Busy With Yard Work - No Range Time

Started cleaning the BBQ grill today, had to stop because I ran out of cleaner. Tomorrow for that. Continued working on back lawn, ripping it up with a pick axe, little by little, and planting a new lawn. Did that up front, half the lawn is lush with thick bladed grass, the other half is partly grassy but looks like a 25 year old guy in the middle of going bald. I don't quite get why one side of the front lawn has one type of grass - nice thick grass blades and the other side a different type, thin like an old hag's hair. Maybe I used some old seed before I bought the new stuff. Wish I could remember what was the old stuff cause I put the new stuff in for the back yard too and it is coming in like it is in the front - partly baldy and the grass leaves are thin, skimpy looking sad little things. Oh well, I can check online before I buy more seed cause I am not going to ask one of the buffoons at Homer's Depot again.

The work in the back is going slow. I probably did an 8x8 or maybe 10x10 area today. hacking away with the pick axe to turn the soil down to a few inches and rip up whatever grass is there. Then kneeling down and pulling away all the old grass and weeds, getting whatever soil off that I can free from the roots, and trashing the rest (some going on the compost heap but  that may be a lost cause this year, my son kind of messed it up trying tom do a good deed). As for the back yard, some parts are bare other parts a lush. Just had a paving block walk and small patio put in and they filled in around it with dirt because they put it in above grade due to the nature of the grade. What they did though was put new fill atop old grass and dead grass roots. Just makes it more difficult hacking away at it with the pick axe but I got through all of that, or so I think. Just one small patch to go and I will have completed about 1/2 of the back lawn/yard. Have it all fenced off so the dogs wont mess it up. I will let that grow in and establish itself somewhat and only then will I start the other half.

Also, I went to Homer's Depot tonight to get more topsoil for fill. Taking out the old grass sure removes a lot of soil. My backyard is small and so far I have bought about 20 cubic feet of top soil. My son thinks it is too much but I am pretty sure it will not be enough. Cheap enough, so no big problem, just a bitch unloading the car tonight because right after going to Homer's, I hit the gym and did 4.5 miles on the treadmill. Then I come home to find my son's car in the driveway, meaning I had to park across the street and lug ten bags of that dirt into my backyard from there instead of much closer. Not the end of the world though, I found his stash of two bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky in the garage and cracked one open (with his permission). I am enjoying it now mixed in with a Kirkland Signature Pale Ale. Delicious! My son is enjoying knocking back a few at the local family pub. More lawn work for me tomorrow and watering the flowers and veggies and cleaning the grill and cleaning some of the critter enclosures and little to no time for the range.  I need some range time badly, want to finally sight in my Mossberg XL7, just received a laser bore sight for it. The Gods know that it is about time, heck I have had it well over a year and have not shot it even once. Maybe I can do that Wednesday or Thursday.

All the best,
GB

Smart Reuse Of Corks Or Is It A Training Video For A Future Alcoholic...

...or maybe it is both. I am making no judgments about this one; all I can think is that with all those corks - somebody must be drinking a lot of wine.

http://www.ulive.com/video/wine-cork-coasters-3-more-ways-to-use-up-your-wine-cork-stash

I supply the link, you watch and you decide.

All the best,
GB

Why Resort To Deadly Force?

Watch the video and tell me do you see a need for the police officer (the guy with the number 99 on the back of his shirt) to evidently have applied a choke hold to the suspect. I have watched the video repeatedly over the past couple of days and no matter how many times I watch it, I do not see a reason for him to have resorted to deadly force. Do you see any reason for the officer to have resorted to the use of deadly force?

As I said, I sure don't but maybe someone else sees it another way and can explain to me why deadly force was applied. Yes - choke holds are considered deadly force. If that was not a choke hold, I sure missed or misunderstood something in my martial arts and law enforcement training.



I could understand resorting to deadly force, even a choke hold, if the officer had the required amount of reasonable cause (or probable cause - which was required on my job to use deadly force) necessary to believe his or another's life was in danger or that the threat posed risk of serious bodily injury to him or others. I saw no need for deadly force to be employed - none at all - but maybe you see something I am missing. The only thing I can think of is that the offender had a history of using deadly force against officers in the past and that could be figured into the reasoning, along with his resisting, for the officer to use deadly force - but I think that is a stretch. Otherwise, I just don't understand why it was used.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

I Think He Got Only Half The Beating He Deserved

A father reportedly walked into a room to see another man allegedly sexually assaulting the father's 11 year old son at a home in Daytona Beach, FL. A short while later, the dad called 911 to report:

 "I just walked in a grown man molesting...and I got him in a bloody puddle for you, officer."

