Another Few Dealers Added to My Link List

My ever expanding list of gun dealers, firearms parts and accessories suppliers, ammo dealers and firearms auction sites has grown by two three. The list contains only dealers from whom I have made purchases or online services that I have used such as online firearms auction houses. The two dealers I have added are:

Buffer Technologies

Palmetto State Armory

I ordered ten 10 round magazines, for my Beretta 92 series pistols.  They had them at a great price of $15.00 each. They are Italian made, Beretta factory manufactured magazines from what I can tell, and from what it said in the ad and on the invoice (in other words the genuine article). My guess is these were police or military surplus (although I do not know why any military would order 10 round mags) that were in storage for awhile. They had a dull finish on the outside possibly made that way or possibly caused by slight amount of surface rust, only seen when I cleaned them with white cloths wetted with Gunzilla.  It is possible they were refinished on the outside surface but I do not think so. The insides and the springs look brand new, just the outside had either a dull finish or the finish that was dulled by the slight amount of rust. These were a great buy since Beretta recently offered the same magazines at about $44 apiece but had none available when I looked to them to order some. I am happy they were out of stock at Beretta and in stock at Buffer Technologies. They shipped fast and shipped to NY even though many companies refused to ship 10 round mags to NY, after passage of the NY SAFE Act, even though it was legal to do so. A hat tip to Buffer technologies. By the way, those mags sold out overnight but I am happy to say I posted the info about them on the forums at Long island Firearms and at least a few folks said they picked some up.

As for my order with Palmetto State Armory, I ordered 500 rounds of American Eagle, 115 grain, FMJ, 9mm ammo from them last week. It arrived yesterday, was waiting on my doorstep when I arrived home. I would liked to have seen them ship faster than having to wait 6-7 days just for the item to be shipped and then a couple more to receive it but I can understand the delay with the ammo buying frenzy that has been taking place because: 1. Obama was reelected, 2. Obama is extremely anti-gun as opposed to anything he said otherwise and he always claimed to be gun friendly, 3. Gun control laws being passed by emotional twits in state governments to oppress our liberties and destroy our rights instead of executing dangerous violent criminals and lock away the mentally ill, 4. The government buying huge quantities of ammunition to supply Obama's civilian force to make it as strong as the military (a campaign promise or post-campaign promise in his first term). But I digress. Palmetto State Armory shipped my order of ammunition reasonably well packaged, sent what I actually ordered and had a pretty good price for the ammo at the current time It went for $17.99 per box of 50. Note, I did not say a great price nor a price from before the ammo buying frenzy, I said a pretty good price and since the next closest offer I saw for the same ammo was double that price, yep that was pretty good. Hopefully that is a sign that ammo prices will soon fall.

I should note that it took at least 3 order attempts and a total of about 40 minutes for my to be able to place an order with them. My guess is that even DHS was trying to order from them at that price.

I would gladly do business again with either of these companies.

By the way, I found that lower ammo price by checking with:

GUNBOT.net

I guess I am really adding three sites to my link list. GUNBOT offers an invaluable service to the ammunition consumer by listing, in virtual real time, ammunition as it becomes available and the prices at which it is selling.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Basics of Trigger Finger Placement - Helping Oldtime and New Shooter Alike

It is never too soon to learn or too late to relearn one of the basics of pistol shooting, specifically Trigger Finger Placement, but it could turn out too late to learn if you wind up needing to depend on your pistol for self-defense or defense of others and have not learned it already. Note there I a subtle difference between it never being too late to relearn and too late to learn when it appears in words but it would likely be the difference between life and death in the real world. If you don't understand what I mean, you are hopeless, don't read further.

Ok, so you decided to read on; I imagine that means you understood what I meant and are still alive and capable of learning or relearning before it is too late.  (If you are pretty much an idiot, thus virtually incapable of learning, but just curious, it means you are still alive and there is, at least, an outside chance for you yet.)

I have been an avid pistol shooter since I was in my mid-twenties. That means I have been shooting pistols, with regularity, for 33.5 years now - almost to the day. In that time I have been a terrible shot, a passable shot, a mediocre shot, a good shot, an expert shot and intermittently a distinguished expert (intermittent with expert), then again a fair to good shot, back to an expert and distinguished expert all over again. I pretty much made progress in that order, then declined, then once again made progress just as outlined in the previous sentence. Of course, there were some times in there, when I was not consistently, a distinguished expert or an expert but once I had achieved the ability to qualify as an expert shooter, I rarely fell below that mark except during the odd qualification course when I was off my mark. I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor, for about 14 years, when I was employed as a federal agent; and I am currently a certified NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for pistol and shotgun. You can rest assured, I know the basics of pistol shooting.  Mind you, I am not bragging, just giving you my background because it is pertinent to what I said about it never being too late to relearn pistol shooting basics regarding trigger finger placement.

Back in June 2011, I attended an NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor School for pistol and shotgun. I did very well but I was shooting groups somewhat to the left. It wasn’t much, certainly not enough to concern me when shooting even out to 15 yards but at 25 yards I was not doing as good as I should have been doing. Even the course instructors did not seem concerned by it.  Then one of the instructors mentioned something to us, about how to teach other shooters, the proper way to place your finger on the trigger. The light bulb lit up and I tried it just the way they had shown it. My shots were back on center target in virtually no time so long as I did it just the way they told us to do it. It was almost like I had learned it for the first time but I knew better. It was more a case of me getting lazy, forming bad habits, and not thinking I (already a good shot and an instructor) could have forgotten one of the basics. The truth is though, I had probably had my bad habit for a few years because I consistently had been shooting like that with my Glock pistols, be it my issued Model 19, my issued model 26 or my personally owned model 26. Another firearms instructor, on my job, adjusted the sights never thinking to check my trigger finger position; he was guilty, as was I, of thinking I would not be making a novice’s mistake. Then when I was issued a SIG 229 DAH, I also sometimes shot like that. Same was true  with my Beretta 92FS pistols but I shot them nowhere nearly as much as the Glocks or SIG once each respectively became the issued pistols at my agency and never noticed it that much when shooting the Berettas. In addition, Glocks and SIG were all double action only pistols; the Berettas are double action on the first shot, then single action for subsequent shots and what I was doing wrong effected my shooting less when firing a single action pistol because of the shortened trigger travel and the smaller amount of strength to pull the trigger in single action mode.

