Now, this is an Asshole Cop. And he got off too easily, like most cops do.

Really?

I don't know about you, but I don't appreciate having another dude rummaging through my toolbox.

Let the punchlines fly...

What To Do?

If I post it, will they come?

Because Only We Can Fuck Up The Simple Shit.

OK, so it's looking like navy ships and airstrikes against the regime in Syria... but we ain't takin sides, OK? Let's make that clear.

This is NOT what I called for.

What I called for was a simple administration of extra-judicial justice.

If we could locate Ali Mohamed Maliki Shabazz al-Jihad sitting in a cafe, in a land that nobody can find on a map, and drone his ass without warning, we can easily do this Assad guy who has a much higher profile.

We don't need a drone. Single tap to the back of the skull with a .22. It worked on Kennedy's. It will work on Assads, too.

This will not end well.
They should have listened to me.

Syria

Clear evidence shows that the govt of Syria has used poison gas as a weapon against civilians. In a situation like this, I whole-heartedly endorse the United States taking action to lead a coalition to punish that  Assad guy.
He must hang.

It doesnt mean we need to send troops to engage in the fighting, but I would like to entertain the idea of sending Special Forces under cover to carry out an assassination or kidnapping of sorts...

Or, just maybe... we could locate and drone the mother fucker or something.... and then walk away, making our point that some shit is just too 'over the top' for civilized people to accept.

Assad acts as he does because he feels that he is untouchable. He's got the Russians backing him up, and nobody really wants to take on the Russians, do they?

No Problem... Drone his murderous ass, and let the Russians deal with that.
They will not, because they can not.

It will send a message to all the other crack pot dictators: Cross the line, and you may die... and there is nothing your (equally murderous) Russian buddies can do about it.

This HAD To Hurt

Another case of the stories writing themselves.

Doctors have removed a 10cm long steel fork from inside a man’s penis, after a sexual adventure went horribly wrong.

The 70-year-old visited Canberra Hospital’s emergency department complaining of bleeding genitalia.

He then promptly admitted that he had inserted a piece of cutlery into his urethra in an attempt to pleasure himself.

Unfortunately the attempt backfired and it became stuck, leaving him in considerable pain. Despite this, it took him 12 hours to pluck up the courage to seek medical help.

LINK

Character

"It's how you treat those who can do nothing for you."

I saw this somewhere, a long time, decades ago... I really need to stop that.

The Daily Curse

I got my first set of eyeglasses when I was 15.  Evidently,  I had been near sighted for years without knowing (explaining why I was such lousy player in Little League, I guess. It's hard to run for a fly ball that you can't see til it's too late to get under it.)

Nearsightedness is not what it used to be and as the years go by, my eyes get worse. As it stands now,  I cant see shit from halfway across the room unless I have my glasses on, and I cant see shit within arms reach when they are.

I've tried bifocals.
I can't handle them, can't get used to them, and wasted too much money on three pair of lenses already.
OK, so bifocals will not be a part of my life. I'm set in stone on that issue.

So I live a life where the glasses come off, go on, come off, go on... repeatedly...  throughout the day... even several times during the same task.

While the glasses are always coming off it stands to expect that they are also too often misplaced. Just experienced such an episode today. Took three hours to find where I had left them, and I was really hoping to watch some TV in that time.

Part of this is my choice of style, I guess. I tend to prefer the minimal dark wire frames. The ones that blend in easily to whatever surface they have been laid upon, making them difficult enough to see as it is, let alone for somebody for whom seeing is more difficult.

So now I'm thinkin... my set of frames should be Elton John style: huge garish things with neon glitter and flashing Christmas lights on them.
Sure, it's kinda gay... (ok, so it's a lot gay...) but at least I wont miss a football game any more.

Personally...

I think that it would be really cool if Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury prior to Week 1, and Tim  Tebow led the Patriots to a  18-0 season before losing the Super Bowl in a blow out by The Bears.

Icing on an already near perfect cake: Green Bay goes 0-16 for the season with Rodgers taking all the snaps.

A Word From The Brothas

According to two dear and real friends of mine, Jerome and Greg,  Zimmerman beat the rap because The State intentionally put the 'B' Team... no the 'C' Team... 'C' Team my ass, they brought the 'D' Team,... that's right...  to lead the prosecution.

