do a BIOS rollback, and I explained that if it worked, I would save my files and then we could do the system recovery. He said he would put his supervisor on with me. Then he came back on the line and asked how to find the BIOS rollback. Funny, he had to ask the customer how to fix his company's product. So much for high quality tech service from HP. Well, I told him that I remembered the PC had to be restarted, while tapping F2.That brought up System Diagnostics and one of the options was BIOS Management. Under that, one could find BIOS Rollback. Wound up, I did the rollback and it worked at least to get me back to a working laptop although that did not fix the graphics card problem. The tech service guy said I should backup my files and he would call again the following morning at 10 AM. I backed up my files last night.
Somewhere in there (cannot recall if it was before or after the BIOS rollback) the tech service guy had me run a hard disk short DST test and some others. It passed all of them. Well, today, while waiting for the promised callback from tech service (which never came), I decided to run some tests myself. There was a Hard Disk Long DST Test that he did not have me run. I ran that test, and a battery of others like a memory test, a couple of different tests of the hard disk and a WLAN test, under system tune-up that as one of the options within System Diagnostics. All the tests except two were passed. One that was not passed was apparently not run as the result showed: Not Available. Tat was the Hard Disk Optimized test or something like that. The other test failed. That was the Hard Disk Long DST. My guess would be I have problems on the hard disk. Funny, once again it is the customer who figures it out and not the tech service reps.
As for tech service, I am still awaiting a call from the HP Technical Service representative to whom I spoke yesterday. I guess his 10AM is different than mine and maybe he plans on calling me at 10AM his time. Yes, I did tell him to call me at 10AM New York time. Oh well, time and a ringing phone will tell.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Expect The Price Of Coffee To Rise
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/08/guatemala-declares-national-emergency-to-deal-with-spread-fungus-devastating/
Most of the coffee we have been drinking at our house, since I retired, has been Kirkland brand but when I can, I go into Manhattan to Porto Rico Importers and buy different coffees from around the world there. In recent years most of that has been from Sumatra and Tanzania but I have gotten coffees quite a few times that were produced in other countries - one of them being
Guatemala. Guatemala produces some excellent coffee and all I can think is, since so many countries have been effected, prices are going to soar if this gets worse.
All the best,
GB
Most of the coffee we have been drinking at our house, since I retired, has been Kirkland brand but when I can, I go into Manhattan to Porto Rico Importers and buy different coffees from around the world there. In recent years most of that has been from Sumatra and Tanzania but I have gotten coffees quite a few times that were produced in other countries - one of them being
Guatemala. Guatemala produces some excellent coffee and all I can think is, since so many countries have been effected, prices are going to soar if this gets worse.
All the best,
GB
Two Good Shootings...
...as far as I see them with what I know right now.
The first shooting was done by a homeowner who reportedly entered his home to find four men ransacking it. At least one of those four came at him and he drew a handgun and fired - killing the suspected bad guy. The other suspects fled.
The other shooting had a bit of an unusual twist. As per the report, a few guys, in a vehicle containing over a hundred pounds of marijuana, were pulled over by police and one of them fled. The guy who fled then stole a Nevada State Trooper's car to make his getaway. Sometime after his escape, he reportedly fatally shot himself. Somewhere in the interim, the article does not explain it well, he allegedly also carjacked another vehicle. It was reported that the alleged carjacker killed himself with a police shotgun (apparently found in the car he stole from the Nevada State Trooper) and thus it was a stolen gun he used in the alleged suicide. Yet, it still seems like a good shooting to me since it depletes the gene pool of what I can only see as undesirable set of genes.
I imagine someone will want to screw over the state trooper for not protecting his vehicle and shotgun. I also imagine that family members of the deceased, if any, will soon have a lawyer and try to sue the Nevada State Police because they will blame them for giving that guy access to the gun. It certainly would not surprise me in the least if someone is awarded millions after this because such is life in lawsuit crazy America.
All the best,
Glenn B
The first shooting was done by a homeowner who reportedly entered his home to find four men ransacking it. At least one of those four came at him and he drew a handgun and fired - killing the suspected bad guy. The other suspects fled.
The other shooting had a bit of an unusual twist. As per the report, a few guys, in a vehicle containing over a hundred pounds of marijuana, were pulled over by police and one of them fled. The guy who fled then stole a Nevada State Trooper's car to make his getaway. Sometime after his escape, he reportedly fatally shot himself. Somewhere in the interim, the article does not explain it well, he allegedly also carjacked another vehicle. It was reported that the alleged carjacker killed himself with a police shotgun (apparently found in the car he stole from the Nevada State Trooper) and thus it was a stolen gun he used in the alleged suicide. Yet, it still seems like a good shooting to me since it depletes the gene pool of what I can only see as undesirable set of genes.
I imagine someone will want to screw over the state trooper for not protecting his vehicle and shotgun. I also imagine that family members of the deceased, if any, will soon have a lawyer and try to sue the Nevada State Police because they will blame them for giving that guy access to the gun. It certainly would not surprise me in the least if someone is awarded millions after this because such is life in lawsuit crazy America.
All the best,
Glenn B
White Stuff Everywhere...
...around here anyway. I am going to guess that we got 12 to 18 inches of snow throughout the night and early morning. It was piled higher in drifts here and there, up to three feet. It would have been much more had it not rained for the first several hours of the storm yesterday. We did not get it nearly as bad as eastern Long island, I have heard reports that they got up to three feet or more. I guess CT got the worst of it though; just heard the governor of CT has ordered all roads closed. Several roads around here are closed, for example the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County and both parkways. The roads in Nassau County though are supposedly nowhere nearly as bad. There have been numerous reports though of stranded motorists who spent the night in their cars on some of the major highways on Long Island. My bet is that before this is all over they will find someone dead in their car. Hopefully not but most people around here dress only to go from house or office or store to car and are not prepared for a very cold overnight in their automobiles.