In addition he also told the police:

"He is nice and knocked out on the floor for you"

The boy reportedly said that the man, identified as Raymond Frolander, took him to a another room in the house and pulled his pants down (I don't know if that means the suspect pulled his own pants down or if he pulled the boys pants down).

The suspect reportedly told police: "I'm guilty" when he was questioned by them.

More at the source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/18/florida-dad-beats-man-found-raping-his-son-report-says/?intcmp=latestnews

I would say that the guy is lucky to be alive and that he probably only received about half the beating that he deserved. I have to say though, only half the beating was one hell of a whooping. Just look at that face!

The father was not charged. However, if the father is arrested and charged for this at a later date, and if there is a legal defense fund set up for him (of which I become aware), I am pretty sure I will make a donation if the facts remain as reported. I have to hand it to him, the father showed a lot of restraint. As far as I am concerned, he deserves a medal for giving him a beating and not outright killing that piece of dirt. Now, I would guess that is he is convicted, the suspect will have lots of really close buddies while in prison - really close and intimate too! It does not get much better than that.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Even Though The Evidence Indicates The Separatists Fired The Missile...

...each party involved reportedly is blaming another. The Ukrainians have blamed the Russian backed separatists and say they have recorded phone calls that prove so. The Russians, in the form of Putin, are blaming the Ukrainians - not for firing the missile but Putin says they caused the unrest and that led to the downing of the plane. (Source.)

I am not sure if the Russians or the Donetsk People’s Republic (the separatists) are the ones doing what I am about to mention but I believe it is the Donetsk People's Republic, in particular the Cossacks among them. They are blaming someone alright but it may not be whom you would expect. They have blamed, in effect, Malaysian Airlines. The following is part of the third of the recorded phone calls, purportedly between Russian Intelligence and members of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and it pretty much places the blame squarely on Malaysian Airlines:

““... They shouldn’t be fucking flying. There is a war going on.”" (Source of quote.)

I guess my theory that maybe Muslim Extremists were involved has been flushed down the toilet, which I pretty much expected would happen but I never would have imagined that anyone would have blamed the airline, the plane, the crew or the passengers. One would think that in a war, proper identification of the target would be a primary concern. Would these arsehats have blamed the flight crew had it been a Russian or a Donetsk People's Republic military plane that they shot down  by mistake? I doubt it, they probably already would be facing a field court marshal or have been shot by now. That they were arsehats though there is no denying. Not only were they desperate enough to try to push the blame onto the airline by saying they should not have been flying over the disputed territory in the Ukraine, they also took it a step further. See those three dots in the above quote, they indicate there was something in that quote before the part I quoted. Here it is:

"That means they were carrying spies..." (Source of quote.)

The person saying that is referring to the aircraft flying over disputed Ukrainian territory. That part makes the quote complete and shows the utter outlandishness of the separatists in trying to assuage their own responsibility for killing 298 innocent people. Blaming it on the victims seemingly never gets to old to use just one more time. Let's hope things don't get much crazier than this; lesser incidents than one like this have led to major wars in the past.

I guess the only ones I have not heard from regarding placing blame for this is Malaysian Airlines. I imagine they have a lot more important things to attend to right now than that.

All the best,
Glenn B

Here Is One For The Conspiracy Theorists (or Is it Two)

We assumed that either Malaysia Airline flight MH370, that disappeared in march either went down because of catastrophic aircraft failure or because of terrorism. The airliner has yet to be found but we have some clues leaning toward terrorism such as the deviation in flight path of that plane, the fact that the pilot said everything was okay despite the deviated flight path, the flight simulator in the pilot's (or was it co-pilot's) home and so on.

Now we have a second Malaysian Airlines aircraft, flight number MH17, a Boeing 777 like the first, that has gone down. This one over the Ukraine but evidently shot down by a missile. Now the pundits are saying it had to have been either shot down by the Ukraine, or by separatists in the Ukraine, or by Russia. Each might have something to gain if they could get it to appear that the other side did it. ach would have a lot to lose if the blame was assigned to them.

Presuming that MH17 was shot down by a missile, might we also put forth the hypothesis that yet another party may stand to gain if they shot it down instead? I am also wondering if it is a sad coincidence that this is the second Malaysian Airlines aircraft that apparently has gone down in a few months or was it not coincidental. In other words was this a planned attack with Malaysia Airlines as the target? Thinking along those lines makes me ask myself, who other than Russia, the separatists, or the Ukraine might have done it and, then who could gain the most from it and pretty much stand to lose nothing if they were found out. The answer that keeps resonating throughout the little gray cells is: Muslim Extremists.