Getting back to the NRA class, I had been using my Glock for most of the class. I had to change to one of my Berettas, luckily I had to foresight to bring along a back-up pistol, because the front night sight on my Glock dimmed and it became almost impossible to sight it in in low light situations. I continued to use the Glock during daylight shooting though and had planned on sending it off to Glock in July of that summer. As I said, during the course the instructors covered the basics of how to place the trigger finger on the trigger as well as all the other basics of pistol shooting. Why – because they wanted to make sure that all of the seasoned shooters taking the course, some previously qualified as instructors like me, had not forgotten and would not forget any of the basics when instructing new students. I was happy for it because I realized why I was shooting to the left just a bit. Shortly after that though, I pretty much stopped shooting for the greater part of a year. I was diagnosed with a bad case of throat cancer in the mid-summer of 2011 and went through treatments from the late summer through most of the fall. I forgot all about shooting except to make it to the range at work, for quarterly qualification in October 2011 before the treatments had really gotten to me badly as they most certainly were about to do. With all that going on, I pretty much forgot about the sights on the Glock needing replacement.

Sooner, well actually later, I sent in the Glock to get new sights, I think that was in April or May 2012. I opted for what I thought would be standard iron (steel) sights. That June, I was dismayed to receive the pistol back with plastic (actually polymer) sights and having Glock tell me those were now their standard sights. Again, after some procrastination, I sent the pistol back to Glock, in December 2012 (yes 6 moths of procrastination) that time specifically saying I wanted Glock manufactured Iron (steel) sights. I got it back fairly quickly with the iron sights on it. Now, it may seem like I took a really long time to address the problem with the sights but truth be told, I was not shooting at the time and did not give a rat’s arse. I had not shot at all between October 2011 and March 2012 when I finally was feeling well enough, after beating the cancer, to go to the range. That got me thinking about the Glock all over again and shortly after that I sent it in for repairs. Yeah, there was a long time in between the polymer sights on the first repair and the iron sights on the second repair – mostly because I was not shooting a lot because I was still not feeling all that great. The most shooting I did between October 2011 and December 2012 was at the 5^th Annual NE Bloggershoot at a supersekrit location in NH. Otherwise, range trips were few and far between. It was not until this spring that I really started shooting again in earnest, about a year and three quarters after first finding out was ill.

I guess I shot the Glock twice this spring, since I had received it with the iron sights on it. As before, I was shooting to the left. I thought it was he sights and that they needed adjusting. After all, I was not shooting like that with my Beretta 92FS pistols or my Beretta 92SB. How soon I had forgotten the lesson I learned in June 2011 at the NRA training. I blame it all on what the docs and nurses called chemo-brain. Between the chemo and the radiation my brain was probably partially roasted and memory failed me a bit more than it had before that. It’s not like I am walking around with a buddy named Al Z. Heimer, in fact it has improved since the months after the treatments but I did forget or just not think about some things after going through all that. One of those things was trigger finger placement.

Then, just two weekends ago, I started to take the NY State Armed Guard Training Course in order to get an armed guard license. The course is 47 hours long and takes place over a period of six days, in this case all the days being spread out over three weekends. On day one, I shot to the left, pretty miserably when taking aimed shots using the sights. I was not happy; my groups were 2-4” to the left at 7 yards, 4-6” to the left at 15 yards and 4-“ to the left at 25 yards, most of them being 6-8 inches to the left. Since I was about the second best shot there, the instructors focused on the weaker shooters and only one mentioned the possibility I was jerking the trigger. I mentioned my poor performance to another shooter and chalked it up to the sights needing adjustment as had been done with on previous Glocks I had fired, and on this one when it had the night sights. I said I would ask an instructor if they had a Glock sight adjustment tool the next day. The other student said: ‘don’t  bother, I will bring mine in for you’. He did just that on Sunday but, as luck would have it, I never got a chance to use it and that was lucky for me. As it turned out my shots kept grouping to the left even though I knew I was not jerking the trigger and thought I had been doing everything correctly. I figured I would use the sight tool the next weekend.

The Friday night of the following weekend, weekend two for the class, I happened to watch this video (it is long but was well worth the watch for me and it was quire amusing – note: never try the shooting and target holding stunts depicted in said video as they are extremely dangerous): RARE - LASD Pistol Team Exhibition, Historic, 1936, Color enhanced.



If you don’t watch any more of it, watch the section beginning at 5 minutes 52 seconds into the video and for a few seconds after that. You will see what I was doing and what I should have been doing. In the video, the instructor walks up to the shooter and corrects his trigger finger placement. (Of course, if you watch carefully, you will see the shooter push his finger back to almost the original position and you can bet if he shot like that his shooting would have suffered for it but remember they were mugging it for the cameras.)

Well, I was doing pretty much what that shooter had been doing. I had as much of my finger shoved through the trigger guard, as I get through it, with part of the middle section of my trigger finger resting on the trigger itself and thus the rear section of my trigger finger resting on the right side of the fame and partially on the right grip. That is begging for your shots to go to the left if you are a right handed shooter, or to the right if you are a left handed shooter. All I had to do to correct was to simply place the center of the pad of my trigger finger on the center of the trigger and do everything else the same as I had been doing. Doing so immediately corrected my shooting because it moved the rest of my finger off of the frame and the grip panel. Now, instead of me squeezing (pulling/pressing) the trigger back and at the same time pushing to the left with the second knuckle and rear part of my trigger finger (which is what happens when you hold with too much finger on the trigger), I was pulling the trigger straight back and the rest of my finger formed an arch that was not touching the gun.

My shots were no longer off to the left, I was hitting center of mass. Although still not shooting as good as I used to shoot, my group was wider than I would have liked it to have been, I have to say that the change was quite remarkable. All in simply adjusting my trigger finger on the trigger and then keeping it that way. The next day, I placed my finger on the trigger in the same manner. When we shot two qualification courses, I got 100% on each. I think one other shooter out of 14 of us equaled that but my group sizes were better than his. Sure that made me feel good but the important thing was not how I felt but that I had relearned one of the fundamental lessons of pistol shooting that I had forgotten somewhere along the way. It also reminded me that, in most cases it is not the gun that causes anyone to shoot poorly - it is much more likely due to what we used to call piss poor shooting skills or what today one might call, in a much more politically correct world, user error.

Now, granted, I could have explained the poor shooting technique to you and then told you how to properly apply your finger to the trigger in all of one or two short paragraph(s) but I like telling the whole story. I figured in this case it would show how applicable getting it applied correctly is to the new shooter as well as to the seasoned professional shooter and that the basics are something you always need to practice if you want to keep shooting on the mark. I hope that the longer version has made it sink in just a little better than would have the shorter one. If I have bored you, and you ever need to come back to read this again, then just read the last couple of paragraphs above; they should work for you, they contain the basic premise of proper trigger finger placement.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Dark Continent Eludes Me

Since I began tracking visits to my blog, I have always hoped to find that, at sometime in any given 24 hour period, I would have had visitors to my blog from the 6 continents (yes I realize there are 7 continents but I am talking ones with countries located therein and thereby excluding Antarctica). While it may have happened already, it has not done so to my knowledge. I have come close several times, for instance today, when I looked, I saw that I had visits from 5 continents but that as usual, the Dark Continent eludes me.

Oh well, today is still just another day in Paradise.