My son is down in Atlantic City. I sent him a text suggesting he stay for another night if he is not broke yet, or that he wait till late in the afternoon before trying to head home. By then the roads in the city and in Nassau County should all be passable.
As for me, I am very happy to have shoveled last night when it was only an inch and a half or so deep. That was very wet, slushy and heavy snow with ice already formed underneath it. Had I left that until this morning I would have had one hell of a job clearing my sidewalk and walkways. As it turned out, shoveling this morning was no easy task. I started at 0500; I worked at it for half an hour, took a half hour break, then worked at it another half hour to 40 minutes or so. Then the plow came by and buried my driveway entrance. I go that cleaned up later, and as soon as I was finished and just waking to my side door, there came the plow again and piled the snow up in my driveway once more. Not so bad that time and I just left it that way. I figure no one is going to try to pull out of our driveway, or into it, for the rest of the day or even tomorrow.
It is a veritable winter wonderland around here. If I can find my camera, I may go out later and take some pics. For now though, I am resting up and digesting. I just enjoyed a nice breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee. Mmmmm, BACON! That was good even though I cooked it instead of my wife doing it. She ate it all with gusto, so I must have done something right. She did not even complain that the coffee was too strong and I made it a lot stronger than she usually does so.
As for my resting up I have to say I am aching in my shoulders, hips, elbows and even my wrists. Man, I need to start working out. I have not worked out since I started cancer treatments last year and even though I lost weight and do not look as flabby as I used to be, a little shoveling of a lot of snow let me know I need to do something to get some muscle tone. Who knows, I may even take one of the a dogs or two for a walk today, that would be a start.
All the best,
Glenn B
My son is down in Atlantic City. I sent him a text suggesting he stay for another night if he is not broke yet, or that he wait till late in the afternoon before trying to head home. By then the roads in the city and in Nassau County should all be passable.
As for me, I am very happy to have shoveled last night when it was only an inch and a half or so deep. That was very wet, slushy and heavy snow with ice already formed underneath it. Had I left that until this morning I would have had one hell of a job clearing my sidewalk and walkways. As it turned out, shoveling this morning was no easy task. I started at 0500; I worked at it for half an hour, took a half hour break, then worked at it another half hour to 40 minutes or so. Then the plow came by and buried my driveway entrance. I go that cleaned up later, and as soon as I was finished and just waking to my side door, there came the plow again and piled the snow up in my driveway once more. Not so bad that time and I just left it that way. I figure no one is going to try to pull out of our driveway, or into it, for the rest of the day or even tomorrow.
It is a veritable winter wonderland around here. If I can find my camera, I may go out later and take some pics. For now though, I am resting up and digesting. I just enjoyed a nice breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee. Mmmmm, BACON! That was good even though I cooked it instead of my wife doing it. She ate it all with gusto, so I must have done something right. She did not even complain that the coffee was too strong and I made it a lot stronger than she usually does so.
As for my resting up I have to say I am aching in my shoulders, hips, elbows and even my wrists. Man, I need to start working out. I have not worked out since I started cancer treatments last year and even though I lost weight and do not look as flabby as I used to be, a little shoveling of a lot of snow let me know I need to do something to get some muscle tone. Who knows, I may even take one of the a dogs or two for a walk today, that would be a start.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, February 8, 2013
New Blog Added To The Link List
I added Bubala's View to my blog roll, under the header of other Bloggers Whom I Have Met, on the right side of my blog. Here is the link: http://bubalas-view.blogspot.com/.
Bubala's View is the blog of a dear friend of mine. I cannot wait until she writes up a post about guns. I don't even know if she owns one, or has ever shot one, but am pretty sure some are owned by her family members. Whatever, she is bound to become one of my favorite bloggers since she has always been one of my favorite friends and loved ones.
Love ya Jo!
All the best,
Glenn B
Bubala's View is the blog of a dear friend of mine. I cannot wait until she writes up a post about guns. I don't even know if she owns one, or has ever shot one, but am pretty sure some are owned by her family members. Whatever, she is bound to become one of my favorite bloggers since she has always been one of my favorite friends and loved ones.
Love ya Jo!
All the best,
Glenn B
If There Really Is A God Above - We Need Him (or Her) Now
See: http://news.msn.com/politics/hillary-clinton-most-popular-us-politician-poll-shows.
I think it quite possible that one could only find him or herself hoping for something to afflict her popularity - like
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Happy Birthday Mr. President (no not you Obama - fuck you)
How did I miss it? Today was the 102nd birthday of President Ronald Wilson Reagan. (Thanks for the reminder to Cap'n Bob and the Damsel.)
How appropriate, he was born in the year - the numbers of which one of the greatest pistols of all time is labelled - 1911. I never realized that before, it just never clicked. From now on, every time I hold a 1911 in my hands, I will be sure to give him a thought. I sure do miss him; he was an excellent president. See more on Ronnie here:
http://www.ronaldreagan.com/
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
All the best,
GB
How appropriate, he was born in the year - the numbers of which one of the greatest pistols of all time is labelled - 1911. I never realized that before, it just never clicked. From now on, every time I hold a 1911 in my hands, I will be sure to give him a thought. I sure do miss him; he was an excellent president. See more on Ronnie here:
http://www.ronaldreagan.com/
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
All the best,
GB
I Think I Will Just Have To Carry My .45
With the passing into law of the NY SAFE Act (gun control act), it seems that 10 round magazines will be allowed after all, even after the law goes into full force. The thing is, they have to be owned prior to 90 days after the legislation was signed into law. After that - you would only be able to buy new 7 round (or smaller capacity) magazines. You can still carry 10 rounders that you owned prior to that but will only be allowed to load them with 7 rounds. Any higher capacity magazines would have to be sold or disposed of out of state,, destroyed or turned over to the Gestapo or KGB henchmen of the governor (as in the state police) before the end of a year from enactment of the law. Note, that is all only so in my understanding, check the law yourself to make sure that what I am saying is correct. I got my info here:
http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/topic/58478-ny-safe-act-fact-sheet-for-gun-owners-11813/.
