I Don't Know If I Want To Blog Anymore...

...because, truthfully, I see little to blog about and much more to get ready for what I believe is the inevitable revolution. I find it hard to fathom that the America in which I grew up and that f our forefathers is lost to us and future generations forever because of the likes of liberals like William Jefferson Clinton, George W. Bush, Barrack Hussein Obama, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and others. Yes, I believe that George W. Bush was a liberal, in fact almost a raving leftist; I base that upon his domestic policy especially with regard to the bailouts and his implementation of what I think is the patently unconstitutional Patriot Act. The others are all extreme leftists for certain, hard core leftists at that. I see them as nothing less than full-fledged socialists and communists wanna be's.

They violate the Constitution, seemingly, at every turn. For those of you who think the Constitution is a living and fluid document, the interpretation of which can change at your desire - try to bear in mind that the framers of the Constitution allowed for it to change by way of a 2/3's majority of the Congress voting in favor of an amendment and then the president agreeing on the amendment. It is not alive and growing and getting older and failing as an aged creature might begin to fail in health. What has failed seems to be the ability of the American people to believe in liberty because many want to restrain the liberties of their political opponents while keeping their own liberties free from infringement,  such as the likes of major Bloomberg of NY (deceitful pompous ass that is he).

Today, many Americans celebrate diversity and think that celebration of it means we must embrace being different above everything else. The fact is that the United States of America has always been a nation of diverse peoples. We all have differences, yet we were all American first and thus were, for the most part, united in our love for America and in our patriotism. now the left sees patriotism as the equivalent of terrorism; it is shocking in how much leftists try to denigrate patriotism. As a country, if our citizens and legal resident aliens cannot see beyond our diversity and unite with the common cause of keeping our nation one of liberty, freedom and true justice for ourselves, we will be divided and that will only lend to our inevitable destruction because in essence we will be standing against one another at every turn. That destruction can be avoided, must be avoided, in order for us to survive as a nation with our Constitution as our basis. If all else fails, such as political, legal and grass roots attempts, then all that will be left to us may be revolution. It looks as if all else is failing and I fear that revolution is inevitable within the next few years at most. I pray I am wrong but am preparing as best I can to survive what I think must come to pass. Blogging does not even come in a close second to what I need to get ready.

I am not saying I will stop blogging for certain but that I am seriously considering such to make more time for other activities; those that will go toward protection of our rights, liberties, my family and our well-being should what I fear come to pass. Of course, I could make those preparations and remain active on my blog. I have been preparing to survive a bad situation for the past couple to few years. I am not a prepper, per se, but have gotten ready on a much smaller scale than being able to survive a year or more independently. But I see there is more that needs be made ready. Yet, I could never see me and my family being the Swiss Family Robinson; we are more like the families of our nation's firsts patriots, they who fought in the original revolution that formed our nation. Just a father, a mother and our children among many others of like mind - yet, who are diverse in our origins, customs, religions and other beliefs -  all wanting to make the best for us, and for other Americans of diverse origins, all united by the same cause. That cause - the protection of our natural and God given rights and liberties against tyrants and others who would strip us of them.

All the best,
Glenn B

More Or Less A Year Has Passed Since...

...my first post-cancer treatment CT-Scan and PET Scan, they came out all clear as were one or two other CT Scans between then and this week. 

Well, I just had another CT Scan last Monday, then saw the docs on Wednesday, and the chemo doc told me I do not have to come in until a year from now for my next one. I will keep seeing the radiation doc, but also less frequently, next visit is in six months instead of three. The chemo doc admitted that I am doing better than had been expected; to tell the truth I don't think he really had expected me to be doing anything right around now except resting eternally, he just seems amazed, and happy that I am doing well. He was a real truth teller though, I have to admit that. He gave me 50/50 odds "at best" that I would beat it and that is just how he put it - with stress on "at best". He also said it would be the toughest thing I had ever done in my life and I have to admit, he hit the nail on the head with that statement and the both docs drove it home with radiation and chemo treatments that they called aggressive. Now I have one other thing to admit, while it was definitely the toughest thing I ever have done and while I would not wish it on my worst enemy, it was worth the fight.

I did not do it alone though; I have to say I had a lot of help from family, loved ones, friends and all of you in the Blogosphere.

My sincere and heart felt thanks to all of you who inspirited me and urged me to KICK CANCER'S ASS!

All the best,
Glenn B

The 2nd Amendment, the NRA and Pro-RKBA Black Leaders

Here are both the long and short versions of an excellent video in support of the 2nd Amendment. I recommend watching the long version  (over an hour) but if you only have a few minutes, the short version can convey the message, albeit in brief.

Long version:



Short version:



All the best,
Glenn B

Going To See Willie...