All the best,
Glenn B

Poisoned OJ at Starbucks - Motive a Total Mystery???

Police are in essence reporting that they have no clue as to the motive of a California pharmacist, Ramineh Behbehanian, who allegedly placed two bottles of poisoned orange juice onto the shelves at a San Jose Starbucks. The juice was reportedly tainted with enough rubbing alcohol to kill someone had they taken a drink of it. I would suggest to the police that they look closely at the subject's name and that it may give them a clue as to her motive(s). Granted you cannot judge a person by their name, but her name could point law enforcement in the right direction to look for a motive even if she stays mum and lawyers- up. Once pointed in that direction, authorities could then seek other clues and evidence and if they found such could use it in her prosecution; if they don't find anything they could look elsewhere. To ignore her likely ethnicity, would definitely be ignoring a source of her possible motive(s).

If the above was not hint enough, let me just say that the name Ramineh is a common name among Iranians and among other Muslims. Now, she may or may not be Muslim and her motives may or may not be related to Islam, but her name is certainly a clue (no matter how small) as to her possible motive(s) and the clue should be fully investigated in light of the fact of another recent religiously motivated act of terrorism.

Of course though, I understand the police not wanting to give any hint they think that her motive may have been religiously motivated because authorities have to be ever so sensitive to avoid possibly insulting the Islamic community as opposed to how they would treat, another community and maybe it is too early to determine what was her motive. Yet, whether she is Islamic or not, kissing the asses of Islamic terrorists, until they finally destroy America, is not the smart way to go, so I pray they are at least investigating that possibility. Doing a thorough investigation based on all the facts would be smart. I am not hopeful that will happen - remember it took place in California.

Sources:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/30/california-woman-accused-sneaking-juice-mixed-with-rubbing-alcohol-into/

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/17997139-pharmacist-accused-of-planting-poisoned-orange-juice-at-starbucks?lite=

All the best,
Glenn B

Weren't German Doctors Trusted Good Little Nazis

It seems not to have changed since the 30's and 40's right up through today. Here is a fine example of doctors, albeit American ones, playing the part of good little government snitches and enforcers so that the government can come in and rip apart people's families:

http://www.news10.net/news/article/242734/2/Couple-fights-to-get-baby-back-from-CPS-police

I never realized that the words "Heil Hitler" were in the Hypocritical Hippocratic Oath but they must be in there someplace with doctors behaving like that!

All the best,
Glenn B

Aguila .45 ACP, 230 Grain, FMJ Ammo - Decent Price Alert

AIM currently has, as I type, Aguila .45 ACP, 230 grain, FMJ ammo, in stock, for sale at $21.95 per box. That is the best price I have seen in way too long.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AG45FMJ230&name=Aguila+.45+Auto+230grn+FMJ+50rd+box&groupid=32

All the best,
GB

Another Fine Day At The Range

I spent this morning and a bit of this afternoon at the local indoor range. As it was yesterday, I was attending the armed security guard training course. We shot revolver today as well as shooting two qualification courses with semi-automatic pistols. I did very well; I scored 100% of the revolver course and 100% on each of the two semi-auto courses. Mind you that was not difficult, at least for me. We shot at a standard silhouette target and anything inside of the 7 ring was considered a hit and worth 2 points. Only shots outside the 7 ring were points off and scored 0 points. That made it a big area in which to place all of my shots.

 

Normally, if that same target is used for a law enforcement qualifications, anything in the X, 10, 9 and 8 rings would be scored 5 points, any shots in the7 ring as 4 points and anything in the black but outside of the 7 ring would count as three points. (Note that head shots, during the phases of fire requiring head shots, are counted as 5 points). Using that scoring method, I also would have shot a perfect score but this time it would have been scored as 250/250. That would have qualified me as distinguished expert in my former agency. By the way, that scoring method is noted on the particular targets we used, see the upper left hand corner of the target in the accompanying photo. If scored as per the scoring rings on the target, I would have shot 482 out of 500 since we shot 50 rounds and the top scoring rings, the X and 10 ring, were both scored as 10 points. Breaking it down, I had 5 shots in the 8 ring, 8 in the 9 ring and the remainder within the 10 and X rings except for the 4 head shots that also counted as full score of 10 points each. Not too shabby for an old guy.

For this course though, they counted everything inside the 7 ring as a hit and anything outside as a miss; each shot within the 7 ring counting as 2 points with a possible high score of 100 for 50 shots. As I mentioned above, it was pretty easy to accomplish a perfect score. Yet, only one other shooter out of a total of 14 of us scored 100%. The targets used were the B27F like the one pictured in this post. I did not get a chance to take a photo of my actual targets today as the instructors kept hold of them so they could later record the scores.

I have got to point out that qualifying, if not getting all shots within the 7 ring, should have been fairly easy even for a mediocre shooter, who has received decent firearms training in the past. That is my opinion based on an awful lot of shooting experience and 14 years as a firearms instructor. Still though, not everyone qualified on the first attempt. The low scores on the first qualification attempt were two scores of 58, shot by two shooters and I think about 2 or 3 others did not qualify on that attempt. The low scores on the second qualification were two or three 70% scores; 70% was the lowest passing score - so everyone qualified that time around. Judging by the gun handling techniques and shooting skill levels of some of the shooters, it seems apparent to me that some of them have not handled a handgun in years, that is if they ever actually had handled one before they started this class. They have been learning the basics in this course though and have improved substantially since last week. My guess is that everyone will qualify even if a couple only just barely, next week, during the actual qualification course that counts toward obtaining the armed guard license.

Yesterday, the lead instructor told me he would not want to be the guy at whom I was shooting. It is nice to know that I still have it in me to shoot a very good score. The cancer and cancer treatments knocked the rat piss out of me back in late 2011 and I was still feeling the effects, pretty badly, throughout early to mid 2012; I was not sure I would ever shoot as good again as I used to shoot in the pre-cancer days. I guess I started shooting again in the spring or summer of 2012. While I still maintained proficiency with handguns and long arms, I certainly was not shooting anywhere nearly as good, as I used to pre-cancer. So, now that I am back at the point where I am at least doing very well on qualification courses of fire, I am feeling pretty good about it. The realization that I have not lost my shooting skills made today just another Saturday in Paradise, as are each and every one of my post-retirement and post-cancer days, no matter what day of the week you think it is!

All the best,
Glenn B

Just Got Back From The Range,...