There was a heated discussion today. I stayed on the edges and played relished the role of passive agitator.

Yup. There really is Two Americas.

So It Seems...

...That I may have killed off my own blog through lack of posting.

Still, I believe that I owe the blogosphere an explanation.

I'll get to that in the coming days (lots of drama and oodles of trauma had left me barely able to function beyond my day-to-day duties of functioning day to day) while I gear up for a return to the ever contracting world of blogging.

Why I should bother, I do not know....

A Cracker For Lunch

Today, I spent most of my lunch period laughing my ass off at nigger jokes. There go my TV and book deals... dammit...

(mental note: stay away from Jerome. he's a bad influence.)

Trying To Explain, So I'll Begin Here...

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we turn to a story we posted online earlier today.
We have done extensive reporting on a set of drugs commonly known as bath salts. These street drugs have been on the rise in recent years and pose serious problems for law enforcement. They are packaged to look like common household products with names like Lady Bubbles or White Dove.

But the chemicals in them and the high they produce can be devastating for lives and communities. Their effects can be stronger and longer-lasting than other drugs like amphetamines and cocaine.
Researchers are trying to understand how they work and how the chemistry behind them continues to change.
Louis De Felice is one of those researchers studying this new class of substances at Virginia Commonwealth University. And he joins me now from Richmond.
Thank you for being with us.

Bath Salts: The Drug That Never Lets Go - read our investigation into the human costs, the legal battles, and the science behind these pernicious new drugs.

And let me just start by saying, when people hear the term bath salts, maybe they think of Epsom salts, which you would buy at a pharmacy, in a drugstore, but this is very different. Tell us what they are.

LOUIS DE FELICE, Virginia Commonwealth University: Well, you're right. It's very different than the name implies.
It's a benign street name, I think, invented to make it sound harmless. These chemicals are very different and very dangerous than their name implies.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And how long have they been around?

LOUIS DE FELICE: Well, they became popular just years ago, at least in America. The drugs themselves have been around longer in Eastern Europe and in the U.K.
And the basic component of the drug, which is called cathinone, and the derivatives from cathinone, have been around hundreds and maybe even thousands of years.
It's a naturally occurring substance from which bath salts are derived.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, tell us, Dr. De Felice, how are they used and how are they different from other illegal drugs we're familiar with hearing about, methamphetamines, for example?

LOUIS DE FELICE: Well, first of all, bath salts is not a defined substance. It's a combination of drugs. There are several main components that are in bath salts. But you shouldn't think of it as just one kind of drug.
So it contains what are called cathinones, particularly synthetic cathinones.
And what we discovered was that some of these cathinones behave like methamphetamine, very similar to methamphetamine. But other of the synthetic cathinones that are in bath salts behave like cocaine.
So it's an insidious combination of two drugs, one of which, the methamphetamine-like component, releases dopamine into the brain, and the other, called MDPV, actually prevents dopamine from being taken up again.
So it's as if a person were to take methamphetamine and cocaine in just the right way to keep levels of dopamine very high in the brain for long periods of time.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And what effect does that have on a person?

LOUIS DE FELICE: Well, dopamine, as you know, is a transmitter that is used for quite a few normal human functions. One of them is locomotion. It's also involved in mood and cognition.
So the effects can be locomotor.
They can be effects on a person's ability to move and function normally, but also rather outrageous hallucinations and cognitive disorders, very similar to what you would have on a methamphetamine high or a cocaine high, except the combination is particularly devastating and longer-lasting.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And when you say devastating, what do you mean? Just give us an example of what can happen.

LOUIS DE FELICE: I will. The phenotype of a person who is on bath salts -- and, remember, bath salts isn't just one well-defined combination of drugs -- is very peculiar.
First of all, the person apparently feels extreme powers of strength, inability to sense pain, very hard to subdue and hold down.
The people also -- the abusers of bath salts also frequently and for some unknown reason take their clothes off and tear away at their body parts.
So these are unusual features of a drug abuser that are phenotypic for bath salts themselves and allow enforcement agents -- agencies to determine or at least identify whether or not the people are using bath salts.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally, Dr. De Felice, why is it so important to get the word out about this substance?