...Nelson on June 7th, the night before my daughter gets hitched. Brendan is coming with me. I picked up two early sale tickets today for the show at NYCB Theater at Westbury. I saw him once back in about 1977 or so, in NM, in a place called the Palomino Club (or something like that) and did not even know who was playing at first. That was great, I was passing through some town in New Mexico, on my way to NY, and stopped in there for a beer. Almost got my butt kicked, by a gorilla in a Hoss Cartwright 10 gallon hat, because of the length of my hair and my beard, but had some cowboy hat wearing bouncers protect my skinny arse and then got to enjoy the show and had quite a few beers while at it.

Then, I saw him in NYC a few years ago, after he had canceled a tour stop somewhere in PA and changed it to New York Shitty. I bought a ticket online, and went to the show straight from my office. That was one of the best musical performances I have ever seen. I am hoping that the upcoming one will be good and that the seats I was able to get are likewise. They are in a section behind the orchestra pit, row E seats - and -. I am guessing they ought to be good seats.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Repaired HP Laptop Arrived Today

I received it, on the street, truck side, from the FedEx delivery man, whom I had just missed at my house. I was driving down the street and saw a FedEx truck turn off of my block onto the road I was on. I went around the corner to see a FedEx delivery attempt notice stuck on my front door. I hung a u-turn and pursued the FedEx truck in the blind as it was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, I made a turn and it wound up being the same way he had turned. I found him a few blocks from my home. I asked if I could get the package from him and immediately showed him my driver's license for identification. No problem, I signed for it, brought it home and am now typing on it.

The best I can make out from the less than very informative paperwork that was enclosed with the computer was that HP changed a hard drive cable, some other unidentified cable and upgraded the BIOS. I guess it was not the hard drive, that was faulty, after all. I ran a systems diagnostic Tune Up test which runs most of the available tests at start-up and all passed, including the previously failed Hard Drive Long DST test. Funny, HP techs stated to run that test yesterday, then cancelled it, so I am wondering how they knew they has solved the problem! They also seemed to have fixed the problem with the graphics controller, maybe that was solved when they changed the hard drive cable or maybe they did something else they did not list on the paperwork. Oh well, seems to be working better but not completely right yet. It may have to go back again if they cannot solve the problems that happen when I attach an use a mouse, any mouse - I have tried 3 or 4 now and they all have problems when attached. I guess another call to HP tech service is in order.

All the best,
Glenn B

Still No Laptop...

...thus the lack of blogging on my part. I have borrowed my son's laptop today and will try to get a  bit more blogging done later tonight. 

All the best,
Glenn B

True Heroes - A Prime Example: Jim Corbett

Jim Corbett with the slain
Bachelor of Powalgarh.

Jim Corbet - a man to be emulated; he was a man among man-eaters! He should be the type of man that youngsters, today, call hero instead of the drugged out movie stars and steroid pumped up athletes whom they tend to choose all to often. His book, 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon', is my favorite work of non-fiction. Coincidentally, he passed away April 19th, the same date I was married (of course, not in the same year, but oddly enough in the year of my birth). Read up on him here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Corbett_(hunter)

I strongly recommend reading Man-Eaters of Kumaon if you are interested in tigers and other big cats, hunting, India, conservation or merely historical figures.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: Yes I still have the laptop, hope to send it out to HP by FedEx tomorrow.

MY BLOGGING SUSPENDED FOR ABOUT WEEK OR SO

I have to send my HP laptop into HP for repair. It has several issues and while they finally came around and said they would send and in home service tech to replace the hard drive, they also said that the problems could be caused by other things, like a problem with the motherboard, and thus should fix it at their facility. I agreed and will ship it out tomorrow.

All the best,
Glenn B

Long Island Herpetological Society Cancels Annual Expos

Much to my dismay, the Long Island Herpetological Society announced, today, that it was cancelling its 23rd annual reptile expo and will not have the same type of shows in the future. I went to the very first show and all others since with the exception of one or two when I was away for work. I even went to the one in November 2011, when I was at the tail end of my cancer treatments, when I looked and felt more like a walking dead man than I care to remember. Oh well, as they say, all good things come to an end.

Besides it being a big letdown that the 23rd annual show was cancelled, it is also a major disappointment for me that apparently all future such LIHS expos were also cancelled; although, they may continue a much scaled down (no pun intended) version without vendor sales.

I also am sorely disappointed in another way. The 24th annual show likely would have been held this coming fall. (The 23rd show, the one just cancelled, had been scheduled for November 2012 but was rescheduled to this April after Tropical Storm Sandy devastated much of Long Island.) Well, I had planned to attend the one this coming fall, as I had the previous ones, but with one big change. The change was to include me traveling down to Daytona Beach for the National Reptile Breeders' Expo in August. I had been planning on buying a good number of herps there, keeping them through the fall and then selling them at the LIHS 24th annual show. Then, I was planning on donating all of the proceeds to the LIHS. That was as good an excuse as any to include the National Reptile Breeders' Expo on my bucket list. In preparation, I already made reservations (just a few days ago). The fact is, I had to pay for the airfare in advance but now the trip seems less than pointless. At least I purchased the travel through Southwest Airlines and can change the reservations without an additional fee. Too bad though that I did not know about this just a bit in advance.