... not too long ago, where I shot three courses of fire for the armed guard training that I am currently taking in the hope of getting an armed guard license. I must admit, I am fairly pleased with my shooting even though it was not the best, by far, that I have ever shot. We shot 60 rounds of slowfire at a standard silhouette and then 50 rounds in a qualification type course on a printed bowling pin type target (for some reason, mine was the only target with circles drawn on it, I am guessing the larger one was about 6 to 8 inches in diameter). I am pleased because last week was only the second time, as I recall, that I shot my Glock 26 since getting it back from Glock, months ago, with newly installed sights and while I did not shoot as good last week, I have improved markedly in one week. I had been shooting several inches to the left at as close as 10 and 15 yards. I thought that was caused by the sights because previously, on both my current Glock 26 and on a previously issued Glock 19, I had to have the rear sights adjusted slightly to the right. Today, I went back to the basics to determine if I may have been doing something wrong with the Glock 26 and its new sights. I adjusted how my finger rested on the trigger and made sure to arch the trigger finger a bit so it was not riding on the frame. That was all it took and my shots were in there at center from left to right.



Sorry for the lousy picture, it was taken with my lousy cell phone.

 

I had 7 fliers out of 50 rounds. Well 6 of those rounds were not aimed shot fliers as they were shot from the hip as soon as the pistol cleared the holster and there was no aiming, not even point shooting per se. The first 3 were to the left and the next in center from left to right but low. I certainly can improve on those 6 shots, and will try to do so, but for now they were more that good enough and were not indicative of a problem with me aiming in the pistol. The 7th shot was a flier at 10 or 15 yards during one handed shooting, that one went high to the left. Otherwise, my point shooting shots and aimed shots all were in a decent to fairly good group. We shot from 10 feet out to 25 yards. The accompanying pic will show you what my target looked like once the shooting was done.

The highest possible sore was 100%. You either were I the hit zone or were out of it on this particular target and all of my shots were inside. Funny thing though was that I scored a 96 out of 100%. I could not figure it at first but then saw that the instructor was marking two points off for each of two holes that were on all the targets. While they looked just like bullet holes they were not, they were the holes through which the target hanger held them. I asked if he was taking points off for those holes and he said 'sure'. I pointed out that those were there to insert the target hangars and he said something to the effect of 'whoops' and rescored he few he had finishes scoring already. We both got a laugh out of that.

That was it for the day, back to the range tomorrow for more classroom training and more shooting. We are slated to do some slowfire revolver shooting and then some combat shooting with the semi-autos. I have got to say that I am enjoying the course immensely, not only because I am shooting fairly well but simply because I enjoy shooting and I also enjoy receiving firearms training from competent instructors. Besides being competent, they have all been nice gentlemen and seem like all around decent guys. I know, when I am paying them, they should be that way but the truth is that all too often, in recent years, you get less than you pay for in such training situations. You can wind up with a veritable  arsehat know it all, who knows little to nothing, trying to tell you how to do something and screaming at you for not doing it his way. Not so with these guys, they are pretty old school when it comes to taking care of their customers and showing us respect and they seem to know the subject matter well. In addition there have been some little extras they have given us. As they did last week, they supplied coffee and bagels for breakfast and then supplied a nice 6 foot hero for lunch. I think it does not get much better than that.

They are Safety Quest LTD; I think all the instructors are Suffolk County PD officers or retired from that department. I guess I should give them a free plug, their website is at:

http://www.safetyquestltd.com/.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Lost Blogger...

...in this instance would be me. I just have not thought a whole lot about the blog this week, been busy with work ad getting warranty stuff on my failed appliances straightened out and whatever. Sorry about that. I will post something, other than this post, later today or tonight.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sooner or Later They Will Get It Right

Click it to big it, if you really want to read more of their bullshit.

Is The Ammo Buying Frenzy Causing Sites to Crash

About a half hour ago, as I write, I checked http://gunbot.net to see if I could find any 9mm ammo at an almost reasonable price. Palmetto State Armory was shown at having Federal 115 grain FMJ 9mm ammo at .36 cents per round. The next higher price for similar ammo was shown at .72 cents per round. I jumped on it and ordered 500 rounds - or I guess I should say I tried to order 500 rounds. I submitted my order, or at least clicked the icon to do so, two times and each time, after several minutes of waiting, I got a message saying my order did not go through. I am on try number 3 right now, it has been "Submitting order information..." for well over 20 minutes now. My guess is that folks must be sitting around, watching their computer screens, to see when gunbot updates with available ammo at lower prices than otherwise offered and then pouncing on it in a frenzy of orders and that is either crashing the retailers' sites or slowing them down so much that many orders must not be getting through to them. It is not my Internet connection, every other site I go to comes up almost instantly. So, my guess is, it has to be he Palmetto Armory site and that it is being overloaded with orders.

Is anyone else having a similar problem? 

Al the best,

Glenn B

Edited to add: I just got an email, thanking me for my order, after over 30 minutes of waiting. The thing is though that I still have a window saying: "Submitting order information...". I hope that does not mean that one of my earlier orders got through even though the earlier order screens both indicated that those orders failed to go through.

The Home Appliance Blues

A few weeks ago, the fridge went kaput; over $400 to fix it and the expected remedy by American Express who told me they would cover the cost has not come through.

Then two weeks ago the vacuum cleaner died, or at least the power head for it went belly up. Not fixed yet because the number of the repair shop, that Walmart gave me (I have a Walmart extended warranty on it) was someones home number or so it sounded. When I finally called Walmart to get the right number, today, they told me they too had tried to set up an appointment for me and could not get through to that number either them. So instead of sending me to another repair shop, what did they do? They told me a check is in the mail (one of the three great lies along with "I love you" and "I won't ---- in your mouth"). They claim to have sent me a check for $249 and change (I hope they did not say for $2.49 because it seems strange they would send me about $20 more than I paid for the vacuum cleaner but they could be considering inflation - on Mars). Yeah, that is sort of good news but not all that good. I will have to spend that plus another $200 to $600 bucks on a vacuum cleaner that works and that certainly will not be another Hoover. I was told Mielo has a good rep and good machines but they cost a large bundle of green. Thus, I am still considering others, hopefully less expensive others.

Then today, the washing machine repairman was here second time within a week. He told me that it is shot (or did he say it should be shot). I have no idea how much I will be compensated for that under the extended warranty but it looks to be that I will receive 62 to 72% of the cost of a new one, more if it is another GE model. My bet is that, since we had this machine for 5 years or so and it needed at least 4 repairs in that time, that we will go back to Whirlpool or try a Maytag. More money has to be spent on that.

So, if I am getting at least partially reimbursed on each of these why am I singing the blues. Well, I will have to spend money, out of pocket on each of them no matter what (unless Amex pays for everything if they pay anything at all for the fridge repair). That means less money for me and I need ammo. Now, tell me please,  how the heck is a guy supposed to be able to afford ammunition at the current prices with all these appliance repairs and replacements to be done!!!!!!!!

Man, they sure make everything like shit in recent years.

All the best,
Glenn B

Shopping For Ammo - Take A Look At GunBot.net

I just checked CheaperThanDirt.com, out of curiosity, to check on 9mm ammo availability since it is very difficult to find elsewhere. I say out of curiosity because I refuse to make purchases from them; I stopped being a customer of theirs months ago and you will soon see why. They have a decent variety of 9mm parabellum available. What they have runs from average quality ammo to cheap (note, I did not say inexpensive) Russian steel cased ammo but all what I think are exorbitant prices.