LOUIS DE FELICE: Well, I think it is important, because it's very cheap. It's readily available. It's a -- as I already said, it's a combination of drugs, some of which could be very dangerous, almost in a lethal sense very dangerous.
So I think it's important for news agencies to aware -- to make the public aware of the importance and severity of these drugs.
And I also think it's important to do research in this area, so we can find out more about these drugs. And our research is funded by NIDA at the National Institutes of Health.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we know that obviously these drugs have led to death in a number of instances.

LOUIS DE FELICE: Yes. Yes, that's the ultimate sort of self-degradation, which, of course, is suicide. And some of these abusers have actually committed suicide. That's correct.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Louis De Felice at Virginia Commonwealth University, we thank you very much.

LOUIS DE FELICE: Thank you very much.

here's the link.

Grammar and Spelling Fail

I saw this yesterday, in Gardena, while visiting Mom and taking her shopping at the local Wal*Mart.

Gardena, California: "We are who you thought we were."

Seriously serious shit happening here, and has been for the past year...
You will all know... 
in time, OK?
Just bear with me.
My blogging is really sucking... there is a reason for that.
It will get better...
It will...
My life will get better, as well...

Kermit Gosnell Sucks!

I oppose Capital Punishment, but I wouldn't be as upset as I normally would be if somebody in prison drove a shank into his spine.

Hi Y'all...

I have limited sympathy to offer the surviving Boston Bombing Suspect, but after hearing his mother speak, ...the pain,... the emotion... my heart goes out to her.

As the father of a son who has never come close to doing a 'Boston Bombing' type of thing, (but has done a few much lesser things... as has the Son of his Grandfather ;)  ) I still feel for her.
Tis a terrible, horrible thing to see one's child involved in something like this.
God bless this woman, despite her faults.
One thing I do know,  is that despite her faults, she never intended her son to do something like that.

I was once 19 and idealistic.
Easily swayed (but not swayed quite as much as this Cat in question. Then again, I did not have a much older brother to look up to, and be swayed by).
I saw much the same zeal in my own Son when his time came...
It did stir an awareness in me at the time.
(His mother said: he's YOUR son, what'd you expect?)

My son is now 26 years old.
He is not the same kid that he was at 19.
That's right!
A kid.
Not a Man.
Neither was I.
Nor were you.
Nobody is a Man at 19.
Not possible, the law be damned...


This Mother is seeing her Son taken from her, facing the Death Penalty.
You need to excuse her reactions at this time.

Keep in mind, in our quest for justice... that...
Her son may not be the same man that he would be if allowed to properly mature into the man that he really is.

I stand opposed to any Capital Punishment in this case.
No man is a Man at 19 years old.
It's just not possible.
To hold him accountable as such is just plain wrong.

Get that. It's wrong.
If this boy dies for what he did in Boston, that would be wrong.

Blogging has been the source of much joy the past several years and has lead to numerous  real-life, honest friendships that span the nation. It's been a blessing.
(and you know who you are.)

I've had a few posts on the burner, some not completed, others intentionally not posted for business reasons. (Bail Bonds is as lucrative as it is competitive, and I didn't think it wise to expose marketing strategy through a Google search. Most of what I have to talk about the past several months has to do with this aspect of my life.)
All of that... and then there are basic life issues as well, things beyond my control and within, that have left me rather ornery...
I'm the happy guy you love today, and tomorrow I'll be the Son-of-a-bitch you wanna punch in the throat.

Fitting, I guess, ...since I am currently 'At War' with United Steel Workers (posted about) while engaged in Jihad against supervision at work;...
 was encouraged today to attend the next union meeting (and have a beer!) on Tuesday where my issue(s) would be discussed, and having to decline, reminding the invitor that my presence was not preferred.
"Oh. Sorry."
Fuck You, and the USW horse you rode in on...

It may be... that I am alone.
It may be... that I am not.

I do not know. My Circle Of Trust contracts by the day.

My Homies (those that I work with who know me: The Local) back me up. This I know.
The USW (i.e.: The International) think that I suck. No... they got that shit wrong... it is they who are doing the sucking... Fuck Them!
All Of Them!

