9mm Penetration At Distance

The guys at Iraqveteran8888 certainly do up some excellent videos for YouTube. Their channel is one of the very few YouTube channels to which I subscribe. If you carry a 9mm pistol for self defense and or if you utilize a 9mm carbine for the same purpose, you may want to give a watch to one of their latest videos:  How Far Will a 9mm Kill? (Note I condone shooting to stop as I imagine do they and they are not condoning shooting to kill in this video, just telling you at up to what distances they believe the 9mm could be lethal.)

While it may not be the most scientific of studies, it certainly should allow you to see that the 9mm can be lethal at decent distances for a pistol round. Anyone who, after seeing this video, wants to claim that a 3/4" thick plywood target and a 2x4" board do not replicate a human body would be correct; but anyone who thinks that a 9mm round, at 200 yards fired from a pistol or at 440 yards fired from a carbine, could not crack open your coconut (the one sitting on your neck) is a fool.

 

 

I was impressed by the power of the 9mm round they were shooting (and it certainly was nothing special when it comes to 9mm ammo) and by their offhand shooting accuracy. I was not too impressed by their shooting technique. To shoot standing unsupported at 100 and 200 yards with a pistol, in a self defense situation, would be foolish to say the least. Granted this was not a self defense situation but: You shoot as you train so, you should train for how you want to shoot. Every time you shoot at the range there should be some form of training, or practice of past training, involved. If you plan on shooting for self defense - always train, practice and shoot to win.

 

Anyway, as I said, these guys offer some excellent videos about a wide variety of shooting subjects. I highly commend and recommend them for that. I am hopeful they will do a similar study of the 45ACP.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Longmire

I watched all of season one of Longmire pretty much glued to the tube. I have watched all the episodes this year kind of, sort of but I just have not been into it as much as last year. Still though, I have followed along well enough. Tonight, I decided to really pay attention. I was very happy I made that decision. Tonight's episode was excellent and ended with it being a classic cliffhanger more or less even though the timing was off a bit. You know, a cliffhanger ended with a scene in which some action pivotal to the plot was just to unfold at its climax and they end the show a moment before it happens. In other words, you'd be left in suspense until next week's show. Well this one lived up to being a true classic cliffhanger, except as I said for the timing being off a bit - they had another scene after the cliffhanger scene - but the wait for the next episode would have been suspense filled nonetheless had they wanted it to be so.

I mean, heck it was not a second after the show and I was anxious to see next weeks show to see how a duel between Walt and a survivalist turned out (you saw them about to shoot it out, the camera pans away just as you hear two shots and the suspense was set. I also was anxious to see and to see  if Vic survives or gets killed off trying to rescue Walt. Then within a minute, it all fell apart, the fuckers ruined it for everyone. What did the big time directors or producers (or whomever) in charge of producing the commercials decide to do in the commercial? They showed Walt and Vic, both alive and well, in next week's show. What assholes. Why bother having one of the best episodes ever end in a cliffhanger if they were going to ruin the suspense by showing us clips from next week's show with Walt and Vic in them. Why not just show several clips without them and keep everyone in suspense - after all that is the whole idea of a cliffhanger. Again, I must say - WHAT ASSHOLES.

Later 4 Longmire,
Glenn B

 

Jennifer The Party Pooper

This is outrageous but it sure is funny too. If this shit does not make you laugh well too bad for you. I laughed my arse off more than I have in months, maybe even years and I watched and listened to it several times.



The best line had to be "Jennifer you have some mental issue" then again, "I want to go parties with Jenifer just to make observation, she poops at parties" was not too shabby either!

A little potty humor never hurt anyone.

All the best,
GB
 

The Most Transparent Government In History...

... right after those of Hitler, Stalin and pol Pot - at least in as much as it blatantly is a tyranny.

They have got to think that the entirety of the American people are more gullible than folks who believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and that the government is here to help us.

See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/13/earnest-defends-notion-most-transparent-administration-in-us-history/


All the best,
GB

I Took The Advice...

...of Long Island Herpetological Society president Vin Russo and got myself a couple of Russian Tortoises. I had been thinking of getting at least a pair of them for over a year now but as usual I was The Great Procrastinator. Then Vin mentioned them either during a talk or just in passing at an LIHS meeting and happened to say that he thought they might soon wind up on a protected species list and become difficult to obtain. He certainly knows the reptile trade so I guess that was all it took to convince me that the best time to get them was now (relatively speaking).

The male.

A couple of months ago, at the Long Island Reptile Expo, I picked up a male. Then just a couple of weeks ago, at the NY Metro Reptile Expo in White Plains, I was lucky enough to find a nice looking female and I bought her too.

Both of them appear to have been wild caught. I am guessing the male may have been a recent import because he was a little on the light weight side and had recent abrasions to his carapace as from shipping in a crowded shipping box. The female, on the other hand, was said to have been a long term captive. Maybe she was just that and I say so because her shell was in better condition and her weight was quite a bit better than that of the male when I first got him. She was not quite up to what his weight was by the time I bought her but she
was pretty close, meaning her weight at time of purchase was better than was his when I bought him. So, I figured, she was in good shape and I paid a bit more than I had wanted to for her. Not much more, I figure $85 was a good buy but also felt that the dealer could have come down somewhat more in price. Not complaining though, she is a nice tortoise.

The female.