Looking at the law was, to say the least, a pain in the eyes. The legalese and the manner in which it is presented in broken sentences and broken paragraphs with numbers all over the place, makes it truly hard to decipher. That even after I spent 32 years in law enforcement.
I figure about the best way for me to remain in compliance with the new law is to change what I carry. Instead of one of my Beretta 92 series pistols (I have three of them) with their 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS} and instead of my Glock 26 with 10 round mags and its 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS}, I can just carry my Remington R1 1911 with its standard sized 7 round magazines. I'll just have to carry more mags at all times than I otherwise would have been carrying when I carried a 9mm.
By the way, I have already bought 2 bus tickets and plan to be at the rally/protest, of the NY SAFE Act, in Albany on February 28th. Hopefully my son will be using the second ticket. Hope to see some of you there. Yes, I probably will be armed. Last I heard, while Albany is the capital of theSovietistas' Socialist Repooblik state of New York, it is not yet a gun free zone.
All the best,
Glenn B
http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/topic/58478-ny-safe-act-fact-sheet-for-gun-owners-11813/.
Looking at the law was, to say the least, a pain in the eyes. The legalese and the manner in which it is presented in broken sentences and broken paragraphs with numbers all over the place, makes it truly hard to decipher. That even after I spent 32 years in law enforcement.
I figure about the best way for me to remain in compliance with the new law is to change what I carry. Instead of one of my Beretta 92 series pistols (I have three of them) with their 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS} and instead of my Glock 26 with 10 round mags and its 15 round mags {grandfathered under the old law in NYS}, I can just carry my Remington R1 1911 with its standard sized 7 round magazines. I'll just have to carry more mags at all times than I otherwise would have been carrying when I carried a 9mm.
By the way, I have already bought 2 bus tickets and plan to be at the rally/protest, of the NY SAFE Act, in Albany on February 28th. Hopefully my son will be using the second ticket. Hope to see some of you there. Yes, I probably will be armed. Last I heard, while Albany is the capital of the
All the best,
Glenn B
I Used To Write For The Firearm Blog - Until The NY SAFE Act Was Passed
I think I sent in 3 blog posts and 2 of them were published. Then the NY SAFE Act was passed and that pretty much took me out of contention as being an author who could do any reviews of firearms offered by manufacturers for reviews. Oh well, I asked to be removed from the list of contributing authors since the editor at that blog had figured that it would be difficult for me to receive any firearms, for review, and then return them to the manufacturer, under the new law. I figured he was right. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
FUCK THE NY STATE SAFE ACT, ALL THE LEGISLATORS AND SENATORS WHO VOTED FOR THIS TYRANNICAL LAW, ANYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO HOW IT WAS WRITTEN AND WHAT FIREARMS, MAGAZINES AND ACCESSORIES WERE BANNED OR RESTRICTED, AND MOST OF ALL FUCK GOVERNOR CUOMO WHERE THE SUN DOES NOT SHINE.
If I was a vindictive person, I might be more than just pretty upset about all of this and want to say something nasty about they who supported the bill and about they who passed it into law. As it stands now, I will be participating in yet another protest of the SAFE ACT up in Albany, NY on February 28th. At least this time it is on a weekday and the legislators are scheduled to be in session. How much do you want to bet there are more than just a handful of NY State Troopers and local police there this time as opposed to last month during the first such protest.
All the best,
Glenn B
If I was a vindictive person, I might be more than just pretty upset about all of this and want to say something nasty about they who supported the bill and about they who passed it into law. As it stands now, I will be participating in yet another protest of the SAFE ACT up in Albany, NY on February 28th. At least this time it is on a weekday and the legislators are scheduled to be in session. How much do you want to bet there are more than just a handful of NY State Troopers and local police there this time as opposed to last month during the first such protest.
All the best,
Glenn B
Hatch Resistor Gloves RFK300
A few years ago, while I was still employed as a federal agent, I was
issued a pair of Hatch Resistor,
RFK300, cut resistant, Kevlar lined, goat skin leather gloves, for use on
operations. I was never one to wear gloves while working, unless out in the
bitter cold, mostly because of the possibility of them interfering with me
being able to operate my sidearm while wearing them. The gloves I had tried before,
even many marketed as ‘duty gloves’, were just too big around in the fingers to
be able to get the gloved finger into the trigger guard at all or without the
possibility of an accidental discharge. The glove simply made the finger too
thick so it would invariably press against the trigger when the finger entered the
trigger guard. So, after some testing at the range, I was pleasantly surprised
to find that the Hatch Resistor gloves that my agency had issued did not
interfere any way with the safe operation of my issued pistol or my issued long
arms. They fit snuggly but not too tightly, except maybe at the wrist and that
changed as they stretched slightly after some wear. They were for the most part
quite comfortable. Although apparently not marketed as cold weather apparel,
they also kept my hands fairly warm even in bitter cold weather; yet, they did
not make my hands overly warm in hot weather.
I was pretty impressed with them and decided to use them on
a regular basis whenever I was out in the field in any situation that could
call for hand protection. Thus, I wore them while: executing arrest warrants,
making warrantless arrests, performing searches of prisoners, executing search
warrants, when qualifying at the range (intermittently), running through
tactical exercises at the range, during handcuff and self-defense training,
climbing fences, and in inclement weather as well. I also sometimes wore them
while driving. Since I was assigned to a national security group and then to a
narcotics group for at least 4 years of the time that I used these at work,
they got a lot of use. It was also inevitable that I also wound up wearing them
when off duty and I have used them while in the woods on hunting trips in NY
and while out hiking in the mountains of Arizona.