Matters not to me...
This (both of them) is my fight to fight, through my own choosing.
I chose these (overlapping) battles (maybe stupidly) of my own free will.
I will fight them.
To conclusion... both of them.
Get that!

May be, that I am a fool.
May be, that I am not.
Maybe, I am a prophet.

I only know that I can be an asshole at times.
('Asshole' has been my first name before..., that.. and 'Fuckin', as in: 'That Fuckin Gino' (another grievance that worked it's way through the (take-no-prisoners) process 12 yrs ago).
This is one of those times.
(the Supe that imposed 'Fuckin' as my first name has become my most die-hard defender today, and has privately encouraged me in this latest battle. 'Don't back down' he says, 'Don't back down'... )

To know me is to love me, I've always said that, didn't I?

My text messaging is off the charts rights now... tonight!
"Give 'em hell, you bastard"
"Hit the Asshole switch"
" Be Gino!"
"thats Gino"
"Fuk'em"

I may be wrong.
I may be right.
I may win.
I may lose.

What  do I know...?
Right Now!...  
is that my popularity among The Brothers has never been higher than it is tonite.
With one grievance I have become a Rock Star.
USW can go to Hell.
I got this shit, and I don't need you.
So, Fuck Off!


Despite what some might be thinking, I have not abandoned blogging. I just need to find a way out of my funk and get the mojo back again.
I miss being in the conversation and will work my way back into it.
Just bear with me.... OK?

I support every person's right to fall short of the expectations of an other, and that 'other's right to be feel let down and to nag accordingly.

Marriage ain't 'all that'.

Get 'that', and it's an easy conclusion...

"The whole thing reeks of Baby Industrial Complex, I tell ya."

Amanda is rockin the house with this one. Saying a few things that I've noticed along the way...

Silly me, for expecting to find a plain ol' glass thermometer, the design and function of which had been relied upon, from its invention in the early 18th century, throughout my childhood, and beyond, until at least the last time someone stuck one in my mouth in the present century. These days, every @$#%& thing MUST BE DIGITAL. God forbid we're forced to interpret anything in the analog.

And mentioning some real Truth along the way as well...

Then there was the fact that the basal thermometer was pink. You know, because PINK = LADIES! Women are notorious for neglecting write things down with ballpoint pens, operate hand tools, use computers, and drive automobiles unless the products are first dipped into a vat of motherfucking pink paint. Bonus points for flowers, hearts, and lipstick smooches. Teehee, that's just how frivolous and silly women are! Love for pink is hardwired into the brain! As are frivolity and silliness! Because evolution and stuff.

Embrace The Pink, yeah?

Still...

not Irish.

Viva Patricus!
He was not Irish, either.

Been Getting Botted To Hell Lately...

If this keeps up, I will have to go back to the capcha thing for comments.
I hate that.
Sorry.

Blades On A Plane

You've heard that TSA is going to allow passengers to board planes even if they still possess a very, very small pocket knife. The type one would carry on their key chain, usually good for little more can scraping the dirt out your finger nails.
Now, the flight attendant union is all freaked out and concerned about everybody's safety being at risk... hey, can't please all, ya know... but at least potential skyjackers will have clean nails.

It reminds me of leaving for my hunting trip in November, 1999, or then abouts...
I had gathered up all my gear and clothes, packed my bags, ammo, guns, and secured everything with little padlocks.
As I was carrying  it all to the car, I noticed that my field knife was sitting on the table not having made it into the bags.
Too lazy to look for the right key to the right lock, I just grabbed it and stuffed it into my carry on bag, with intent to pack it properly when I unloaded at the airport.

As it happened, the knife did not cross my mind again until the next morning as I was prepping for a morning in the field.
Oh yeah, there it is...
Still in my carry on bag.
That I had carried on.

While I was removing my belt, and placing my keys in the little bowl to make it through security at LAX, my field knife just passed through the metal detector/x-ray machine in my carry on, unnoticed.
 
Not some folding lock-blade, that may have looked like a blob on the x-ray screen. A real knife, suitable for cutting and gutting, 5" plus blade, razor sharp and then some, full tang, in a sheath. The morons full on missed it!

Had  some laughs sharing this story with a few folks at the time, and then forgot about it until 9-11 happened.