I am hopeful that next spring, she an the male will have been conditioned well enough by my care for them to breed. This is a species that is still imported in high numbers as wild caught adults but has only a small base of breeders willing to give them the attention they need in captive bred breeding programs. It is about time that we, as the herp community, establish a good captive bred population of them to help assure they are not wiped out in their natural habitat! I do not in any way oppose well regulated (not over regulated) wild caught collecting - in fact I support it but I certainly also support captive breeding programs to make sure we prevent over collection of species from the wild. This is a species that needs serious consideration among herpers as to captive bred breeding programs. I plan to give them good care and just that type of consideration.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's 8:39 PM...

...and not far from being dark outside. It's been less than a month since the longest day of the year and the days are already noticeably shorter than they had been just a short while ago. Next thing you know, at least in this neck of the concrete jungle, we will be freezing our arses off. For now though and for the next month or three, I am going to enjoy what we have left of the relatively long days and warmer weather.

Later 4 U (and 4 cold weather),
GB

Oh Shit...

...no more Ole Smoky Moonshine Cherries!

A nectar sweeter than that offered by the Gods
although I do not deny that maybe they had a hand
in creating them in the overall scheme of things!

I need to correct that next trip to a liquor store!

All the best,
GB

Only A Day Under Three Weeks Until...

...the Northeast Annual Bloggershoot at a super sekrit location in where but the northeast. I am almost ready for it, kind of, sort of, maybe. All of my long arms are clean, lubed and ready to rock n' roll. The handguns, they could all use a good cleaning. Somehow, during the last couple of weeks, I lost all of the  impetus to clean any more firearms. I maybe would have done it this evening, now that I just thought of the upcoming shooty goodness event but alas I have imbibed of the fruit of the forbidden tree in the form of an Ommegang Abbey Ale infused with 10 Ole Smoky Moonshine Cherries and about 2 or a bit more ounces of the actual moonshine imbued with the maraschino cherry juice. Wow, was that ever so delightfully scrumptious.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, or at least to myself, that Shirley Temples were my favorite childhood drink (followed closely by Tom Collins mix - sans alcohol at least until my god mother added gin for me). I think that both of those remain my favorite adult drinks but with the alcohol. Now that I think of it though, I have not had a TC in years - I need to correct that but gin requires a frame of mind that I must prepare well in advance. After all, gin is not an alcoholic beverage - it is a state of mind. Anyway, the grown-up Shirley Temples (minus the soda and with moonshine instead of gin), they are friggin fantastic and added to an Ommegang it is an exquisite concoction. Let me just say, it beats anything Heaven has to offer, and if they have it and freely give it out in Hell, I am bound in that direction willingly. So, no gun cleaning for me tonight.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the bloggershoot nonetheless. I am sure it will prove itself to be well worth the 5 or 6 hour drive - a good time for all who attend. Last two times I attended it was truly an excellent soiree.

All the best,
Glenn B

Not On The Job 8 Months - Ambushed And Shot Dead

A rookie police officer, Melvin Santiago, was shot dead when he and his partner arrived at a Walgreens drug store in Jersey City, NJ to respond to an armed robbery call. The officer was only 23 years old. The officer's killer reportedly entered the store, assaulted the armed security guard there, took the guard's pistol and  laid in wait for police to arrive. As they arrived he started firing and fatally struck officer Santiago in the head with at least one shot; it is believed he used the security guard's weapon to kill Officer Santiago. Prior to all this, Lawrence Campbell, the alleged and now dead shooter, told a witness to watch the news later in the day because he (Campbell) was going to be famous. Campbell was killed by fire from other arriving officers. Campbell was already wanted in connection with another homicide. Source and more info here:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/13/new-jersey-police-officer-shot-killed-on-robbery-call/

 What drives a sick mother fucker like that is beyond me but had he been captured alive, I think he should have been horse whipped every day up until the day he was executed. Since NJ abolished the death penalty in 2007, I imagine that would mean his being horse whipped for what would have been every day of the rest of his life. Of course, that would have meant that the tax payer would have had to foot the bill for that bastard while incarcerated. Thankfully, the other arriving officers saved the people of the state of NJ some money although my bet would be that now Campbell's family will sue Jersey City for whatever reason a skank of a lawyer can imagine. One can only hope he has no family to sue or that his family thought of him as a big of a piece of shit as do I and they are happy to be rid of him.

All the best,
Glenn B

Worthiness

I definitely have difficulty in seeing the value of a benefits sucking
leech of a person who refuses to work and contribute to society
if only because that person has no value worth the mention.

Your worthiness does not increase based upon your ability to depend upon the support of others and your refusal to make yourself a contributing member of society. Make something of yourself by contributing to the betterment of our nation through industrious effort, only then will you have any value worth seeing let alone praising - except that is in namby-pamby feel good about your worthless self type posters.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Breaking News - Steven Spielberg Hunter Extraordinaire?

He would certainly be if he really shot the animal in the photo:

The leftist loony animal rights types truly are unbelievable in the amount of ignorance they can show about things like: animals, dinosaurs, hunting, extinction, humor, religion and so forth. A comedian posted a photo of Steven Spielberg on Facebook with Spielberg sitting in front of an apparently dead Triceratops (aren't they all dead by now) with the annotation that the man had hunted and killed the beast and needs to be named and shamed. It seems that once it was posted, at least a few animals rights types took it seriously, thank the public education system for that I suppose. They bad mouthed Spielberg for having hunted down and killed the beast.