As for actual use while shooting, I have been able to safely
and easily actuate the triggers, magazine releases, and safeties; extract and
insert magazines; and operate the slides
on my: Glock 26, my previously issued SIG 229, my Beretta 92FS, my Remington R1
1911 and other pistols I own. I also have worn these while shooting my
Remington 870 and many of rifles I own, all without any problems.
In all, I have had these gloves for several years now. Most
of that time was while I was still employed in federal law enforcement and I
have continued to use them since I retired in late 2011. They were one of the
few issued items I was allowed to keep upon separation from government service
and I must say I am happy for it. I still wear them often and still
occasionally wear them while shooting. These gloves have held their shape well,
have remained a snug fit, all outer stitching is intact, the interior lining is
also intact with no holes or rips and the leather has remained supple over all
those years. The only care that I have given them in all that time amounted to
a quick cleaning now and again and in total only one or two coatings with a
leather conditioner.
I cannot say that they have no faults. They are not all that
easy to get on, or at least were not for me when new, because the wrist opening
seemed inordinately smaller than it should be for the size of the glove; note
these gloves only go to the wrist. While the wrists of the glove sometimes did
feel a bit tight when I first wore them, they stretched a bit with wear and they
do go on much easier now and are no longer tight around my wrists. The main
part of the glove always fit my hands very well and as I said, while snug they
were never tight. Maybe I would have been better off with an extra-large
instead of a large and if and when I buy another pair as a replacement for
these I may try the larger ones. As it has been going so far though, I do not
anticipate needing a replacement for at least a few to several more years – these gloves certainly seem as if they were
made to last.
I just bought my son a pair of these this past Christmas and they
seem as well made as my older pair. The new pair goes on, over the wrists, easier than did my old pair and fit snuggly just as they should. They still are made goat skin and that results in a nicely supple yet evidently tough leather. As with my original pair, they are Kevlar lined. The new ones seem as well made as my older pair and so far they havbe been a big hit with my son. If you are in the market for a pair of cut
resistant duty gloves or shooting gloves or even driving gloves, I highly
recommend the Hatch Resistor, RFK300.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, February 1, 2013
My Firearms That Could Be Considered Assault Weapons
Dare I say that my firearms have been taken care of, disposed of so to speak, and are out of the purview of the state of NY? Lest I be seen as defenseless by thugs, assassins, muggers, robbers, rapists, arsonists, home invaders or scalawags, bear in mind, I just questioned whether I should speak of my so called assault weapons. I made no mention of any of my other arms. Rest assured, I am ready, willing and able to defend me and mine.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Ed Koch Gone - It's Like Losing A Dear Friend...
...even though I never met him, that is the kind of
impression he made on New Yorkers, maybe even on the world. He passed away today. I am saddened greatly.
See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/former_mayor_ed_koch_dead_at_age_75lqLcuapohQ9JC6ILAXrL
"He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith. He fiercely defended the City of New York, and he fiercely loved its people. Above all, he loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II." (source)
He called it as he saw it and stood up for his beliefs even up to his last days on earth (he opposed Obama's stance on Israel) but exercised a practicality that was rare among politicians and stood up fiercely to his detractors with the chutzpah only a New Yorker could show but almost always did it with a sense of humor. He
See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/former_mayor_ed_koch_dead_at_age_75lqLcuapohQ9JC6ILAXrL
and:
Ed Koch was born Edward Irving Koch on December 12, 1924 (13
days older than my mom). He worked in regular jobs (like deli clerk) and in
1943 he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served with honor, in Europe, during
WWII as an infantryman. He saw combat, earned two battle stars, but made it
through the war wherein he had achieved the rank of sergeant. After that he
attended City College of New York and NY University of Law. He practiced as a
lawyer after that. He began a career in local NYC politics in 1963, then became
a Congressman, then eventually back to the city where he became the 105th mayor
of New York City on January 1, 1978. That was a year and about 10 months before
I went in to the Border Patrol to start my federal career.
 |
| Ed Kock, giving thumbs up, standing amid commuters on the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, urging them not to let the striking NYC Transit Union keep them from work, in 1980. |
In the time he was
mayor, while I was still living in NYC, it became obvious to me that this guy
was no ordinary democrat. He leaned right - sometimes far right - on some
issues while remaining staunchly liberal on others and he was feisty. After a 4
year absence from NYC on my part, I returned to the city to find it much the
same with the same mayor and he was as unpredictable and independent minded as
ever. As I recall, I voted for him at least once. Yes - he ran as a democrat
when I did that (he was the only democrat, as I can remember, for whom I ever
voted), the election before that he had run as a Republican and Democrat - go
figure - as best as I can tell he was more of a Libertarian than either a
Democrat or Republican.
During his 3 terms in office he was a staunch patriot, he
was a law and order kind of a guy but did not go overboard with it, he lifted
the failed economy of the city and made it soar due to his major budget
cutting, he supported Israel, he opposed the unions during a New York City
Transit strike, he supported the lesbian and gay and
bi community (there was nothing about being 'bi' in it back
then), yet after the outbreak of AIDS he closed the gay bath houses, he supported the Jewish community in the face of racial unrest between that community and the African American but told it as he saw it much to the dismay, back then, of the likes of Al Sharpton. Koch often asked "How am I doing?" but also often said he did not care about the replies. All the
while that he was mayor he was a feisty guy who had a huge set of
balls amount of chutzpah and he was honest always saying what he meant. As Sharpton eulogized him Koch: "was never a phony or a hypocrite. He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace."
He was a lifelong bachelor and when
questioned about his sexual preference he simply replied that it was private.