Put The Burro Back In The Burrito

The United States Department of Agriculture is likely to approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico in the next two months, which would allow equine meat suitable for human consumption to be produced in the United States for the first time since 2007.

I think the original ban was a stupid thing in the first place.

I don't really get why Americans at large have an issue with horse meat.
It has a sizable market throughout Europe, and I'm not talking the Albania part of Europe, but the culturally respected parts such as France, Germany, and Luxembourg.

I've never eaten horse, but I hear that it's pretty good food that I would certainly like to give a try.

I'll go one further, though.
Establish a hunting season for wild horses, just like we do with other invasive/non-native species (pigs, yeah?) who's environmental damage is legion.
There are too many feral horses out west, so many that BLM does need to round them up from time to time. Generally, not very adoptable, these animals largely end up in slaughter houses. Since 2007, they've been shipped to Canada and Mexico to enrich the economies there.
Now, maybe we can keep that economic activity at home, where it belongs.

Feeling Chippy

Cheesy Garlic Bread Lays: Not a very Italian-like flavor. Kinda like a cross between parmagian and cheddar, herbs are few and a the garlic should be stronger. I really thought I would like these more. Stick with the Sour Cream And Cheddar variety if you want 'cheesy' because this will let you down.









Sriracha Lays: What took so long? Much like the real flavor profile of Sriracha, and it does distinguish itself along that line from just another chili pepper flavored chip. It's a slow burn at first with a deep sense of lingering around a while. After about the 5th chip, my eyes got watery. Enjoy them with beer.











Chicken And Waffles Lays: Slightly sweet maple flavor envelopes the essence of raw pancake batter... and has no place sitting on a potato chip.
It's wrong.

Because It's Cool When they Do It

On the drive home today, I hear that the two cops involved in the mucho reported  Murderous Rampage/Attempted Murder of two newspaper carriers have been placed on 'leave', and an investigation is being done.

'Leave' means: 'With Full Pay, Zero Work'

This was an act of attempted murder with out due process.
Yet, it took one full week for LAPD to do the very minimum that every other citizen assumes should be necessary the very moment  that Attempted Murder took place...

Look at that pic. A blue Toyota masquerading as a Grey Nissan Titan.
Yup, they must have asked for it, if you ask me...

"Investigation" means... stalling for for time while we do what we want... for ourselves...
Media be damned...
as in 'Fuck Y'all'...
It's how they roll...

As for the under-reported act of Attempted Murder immediatley following the first ( Honda truck, masquerading as a  Nissan Titan)... crickets.

crickets.

Get that.
Fukin crickets

Like I said, it was under-reported... easily ignored, never happened, yeah...

Gee, why do Los Angeles peeps (and by inclusion, Gino) dis the cops so much????

Fuck Tha Police, Yo!
We roll that way for a reason....

Because...
Ya know...
It's a close-knit family, like They said...

Thoughts From An Interesting Week In SoCal

Christopher Dorner has become a bit of a folk hero to some (maybe many) in the Los Angeles area. There are understandable reasons for that (some right, some wrong), but to me he's still a murderer.
The dude was whack, OK? Get that.

Personally, I suspect that there is something to Dorner's anger at his treatment by LAPD.
To refresh: as a rookie, Dorner had filed a report alleging brutality on the part of his partner. After much Internal Affairs happenings, he was deemed to be lying and was fired for filing a false report.
Personally, I suspect that he was really fired for ratting out a fellow officer.


Look, it took like five years of IA and hearings to fire him. That tells me it took LAPD five (plus) years to get his termination 'right'.
What's that tell you?
I know what it tells me...

Growing up in my parent's house a mere two blocks from LAPD's turf, I think that I know who they are, and trust me on this: there are honest reasons why their fan club is rather small.
I think that a Dorner tattoo is rather cool. Not for the image of who, but for what. (FTR: I DO NOT ENDORSE DORNER'S ACTIONS. OK? I've said that... get it)
Yeah, I pity the fool who gets arrested while wearing one, though. It is LAPD we're talking about, after all. (or any PD, for that matter.)
Whoever it is that this tat belongs too has a set of nads like no other.
He will pay for that.

None of that excuses his murderous rampage. Even more so when non-law enforcement family members are targeted.
For this alone, he deserved no mercy, from nobody. But he was entitled to due process.