Now, I wondered for a few minutes if those replies to the photo, claiming Spielberg essentially is a terrible triceratops terminator, were in jest. Based on my past experiences relative to how many, if not most, animal rights activists perceive things and how they will respond to  them, I am guessing that those early replies were in earnest. I am also guessing that those twits do not have a clue that there are currently no live triceratops to hunt and kill since that evil man Moses would not let them onto the ark because they were not vaccinated for rabies.

More here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2688463/Steven-Spielberg-Im-disappointed-Online-uproar-photo-famous-movie-director-posing-triceratops-just-slaughtered.html

I almost hate to give the guy who posted that photo any credit since he appears to be a raving leftist himself but I will admit even sometimes they can see the insanity of their own kind (and will also admit I could be wrong as to his politics but after viewing his Facebook page, I doubt it).

All the best,
Glenn B

I Won A Free Hog Hunt

Whoopee, I won something - a free hog hunt down in Texas. It includes hunting, meals and lodging for 3 days and 2 nights. Now, I suppose it is to be expected since free rarely means free, there were to be some nominal fees associated with it being otherwise free such as a $75.00 booking fee, a $45.00 minimum skinning fee, a fee for hogs taken over a certain size, a guide fee and a guide tip. I looked at all the fees and figured, that's not bad. Even if I were to have booked and then cancelled, a mere $75.00 loss for the booking fee would not be all that hard to take. The owner of the ranch even was willing to make an exception to the dates I could start the hunt and would allow me to start on my birthday. Sounded great, in fact sounded almost too good to be true.

Since the trip would cost a pretty penny though, what with a two to three day drive to the San Antonio area of Texas, motel stays, food and gas costs, I decided to do some checking up on the outfit offering the free hunt. I found several reviews of the place on the Internet. Bottom line, I declined the offer and will not be going for free or as a paid guest. Too bad since I was planning on bringing my son along for a nice road trip. The reason I turned it down was because while there were a few fair to good ratings for this place, I saw what I thought were too many negative or just mediocre  reviews of it. Some of the most frequent complaints about it, that I saw, were that there were very few hogs and or hog sign on the property, there were hidden costs involved, the lodging and meals were less than desirable.

I don't know if the reviews are true or not but they seemed enough in earnest to make me rethink whether or not winning that trip was good fortune or not. I decided that I certainly do not need to drive about 1,775 miles to be disappointed or worse yet to have my son disappointed. No way Jose. So, if we ever go to Texas for a Hog Hunt, it probably will be with another outfitter, one for whose services we pay the average going rate and one that has received rave reviews.

All the best,
Glenn B

If You Can't Stand The Heat...

...stay out of the burger joint. When you have to sign a hold harmless waiver before a restaurant will serve you their super spicy hot burger sauce - that should be warning enough not to take a bite of the burger on which it sits. That is unless you truly have a cast iron stomach that can take truly super high heat. Two reporters over in England recently learned that the hard way and both were hospitalized after only one bite apiece of just such a burger. More on the reporters here. Then again, what do most Brits know about hot food.

I guess at least the guy who owns Burger Off - the Brighton, England, burger joint that makes them - knows something and now so too do those brave but foolish souls who have dared try one. These belly bombing fireballs, called the XXX Hot Chili Burger, have been a boon to his business as people come by to try them, dare others to do so, or watch others as they writhe in pain and just about die trying. As of March 2014, 3,000 people had tried it but only 59 were able to wolf down the whole thing. That is not even 2% who were able to finish it. Several have gone to the hospital and one man, who had an ulcer, may have perforated his bowel because he ate one. Others have gone into anaphylactic shock and a local hospital has reportedly adjusted how they now treat that based on their treatments for ingestion of these burgers; patients are being treated with an adrenalin drip. On one night alone, five ambulances showed up at the eatery. The owner claims that he and his employees never call for an ambulance, they leave that to the customers. (Source and more on the XXX hot Chili Burger here.)

The burger is reportedly made from Piri-Piri peppers (aka: The African Bird's Eye Pepper). I have grown and eaten their close relatives, the Thai Bird's Eye Pepper, before; they are in the same range on the Scoville Scale at about 50K to 100K. They are very hot but not that hot. Habanero peppers, typically between 100K and 300K, have quite the more fiery punch according to the Scoville scale. Somehow though, the chili sauce they use on the XXX Hot Chili Burgers is super insanity hot at 9.2 MILLION Scoville units (source). I would think that heat enough to engulf the diner in flames because that reportedly is about 18,000 times hotter than an average chili which usually comes in at around 500 Scoville units. (I don't know how they call 500 SU the average range for a chili pepper, I would think that nowhere near as hot as average, but 9.2 million SU is still unbelievably hot for a pepper sauce). As to how the owner of the restaurant gets his chili sauce that hot, he says: 'People always ask where I get the sauce from but I always say "If I tell you I will have to kill you." I just got fed up with people saying "well it's not really that hot" (source). I think I'll just stick to fresh peppers like jalapenos, piri-piris or habaneros now and again because there is not enough beer in the galaxy to cool down that kind of heat.

All the best,
Glenn B 

Remington Model 700 Settlement Spurs Firearms Safety Reminder

Firearms safety is not merely the responsibility of someone handling a firearm. It is also most definitely the responsibility of firearms manufacturers who are obligated by ethics to produce firearms that are inherently safe. Remington Firearms has apparently finally come to that realization and reportedly filed a notice of settlement in a Missouri court, last week, in a lawsuit stemming from claim(s) that the trigger mechanism of its model 700 rifles was defective. That lawsuit was reportedly filed by Ian Pollard in 2013 and he claimed that his Remington model 700 has fired at least three times without the trigger being pulled. Although his lawsuit was filed in 2013, this was not a new problem with the model 700 and others had reported similar unintentional discharges of the model 700 for decades (source). Ultimately though, firearms safety depends greatly upon the person handling the firearm.