Now, I have to let my son know the bad news. While he has not attended a monthly meeting of the LIHS in a while, he often attended the annual shows with me and would help out at my table. In November 2011, I could not made it though the door let alone to the show site had he not brought me there and helped me to get inside.

Oh well, such is life. The longer you live, the more you see the things you enjoy go belly up.

All the best,
Glenn B

How To Handle A Break-In While Awaiting The Police

This video is courtesy of LiveLeak that had an embed code for it on their site. It is well worth the 8:29 it takes to watch it all. Listen to the police, the politicians and even the second in charge of all federal law enforcement tell you what to do when someone breaks into your home with you there.  One of them had an intelligent suggestion, only one of them. He was the only one who made any sense at all and thus not among the arse hats when it came to what you should do to defend your life in the face of imminent loss of life or serious bodily injury.


A hat tip to Herr Richard M for this one.!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Battling Boys of Benghazi

 

Said to have been written by an annonymous officer of the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

Sent to me by TOB, a hat tip to him.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

A Father On Defense of His Daughter Versus Gun Control

I don't think I could say it any better.

All the best,
Glenn B

My First LIF Range Meet Up

Long Island Firearms (LIF) hosted a range meet of some of its members at the Nassau County Rile Range this evening. The last time that I went to a planned shooting event, of any sort, with folks I had never met before was in August 2012 when Brendan and I attended the 5th Annual Northeast Bloggershoot in a supersekrit location in New England. I usually go to the range alone or with Brendan. I am not a very social drinker and it seems not a very social shooter. After tonight's shoot, the idea of me being a not so social social shooter may change into one in which I become much more sociable at the range. I met some nice folks, all LIF members and I had a good time tonight at the range with them.

Mostly, we met at the range, then took over two of the rooms in which to shoot. The range has several rooms with five points in each. I think there was a total of about 16 of us. We made introductions all around in the room in which I was in and everyone introduced themselves with their first names and LIF Forums sign-on name. I am already not great at remembering names, to have to try to remember a first name and a nickname will be almost impossible for me. I do remember the Range Safety Officer in our room was Dan although I forget his forum handle. Another guy whose name I remember is Roman but again I  cannot remember his forum name either. I met Roman on the last LIF trip to Albany to protest the NY SAFE Act so his was already a familiar face to me. The RSO in the other room was malakaguy, no  do not recall his real first name. Oh well, if I go again next month and again each month after that, I am likely to start picking up a name or two now and again.

After the intros, we got to shooting. Eight guys in the room and only five points, so I shot for about ten to fifteen minutes and let someone else into my slot for a while. We switched back and forth like that for the hour and forty-five minutes of so we had to shoot. At first, I was a tad disappointed that we were slated to shoot from 7-9 but most folks did not get there until 7 and we only started shooting at around 7:15. As it wound up, I had more than enough time to shoot before I started aching between the shoulder blades. I really need to start a work-out routine. I took another break and shot some more later on.

I brought along my Remington R1 1911, my Ortgies pocket pistol and my Glock 26. It was the first time I have shot the Glock since I got new sites put ion it. I shoot okay with it but probably could do a tiny bit better moving the rear site to the right just a bit. I will practice with it a bit more, could have been my fault in how I was holding it that had it shooting a bit to the left, maybe an inch or two at the most, at 15 yards. Nonetheless, the group was a good one. As for the Remington, it is right on out to 15 yards (I only shot out to 15 tonight) and I was perfectly happy with it. I shot well enough with it to get a compliment from the RSO on my group. I was not all that happy that once again there was a problem with the next to last round failing to feed a couple of times when using the Remington factory magazines. The cheap after market mags I have work perfectly, I never have a jam with them. Again, I forgot to mark the mags that jammed. I need to do that and then send them to Remington to either repair or replace. The Ortgies functioned flawlessly but I do not shoot as well with it as the sights are fairly hard to see being they are very small. I shot okay with it, would even qualify with it if I had to shoot a qualification with it but know if the sights were a bit bigger I would shoot better with the Ortgies.