For example: They are offering a 100 (one hundred) round box of 9mm TulAmmo (a Russian brand of cheap, or should be cheap, steel cased ammo) for $139.59 plus shipping, see:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4710.

Ammo of that quality probably was going for about $10 to $12 per box, of 50 rounds, 6 months or so ago (at other sites). As if the current selling price at CTD is not bad enough, consider this: They are offering the same ammo in a 50 round box for $59.59 which is less than half the cost of the 100 round box, see: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-4700.

Amazingly, it is $20.49 cheaper to buy two boxes of 50 rounds each instead of one box of 100 rounds. Usually, you would pay the same per round, for a purchase of 50 or 100 rounds of ammunition or maybe a bit less for the higher quantity of ammo. Paying more per round for a larger order was and is virtually unheard of except, so it seems, at CheaperThanDirt. I don't know who figures out their pricing but I would love to meet the responsible party and tell that person what I think of their prices as well as of their policy of listing their prices as: "Our Low Price". The price for the ammo in question is ridiculous, especially when you can get better ammo at a less expensive price elsewhere but I guess some moron will CheaperThanDirt what they are asking for it.

If you do need ammunition and cannot find it, you may want to try visiting http://gunbot.net where, as I write, you can get what I think is a much better brand of brass cased Aguila 9mm ammo at .72 cents per round instead of the $1.3959 asked by CheaperThanDirt for the TulAmmo. No, .72 cents per round is not inexpensive but it is about the going price for brass cased, FMJ, 9mm ammo nowadays and it is one heck of better price as compared to the other prices, for steel cased ammo, that I just mentioned.

GunBot.net lists ammunition in several calibers, with prices, from different merchants, with links to the merchants. You can sort the lists by caliber, then by price or most recently posted, and by what is currently in stock. The calibers which they list are:

[.223/5.56| 7.62x39 | 22lr | 9mm | .308/7.62x51 | .45 ACP | .300 AAC & Whisper | .40 S&W | 5.45x39 | .380 Auto | 5.7x28 | 10mm | 30-06 | 6.8 SPC | .357 Magnum | .38 Special | 357 Sig | 22 WMR | 17 HMR | 9x18 Mak | 44 Mag | 32 Auto | 7.62x54R | 30-30 | 30 Carbine | 25 Auto | 44 Special | 45 LC ].

This is how they describe their site: "Near realtime tracking of who has ammo in stock." As I was writing this, going back and forth to their site to copy the links and such, the list I had on screen, for .223/5.56 ammo (which is the screen the site opens with) was updated at least twice.

All the best,
Glenn B

Armed Security Guard Training

Yesterday, although a really nice Saturday but I started my day after about only three hours sleep by going to the first day, of 6 days, of armed guard training. It was held at a local indoor range facility and was  supposed to run from 0800 until 1700. You can most certainly rest assured that we were not let out early at 1PM (nod, nod, wink, wink, nuff said). The time spent in the classroom covered firearms safety and some shooting basics. There were donuts and coffee for the students, supplied by the head instructor (three instructors in all, all nice guys). Later there was pizza for lunch, also courtesy of the boss. There was also some, bullseye shooting, slowfire at 7 and 15 yards, we fired 30 rounds at each range. Then we were outta there and I headed to Costco for a miserable hour or so of weekly shopping.

Today, I was back at the classroom with the other 11 students. They decided to cover the very basics of shooting today because some of the guys in the class ;lacked the basic skill sets to get by. I think about half the class is made up of retired LEOs but you could have fooled me as I would say that about 75% do not shoot worth a plugged nickel (and they surely could not plug it). Mind you, I am not bragging about my shooting, as far as I am concerned I sucked compared to how I shot before cancer. That took a lot out of me and I id not practice much after that and have not practiced much for about a year and a half now. First, because I said due to the cancer and treatments and recovery, later on up through now because of the price of ammo. This class is costing me $700 plus 600 rounds of 9mm ammo (that I had on hand but will have to replace at today's ridiculously high prices). So, my shooting abilities have really slacked off. I will qualify, probably with the 2nd to third highest score in the class but I am nowhere near my best of 2 or 3 years ago.

Besides not shooting enough, I have not worked out at all in the last year and a half or so since the cancer and treatments.  I had some shoulder and neck pain today while shooting and my arms were shaking and I know all that need be done to correct that is some sweat producing exercise, maybe a couple to a few times a week. I am long overdue for that and will be looking to join a local gym this week. Not only will it help my shooting, it is going to help my health in general. I sure will miss the free gym in my office from back when I still was a fed but I figure a private gym is sure to have nicer and younger babes whom I can get behind in the next row of treadmills as I walk, jog or run. Gotta do something to keep my mind active while bored to tears on the treadmill.

Back to the armed guard training, it recommences next weekend and will run one more weekend after that. Six days in all and if they go like yesterday and today, it will be a fun learning experience. I have forgotten or just not thought about one or two things of which and instructor reminded me. I also learned one or two new things so far. I am taking the course because there seem to be a decent number of pretty good paying armed guard jobs out there in my area. Since last July, I have been working as an unarmed guard at a library. Being a library cop and wet nursing a bunch of high school kids while they are in the library, which is the biggest part of my job, is not for me. There do seem to be some good opportunities for me to increase my salary 1.5 to 2 times what it is currently at the library and get me out of the HS kid nanny business. That would be excellent; so, I figure the expense to take this course is well worth it. If really lucky, I will double my salary and get a job like Asa Breeney's. If you are older like me, you may remember him. He was the local bank guard in Mayberry, on the Andy Griffith show. One of his best episodes was episode 13 of the 1962 season, it aired on Christmas Eve, December 1962. If you have NetFlix, you can watch it online and see for yourself that which I aspire to become for my second career (or maybe you can find a clip of it on YouTube).

All the best,
Glenn B

TEQUILA

It's not my creation, although I wish I could claim credit for it. A hat tip to Pete A for sending me this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Silo Demolition Sledgehammer Style

Biertijd.com // Media » Silo Demolition Sledgehammer Style

My bet is that this very lucky asshole truly believes he did such a good job that he would try it again. He has a lot of potential to become a future Darwin Award winner. I have to admit though, until then, he does get bragging rights for that one.

A hat tip to Pete A. for that one.

All the best,
Glenn B

God Bless America

They Got The Bastard - Boston Bomber In Custody

Fox News is reporting, at about 2045 hours, that they got him, he is alive and in custody. Reportedly, the Boston Police sent in a negotiator and he was soon thereafter taken into custody. As much as I would like to have seen him killed, I know he is much more valuable to us alive, that is if he talks. If he lawyers up, we are in for millions in tax dollars being wasted and we would have been better off had he not surrendered and fought it out. Of course, if he does clam up, it is possible that a fellow inmate may do the right thing and end our problem.