In 2000, a Remington model 700 fired accidentally when Barbara Barber reportedly turned the safety off on it in anticipation of unloading it (the model 700 then required that the safety be turned off to unload it but that has since been modified).  Her husband Richard Barber witnessed the alleged accidental discharge. The bullet from that shot struck and killed their 9 year old son Gus (source). Turning the safety off on a firearms should not fire the gun and Mr. Barber initiated an investigation of the model 700. He found that the Walker Fire Control mechanism in the trigger group was faulty and could cause a model 700 to fire when the safety was turned off or when the bolt of the rifle was operated - all without pulling the trigger. Remington replaced the Walker Fire Control with the X-Mark Pro in 2006 (source).

According to this source, Remington was aware of a potential problem with the trigger connector of the Walker Fire Control as early as 1948 when its inventor suggested modifications to it to prevent an accidental misalignment of parts in he trigger group. Remington seemingly came close to recalling the model 700 twice, once in 1979 and again in 1994 but reportedly abandoned that idea each time. Remington reportedly had claimed there was no defect in the model 700. It is unknown if Remington has admitted any fault in the current settlement.

While the Walker Fire Control may or may not be responsible for the unintentional discharges with Remington Model 700 rifles, one can never forget that one of the cardinal rules of firearms safety possibly was violated in the incident that led to the death of the Barbers' son. That rule - Always Keep The Muzzle Pointed In A Safe Direction - is an important one.  I do not know all of the specifics of this accidental shooting but I have to wonder, was the rifle, held and operated by Mrs. Barber, being pointed in a safe direction when their son was killed? Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to defend Remington for producing what may have been a defective firearm nor am I saying they manufactured a faulty firearm. I am saying that a design feature of the Remington Model 700 seemingly allowed the rifle to be fired without activating the trigger. Neither am I condemning the boy's mother for her actions in this tragic accident, I would guess she has suffered more than enough. The accident was the result of a culmination of various factors but I am guessing it could have been prevented had the rifle been pointed in a safe direction. So, what I am trying to do is to remind you of the importance of following firearms safety rules when handling firearms. Firearms safety is sort of like safety with fire along the lines of what Smoky The Bear used to say: "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires". Well the same pretty much goes for accidental injuries with firearms: 'Only you can prevent unintentional injuries with firearms'. Manufacture of inherently safe firearms goes a long way to prevent such accidents but then again so too does adhering to firearms safety rules, like those suggested by the NRA, when handling firearms.

All the best,
Glenn B

Leave it To The Government - Triple Jeopardy

It was a necessary evil, putting people in jeopardy in order to combat one of the most terrible scourges that ever faced mankind. Smallpox was just that - a terrible scourge. It killed up to 1/3 of those who contracted it. It left survivors scarred for life. But in order to combat it, it had to be worked with in medical laboratories.

The CDC will gladly tell you about the last case in the USA taking place in 1949. Then they happily tell you about the last naturally transmitted case of it being in Somalia in 1977. They fail to tell you though (at least on their main smallpox page) of the last known case of it. Could that be because it was caused by the possible incompetence of British lab workers? "The last known case was in Britain in 1978, when a university photographer who worked above a lab handling smallpox died after being accidentally exposed to it from the ventilation system."(source). The guy responsible for the research - he committed suicide after that but what good would that have done had thousands died - then again what good did it do for the one who died - the last one to date.

This is not the last victim of smallpox, just an example

of one of the many to have suffered from it.

There was and is a definite threat, we were and are in jeopardy, people could have been and can be exposed to it and killed by it even when handled in lab conditions. That should have been a warning to science and to the governments of the world to destroy it all once they knew it was eradicated. So how could the government put all of us in continued jeopardy by storing it after it was otherwise eradicated. Until recently, it was believed that the only remaining samples of smallpox were stored at the CDC in Atlanta, GA in the United States and at a Russian lab in Novosibirsk, Siberia. Well, they were wrong as the government seems to be all too often.

Samples of the smallpox virus were discovered just last week and not in either Atlanta or Novosibirsk. These samples were found in sealed glass vials "packed away and forgotten in a cardboard box" in an unsecure location near Washington (DC?). They may have been there for decades and no one knows if they are still alive (source). That was the double jeopardy. First they put us in jeopardy because of necessity. Then they put us in jeopardy by way of sheer negligence.

So now that they found it, what are they going to do with it. You would imagine that since it has the potential to be extremely dangerous to all of mankind they would destroy it immediately. Of course, that reportedly is not what they are about to do with it. Yes, they plan to destroy it but first they potentially will put us in jeopardy for a third time - Triple Jeopardy! They are moving it to the Centers For Disease Control where they will attempt to determine if it is still alive and it may take up to two weeks to test it! Why on earth would they take the chance, over a two week period, that if it is alive it could escape into the lab and maybe into the atmosphere or be carried out in a human host??? Now you may think, oh no it can't be alive but smallpox can survive freeze drying. If they thought it could not possibly be alive then why bother testing it ! The government eggheads think it is possible it could be alive as witnessed by their plan to test it - get it. That means they are willing to risk an outbreak of it that could endanger mankind.

We sure don't need to ever see even one
more case of smallpox! Photo credit to 
CDC/PHIL.