Other LIF members had a decent variety of firearms. There were a few other .45 Autos (at least one was some model of Kimber), Dan, the RSO, was shooting a .44 magnum revolver among other guns. Roman had an Uzi (semi auto only - of course being we are in NY) and also had a rifle that was a revolver. Anew member, I think his name was John, said he had not shot since summer camp many moons ago. He was shooting a marlin rifle in .22LR. Considering he had not shot in many years, I have to say he must have learned really well at summer camp. He was right on the paper with everything and the target he was using was pretty small. Some of the guys shot one anothers' rifles and handguns. Like I said though, I am not all that social a shooter and I held off on sharing for now (although I did share at the 5th Annual NE Bloggershoot). Once I know this guy from that one and know each person's gun handling habits, then I will let other shoot what I have with me if they want to do so. Since I was already aching, I had no desire to shoot guns belonging to anyone else.

I am pretty sure I will go to the next one in a month or so. If I miss that one, then I will attend the next one. It seems they shoot at that range monthly but also shoot monthly at other ranges here on Long Island. When the weather is a bit nicer, I will probably join them on some of the outdoor ranges too.

Nice guys - all them. These meet-ups at the range could become habit forming.

All the best,
Glenn B

If 100,000 Folks Had As Much Ammo As Me...

...we would have a bit more than DHS reportedly has purchased recently and thus might be ready for them should the government attempt to overtake the citizenry and institute tyranny by force. Oh course, we the people, to the best of my knowledge, do not have anywhere near the reported 2,700 Mine Resistant Armored Protected (MRAP) Vehicles that DHS reportedly also acquired recently. If this report and others like it are true, you had best be stockpiling ammo, legally obtained and possessed components for explosives, Pepper Spray, gasoline, food water, medical supplies and whatever else on which you can lay your hands for possible use if the government goes wild.

Folks, in my opinion (and remember I was in federal law enforcement for 32 years plus some), there is absolutely no justifiable reason, for a federal department handling domestic law enforcement to be purchasing 2,700 such vehicles or to have purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammo (as DHS reportedly has purchased over the past year). They patrol our borders, investigate drug smuggling, customs violations, money laundering (minor role in that now as the FBI is the main agency relative to ML) and arrest wetbacks with maybe a suspected terrorist thrown in now and then and they search people getting on planes and the like. They are not into handling civil unrest (nor should they be), are not para-military nor should they be that either,  and regardless of Janet Napolitano's rhetoric they do not do a lot in the way of actually investigating or preventing terrorism. It is mainly the FBI that handles terrorist investigations, not DHS, trust me on that one. So why do they need all those bullets and those armored personnel carriers unless  they plan on putting down mass civil unrest or expect China to invade and for themselves to protect our shores/borders during an invasion?

Remember that Obama, during his first campaign, said he would have a civilian force as strong as the military but he never said why he need a civilian force that strong. Now he is putting it together with law enforcement and I fear all that ammo will be aimed at We The People, at least those of us who disagree with him. If you are not scared or at least very concerned about why this is happening, you must have drunk a good sized amount of the Obamessiah kool-aid. As Michael Savage said last night, Democrats and leftists either are or already have become everything they claimed to have feared and this is just more proof of it.

All the best,
GB

Header Pic

One day of that blog header pic was longer than enough for me.

Happy hunting, either for Easter eggs of Easter bunnies.

All the best,
Glenn B

So My Current Blog Header Pic...

 

...probably isn't something you would see on Wirecutter's, Pissed's, Jay's, Jen's or Jo's blogs but it sure as hell fits right in with how I feel about the Easter Bunny. Being that Easter is pretty much right around the corner, and that Easter Bunnies, of all descriptions (including vicious white ones), are about to invade many homes (maybe even mine), I find my blog header pic as rather seasonally appropriate. That is, it is fitting in a Gomez Addams (he was always well prepared) and a Monty Python (so were they mostly well prepared) sort of way.



Living in NY, I'll have to settle for a handgun as my bunny killer. So, I chose my trusty ten shot S&W Model 17. After all, I am willing to bet that The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch has been banned under the NY SAFE Act. One thing is for sure, I am not letting on if its having been banned makes me a felon!

As for how I envision Easter Bunnies, I could see them looking a lot like this one, innocent, cuddly and sweet. I can also see them as being demonic pests acting much like the white rabbit of Monty Python lore. (Those guys must have watched a lot of Elmer chasing down that other pesky widdle wabbit, don't ya think!) So, after I finish one of 'em off with my trusty .22, I figure it will soon enough wind up looking like the one below and taste even better than he looks.

Easter Bunnies can be simply delicious if properly stewed (just one of thousands of recipes but not the recipe for the one pictured). Don't try this with chocolate bunnies because they tend to melt.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Bad Habit That Sure Has Made Life Interesting

Not the needle tearing a hole but, in one way or another, hurting myself throughout my life and screwing up my chances of living in peaceful, painless, ignorant bliss. How does the purported Chinese saying go: "May you lead an interesting life"! It is supposedly a curse and not the wish for good fortune that many may think it. Well life certainly has been interesting.