I can now turn off the television and get Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera out of my life for now. How Fox News keeps Rivera on their show is beyond me; I think him about one of the biggest arsehats in the media and certainly the biggest working for Fox.

Later,
GB

Suspect Is Down - Fox News Reporting At 1912 Hours April 19th

Fox News is reporting that a source within the MA State Police has reported to them that the suspect is down. What happened is that a boat, on a trailer in a backyard, had been searched by police, but a woman (the owner?) saw the boat's door had been opened and blood was at the site subsequent to the search. She called police to come back and they responded. A Fox reporter says he then heard about 20-30 shots in that area. Then the information came into Fox News, from their source, saying the suspect is down. It is unknown if he is dead or not and the police are reportedly going to send in a robotic device to check on his condition - who can blame them for their caution! This is in Watertown, MA and is unconfirmed at the moment.
 
One can hope.

EDITED AT 1935 TO ADD: Suspect is still alive inside the boat. He is surrounded by law enforcement. I would think a well placed flash-bang grenade or three would more than do the trick and make it safe for officers to enter and scoop him up but who can tell if he had time to rig any booby traps with explosives.

The woman who called in the suspect's location deserves the thanks of every citizen in this country and also deserves a nice fat reward! 
 
All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - A Fitting Day To Kill A Terrorist

I find it historically significant and rather fitting that one of the terrorists who bombed the Boston Marathon was gunned down in a hail of police bullets today and am hopeful that his brother is captured or also gunned down before the day is over. Today, April 19th is a very significant day in the history of the United States of America. It is the day, that the shot heard round the world was fired. That shot being the one that commenced the Revolutionary War of American Independence when British troops advanced on Lexington Common and were met by armed resistance in the form of American Minutemen (the militia of that day). That was April 19, 1775. Note that Lexington in question was in Massachusetts, quite near to where the bomber who met his demise, today, was gunned down.

Then, in 1897, on this day, the very first Boston Marathon was run. Many other Boston Marathons, throughout the years, have been run on this date because of the historical significance of this being the original Patriots' Day. I believe it was not until the 1970's that the running of the Boston Marathon on April 19th was changed to coincide with Patriots' Day being changed to the third Monday of April.

Amazingly enough, on this day in 1939, 148 years late, Connecticut finally approved the Bill of Rights.

Then there was the end of the 51 day federal government siege of the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, TX, in 1993. It is believed that either tear gas canisters, fired by law enforcement, or the Branch Davidians themselves, caused a fire burning the compound to the ground and killing over 70 of the occupants including men, women and children. That was one of the more shameful episodes in the history of federal law enforcement, in my opinion.

In 1995, terror struck America in Oklahoma City, on April 19th, when a truck bomb exploded killing 168 people and wounding 500 at the federal building there. Timothy McVeigh, the main perpetrator, named the Waco incident as his  primary motive for the Oklahoma City bombing. Amazingly enough, McVeigh seemingly is one of the first conservatives to have committed an act of terrorism against the United States, certainly at least in recent memory.

Sadly, April 19, 2013 will be added to that list as the day on which at least one of the Boston Marathon bombers was killed. Of course, I am not saying it is a sad day because he was terminated but it certainly is a sad day because what took place today was the result of a cowardly attack against unarmed, unsuspecting, innocent
people just a few days earlier. It is also sad because at least one police officer lost his life today in the manhunt for the terrorists and another was critically injured.

There are many other things of note that have taken place on April 19th throughout world history, many of them involving the United States. If you wish to see a long list of them, go to this link:

http://todayinhistory.com/s0-04-19-event-results.html

Maybe this day in history, April 19, 2013, will end on a positive note and the second bomber will either be captured or gunned down as he resists arrest, with no other civilians or others in law enforcement being injured. While I wish that they will be able to just put an end to it by gunning him down, I realize the importance of getting him alive for the intelligence he may be able to supply about others who conspired in the Boston Marathon Bombing. Either way, I hope no other innocents are killed or injured and I hope it is over before the day ends.

All the best,
Glenn B

WANTED MAN - Boston Marathon Bomber

This is a photograph of the surviving Boston Marathon Bomber, identified as Dzhokhar (pronounced Jo-Kar) Tsarnaev, 19 years old. He is considered armed and dangerous, if you see him, as much as you may want to take him out, don't try to be a hero (well unless maybe you have a surprise can't miss shot). Seriously folks, - just call the police and you will be hero enough. He and his brother already have killed at least 4 people and injured hundreds and he is surely willing to take more lives.

For more pictures of the wanted man, go to:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/slideshow/2013/04/18/fbi-releases-photos-suspects-in-boston-marathon-bombing/?intcmp=related#slide=1

Hopefully they will take him soon. I am already sick of hearing about what great guys were he and his brother  and how surprised were all of their family and friends that they could be the bombers. So, the sooner they get him, the sooner the bullshit about him will end.

 

All the best,

Glenn B



One Bomber Dead - The Other Being Hunted Down Like A Mad Dog

Sometimes, it seems, my wishes do come true. Yesterday, I wished that the FBI had gotten it right on the two suspects whose photographs they had released. "I hope they have indeed identified them and are that much closer to hunting them down and swiftly bringing them to justice but to tell the truth, I have to wonder!" Apparently they hit the nail on the head and got the identification correct, good for them and good for the United States of America!

See: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/19/gunshots-reported-on-mit-campus/

Sadly, before they caught up with them, the two suspects, who were brothers, killed a university police officer on Thursday night, shortly after the FBI had identified them. The officer was responding to a call about a disturbance. (Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.) After that, they hijacked a vehicle without harming the owner and law enforcement
somehow caught up with them early this morning. The suspects reportedly threw explosives, from the stolen vehicle, at the police as the police pursued them. A raging gun battle ensued. Another police officer was critically wounded during the gun battle and pursuit (please keep him in your thoughts and prayers). The result, the good guys won, justice was served and one of the brothers was fatally shot and later died in the hospital (he also possibly had shrapnel wounds). The second bother escaped. He is still loose and is being searched for in the Boston area which reportedly is on total lock-down.

So far, at least half of another of my (and probably half of the nation's) wishes has come true. My words from my initial post on the bombing: "My hopes are that they catch and swiftly execute the bastard(s) who did it; hopefully in a hail of bullets as he, she or they resist arrest." They resisted arrest and one of them was shot down in a hail of police bullets. Folks - it does not get much better than that and I mean that most sincerely. There will be no long drawn out trial(s), no need to put the families though the torture of the judicial process no need to waste millions of the tax payer's money defending at least one of those scum. There was justice, swift, sure and final. You may think we will never know why they did it if both are killed but remember they are (were)Muslims possibly from Chechnya and all the why you need to know lies within their religious beliefs.