In the case of extremists attacking flight MH17 (the one that was shot down today) by coincidence, they might have done so to gain increased infamy among their cohorts, furtherance of the Extremist Islamist jihad against the rest of the world, and probably an increase in recruitment. They might gain if they cause an all out war between Russia and the Ukraine just by their having attacked it or any other company's airliner. If war broke out over this because it was wrongly believed it had to have been Russia, or separatists, or the Ukraine, when it fact it may have been Islamic terrorists, other countries might ultimately become involved in that war. Thereby, enemies of Islamist extremists (virtually any non-Muslim country and even many Muslim countries) might be weakened by involvement in such a war. The combatants who would be busy fighting one another would have less time to devote to the cessation of terrorism and the termination of Islamic extremism. 

Now maybe the flight today and the one in March were targeted purposefully. Why target two Malaysian Airlines flights months apart? Well, Malaysia is over 60% Muslim. There are conflicts between Muslim groups there on a regular basis, deadly conflicts. The government of Malaysia is trying to quell the conflicts and thus in essence has taken a sides. The airline is run by the government. There you have it, reason enough for one extremist group or another to attack their airline, simply because it is associated with a government they oppose.

Note, I am not saying that this flight or even the first missing Malaysian airliner in fact was brought down by Muslim Extremists. I am just putting forth the hypothesis that both could have been and that maybe it is not coincidence that the flight shot down today was also a Malaysian Airlines flight. I will leave it to those conducting the investigation to determine such but it certainly is something interesting to ponder for now as long as the evidence does not rule it out.

All the best,
Glenn B
   

Talk About Precise Aim

Talk about precision aim, I have only seen an aim as good as this guy's once before. I saw the following video over at Wirecutter's blog and it immediately reminded me of another excellent piece of work and precision aiming so I had to steal it and repost it here:



That was an excellently calculated perfect job when it came to tree cutting. Can you imagine an aim that precise! That man is a modern artist at work if ever there was one.
 
Seeing that video brought to my mind another man with a precise aim when it came to downing trees. Heck, I have not thought about this in probably more than 30 years and it happened several years longer ago than that. Back in the mid-seventies, I watched my friend's dad chop down a tree at their cottage in upstate NY. We used to crash there after partying in New Paltz; we would raid parties at the college or just bar hop in town - at that time more bars per square foot of any town I had ever visited - pre 21 year age drinking laws.

Well, he chopped down a tree, close to the cottage, close to their garden and picnic table and other structures as I recall. Everyone except him thought the tree was going to fall in the exact opposite direction than he had planned and onto the house, but he told us exactly where the tree would fall. He held out his arms to indicate the width of the tree, walked a path where he said it would fall with arms still held out. We all thought, 'yeah right' and wished him luck. He just went back to cutting.  At one point, near the end, he stopped, examined his work, decided to start cutting somewhat more on a different side and at a different angle and we all thought "Oh Shit" since he seemed to be changing his cutting plan.

When the tree began to fall, it started to come straight down, sliding down - the upper cut area against the lower for a split second. It looked as if it would just replant itself by impaling the cut end of the trunk back into the earth. Then amazingly to we who watched, it started to tilt and somehow fell in the right direction. Not only did it go the right way, it fell exactly where he said it would fall - all in less than a second or two.

He did not use chain saw, he did not use wedges, he used a hand saw and an axe - and a lot of muscle and sweat with that axe and saw - mostly the axe. I vaguely recall that we gave him some help with the saw. He reserved the axe for himself and we just did a bit and only exactly how he said to do it with the saw. He was the artist, the grand planner maker, the master tradesman at work. How I wish we had had an 8mm or 16mm camera to film that at the time (no video recorders or cell phones cameras back then). It was a work of art and he was truly akin to da Vinci at getting it done. Oddly enough, he too, like the guy in that video, was pretty thankful that it had fallen the right way and he wasn't thanking himself either.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is There Really No Doubt That Things Have Gotten Better Mr. President?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa1qev_master-illusionist-barack-obama_news" target="_blank">Master illusionist Barack Obama

by http://www.dailymotion.com/GWHH19" target="_blank">GWHH19

Tell me Mr. President, do you believe your own absolutely baseless bullshit rhetoric that the economy is improving and that we may be about to see the end of the recession. It's been three years since you said that; I do not see an end to the recession on the horizon - do you! Do you still blame George W. Bush for the terrible state of the economy under your administration. Heck you said it had gotten better but evidence has built up, over the three years since you said that in June 2009, to show that the economy is actually getting worse. Gasoline prices are high as the sky for longer than under any other president in my lifetime. The U.S. economy is still shrinking (in fact it shrank its worst in 5 years in the first quarter of 2014). See:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101787838 

Oh how the left loves to claim it is already rebounding - seems we keep hearing that a lot then the facts refute it). Taxes have risen markedly  with you at the helm which is often a harbinger, if not the cause, of more economic failure to come. Yet, in states where taxes have been lowered their economy has improved, take for instance Kansas - see:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/sectors/item/18685-kansas-tax-cuts-already-improving-the-state-s-economy.