A friend of mine always used to say: "Ignorance is bliss" and I used to think how I would never be so lucky as to enjoy it. Now, I am actually happy I never lived that way and instead chose to live an interesting life. It sure has not been easy. Then again, I think, for the most part that it sure has been fun and promises to remain so for awhile. I would not change how I lived it except maybe not to have hurt any others, undeserving of pain, along the way.



All the best,
GB

Gun Pron - Semi-Auto In .38 Special

Saw a firearms forum comment, apparently questioning the validity of a claim by the media that a criminal had been armed with a semi-automatic pistol in .38 caliber. In fact, it seems a few people thought the report should have said a pistol in 380. While that is likely true, to doubt the existence of pistols chambered in .38 caliber (not .380) is a mistake.

While reading the forum posts, I already knew of at least a few such pistols, such as Colts in .38 Super, and .38 ACP but did a little research anyway and came up with quite a few semi-auto pistols that had been chambered in .38 caliber. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_ACP

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/38PM/38pm.html

Then there are those chambered in .38 Special, like the one pictured below. Pretty, ain't it!

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

Not Watching Fox News - You Don't Know What You're Missing

Enjoy this video, I know I sure did - it is great. I love the line about Bill Clinton and love even more to imagine it is most likely true.



See, I said it was great. I truly believe it has the potential to help turn some Demoncrats into Conservatives and maybe even some homosexuals into straight men. It's not gonna do a thing to change a lesbian or a heterosexual though, is it!

A hat tip and a half to Peter Q for sending me this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Albany Trip & Protest of the NY SAFE Act

There were we, Brendan and I, bit up at 0400, out of the house by 0440, and at the Long Island Firearms' bus pick-up location by 0510. The bus, and the 50 or so LIF members, had been scheduled to depart to Albany at 0500 but did not leave until at least 0520, maybe even 0530. The ride up was uneventful but this time someone had thought of bringing some DVDs and that made it go somewhat quicker, for some, I suppose. I did not pay much attention to the movies on the way up. I read most of the book I had with me: Worms Eat My Garbage. (I may now have to try composting indoors in a worm bin.)
 
When we got there, we parked right across from the square that sits between four government buildings, one of them being the state capital. We were parked next to the legislature building. We debarked the bus there although, as I already had been aware from the LIF forums, we were not supposed to do that. No one seemed to care all that much. Once off the bus, I asked the guy who had been assigned as 'bus monitor', or whatever, what we were going to do next. He said there was no plan! I asked what about what had be written up on the LIF forums about us going into the legislature building, in mass, to voice our protest and what about the 1100 pep rally that was supposed to be followed by the mass protest in the square at noon. He said there was no pep rally scheduled fr 1100 and knew noting about any inside mass protest but we could go inside if we wanted to do so. He also said there would be a protest rally at noon in the square/park. Hell, it was around 0945 or so maybe a bit earlier. It would be a bit o a wait until noon, especially in the light rain that was falling. The bus captain told us to be back at the same spot, where we got off of the bus, at 2PM to board and head home. This despite he event being planned to last until 3PM. Since we had been told that the events would go from 10AM until 1230PM, this was quite the change but we voted on it on the bus and most, if not all, agreed to stay later.
 
Then, some guy in a red baseball type cap comes along and starts telling everyone what was going to be the agenda for the day. He explained the bus could not stay where it was and was supposed to have dropped us off around the block at the bus staging area, the park in another area. H also said the bus would pick us up at that same staging area. (We were told there were 117 busloads of people slated to arrive for the protest, all pro-2nd Amendment folks, plus all those who drove in their own vehicles.) Then he told us that the beginning of our day should be to go into the legislature building and see our legislators if we had appointments. I tried, by sending an email to mine, three weeks ago, for n appointment.His office replied to my email on Thursday, day before the protest, very late in the afternoon, after 4PM. He told me to give them a call during business hours to arrange it. The thing was it was already too late in the day by the time I got to the email. Clever legislator, isn't he. He voted for the SAFE Act, frigging RINO.
 
The guy in the red cap said, even if we did not have an appointment, we could go inside and ask to see our legislators. I asked about the 'in mass' inside protest; he said none was planned. Then he said that there were about 1,000 folks waiting on line to clear the six magnetometers they had at the entrances and the lines were in essence frozen. Brendan and I looked at on line and though of waiting on it for all of a minute or two. It was not moving at all as we walked toward it, not moving while we waited on it a minute or two, and not moving as we walked away from it. Well, that is to say not moving forward, a couple of people on it got off of it complaining about the long wait. We took a walk, then got out of the rain in a local diner and got some hot coffee and hot tea.
 