Now, you may also think - 'Oh, but the samples will be in the super secure CDC labs for testing so what threat could it pose, there is no way it could be a threat right'! WRONG. Just last month, the CDC reportedly had a major security breach with Anthrax that could have led to an outbreak. "Last month, a laboratory safety lapse at the CDC in Atlanta led the agency to give scores of employees antibiotics as a precaution against anthrax.(source) " So don't think even for a moment that if the smallpox sample they just found is still alive that it does not pose a potential threat. Also bear in mind that THERE IS NO CURE FOR SMALLPOX.

The CDC puts it this way: "There is no specific treatment for smallpox disease, and the only prevention is vaccination." (source). The CDC considers it a very serious disease, and of the four types of Variola major (the major variant of smallpox) they say this as to its lethality: "Historically, variola major has an overall fatality rate of about 30%; however, flat and hemorrhagic smallpox usually are fatal. Variola minor is a less common presentation of smallpox, and a much less severe disease, with death rates historically of 1% or less." (same source as the last one above). The major form, the one that is contracted by 90% of smallpox victims, is fatal 30% of the time. Should we trust these government types - the same type that forgot about a sample of it stored in a cardboard box for years - to be playing around with it to see if it is still alive? If you think yes we should, tell me - then what!

If it's live and gets out, we could suffer through a worldwide catastrophe since they no longer regularly vaccinate people for smallpox, at least not in the USA. Nowhere do they show smallpox vaccinations on their list of recommended immunizations for folks in the United States. While they do not currently recommend a smallpox vaccination among their schedules for children, teens or adults, the CDC claims to have enough smallpox vaccine for an emergency such as an unexpected outbreak of it. Do you believe that? I find it almost impossible to believe; heck, they could not even produce enough flu vaccine a few years back.

Knowing the track record of our government, especially the record of the current administration, and of the CDC's most recent accident with anthrax, do you trust them with this stuff? I don't trust them and I think it should be destroyed immediately. I even hesitate to trust the government to destroy it and would prefer that left to a private entity. I am willing to bet, that if this sample is live and or is a different strain than ones they already have at the CDC and or in Siberia - the government will do a couple or few things with it regardless of what they tell us:

1. They will test it to see if still viable.

2. Then will tell us it was dead and died due to improper storage, they will do that whether alive or dead.

3. They will assure us it poses absolutely no threat.

4. They will tell us it has been completely destroyed.

5. They will put it into storage at the CDC, or elsewhere, for long term study (whether believed dead or alive) if it is a strain that they did not already have in storage.

6. They will put it into long term storage if alive, even if a strain they already have, because they will be amazed by its longevity under adverse conditions and will claim a need to study it further.

7. They will consider and study its use as a biological weapon as they probably have already done for years.

8. They will put us in continued jeopardy because they think they know best but as usual are dead ass wrong.

What can we do? We can contact our elected officials immediately and demand that these samples be destroyed without a moment's delay. Some may think this is some type of paranoia but it is not. Nor is it merely hedging your bet based on the government's record of incompetency versus competency - and the government comes out about one level below as competent as a rock with lips in all too many instances. I certainly wouldn't trust a rock, even one with lips, with this stuff - so why trust the government with it.

As I said though, it is not just that, it is the fact that two very strong countries' governments resist attempts to have the virus destroyed as was first recommended by the World Health Organization in 1986. Those two governments, the ones that still have smallpox samples, probably have done more than any others in researching bio-weapons. They are the United States and Russia. They claim they need the samples to further research antiviral drugs and the like. The World Health Organization disagrees:

"Some scientists have argued that the stocks may be useful in developing new vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnostic tests;^[84] however, a 2010 review by a team of public health experts appointed by the World Health Organization concluded that no essential public health purpose is served by the U.S. and Russia continuing to retain virus stocks." (source)

If that is true, why would the USA and Russia retain them. I think either for possible use as future bio-weapons or to possibly combat bio-weapons in the event this stuff is already in the hands of terrorists or rogue governments like North Korea. Of course, our government is not claiming that any of this is in any other hands than the governments of the USA or Russia and of course they likely would never admit to it as being a potential future bio-weapon.  So, if it truly is only in the hands of the USA and Russia - why not destroy it now so no one else can ever get it as a weapon or as a disease since it would not be there to get? There has to be another reason for holding onto it and they are not telling us. 

I think it should be destroyed - all of it - because it is a threat to mankind no matter how well some government, one step below the competency level a rock with lips, thinks it can store it. And let's face it folks, a government smarter than that just ain't out there.

Wikipedia has an extensive article on smallpox. It makes for interesting albeit worrisome reading. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

All the best,
GB

 

No Wonder Women Used To Be Miserable...

...household chores suck. So far three out of 5 or 6 are done and I only did two of them. Lucky for me my wife bathed the dogs yesterday. So far today, I brought my daughter's car to the shop. That meant about a mile long walk back home which was pretty refreshing even though a tad warm out today. Then, I did the lawn and garden work. I still have vacuuming and straightening up the basement to go along with maybe going shopping and also setting up the new enclosure for my Russian Tortoises. Since I also have to clean out the other critter enclosures, I probably ought to wait until done with them before I do the vacuuming - I usually make quite the mess when cleaning the tanks and such.