But it wasn't just Dorner who was on a murderous rampage because LAPD seemingly launched one of their own.

First, in the city of Torrance (I know the street and n'hood where this took place) there were two woman delivering newspapers at 5:30am on the same block of a Dorner target where LAPD had set up a protection squad. The cops opened fire on their truck (which did NOT match the description of Dorner's vehicle) with full intent to kill, without so much as identifying their target. Dozens of bullet holes riddled the truck, and the two women (both wounded) just barely escaped with their lives from the Protect and Serve Militia. ('To Protect And Serve' is the motto of LAPD. Ironic, yeah?)
This was an act of kill on sight, frontier justice... Not modern day police work.
Attempted murder charges have yet to be filed on the officers, but lots of bullshit excuses were offered, instead.
Gee, wonder why???

About five minutes after the attempted murderous rampage against the paper delivery women, LAPD cops 'protecting' a short distance away were rushing to aid in the murderous rampage incident that just took place and...
targeted another truck (still not matching the description of Dorner's vehicle)...
ramming it and opening fire...
Again... without identifying their target, which turned out to a white guy driving through his own neighborhood.
Luckily, he escaped the actions of the Protect And Serve Militia unharmed.
This event went under-reported.

A second case of frontier justice... Still no attempted murder charges.
Gee, I wonder why?

Several days later, after being discovered near his mountain hideaway, after two more shootouts with The Law (killing another cop), the cabin Dorner was holed up in was set on fire, intentionally. We know it was intentional because there is scanner recording of it. "get the gas and torch the fucker"... words to that effect.
Now, they are trying to claim the fire was not intentionally set by the cops.
Yeah, right.

A few have complained about Dorner's rights to due process being denied while holed up in that cabin. Yeah, I get ya... he was never going to get those anyway if the actions of cops throughout the week were any indication...
Still, when he engaged in a shootout from that same cabin, thousands of rounds fired (seriously, the audio sounded like a scene from the Battle of Fallujah)... what kind of arrest did you expect the cops to attempt when we've seen their actions up to then?

"Yeah, but they should have tried to wait him out. They had him contained. Give him a chance to surrender and make his case to a jury, and then send him to Death Row."

Personally, I would have preferred that scenario.
LAPD, on the other hand, probably would prefer he never had that public audience. It would have exposed their corruption, again.

Maybe, Christopher Dorner was unjustly terminated from a police force he thought had reformed only to find that they had not.
Whatever the actual, true life facts are, the historical facts tend to support his overall accusations.
Dogs are Dogs.
Pigs are Pigs.
LAPD is LAPD.
(and I doubt that any PD is vastly different, anyway.)

Through the aftermath, as the fallen cops were mourned, I kept hearing the phrase: We are a close-knit family... (in regards to law enforcement peeps)....
Yeah...
Wasn't that part of Dorner's issue?
Just sayin...
And I'm not the only one sayin it.

Still, I say it again, in bold, ok?
None of that excuses his murderous rampage

Added : I do not trust the coroner's report that Dorner died of a self inflicted gunshot wound. I believe that he burned to death. And still waiting for the report of who's bullet actually killed that deputy in the cabin shootout. Seeing what I see, he was likely killed by his own guys. Cause they suck at shooting straight, anyway, and have issues discerning friend from foe in the first place.
In SoCal, our cops tend to be of the Keystone variety...

Don't Call Me 'Dog'. Just Call Me.

It's been a long time coming, really.
Manufacturing is a largely contracting sector of our economy. It's getting more difficult for the blue collar people to make a living. I see it every day in my own job.
Very few home owners left among the crew, nobody buys a new car anymore, everybody begging for whatever over time they can get (not much, actually).

I saw the writing on the wall about three years ago.
After 30yrs in this sector, the last twenty in the same job, I realized that I would have to figure something else out.
I wasn't making it any more, barely hanging on, and slipping further with every pay period.
The price of everything keeps going up and the pay does not.
It will not be getting better.
I had to make a change, but didn't know what change to make, or where to look.

Several months ago, one of my cousins was telling me about this lucrative new enterprise he was getting into and offered me a job working for him.

Yesterday morning I took and passed the state exam and I am now licensed to write bail bonds and bounty hunt in the State of California.