My guess, and that of many others, is that he was gay but no one minded because
he was DA MAYOR before anything else and in that regard he did pretty well and
with heart felt love for NYC and his faith. It was obvious that this man would
stand up for his beliefs and would face down his opponents whenever and
wherever necessary usually with his wit and a smarting quip. You should have
heard him lambaste Jesse Jackson, in 1988, when Jackson was running for
president and Koch reminded NY'ers that Jackson was no friend of Israel. Yet,
he was also oft times quite unpredictable on where he would stand on the issues
except to say that he approached many, probably most, of them with common sense
and practicality as opposed to towing the party line.
Throughout his terms as mayor, and after, he repeatedly told it like he
saw it regardless of benefit or harm to his image. He ran, during one of his
terms as mayor, for the governor's seat of NY State but lost. He most likely
lost because he alienated voters outside of NYC when he said that living in the
suburbs was "...sterile..." and that he would not like living in a
small city like Albany.
After politics, he stayed active in the political community
although never again attaining political office. His politics remained the same
- he was a democrat but leaned right, even stood firmly fast on the right, on
some issues like support for Israel and was to the left on others as in his
support for the lesbian, bi and gay
communities (yes by that time "bi" was included).
He will be buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. It was the only cemetery with available space in Manhattan (commonly referred to as The City). He put it this way: "I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone," Koch told The Associated Press. "This is my home...." (source). That he was proud of his faith, can be witnessed by part of the inscription placed on his tombstone, that he had inscribed, shortly after he bought the burial plot, with the last words of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl before he was slain by Islamic terrorists:
"My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish." (source)
Further indication of his love for his faith but also that Hizzonner loved the City of New York and its people, and was truly a patriot who loved the United States of America, can be evidenced in the remaining words inscribe on his tombstone:
He called it as he saw it and stood up for his beliefs even up to his last days on earth (he opposed Obama's stance on Israel) but exercised a practicality that was rare among politicians and stood up fiercely to his detractors with the chutzpah only a New Yorker could show but almost always did it with a sense of humor. He
loved his faith, New York City and its people and the USA and in his own words did so fiercely. For those attributes, you had to admire him more than almost any other politician of his day whether you sided with him or not and I have to admit I disagreed with his stances on a lot of the issues a lot of the time. Still though, losing him is like losing a good friend. He was that kind of a mayor, he was Hizzoner!
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, January 31, 2013
They're All Gone Now - The Last Of The Andrews' Sisters Passes On
It is truly with a heavy heart that I post this. Patty, the last surviving of the singing trio of Patty, LaVerne and Maxine - The Andrews Sisters - has passed away of natural causes at age 94, see:
http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=788243
She was the lead singer of this 1930-40s group that sold records in the tens, if not hundreds, of millions. They performed together as a group up through 1967, so I got to hear them often as I grew up. Of course, I, like many Americans, fell in love with them by way of not only their voices but their appearances in reruns of movies like Buck Privates in which they sang Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. (If you have never seen Buck Privates, which was the first starring role for Abbot and Costello, I highly recommend it.)
Did you happen to notice the two guys who walked on stage just as the song ended, yep Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. Also in Buck Privates, they sang: Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (and yes that is Shemp Howard appearing with them on stage).
They were a big hit with the military services during WWII and certainly did a lot to raise the moral of thousands of our troops and of the folks back home.
Their career took off with their first hit Bei mir bistu shein (original Yiddish spelling).
Shit, tears are flowing and I am actually slobbering as I write and as I listen to Bei mir bistu shein! What voices! To think those the last of those voices is now with the angels and with those of her sisters. Enough...except to say they were magnificent.
All the best,
Glenn B
She was the lead singer of this 1930-40s group that sold records in the tens, if not hundreds, of millions. They performed together as a group up through 1967, so I got to hear them often as I grew up. Of course, I, like many Americans, fell in love with them by way of not only their voices but their appearances in reruns of movies like Buck Privates in which they sang Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. (If you have never seen Buck Privates, which was the first starring role for Abbot and Costello, I highly recommend it.)
Did you happen to notice the two guys who walked on stage just as the song ended, yep Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. Also in Buck Privates, they sang: Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (and yes that is Shemp Howard appearing with them on stage).
They were a big hit with the military services during WWII and certainly did a lot to raise the moral of thousands of our troops and of the folks back home.
Their career took off with their first hit Bei mir bistu shein (original Yiddish spelling).
Shit, tears are flowing and I am actually slobbering as I write and as I listen to Bei mir bistu shein! What voices! To think those the last of those voices is now with the angels and with those of her sisters. Enough...except to say they were magnificent.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Guns Or Ammo Out Of Stock - What Else To Buy Before It Too Runs Out
Have you noticed yet that there is a scarcity of guns and ammunition available in, what was until recently, the free market in this country. If you have not noticed, don't even bother reading any further, this article is not for you. If you have noticed the current guns and ammo shortages, then hopefully you were smart and you also anticipated them. In other words, maybe you stocked up a decent supply of guns and ammo, before they ran out, to last you fairly long while. How long? Like maybe having enough on hand to make it through the duration of a major revolution a few years until our government is again controlled by the people with some sense of Constitutional rights and liberties. I don't think I have enough to last that long but I do have some and I am not about to be giving it out to anyone who shows up at my door begging because they cannot find any.
In the event that the economy fails, or the government decides that in order to save the economy they have to halve federal pensions (or worse), or maybe they will decide on another major devaluation of the dollar by printing more greenbacks without anything to back them up, or if the government tries to take over militarily or by police force, or in the event of a major natural catastrophe or even a friggin' Zombie Apocalypse or maybe just shortages of consumer goods just as there is now a shortage of guns, ammunition and related items on the market - I want to be able to kind of, sort of, assure I do not have to start bartering what scant ammunition I have on hand in order to get other things that I do not have. That begs the question - What other things should one be buying now to avoid that kind of mess.