Nothing like taking a break for a tall cool drink of something or other though on a warm one like today. It's about 86 right now and had gotten up to around 89 degrees when I was walking home from the repair shop. Fairly humid too but nothing terrible. It would be a nice day to sit around outside sipping mint juleps but since I am not that sort of a guy (not usually anyway), I figure to have a couple of cold ones later on while outside on the patio. I may precede the cool beverages with a cleaning of a couple of pistols though. So far in my summertime gun maintenance ritual, that I commenced weeks ago it seems, I have only finished the long arms. And note, I did say the gun cleaning would precede the imbuement of my bodily fluids with cold beverages so no need to worry about a tipsy neighbor with guns around my house (at least no need to worry about me or my son ever being that guy). For now, I guess I'll start on the critters and clean up their enclosures - maybe let the bigger tortoises run around the backyard while I do so.

Oh, before I go, let me get back to the title of this piece a moment. I can fully understand why women used to be so miserable when all or the great majority of household chores fell on their shoulders; that was back in the pre-womens' lib days. It's different nowadays though so someone please explain to me why all the liberated women are still so miserable NOW. ;>)

Later 4 U,
Glenn  B

Got Rid Of Some Undesirables Yesterday

I attended the NY Metro Reptile Expo in White Plains, NY yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited to some space at one of the vendor tables so I brought along some dead weight to get rid of. No, no, no - I was not following the advice of Confucius from my post immediately prior to this one. This did no involve grave digging at all, in fact - revenge was not a factor (well except maybe in one case). The dead weight was in the form of three ball pythons, two corn snakes, a bearded dragon and a couple of Hermann's Tortoises that I wanted to offload. I was able to sell the two Hermann's Tortoises which did me a world of good because I wound up buying all of the critter supplies I needed, buying a female Russian Tortoise to keep my male Russian Tortoise occupied (hopefully occupied as in they will breed), filled up the tank with gas and have about three times the money left over in my pocket than I had had with me when I got to the show. That was a pretty good day.

I also got rid of two of my ball pythons, and two corn snakes in trade for a Bearded Dragon. It would have been an excellent deal considering I got the three snakes for a grand total of $10 or $15 at an auction (the pair of baby corn snakes for $5.00, a ball python for $5 or $10) and the other BP for free. I say would have been a good deal had the Bearded Dragon been in excellent condition. I asked the guy (dealer's assistant) at the other dealer's table if there was anything wrong with it and he told me it was in excellent condition. I did not really look it over as well as I should have done, I guess because it was the end of the day and I was in the middle of getting out of there but still wanted to offload those snakes (just do not want to be keeping a bunch of snakes right now and am left with only one now).

Shame on me. The dragon has a pretty bad burn on it right front shoulder. I am sure it will be wind up being okay health-wise but am also sure I can never sell or trade it for even .25% of the value of an uninjured one. Never would have thought the dealer's assistant was a lying lowlife but live and learn; then again, he dealer did not mention it either. The dealer had walked away by the time my buddy saw the injury and showed me. Of course, I had to put on my reading glasses to see it well enough. I had seen it with my distance glasses on but thought it was just crap from another dragon (stupid me not to have looked better first). Oh well, I will see them at a future show and let my grievance be known.

Recently, I also recently traded a BP for a brick of 22LR ammo. I paid more for that BP than what a brick of 22 would have cost but I was okay with that trade yesterday because back when I bought it, during a charity auction, I was donating more so than buying an animal. Not quite the same as letting myself get ripped off because I was too stupid to check on the dragon I picked up yesterday. I have kicked myself and kicked again, aiming at my arse since yesterday afternoon. Regardless, once it has matured, I can use it as a breeder - I doubt the burn will effect its growth or breeding capability at all (I sure hope not).

I guess I should get myself busy, sooner or later today, in setting up a separate enclosure for the Russian Tortoises. Right after right now though, I will be off to the local garage to drop off my daughter's car for an oil change. She is in St. Martin, or someplace like that in the Caribbean, enjoying herself along with her husband. Then I guess I ought to tend to the garden and lawn, then maybe I should do some vacuuming, then the laundry, then maybe get in some shopping (I am hoping that can wait until Wednesday) and maybe then attend to the critters which means giving the dogs baths before anything else. Retired life, what a breeze - maybe I should just look for a job and hire a maid.

All the best,
GB

 

Words Of Wisdom - But I Think He Meant Something Else

 

 

Even though I think that Confucius meant something other than the thought I am about to convey, his were wise words indeed. I always have prepared for such acts by studying my enemies and my options, carrying back-up weapons, preparing for disposal (ahead of time), having a plan and an alternate plan at the ready and knowing my possible escape routes. 

 

I also have always dug more than one grave when I have set out for revenge and I have filled each that I have dug every time I have done so. Sometimes, I even have had to use each one for double duty. And here I am still standing ;>).

 

All the best,

Glenn B

I've Often Asked My Friend Pete...

...about how many bodies he has buried in his basement but he's not telling. So when I saw this over at Wirecutter's blog, I knew it would soon be posted on mine too.

Peter A, this could not fit you better:

A hat tip to Wirecutter for having it posted so I could borrow it and maybe to Wisco Dave too since his name was under it. Of course, my compliments to the designer!

All the best,
Glenn B

 

Sorry She Asked - I Would Think So

I'm unable to embed the video but clicking on the link and watching it that way will be well worth it. Simply put it is a fine example of straight talk that was used to answer a question that should not have been asked. Then again, I think everyone on the panel and in the audience (with one possible exception) was happy it was asked even though it had nothing to do with the ongoing discussion. Watch and listen to one of the panelists answer the question posed by a Muslim woman who was trying to turn a good talk to her own advantage by changing the subject and by making us feel sorry for all those good Islamists. See:

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/heritage-foundation-panelist-radical-islam.