Not so sure I want much part in bounty hunting, but my cousin is going all in and insists that I can be of service in that aspect, too. I'm like... yeah, yer 6'4" and 300lbs. Me? not so much. But I can do surveillance from a distance if you need that.
Since I like to hunt, he thinks I should 'up my game' a bit, and get paid hunting bail skips.
I'm gonna leave that part open for now.
I'm all for taking part in hunting 'skips', but leave me out of the rough stuff. God created an entire race of people for that. They're called 'Samoans'. Let's use them.

"But we have Tasers!"
"I'll call them out, attempt to cuff them, and when they resist, you appear from around the corner and Tase them. It's legal."
Hmmm...
It's sounding better.
It will also qualify me for a Concealed Carry Permit, should I want one. (I do, and just because... Having one extra liberty at my disposal is never a bad thing should I choose to excercise it.)

My cousin has spent twenty years as his own boss.
He's a businessman in heart and mind, and he's successful. This not some fly-by-night enterprise. He's done his homework, the networking, the planning.
He knows what he is doing.
I'm in good hands here, and I will NOT let him down.
I may not know much, but I do know how to work hard...how to put in the hours... Look for shortcuts... Increase production... 'Smarter, Not Harder'... all of that.

He speaks constantly of 'Us/We'. What we can accomplish... and kick ass in doing so.
My mind is stuck on 'I'.
What can 'I' do...
'I' cannot succeed unless 'Us' succeeds.
So, yeah... I'm all about the 'Us'.

'We/Us' are going all out.
'I' am all in.

For the time being, I will be staying on the job at the mill while we build the Bail Bond biz. Something about a guaranteed paycheck... I KNOW that I will get paid something every two weeks. With medical benefits, too.

With my issues, and a wife with issues of her own, medical benefits are uber important.
But, I'm really looking forward to rejecting Over Time some day real soon.

('You wanna come in early tomorrow?' Fuck You!)
Yeah, so looking forward to that...


If this Bail/Bounty thing happens according to plan, in 3-4 years, I wont be clocking in at the mill anymore.

A Nation's Loss

A 25-year-old Iraq war veteran charged with murdering former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend turned a gun onto the pair while they were at a Texas shooting range, authorities said Sunday.
I've read the book and I recommend it to anybody who likes that sort of topic.
In it, he tempers the standard warrioresque braggadocio by giving credit to the families and wives of those who serve, technology that makes things possible, and the luck of Providence.
In fact, much of his book was written by his dedicated wife, Taya, offering her perspective and struggles from the home front.

By all accounts, Chris Kyle was not just an American hero on the battle field, but off of it as well, using his unique experiences and skill sets to help other veterans recover and cope with their injuries, physical and mental.

He died doing what he had spent such a large part of his life dedicated to: in exemplary service to his nation and it's soldiers.

Is This What Higher Education Has Come To?

The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMTC) is set to hold an event this spring designed to help its female undergraduate students achieve more and greater orgasms.

Maybe there will be a workshop for extra credit.

The best part about having Mexican coworkers is trading homemade Pasta Sauce for homemade Menudo and Tamales.

Keeping It Real In Oregon

Bill proposed in Oregon would make cigarettes prescription-only drugs
Finally!
I've said it for years: if cigarettes and those who smoke them are as bad and evil as their detractors treat them, then there should be an outright, total ban.

Of course it will never happen. The tax revenue from cigarettes is too great for any governmental body to pass up. Even more so for Oregon, which taxes the hell out of them.

The Least Among Us Are The Most Used As Props

Shortly after 10am, outside the local bahn mi shop, a block from the mill, where I phoned in my lunch order:
"Any spare change?"
Bradly!
" Hey, Gino."
You asked me for shit this morning. Enough already, yeah?
(Laughing..)"Sorry"
We 'fist bump'.
What you doing now? shouldn't you getting some sleep?
"Where ever I can."
Dude, grab a spot and close yer eyes.
"Where ever I can."
Do that.
"Why are you here again?"
Lunch.
"They got good sandwhiches."
Want one?
"Cool!"
That's it, though. Rest of the week, no more, yeah?
"OK!"
Tween you and me, OK? It's Our Thing.
"I won't tell"
Better not.
Cross yer heart?
"I promise."