You go ahead Mr. President, keep on promoting higher taxes and more government spending to supposedly create jobs. I really mean that because I am hopeful it will help assure you go down as the worst president in the history of the USA. Of course, you try to blame another, there are jobs, or lack of them, that you have blamed on your predecessor. Yes the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 under the previous president but  as you can see in the government's own statistics on unemployment, the rate was on average much lower under that president - much, much lower. Under you President Obama, the rate kept rising for a few years, then slowly has fallen but unemployment is still way above the average it was under the previous administration. When it comes to current unemployment, it appears things are about to get worse. Microsoft has announced that it plans to layoff 18,000 employees over the course of the next year, see:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/07/17/microsoft-to-eliminate-up-to-18k-jobs-over-next-year/

Indeed, you announced cutting our military forces to the lowest level since prior to WWII. See both:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/13/pentagon-gives-pink-slips-to-hundreds-soldiers-including-active-duty-officers/ and

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/24/soldiers-troops-fired-reduction-downsizing/5560515/

Now tell me please, President Obama, where do you think those military personnel will find employment once back home? They will not find jobs at companies like Microsoft and certainly not at companies already cutting employees because of Obama-care. Then again, why are you (note I said "you" instead of we, just as you so often say "I" instead of we) downsizing the military in the face of renewed hostile actions in the Middle East. Did we fight a war only to see our accomplishments destroyed in the blink of an eye because we were no committed to prevailing over the long term?

You sir have just about destroyed the economy and the American Way. Helping you along the way have been your henchmen such as Geitner who headed the IRS but could not or would not file his taxes properly. Lerner who targeted political groups for tax harassment and who then when faced with an investigation seemingly destroyed her own government emails although it was mandatory for her to retain them. Pelosi who said over and over again that keeping people on unemployment for a longer time makes the economy grow (she truly seems to be out of her mind and you rely on her over and over again as an ally). Eric Holder who seemingly knows nothing about anything from Operation Gunrunner or Fast & Furious to the murders of Border Patrol Agents on our southern border, to him calling the Fort Hood massacre "work place violence" instead of labeling it terrorism thus showing he does not understand what constitutes a terrorist act. It appears to be just one scandal after another with the Holder.

Then again, it is pretty much the same with the incompetent boobs you have placed into positions of power such a Hillary Clinton of "...what difference does it make" relative to the killings of U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Sebelius reportedly seeking payment from U.S. corporations to help pay for Obama-care, the head of the GSA under whom the GSA held an extravagant party in Vegas during a conference at which it spent over 800 grand, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson using an alias when she corresponded in official government emails, Joe Biden (yes your VP) forcing a reporter to wait in a closet. There are many more examples of incompetence and scandals within your administration. Please explain to me how anything, except for an extreme leftist agenda that is weakening America, could be getting better due to anything you have done?

The truth is that our economy, and the remainder of issues falling under the state of the Union, continue to trudge through the mud. We are facing not only economic ruin but the destruction of the American way under your command as you incessantly fail to work with Congress and claim you will go it yourself even though that is likely in violation of the Constitution in many instances of the action you take. Is it true sir, what you said: "So there's no doubt that things have gotten better ...." I don't think so but I do believe what you said a moment later, in essence about your rhetoric: "... But that's little comfort if you're one of the folks who have lost their job, and haven't found another". Mr. President you were right on the money when you said it was little comfort to folks like that and it remains so as the economy remains in a major slump and is once again about to be losing high numbers of jobs. I conclude sir, that you are, without doubt, the worst president of my life time.

All the best for America,
Glenn B

ZoNation Shoots A Bull's-Eye

The aim of these guys was true and they hit dead center of the bull's-eye, the target being the leftist agenda on firearms ownership, the NRA and race baiting.

All the best,
GB

I Thought I Had Miserable Luck...

...but some guys just have worse luck than mine - much, much, much worse than mine.



None of my girlfriends ever had one of those, at least not attached to them!

A hat tip to Enrique P for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

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