My guess would be the number one thing to buy would be food and water storage containers. That is unless you have lots of money right now, in which case I would probably be buying gold and silver and food and water. I do not have a lot of money on hand, so I think maybe I will at least try to buy some kind of long lasting food; maybe I can sneak in a few ounce of silver too. While I see no shortage of gold or silver forthcoming, I can see the prices rising, even now, especially for silver as fears of a worsened economy or a collapse increase. I don't think buying silver now is a good money making proposition but I do think it was a good idea to have some on hand, and some gold too if you can afford it, in the event the economy does collapse. If the economy fails, your dollars aren't going to be worth shit.
Now back to that other commodity that you might want to consider buying - food. Buying things like containers of emergency foods that can be stored for the long term is a good idea. Why, well just because shit happens. People were pretty hungry during the great Depression, during WWII also. The way things are going nowadays, I can easily envision them getting worse before they get better. I do not plan to be caught standing behind the trucks, off of which soldiers are tossing bags of flour or rice to the peasants, when the food riots break out. Is that really going to happen - beats me but I have stood on cheese lines before and shopped with the food stamps that my mother got a long time ago and do not ever intend to do either again. I certainly do not want to see my kids ever have to do it.
Emergency food comes in varying degrees as to quantity. You can get anything from a year's supply for a family of four (a pallets worth of it) down to an individual can of it. I do not think most folks are in the economic position to be buying a year's supply of food at one time, let alone having the facility to store all that food - heck I would have to buy another place just to store that much food. So instead of buying all that much of it at once, you can tailor your buying to your budget and to your storage space. Buying a bucket of emergency food per month, like a 40 lb. bucket of flour, or a bucket of powdered milk, a 20 lb. bucket of rolled instant oats, or a 35 lb. bucket of dried kidney beans, or a bucket of rice, or sugar, or honey and many other long term storage food items can be done, on a fairly low budget, by purchasing one or two such items per month. If you don't use it wit he next year or three - so what - a lot of it will store for up to 20 or 25 years unopened. You can also lay in a stock of things like canned foods such as tuna fish, sardines, veggies, or even canned meats. Spam lasts, I think, at most for about 3 or 4 years but you have to look for the 'best by date' to figure out by when you need use it up.
While you may not have enough room in your apartment or house to stock up for a year for a family of 4, maybe not even enough room to put away enough for 6 months for two people, you sure want to consider having enough spare food to last you and yours at least a month.
Now, back to the original idea. Remember I asked about what to buy now that guns and ammo have become scarce. A lot of other folks are probably asking themselves the same thing because either they have more than enough in the firearms and ammunition stockpiles or because they simply cannot find any more in stock - so they need something to do with their money now. My guess is, that if they have not done so already, they are going to start buying other commodities like the ones I just mentioned. That could bring on new shortages of things that seem to be in abundance right now. Let me assure you, if they start selling like guns and ammo started selling, food supplies will be out of stock within a month or two at most. Why - because while not everyone was buying guns and ammo - everyone eats and buys food. If panic buying of food starts, for whatever reason, food is going to become scarce really quickly.
If food panic buying does take place, then gold and silver will soar. Neither one probably will become as scarce but they will become super expensive and may wind up being the only thing with which you can purchase food.
Think about that and consider buying now.
Wondering where to buy things like those I just mentioned. Here are a few places you can try:
Gold & Silver:
APMEX
KITCO (Mind you, I think their minimum online order has to amount to $2,500 but you may be able to order in lessor amounts over the phone.)
I have used both of the above, in the past when there was no minimum order size, and they gave good service and I hope the real McCoy when it comes to what I purchased.
Emergency Food:
COSTCO (I have made several online purchases of such stuff from them. I had to return one that had been shipped to me and was faulty. They took it back at a warehouse, no questions asked. They also would have arranged for return shipping if I had preferred it.)
SHELF RELIANCE/THRIVE You can purchase their products from COSTCO but you can buy directly from them too.
EMERGENCY FOOD WAREHOUSE I have never purchased from them; I found a link for them on The Survivalist Blog.
All the best,
Glenn B
In the event that the economy fails, or the government decides that in order to save the economy they have to halve federal pensions (or worse), or maybe they will decide on another major devaluation of the dollar by printing more greenbacks without anything to back them up, or if the government tries to take over militarily or by police force, or in the event of a major natural catastrophe or even a friggin' Zombie Apocalypse or maybe just shortages of consumer goods just as there is now a shortage of guns, ammunition and related items on the market - I want to be able to kind of, sort of, assure I do not have to start bartering what scant ammunition I have on hand in order to get other things that I do not have. That begs the question - What other things should one be buying now to avoid that kind of mess.
My guess would be the number one thing to buy would be food and water storage containers. That is unless you have lots of money right now, in which case I would probably be buying gold and silver and food and water. I do not have a lot of money on hand, so I think maybe I will at least try to buy some kind of long lasting food; maybe I can sneak in a few ounce of silver too. While I see no shortage of gold or silver forthcoming, I can see the prices rising, even now, especially for silver as fears of a worsened economy or a collapse increase. I don't think buying silver now is a good money making proposition but I do think it was a good idea to have some on hand, and some gold too if you can afford it, in the event the economy does collapse. If the economy fails, your dollars aren't going to be worth shit.
Now back to that other commodity that you might want to consider buying - food. Buying things like containers of emergency foods that can be stored for the long term is a good idea. Why, well just because shit happens. People were pretty hungry during the great Depression, during WWII also. The way things are going nowadays, I can easily envision them getting worse before they get better. I do not plan to be caught standing behind the trucks, off of which soldiers are tossing bags of flour or rice to the peasants, when the food riots break out. Is that really going to happen - beats me but I have stood on cheese lines before and shopped with the food stamps that my mother got a long time ago and do not ever intend to do either again. I certainly do not want to see my kids ever have to do it.