A hat tip to Mike McC for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Romanian WASR-10 - There Has Gotta Be An Better Way...

...to put the receiver cover back onto my Romanian WASR-10. Yeah, I know, put it in place and whack it from the top rear at about a 35-45 degree angle down and toward the muzzle. Hardly ever works and I do mean hardly. I have had many folks familiar with AK_47s and WASR-10s try with my rifle all without any decent margin of success. Then sometimes it just goes on with one whack of the heel of my hand - go figure!

After trying about 25-30 times today, I was about to grind the bottom edge of the back opening a bit but decided to use a brass punch and hammer first. I held the cover in place, kept as much downward and forwards pressure as I could on it in the rear, then with the fingers on the same hand I finagled a brass punch into position along the bottom rear edge of the cover, and then whacked the bottom edge of the cover right under where the back of the return spring guide protrudes and it popped right into place. I know there has gotta be a better way - if you know - let me know and video certainly would be extra nice. 

Thanks,
Glenn B

Well, I Woke Up This Morning...

...and I got myself a beer - the future's uncertain and the end is always near. (The Doors from Roadhouse Blues.) It rang true today though. July 4th is reportedly the day on which more beer gets drank than on any other day in the US of A.



Truth be told, I had a mug a Joe first but I think a beer sounds good right about now. Considering I only crawled out of bed at about 11 and it's now 1233, that is pretty close to waking up and grabbing a cold one. Pardon me while I hit the fridge a tad early - gotta be allowed to do that at least once or twice per year don't ya think!

All the best,
Glenn B

My Fourth Of July Post - No Not Mine...

...but Wirecutter's - is a masterpiece! The essence of everything he says is spot on about the state of our nation today. Many Americans (meant as citizens and legal residents of our nation and not of a continent) are starting to see the light and are starting to realize that the time is nigh to do something about our current state of affairs to prevent it from becoming worse and to regain our Independence, rights and liberties. Even the current tyrant's supporters are coming to realize that our current president is the worst since at least WWII and that he has little to absolutely no regard or respect for the law and manipulates it at will. 

Prepare friends, for the wind that blows is strong and harsh and carries with it hardships we have never before known but with determination we may withstand it, even change its course and become free citizens again. Without further ado, here is Kenny Lane's (Wirecutter's) "My Fourth Of July Post":

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My Fourth Of July Post

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Wirecutter

The Fourth has always been a special day for me. Anybody that knows me knows I’m not big on holidays. Christmas and Thanksgiving are a pain as far as preparations go and having to deal with family that doesn’t want anything to do with me the rest of the year, Easter – I’m surprised they still celebrate Easter seeing as it’s offensive to muslims and liberals, Veteran’s and Memorial day always rubbed me wrong because those are days for memories that should be thought of everyday, Labor Day is just an excuse for a barbecue, but the Fourth to me was always special because of the anniversary it represents.

Not anymore. The Fourth is nothing but a reminder of what a mess our Nation has become. Our Founding Fathers and the Citizens of that period sacrificed everything to ensure Freedom for their descendants and immigrants coming here to seek a better life for themselves and their families. There were provisions in the Constitution to prevent the new government from becoming what they were trying to get out from under. The Bill of Rights came later naming our basic human rights so that future generations wouldn’t pervert the Yellowed Paper in order to grant them powers that weren’t theirs to begin with.

Now I get up in the morning and read what the government wants me to read. If the press isn’t in lockstep with the president then they aren’t allowed in his press corp. If you file for something under the Freedom of Information Act, you see only what the government wants you to see, everything else is blacked out.
 My weapons of self defense are government approved but they say if I don’t have a permit for them then they must stay at home, but at the same time the government says the police have no obligation or duty to protect me or mine.
 My food has to be approved by the government. I can no longer drink raw milk or eat cheese that hasn’t been homogenized or pasteurized because evidently I don’t know what’s good for me. Even homeopathic medicines have to be government approved if I want to buy them instead of growing and harvesting them myself.
 Our children are wards of the State. If they attend a public school, they learn what the government wants them to learn. The government has changed history to suit their views, not what really happened. You are not allowed to discipline your children with your own hand under threat of law. The government determines if your children are eating healthy lunches or not – not lunches from school but what Mom has packed for them.
 We’re under constant surveillance. Every time I walk out of my house I have to assume I’m on somebody’s camera. Traffic cams, security cams, dash cams, you name it. My emails are being monitored by the government. My website is being monitored by the government. Every piece of mail – every piece – passing through the post office is photographed and recorded. Every phone call we make, every text we send is monitored by the NSA. Boxes on the side of the roads log in bluetooth information from passing cars to determine who’s in what car traveling down the road, where you got on the road and where you left it. Radar is monitoring our speed.
 Our public lands are no longer public. The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service determine what we can and cannot do on our own public lands and reserve the right to charge us fees for their use. If you resist you will be arrested, fined and possibly imprisoned.
 Everything has to be registered. Our vehicles are registered, our animals are registered, our firearms are registered, our watercraft is registered. By the way, you can read that as taxed.
Our police have gone from being peace officers to law enforcement officers. They have the right by decree of government to search you simply by stating they believe you may have committed a crime. In some cities they can search you just because they want to. They burst into our homes, kill our dogs and search our personal belongings with only the simplest of causes. SWAT teams – a concept that was designed for hostage situations – conduct an average of 124 raids every day. Now they raid barber shops for unlicensed (read that untaxed) barbers, they’re raiding dairies suspected of selling raw milk and they’re raiding mom and pop marijuana growers.
 With the NDAA and “Patriot” Act, we no longer have a right to an attorney or a Right to a speedy trial in front of a jury of our peers, in fact we no longer have a Right to a trial at all. Indefinite detention is the Plan of the Day at the pleasure of the government.
 The tax man takes between 30 and 50% of our paychecks, most of it outright theft. We support, out of our paychecks and from the sweat of our brow, cash and food for those that won’t work, medical and child care for those same deadbeats, organizations through federal and state grants that we don’t morally support or agree with, wars that we may not agree with, and anything else that the government feels is necessary.
 Any mention of God has been removed from our schools and government buildings even though this once-great Nation was founded on Christian principles. We can no longer pray before meetings nor can our children while at school. Our churches are regulated as far as mentioning politics. The entire “Separation of Church and State” has been twisted from not allowing the State to force a religion on us to not wanting to offend anybody by asserting our personal beliefs.
Our Nation is presently being overrun with illegal immigrants and our government who swore an oath to obey the Constitution and the Law of the Land is ignoring the law by not defending our borders. In fact, they’re encouraging these illegals to come by rewarding them with promises of a better life and citizenship. If you think this bothers you, think about the immigrants that came here legally and got pushed to the back of the line because of promises that our politicians have made to the illegals.
Our politicians truly believe they are above us, forgetting that they serve us and not the other way around. We have politicians that carry firearms and surround themselves with bodyguards, yet they deny us the very basic human Right to defend ourselves by outlawing us commoners to own and carry firearms and other weapons. They break laws with impunity, yet imprison us for doing the same. They refuse to listen to the People’s desires and instead enact laws they want. We have a president that says we must conserve energy and cut down on pollutants, yet he and his family fly on Air Force One for their many vacations every year. Our fuel prices have been above $3 a gallon for a record breaking 1200 days because our president refuses to cut our dependency on foreign oil and use our own natural resources which would also provide much needed jobs for us. Our president bows to foreign Heads of State, showing them that he believes we are subservient to them. Our government has done everything it can to make sure that we, as a Nation, serves it instead of the other way around.