After that, we took another shot walk, Brendan's tendinitis was acting up a bit so we did not go far. Then back to the park/square where we listened to the speakers in the pep rally that started a bit earlier than 1100; yes the pep rally we ha been told would not take place. I am going to guess that there were already about double the people hat had been at the previous rally, in Albany, in January that Brendan and I also attended. My guess is at least 4,000 folks by that time and more were arriving continuously for the next hour or more. I will go out on a limb and give a guesstimate that there wound up being about 6,000 to 7,000 people there - all pro-2nd Amendment protesters. There were zero Brady Campaign types, at least none that made themselves obvious that I saw. We were told to beware of them as they were supposedly coming to the event to cause a stir by getting in our faces and getting us to lose our tempers. More misinformation from the LIF forums but such are forums - open to any arsehat who wants to start rumors.
 
The protest was much the same as the first except for the quality of the speakers. There were a good number of speakers (people giving their slants on their opposition to the NY SAFE Act) but the audio equipment was worse than the first time around and it was extremely difficult o understand much of what many of them were saying. As for the ones I heard, the speakers giving their spiels, they were not as convincing (in my mind) as they had been back in January. They did not fire up the crowd and where as much as they had done so back then. This was not the fault of the crowd because when a speaker called for them to chant USA - USA - USA, I think it must have it reverberated throughout all of downtown Albany - it was loud. Same for a few other chants, but the speakers did not call for as much of that as the first time around. Oh well, they were saying what they had to say I suppose.
 
Much like the first protest in January, there was extremely little media coverage for this event. That is true even though the amount of news vans at this event was double that of the amount in January. In January, there was a single news van that was evident This event had 2 media vans. Could you imagine if the protest had been anti-gun folks; there likely would have been at least 10 media vans. As for reporters, I saw two of them, each with a cameraman. I also saw one other cameraman walking around videoing the event. We had a member of the press on our bus with us too. I saw no other media personnel at the event. I will admit, I saw a small article, fairly far back in the page count, of the New York Daily News today (that is a NYC Newspaper, very liberal - ultra liberal in my view).
 
At the protest, their were a lot of great signs. I will try to get the pics off of my cell phone, having some problems right now but ill post them if I can get that done. As for the people at the event: The protesters were mainly males but there was a large number of females there too. I would estimate about a 60/40 to 70/30 split. While my guess would be that most folks there were 35 or older, there was a good number of younger folks too. That was good to see. As for racial makeup, most of the protesters were Caucasian, followed by Asians, with a smattering of others. That is a shame because the 2nd Amendment protects the right and liberty to keep and bear arms for all of us regardless of race, creed, gender and so forth. Then there was the police presence. I am going to guess there were at least 40 uniformed NY State Troopers. There were also a fair number of Albany Police officers. In all, I figure, there had to be at least 60 uniformed officers at the main event. That was not including plain clothes officers who were certainly there, also at the main event, quite a few of them were obvious. As for uniformed police, there were about four times as many than at the protest in January. This time around the protest was held on a weekday when the legislators were in session and I am sure they demanded the extra protection. Protection from what or whom, I cannot imagine because the crowd was civil, well mannered, respectful and courteous. We are responsible gun owners and not skells. We are very unlike those at an Occupy Wall Street event.
 
At about 145 PM, I noticed that the crowd was thinning rapidly and I suggested to Brendan that we head over to wait for the bus. We moved across the street and watched the event from there while we waited for the bus. We also watched as hundreds and hundreds of people departed the area and then we realized that the crowd must have been huge because back in January, once the crowd had started to leave, the park/square was obviously not crowded in virtually no time. This time around, there was still a huge crowd remaining even though we watched people leaving, in droves, from just before 2PM until about 3PM. Close to 3PM, our bus driver called the bus captain telling him he was being prevented, by the police, from leaving the bus parking area but figured he would soon be able to pick us up where we were waiting. As we waited, a State Trooper approached the group, telling us we could not wait for our bus where we were waiting. he said we had to go around the block to the bus staging area. The bus captain, Terry, called the driver to let him know he had to meet us at the staging area. Things just kept changing, it was a tiny bit disoRgAnAzized! We went to the staging area and the bus met us there about five or ten minutes later. We boarded and were soon headed home.

As on the way up, we made one pit stop on the way home. That was a bit of a delay due to three LIF members taking unduly long inside the concession area. No one made the speech we received the first time around about getting into the rest area, getting what we wanted to eat and then getting on the bus with it, and to eat on the bus and not while at the rest area. That probably added at least an extra 15 minutes to the rest stop. On the way home, I finished my book and then watched the third movie of the trip  Full Metal jacket - great flick. When we finally got to the bus drop-off area on Long Island, no one had already collected a tip for the bus driver. Someone mentioned it to the bus captain but most people were already off of the bus. I threw the driver $10 for me and Brendan. He deserved it and I saw the bus captain hand him something too. I hope that it all did not come out of just his pocket.