I am still hopeful that they will catch up with the other brother and that he too will resist and be shot down like a mad dog and dies at the scene. It is what the people of this great nation deserve. If it happens that way, then once again, justice will have been swift, sure and final. The only thing, I think, that would be more fitting would be to have captured both of them and to have tortured them daily throughout a life sentence in as miserable a hell hole as could be found. Since that is not going to happen, I will be happy to see the second one go out the way the first one went.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Major Development In The Boston Marathon Bombing?

I heard it on Fox News (read it there too) out of the mouths of both Hannity and O'Reilly, that had been a major development in the search for the Boston Marathon bomber(s). Yet earlier in the day, I read, on CNN online, that the FBI had dropped interest in the two suspects at whom they had been looking. Now wait a minute, according to Fox, the FBI has published pics of the two guys and is saying that one actually left a backpack at the scene of one of the explosions and that the two guys were following one another around the area. What the fuck is going on. On these guys suspects or not or is it just that the friggin' media cannot get it right!

Okay, let's say the media I finally reporting what the FBI is actually putting out and I heard it right on Fox tonight. (Mind you I am not saying Fox is getting it right and CNN wrong. My guess is that this afternoon Fox also reported that the FBI had lost interest in the two suspects and that tonight CNN is also reporting that the FBI has now put out there photos for all to see to help catch them.) Back to what I was saying, let's just say, for the moment, that the media is getting it right as to what the FBI is saying and that the two guys whose photos have been appearing online, in the news on TV and elsewhere, are the actual suspects. If so, tell me why isn't the FBI giving out other photos of them?

Without a doubt, unless these two guys are ghosts, there are plenty of other surveillance camera pictures of them on the same street, on side streets and where ever else they walked away from the scene.That is the world in which we live, especially in ultra liberal cities like Boston. Surveillance cameras are everywhere- remember DHS was giving them away for free and just about every private company worth more than a couple hundred thousand bucks also has them on their property (which would be almost every building in the area of the bombings). So why are there not any other photos of these guys as they walk away, maybe give one another the high -five, or smile at one another, or get into a get-away vehicle with each other, or even go though CBP checks prior to boarding a plane to leave the country. I just do not get it. Are those few pics and videos, of them walking along in tandem, always followed mind you, in the released videos, by the gal in the yellow jacket with the very full day pack, all the videos and pics available? No they are not because they say they saw one of them leave a backpack behind at the scene of one of the blasts. Why are we not seeing that. Why are we not seeing others videos of them. Once again, the government, while asking for the help of the public, is being less than forthcoming with what they could be showing us without jeopardizing the investigation. Believe me, I they truly think these are the suspects then showing all the videos of them is not going to jeopardize anything, except maybe the lives of the suspects and the FBI has already assured their lives are in jeopardy by releasing those videos. So why the fuck all the cloak and dagger crap, why not just be forthcoming and tells us what they have to really involve us in the hunt for the terrorists.

I will tell you, the answer is plain and simple. I think it is because they truly do not want our help but want to appease the public, no that is wrong. What they are doing I teasing the public and fooling the people into believing that they can be of help. It is, I think, political bullshit. I could be wrong on that and hope I am wrong, very wrong, but that is what I believe right now. Maybe they really think those are the guys. Maybe those are the highest quality pictures of the suspects and they figured those are the best to release. I hope so but then the Atlanta bombing comes to mind and so does a security guard who spotted a suspect backpack and reported it to authorities and tried to clear the area. The bomb exploded anyway, killing at least one woman and injuring many others.  Remember him. He did the right thing and was immediately labeled as the prime suspect in the case by the FBI. He was Richard Jewel and his life was ruined by authorities who, because he provided information, labeled him as a suspect, put out press releases about him being the suspect, searched his home (more than once as I recall), placed him under constant surveillance, questioned his friends and associates, (as I recall)made his own mother doubt he was innocent, and just ruined his life forever because they were too inept to see the truth in their over zealousness to capture the guilty party at any cost, even at the cost of one man's innocence. The FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation went so overboard in their portrayals of Jewel as the suspect that the media (who probably did not need much help anyway)  portrayed him as a wanna be hero who planted the bomb, then alerted authorities to make himself appear the hero. Television personalities such as Jay Leno called him "una-doofus". Or was it that the FBI was not overzealous but was inept at the investigation and just wanted a fall-guy and found one ready made in Mr. Jewel? Could it be the same thing is going on today. I hope not.

Shit, I hope they got it right this time around. I hope that those two guys are at least suspects based upon the findings of excellent investigative work and some strong physical evidence. Considering the size of a pressure cooker, and the amount of space it would fill in either of the backpacks each was shown to be carrying, I have to wonder. Remember the gal, I mentioned earlier, the one in the 
yellow jacket who can be seen following the suspects in each of the video clips I saw on Fox News? Her bag looks more like one that might have an over sized load in it, take a look for yourselves.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/18/obama-to-visit-boston-amid-hunt-for-persons-interest-seen-in-photos/ (once at the link, click on the first set of photos and the video will come up, for some reason I have not been able to embed videos from Fox over the last week nor link directly to them - must be a lib turd plot).

God help them, both the FBI and the reported suspects, if the FBI has gotten it wrong this time.

As I said though, I really do hope they got it right. I hope they have indeed identified them and are that much closer to hunting them down and swiftly bringing them to justice but to tell the truth, I have to wonder! 

All the best,
Glenn B

A Layman's Thoughts On The Boston Marathon Bomber(s)

Boston, the Marathon, the explosions, the injured, the dead, the unexploded devices, the media reports, the statements made by law enforcement and witnesses, the videos of what happened, all the other bombings that have preceded this one – have they gotten you to think about what happened yesterday? You can bet that the experts are thinking about it all, trying to figure out what happened and they are collecting, examining and analyzing the evidence. We do not have that ability, at least we cannot collect, examine and then analyze the hard evidence but we can analyze what is available to us such as the content of news reports as to what took place, what we have seen in videos of the explosions, the result of the explosions (as reported to us) and we can do so against what we know already about previous bombings.

I don’t know about you but I have been doing that since I heard about the bombings. I am certainly not a bomb expert although I have rudimentary education in how to construct a bomb (mostly from what I learned of them as a federal agent or as a result of watching televised news reports about bombings) and that includes how to detonate them remotely. I do not know much but know enough about explosive materials to be able to formulate the them. I know little about the actual physics of an explosion but again, I have, as does anyone who pays attention to current events on the news, some knowledge about how to place a bomb for more effect as opposed to ineffectually placing one, and I know about how to place and time multiple explosive devices to achieve the greatest amount of injuries and deaths. It has all been reported over and over and over again on the media. I also know that the hardest things to obtain in relation to an improvised explosive device are not the projectiles (ball bearings, nails, screws are available at any hardware store), are not the bomb casings (metal pipes, cans, PVC tubes and other things are available just about anywhere), are not the detonators (electronics used to set off bombs are easily obtainable at drug stores, phone stores electronic shops). The most difficult thing to obtain , or to formulate, would be the actual explosive compound. Yeah, sure, you can buy fertilizer and fuel oil to make an explosive but that does not make the actual explosive easy to formulate. You need the know-how. You can also get black powder, ready-made, but it is much less effective than Semtex ounce per ounce. It is not all that difficult to get an explosive compound but it certainly is not easy to get or make one that will do damage very effectively; this one was nowhere nearly as effective as a high explosive.