This is not the Nation our Founding Fathers wanted for us. I know that if they could see what we’ve turned into, they would be appalled. I know I am, and that’s the reason the Fourth holds no special place in my heart anymore.
-Kenny Lane (Wirecutter)
www.knuckledraggin.com
Ceres, CA.

For the past week I’ve probably started a half dozen posts just for the one day we have to celebrate our Founding Father’s groundwork for a new, Free Nation under God.
I trashed every one of them. Instead, I wrote this. I kept the language clean so that if anybody wanted to use it on their sites, they could without editing.
As with anything you find here, it’s free for anybody to use. I only ask that it’s published in it’s entirety and that my name and link at the bottom be included. I WANT the government to know I wrote this.

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By the way, don't believe him for a moment when he says the Fourth holds no special place in his heart - he never could have written that piece if it was really true. Wirecutter is an American patriot through and through.

All the best,
Glenn B

Shooters - My Kind of a Restaurant

This place sounds great. Granted I am not very religious but their habit of "...throwing Jesus all over the place" is okay by me since I support freedom of religion. Well that is so long as religion does not curtail any of my rights and liberties to exercise my rights as does that so called religion of peace.

The thing I really like about the restaurant is its policy on firearms. They welcome customers to wear a firearm, in the holster, while in the restaurant. In fact their waitresses are reportedly armed as well. I don't know their policy on long-guns on the premises but imagine that policy would be similar. Shooters is quite aptly named considering the town where it is located - Rifle, CO. If I had the money, I could see a vacation trip there and breakfast each day of my stay at Shooters just to show some support.

Source: http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140703&id=17752157

All the best,
Glenn B

Independence Day - Already Tomorrow

I was a bit surprised to remember, a few minutes after I woke up this morning, that tomorrow is Independence Day. Somehow, I kept thinking that it was not until Saturday. Anyway, lately it almost has seemed as if it is further off than that and sometimes it almost seems as if there is hostility brewing over it being a holiday. 

Today, I went to a few stores and the like. In one in particular, I said Happy Independence day to a couple of the store workers and one ignored me and walked away and the other scowled at me. I was thinking I should start looking for another place to do the particular business I was doing there today but concluded I will give them another chance first because it must have been an off day for them. At FedEx, I wished the clerk, who took my package, a Happy Independence Day and she seemed genuinely surprised and very appreciative to hear me say so and returned the wish to me with gusto. My bet would be that not many have been wishing that to her today and she was quite happy to hear it. That was nice.

Oh well, I am wishing it to just about everyone with whom I come in contact, regardless. So, in the event I am too busy tomorrow, let me wish it to you too:

Happy Independence Day to all of you (and for those of you who do not yet realize that about which I am speaking - Happy July 4th).

Be careful with the fireworks and the firearms while celebrating tomorrow. Try to remember that gunpowder does not mix well with alcohol and/or mind altering drugs so get any shooting and setting off of fireworks done before you imbibe. Have a nice BBQ or whatever and enjoy the day in the spirit of our nation's founders.

Just one other thing, I keep getting reminded by a friend of mine on Facebook that animals (specifically dogs but I don't see why other pets should be excluded) do not always like fireworks and are stressed out by them. I agree but will not tell you what to do with your pets - you should know best what to do if they are badly affected by them. I just wanted to point out that some pets, like dogs, are not at all anxiety stricken when the fireworks start going off, some of them even seem to have fund with them.



All the best,
Glenn B