Oh well, I have to hand it to the LIF, they got us there in one piece and got us all back home again likewise; a hat tip to the bus driver as well in that regard. I imagine it is no easy task organizing a bus trip like this and coordinating with all the other groups so as to have everything work out as planned. I have to admit, despite my mentioning some minor uncoordinated things, the LIF bus trip went very well and all seemed to have a good time while standing up for the rights of all Americans (as in country not continents). My thanks to Steve the LIF Administrator (he is The Architect on the LIF forums) and to Terry (our bus captain) and to all the other members who went on the trip to try to have the NY SAFE Act repealed and to protect our right and liberty to keep and bear arms without infringement. Everyone in the group was very nice during the ride there and back and all were respectful while at the protest. I also have to give a special thank you to the young red headed lady who was sitting across the aisle from me on the bus. The Oatmeal Raisin cookie she gave me was excellent and made the ride home all that much more enjoyable!

The only thing that could make this trip wind up being more enjoyable, after the fact, will be if the NY SAFE Act is repealed.

All the best,
Glenn B 

OFF TO ALBANY TO PROTEST THE NY SAFE ACT

Brendan and I will be getting up early tomorrow. It will be so early that if we both had any sense we would be in bed within the next half hour at most but I doubt either one of us can get to sleep that early since neither of us are early risers. If we want to get to the bus pick-up area on time, by 0500, we need to leave the house by 0430 and that means waking up by 0400. That sucks but it has to be done.

We will be traveling up to Albany, NY with a busload of Long Island Firearms members to protest the NY SAFE Act within the legislative building. As far as I am aware, the legislator will be at work and the governor is also in Albany. Last time we went up on a Saturday. It was dead up that way, but we had a crowd of about 2,000 to get things a bit fired up. This time, as opposed to our January trip to Albany, to protest the same bill, we will actually be there while the legislature is in session. We have two buses going this time around. One full of LIF members and many LIF members and others on the second bus. Of course, there will probably wind up being thousands of other folks there to protest just as we will be doing.

We will be confronting, first hand, some of the most leftist politicians within the United States of America, maybe only beaten to being any further left by those in California. Hopefully our voices, the voices of the NY State gun owning citizenry and those of some few right wing NY politicians, the New York Rifle and Pistol Association, hopefully the NRA and SAF, right leaning media types, gun and ammo manufacturers and the like, will be heard loud enough to make a difference. We plan to be polite but loud and clear in our message: We The People will not bow to infringements of the 2nd Amendment any longer; the stripping away of our rights and liberties piecemeal must end and end now and our rights and liberties must be restored.

I think it will be a great trip. We had a good time back in January because we spent the day with one another and because it was something as worthwhile as anything we have ever done together.

The only drawback, this time, is that the administrator of Long Island Firearms has decreed that no one is allowed to bring firearms or anything that could be construed as a weapon, onto the bus and he will be checking. Imagine that a pro gun rights guy preventing others from carrying! Anyway, the bottom line is that since we will be entering government buildings we should be unarmed. As far as I am aware, there is no law in NY State against such, and there is certainly nothing in my pistol license handbook about it, except concerning federal buildings (and that is in part incorrect), but I have been informed that building security, for NY State buildings, 

goes ape-shit if you try to enter with anything remotely hinting of weaponry. I would imagine, just as with almost any other government building I have entered while armed, they have lock boxes to secure arms if they do not allow them inside but I will go with the flow this time and leave all of my shooters at home along with my Victorinox Huntsman Swiss Army knife. Last time I had my Glock 26, my Ortgies pocket pistol, a Buck folder and the Victorinox knife. I had been thinking of carrying the Remington R1 1911 tomorrow but such will not be the case; instead I will be as if nekkid.

Hopefully whatever bag I take, to carry my lunch, will not have something like an empty shell casing inside of it. I have already checked and double checked and am pretty sure it is good to go. Shit, I have to check the laptop case since I am bringing my laptop. Who knows what is inside the many compartments of that black hole of Calcutta. 

If you can be there, I highly recommend it. If you cannot not be there physically, then be there in spirit. Think of us and pray for us in the hope of us getting our message across and causing the NY SAFE ACT to be repealed.

All the best,
Glenn B

Tasty Goodness - 500 Feeder Roaches Coming My Way

Yep, I have an order of 500 Blaptica dubia roaches  crawling being delivered to my house tomorrow. Mm-mmmm, tasty goodness. They grow up to about 2 inches long, are really meaty, are not too chitinous and have just the right amount of crunch. I cannot wait until they arrive because I am looking forward, ever so much, to getting a really nutritious meal into my belly 
Bearded Dragons and Crested Geckos.

My order will consist of all nymphs. No, not nymphos but young roaches, each ranging in size from 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. Within  about another two to four months, they should be adult sized. By that time, I figure to be rid of most of them and be left with just enough adults to make up my second breeding colony. Yes that does mean I already have  breeding colony going but I want to augment that one with some fresh meat.