Emergency food comes in varying degrees as to quantity. You can get anything from a year's supply for a family of four (a pallets worth of it) down to an individual can of it. I do not think most folks are in the economic position to be buying a year's supply of food at one time, let alone having the facility to store all that food - heck I would have to buy another place just to store that much food. So instead of buying all that much of it at once, you can tailor your buying to your budget and to your storage space. Buying a bucket of emergency food per month, like a 40 lb. bucket of flour, or a bucket of powdered milk, a 20 lb. bucket of rolled instant oats, or a 35 lb. bucket of dried kidney beans, or a bucket of rice, or sugar, or honey and many other long term storage food items can be done, on a fairly low budget, by purchasing one or two such items per month. If you don't use it wit he next year or three - so what - a lot of it will store for up to 20 or 25 years unopened. You can also lay in a stock of things like canned foods such as tuna fish, sardines, veggies, or even canned meats. Spam lasts, I think, at most for about 3 or 4 years but you have to look for the 'best by date' to figure out by when you need use it up.
While you may not have enough room in your apartment or house to stock up for a year for a family of 4, maybe not even enough room to put away enough for 6 months for two people, you sure want to consider having enough spare food to last you and yours at least a month.
Now, back to the original idea. Remember I asked about what to buy now that guns and ammo have become scarce. A lot of other folks are probably asking themselves the same thing because either they have more than enough in the firearms and ammunition stockpiles or because they simply cannot find any more in stock - so they need something to do with their money now. My guess is, that if they have not done so already, they are going to start buying other commodities like the ones I just mentioned. That could bring on new shortages of things that seem to be in abundance right now. Let me assure you, if they start selling like guns and ammo started selling, food supplies will be out of stock within a month or two at most. Why - because while not everyone was buying guns and ammo - everyone eats and buys food. If panic buying of food starts, for whatever reason, food is going to become scarce really quickly.
If food panic buying does take place, then gold and silver will soar. Neither one probably will become as scarce but they will become super expensive and may wind up being the only thing with which you can purchase food.
Think about that and consider buying now.
Wondering where to buy things like those I just mentioned. Here are a few places you can try:
Gold & Silver:
APMEX
KITCO (Mind you, I think their minimum online order has to amount to $2,500 but you may be able to order in lessor amounts over the phone.)
I have used both of the above, in the past when there was no minimum order size, and they gave good service and I hope the real McCoy when it comes to what I purchased.
Emergency Food:
COSTCO (I have made several online purchases of such stuff from them. I had to return one that had been shipped to me and was faulty. They took it back at a warehouse, no questions asked. They also would have arranged for return shipping if I had preferred it.)
SHELF RELIANCE/THRIVE You can purchase their products from COSTCO but you can buy directly from them too.
EMERGENCY FOOD WAREHOUSE I have never purchased from them; I found a link for them on The Survivalist Blog.
All the best,
Glenn B
Laws Banning Firearms Don't Benefit Society
I have always believed and probably will always be of like
mind that laws, banning certain types of firearms (or other weapons) or banning
magazines with a certain capacity to hold ammunition, are pointless unless it
is that the government wishes to attempt a takeover of the populace. Even then,
there is little chance of keeping weapons out of the hands of people whom the
government does not want to see armed. A perfect example has just come to light
in a terrible tragedy that has taken place in the southern hemisphere. Over the
past couple of days there has been an uproar from the citizenry in Venezuela
over the massive gun battle that took place in that country between federal
troops and armed convicts. That gun battle took place in what should have been
one of the most secure facilities in the country or in any country - a federal
prison - a place in which gun control should be practiced to its full extent
regarding keeping guns from the inmates. That system failed miserably.
Now, you may wonder how prisoners got the guns with which to
battle federal troops that had entered the prison to check for weapons and
other contraband and to check on prison conditions. You might even hypothesize
that somehow, the families of prisoners smuggled weapons into the prison over a
period of times and those weapons were used against the troops. Yet,
authorities and politicians in Venezuela would probably tell you otherwise, at
least it is being reported that they are seeing it differently right now. For
now, it is believed that the great majority of the weapons used by prisoners in
the gun battle, that claimed 61 lives and wounded over a hundred others, were
smuggled into the jail by corrupt jailers, see:
In fact, the people of Venezuela are allowed to possess
certain firearms but only under strict conditions and only firearms of a very
limited variety.
"Venezuela:
- Only the state may possess 'weapons of war', including:
cannon, rifles, mortars, machine guns, sub-machine guns, carbines, pistols, and
revolvers, be they automatic or semi-automatic. Civilians are only authorized
to hold .22 rifles and shotguns (repeating and hunting).
- Penalty for Possessing Prohibited Firearm: 5-8 years for
firearms; 6-10 years for 'weapons of war'
- Registration: details of the firearm must be
recorded"
Sources: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/venezuela
and: Parker, Sarah. 2011. ‘Balancing Act: Regulation of Civilian Firearm
Possession.’ Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security; Chapter 9 (Table 9.2),
p. 273. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 6 July.
So imagine that. If, in Venezuela, you possessed the weapons
that were almost certainly used in the prison gun battle, you face a 6-10 year
sentence at the least just for having them, let alone the additional sentence
for using them to injure or kill someone. I imagine that since Venezuela also
requires civilians to register firearms that there would also be an additional
penalty for having unregistered firearms. Are you beginning to see how firearms
registration laws and laws banning certain types of weapons are totally
ineffective. All the legal restrictions above did little to nothing to keep
firearms out of what should have been a gun free area, and thus little to
nothing to keep them from the hands of those who would commit crimes with them
even when those people were incarcerated! As a matter of fact, as I noted
above, corrupt government officials were implicated as being the likely
culprits to have smuggled the firearms into the prison and that is based upon
past cases of such having happened.