I also know that when an established group does something like this, they usually claim credit or responsibility for it right away. They have an agenda and one of the things that keeps them in the limelight is pushing that agenda by way of publicity associated with terrorists acts for which they claim credit. That is one of the reasons as to why so many groups often claim to be responsible for a single act of terrorism for which another group is actually responsible. In addition, I know a lone wolf does not often claim responsibility for such an act, at least not as quickly as would a terrorist group seeking infamy, because an individual is usually more cautious at the outset of his or her nefarious deeds. In addition, it is sometimes the case, that the lone bomber is killed in the act of setting off the explosions and we only find out about him or her after a decent amount of investigation has concluded that it was a lone bomber.

As I said, all this has gotten me to thinking. The hypothesis I have reached, mind you, based upon what scant evidence I have seen is that the person or persons who perpetrated these acts was or were amateurs with very little training. It could be that the person or people responsible for placing and setting off those bombs were part of a larger conspiracy but my initial guess would be that if they were part of a larger group, then the whole group is one of amateurs and not experienced in previous acts of terrorism, at least not in bombings. Why do I say that.

Well, first off, the placement and the timing of the bombs was amateurish. The first bomb, or maybe it was the second, to go off was placed in area in which there was a large crowd but was not placed for greatest effect. There was a storefront behind the bomb and the street in front of it. The storefront had a large glass window as could be seen in news clips and photos. What that means is that the blast had little resistance on any side and the blast wave expanded just about equally in all directions except down into the ground. Had the bomber placed the bomb with a concrete wall to one side, instead of a glass storefront, it would have directed the blast out toward the street and the bystanders with much more force.

Then there was the placement of the bombs about a block apart instead of much closer to one another. Had they been closer to one another, then first responders who came to the aid of the initial victims of the first blast would have been injured by the second blast as would have been people trying to run from the first blast. As it was, the second blast was too far from the first to achieve as effective a secondary kill zone. Thus, a second device would have been better off placed somewhat closer, at the furthest, I would guess it should have been placed at the nearest intersection because most folks would be running through the intersection either to respond or escape but the second one was placed a block or more away from what I could make out in the videos. So whoever did it had the notion of a secondary device creating additional victims but did not have the actual technical knowhow of how to get it right. This makes me think it was not only someone with little to no experience in such things but that the bomber had little training from someone who had the knowhow.

In addition, there was the timing between the explosions. There was only about 15 seconds between the first and second blast. It would take longer, for people to have realized what had happened and then either run from the area where the first went off to where the second was planted for it to have effectively gotten more victims as they tried to escape. Likewise for first responders. The timing was off to achieve greater effect and this makes me think that both bombs were remotely set off by an amateur who was swept up in the excitement of the moment and set off the second bomb prematurely or who had them timed poorly because of inexperience.

What else is there to go on. Well, judging from the video of the first explosion, for which there were at least a couple to a few different views available to us, I would say, again guesswork, that the explosive used was not a high explosive but was a lower grade explosive. Had it been a high grade explosive, the force of the explosion would have knocked many more people to the ground and shaken stationary objects like light poles, fixed cameras (on tripods or other stands), and sign posts. We did not see almost any of that. What we saw was a small blast, with a large cloud of gray smoke, something akin to an explosion of black powder. An explosion that would require a lot more to do the same job that only a little of a high explosive could accomplish. This tied in with the poor placement, already mentioned above, as to the glass storefront as opposed to a strong wall to one side of the explosive to guide the explosion out from the wall again has the signature of an amateur or poorly trained individual.

Then there was the overall timing of the explosions. Had they gone off as the winners were crossing the finish line, the effect would have been at least somewhat more effective if only psychologically so. There would have been much more media coverage of the actual event at that time. Several news crews had already departed the area by the time the bombs went off. Terrorists are not merely successful because they maim and kill people and destroy property, they succeed in their reigns of terror by having their heinous acts publicized as much as possible. I think it likely that had this been perpetrated by a terrorist operative who had been trained by an organized terrorist organization  it would have been orchestrated for maximum media coverage.

Now, as I readily admit, I am certainly no expert on any of this; heck I am not even an amateur. It is all guess work on my part based upon what little I know of previous similar events. What amazes me is that I have not heard one iota of anything like what I just said coming from even a single member of the news media or from any of the usual pundits. Granted, maybe that is because what I just hypothesized is all wrong. Yet, I am more than willing to bet just a little that we are going to find out that either this was a lone wolf psycho (right or left wing extremist, it does not matter which because psycho will be the key word) or it was committed by a wanna be member of a major terrorist group who had the moral support of terrorist cell and handlers but had little actual training from them and who received little actual physical material from them to get the job done. Then again, I guess, I have to keep in mind that many terrorists are not rocket scientists and that it does not require an advanced physics or mechanical engineering degree to impart an awful lot of terror and misery onto unsuspecting victims and there were a lot of victims. Yet, I just keep thinking that a knowledgeable bomber, with the proper resources, would have created 5 to 10 times as much devastation with the two bombs that went off.

That is all just my hypothesis, I am not saying that is how it happened, I am just guesstimating, based on my scant knowledge of previous such acts, that the bomber(s) in this instance was or were poorly trained in what he, she or they set out to do. I shudder to think about the outcome had the guilty person(s) been well trained, previously experienced, and sufficiently equipped terrorists.

Edited, on 04/16, to add: I want to be absolutely clear on this, I am not trying to belittle the loss of any victim's life or the horrid injuries that many people suffered by saying that I believe whoever did this was amateurish. Because I think the bomber(s) was probably inexperienced does not make the act that was committed any less a terrorist act. Regardless of the level of expertise of the bomber, the outcome was terrifying. Even one injury was too many; yet, whoever did this injured scores of people and killed others. The injuries sustained by people were horrific, that is certain. The loss of life definitely most terrible and saddening. The emotional injuries and scarring, to they who lost loved ones or had loved ones injured or who were injured but survived, unendurable yet long lasting. The disregard shown by the bomber(s) for the victims is unfathomable but worthy of every effort to understand it so to be better able to hunt down the killers and swiftly bring them to justice. As I said in my earlier post about the bombing, I am keeping all of the victims and their loved ones in my thoughts and prayers and I mean that most sincerely.

All the best,

Glenn B