The lizards love them but I was wondering how they would go down, with a beer, after frying them in a pan with bacon.

All the best,
Glenn  B

This Email Is A Pisser

Content of an email I received from a friend today:

"My wife hounded me for months & months to fix our damaged gutter downspout, but when I finally fixed it... she was hopping mad!

I guess I'll never ever understand women."

Thanks to Don S. for sending me that one. I have got to say, the guy who created that has a great imagination and is either single or must have a very loving wife if he is still alive.

All the best,
GB

Students Told To Call 911 Hijackers Freedom Fighters...

...instead of calling them terrorists and to call the Holocaust ethnic cleansing instead of genocide. This reportedly happened in Lumberton High School down in Texas. (source).

To call the killing of the Jews - let alone the killing of the Gypsies, Poles, Russians, dissidents, mentally deficient Germans, criminals, nuns, priests, and all the others - ethnic cleansing is far, far, far beyond the scope of stretching the truth to its furthest limits. Then for the superintendent of the school district to have said, the teacher, who so instructed the students, did nothing wrong was following state guidelines and followed that up by saying:

 

"“What is more dangerous – fear and ignorance or education and understanding,” he asked. “From our standpoint, we are here to educate the kids.”" (source).

He thereby implied that the lesson is the truth and that anyone calling the Holocaust genocide, or calling the 911 hijackers terrorists, are liars. How could that school system ever even imagine using a term that makes the murders of 6 million Jews seem as if it were a wholesome thing, as is implied by the word cleansing! It is to me beyond the scope of truth, decency and sanity. Are not those the same words used by that murderous bastard Hitler about what he was doing by way of killing off approximately 12 to 13 million in the gas chambers and camps! Now the schools are borrowing and using the words of one of the worst demented criminals, of all time, when they teach about such things. Educators shamelessly twisting fact into some morbid fantasy is, even some of them evidently proud of having done so, is in my opinion, heinous and terribly disgraceful. Emulating the speech that Hitler used  for himself to help justify the Holocaust is inexcusable. I do not think the school system in question should 
continue to do so and I beleive that people like the supoerintendent or they who tought up this curriculum deserve to continue their employment. They may well deserve what they may well wind up getting; I would hope that would be getting fired and losing their teaching credentials.

 

Of course, years ago, there might have been another alternative offered by the local community whose children were taught such crap. When men were real men, before having been pussified by money hungry lawsuit generating lawyers and ultra-liberal politicians, a few fathers, or even older brothers, of the school kids quite possibly would have beaten the hell out of that teacher and his boss. If so, then not surprisingly, the case likely would never have been solved by the police. Not that it is right mind you but I can almost envision it happening even today if crap like that keeps getting pushed at that school. I would hope not but such things d tend to raise the furies.

To be fair, I must point out that some students reportedly have said that the teacher seemed extremely uncomfortable teahing that but she apaprently felt compelled y the educational system to do so. How the teacher felt though does not excuse the lesson plan nor the statements of the superintendent. I think it would have been much better had the teacher refused to give the lesson in the first place. But such is America, the land of spinless whimps and uber-leftists.

All the best,
Glenn B        

How Long Will It Be Until Obama Violates The 3rd Amendment?

The Obama Administration, with apparent glee on the part of President Obama, has, in  my opinion violated the 1st Amendment, the 2nd Amendment, the 4th Amendment, the 5th Amendment, the 9th Amendment, the 10th Amendment and the 14th Amendment to the Bill of Rights (which if you do not know is part of the Constitution, the Constitution being the basis of all of the federal government's powers, authorities and laws and many of our state laws). He and his administration probably also have violated several other constitutional amendments and original articles of the Constitution as well. Don't get me wrong here, George W. Bush was guilty of doing likewise regarding violating many of our rights and disregarding the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It is not necessarily a party line concern, it is an overall corruption of the government in its broad disregard for our rights and liberties. I must say though, Obama has brought this travesty of justice to a new high.

It all makes me wonder, when the Obamessiah will violate the 3rd Amendment. I see it as almost being inevitable during his tenure as president. What with the drones patrolling our skies and spying on U.S. Citizens, the president authorizing seizures of just about anything without just cause, the authorization by the president for our military and law enforcement to kill, without probable or even reasonable cause, American citizens who are deemed terrorists - I imagine it is only a matter of time before he demands that both federal law enforcement and military personal be lodged within the private homes of citizens. (I think, LE should be covered by the 3rd Amendment since Obama in essence vowed to create a force as strong as our military within our borders.) Of course, my guess would be that it will all be for our own protection, at least as he most likely would put it, when the government tries to establish itself as almighty and overtake the people by brute force, keeping the citizenry subdued by housing troops and LE within our homes.

All the best,
Glenn B