So, unless you get rid of every gun that there is on the
planet, gun control is not going to work. It probably would not even work then
because it is just too easy to produce firearms in a workshop, even in a
backyard or basement workshop. That is exactly how tens of thousands of
firearms were smuggled into Afghanistan, to supply the Afghans, when the Soviet
Union occupied that country. The guns were manufactured in home shops by people
in Pakistan.
What we need in the USA is not a gun ban or gun
restrictions, what we need is stiffer sentencing when guns or any weapons are
used in the commission of a crime - maybe a mandatory 25 year add on sentence.
This may not prevent the criminal from committing more violent crime once his
sentence has expired and he gets out of jail but will assure that he will not
commit violent crime on the streets for at least the time he is in jail.
We need swift and sure justice that results in the death
penalty for the offender when someone is found guilty of manslaughter or
murder, or of a felony in which violence resulting in injury was used to commit
the crime, resulting in the death penalty. The death penalty may not work as a
deterrent however it works without fail as to preventing recidivism once the
sentence has actually been carried out.
We need to assure that our mental health system
institutionalizes those who are a high potential threat to public safety. We
did that many years ago and the incidence of violent crimes committed by the
mentally ill was lower than currently.
We need to allow our children to properly adjust to
aggression and violence. Thus we need to accept, as we used to, that violence
and aggression are normal, in children and teens, to a certain degree. Instead
of coddling our children and teens and even our young adults, we need allow for
an adjustment period in which they learn how to naturally react to things like
bullying and other highly stressful situations, maybe by way of them fighting
back by using an appropriate level of self-defense. Thus they would gain an
understanding that extremely violent overreactions, like what they see in video
games and on television, are not the proper ways to react to the great majority
of situations although sometimes a situation can be dealt with best by
application of the appropriate level of violence and aggression.
None of that should not be difficult to accomplish; not once
we realize we need to get rid of some things our society has turned to such as:
the Nanny State and the proliferation of nannies instead of educators in our
schools, police state in which the police see themselves as above the law yet
needing to enforce the law as more important than them living up to their oaths
by being the defenders of the Constitution, the soft tyranny that exists and
may soon turn to hard tyranny as opposed to having politicians that realize
they are public servants who are supposed to serve us instead of us serving
them.
It was like that once upon a time, not all that long ago -
within my lifetime. It can be that way again and when it is, just as when I was
a youngster - mass shootings and mass murders of any sort, within this nation, will
be rare occurrences indeed.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Bell Just Rang...
...and what may be the last Internet order of ammo I will ever make legally, from my NY residence, was dropped off at my front door. Of course, I would buy more ammo online, before the NY SAFE Act goes into effect, if I could find any available in calibers I want and at reasonable prices. Virtually everything I want has been sold out for weeks now.
As for the ammo that just arrived, it's a hundred rounds of .308 Winchester ammo from Midway USA; it should be anyway - I have not opened the box to check yet. MidwayUSA was the only dealer I could find within the last 2 weeks with any .308 ammo for sale. The ammo itself is: Federal Fusion Lite Ammunition, .308 Winchester, 170 Grain, Spitzer Boat Tail, five boxes of 20 rounds. As I write, it is no longer in stock; as a matter of fact, it was out of stock within minutes of me placing my order. Right now, MidwayUSA has some: Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition, 308 Winchester, 165 Grain, Trophy Copper Tipped Boat Tail,lead free ammo for sale for 33.99 a box but I am not about to spend that much on 20 rounds of .308 - lead free or not, just posting the availability here in the event someone is looking.
All the best,
Glenn B
As for the ammo that just arrived, it's a hundred rounds of .308 Winchester ammo from Midway USA; it should be anyway - I have not opened the box to check yet. MidwayUSA was the only dealer I could find within the last 2 weeks with any .308 ammo for sale. The ammo itself is: Federal Fusion Lite Ammunition, .308 Winchester, 170 Grain, Spitzer Boat Tail, five boxes of 20 rounds. As I write, it is no longer in stock; as a matter of fact, it was out of stock within minutes of me placing my order. Right now, MidwayUSA has some: Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition, 308 Winchester, 165 Grain, Trophy Copper Tipped Boat Tail,lead free ammo for sale for 33.99 a box but I am not about to spend that much on 20 rounds of .308 - lead free or not, just posting the availability here in the event someone is looking.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Patriot Post Has Been Added To My Blog Roll
I added The Patriot Post. Don't know why I never did before tonight. Great stuff. It is on the right, under the header: Other Bloggers Of Note.
All the best,
GB
All the best,
GB
The 2A Pledge - Have You Taken It Yet?
I just took the 2A Pledge. If you support our Constitutional Rights, our liberties to exercise them, and our freedoms, then you should consider taking the pledge too. It relates to the one right that assures we keep all the others, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
You can go directly to the pledge page here: http://patriotpost.us/archives/petitions/21
Or first check out the Patriot Post, the host website, here: http://patriotpost.us/
Thanks to Bob, over at the at The Wandering Minstrel, for the heads up on this one.
All the best,
Glenn B
You can go directly to the pledge page here: http://patriotpost.us/archives/petitions/21
Or first check out the Patriot Post, the host website, here: http://patriotpost.us/
Thanks to Bob, over at the at The Wandering Minstrel, for the heads up on this one.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, January 26, 2013
A Wise Man and A Buffoon Discuss The NY SAFE Act
It is a 15 minute video but if you are at all interested in the latest violation of New Yorkers' right to keep and bear arms,watch this video. Then guess which one I think is the wise man and which the buffoon. Bear in mind, although I fully support the RKBA, I imagine that I would still think of both of them the same as I do now even had they been talking about the weather instead of the NY SAFE Act. I mean it is just so obvious as to which term fits which man - isn't it!
All the best
Glenn B
Politicians never cease to amaze me especially when it comes to how willing some of them are to totally disregard our natural and Constitutional rights. Hat tip to Richie M for this one.
All the best
Glenn B
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