A person under the age of 18yrs cannot do a lot of things within the law, the assumption being that until one is a legal adult, they lack the right mind to make certain decisions: like vote, join the Army, enter into contracts, get a tattoo, sign a lease, buy a beer... a whole list of varied things.

I'm not complaining about any of this. For lack of understanding a better way, we set an arbitrary age limit. It's all good.

In recent years, and most recently Sandy Hook and some tragedy that occurred in New Mexico over the weekend, we have seen terrible mass shootings, usually involving a certain class of semi-automatic firearm.

Now, we got this rush to 'buy all the guns you can' before Obama 'takes them all', because, face it, President Obama and some other politicians (who're really smarter than the rest of us) remain focused on the means of massacre instead of the cause of massacre.

Every one of these shooters, and you can walk it back to every single case, was suffering from a previously diagnosed psychiatric disorder. So, after talking big about restricting gun freedoms for all, the next move is to mention something like..."Oh yeah, and we'll promise more money to care for nut cases, too."

Strange... that money never seems to show up in the form of fewer derelicts standing outside 7-11 at 3am, or sleeping behind in the ally...
Every one of whom is afflicted with a psychiatric disorder.

I personally know a few of them by name.
I give them dollar coins and quarters fairly regularly, other times one might follow me in and I tell the clerk to ring up an extra coffee for 'my friend' over there....
Chat with them a bit without getting too involved.
Bradly is a favorite: always sporting a seemingly just-pressed tie with goldish tack, that matches his button down shirt and freshly shaved mug. It all clashes with the shock-purple back back (price tag dangling from the zipper), filthy trousers, holey shoes, and body stench.
Seen from the waist up, Bradly is ready for the boardroom. Yet, the only board he sees is the wooden bench of the bus stop.
And there's Linda, Jimmy and Robert as well.

(Through them I am reminded of Christ's admonition per "the least of my Brother's...".
Sure, I might totally suck at the 'Christian thing' most of the time, but it has taught me a thing or two (if not more than that.)
Maybe I find it rewarding when outcasts and walkpasts know my name, but not yours?
I don't know. Not important...
What I see in them is not much different than the mug that stares back from the mirror: just another stupid clown in the circus that we call Life.
They might get a cup of coffee/maybe a donut, and I get on to work feeling better than I did when I left the house.
I guess that when I do arrive in Hell for a deservedly large list of things, it won't be because Bradly put in a bad word for me.)

What seems to escape us all is that...
Every one of these people, derelicts and nutcases they may be, is somebody's child or parent.
Those Somebody's love them.
Love them dearly...
Worry about about them hourly...
And yet are powerless to do anything to help them.

It's not about how much money a politician may promise (usually under his breath, as an after thought on his way to take away your guns.)
It's not about money.
Not at all.
And it's not about guns, either. (Well, it is about guns for many politicians, none of whom really want to save schoolkids as much as they want to criminalize a hobby that they disapprove of.)

It's about people... and another set of rights that have nothing to do with guns, but everything to do with being in the 'right mind' to make decisions for oneself.

Collectively, we have failed these people just as the politicians have failed them and us.

Guns don't kill people.
Crazy people kill people, using guns, because they have the right to be that way.
This has got to stop.

Who You Gonna Call?

Seems everybody is talking about guns nowadays. I guess it was only  a matter of time before I felt the need to offer a word or two of my own. I've resisted so far because there is nothing that I would say that isn't already being said on another blog somewhere else, and my point of view on gun rights is already well known to anybody who knows me.

That said, there are a few things that still annoy me about this debate that center mostly around what are being called 'Assault Rifles'.

First off, Assault Rifles do have an official government definition: They are military rifles with select-fire or full-automatic capability.
Anything that fits this criteria has been effectively outlawed since the 1920's for private use.

What is being called an Assault Rifle in the media coverage are civilian versions of the military rifles. The do not fire automatically. The do not have select-fire, either. These are semi-automatic rifles, only firing a single round with every trigger squeeze; mechanically not different than many hunting and sporting rifles. They do happen to carry large-capacity, detachable magazines, though.

Another annoyance of mine: adding the descriptor 'High Powered' to the misnomer 'Assault Rifle'.
Military-grade rifles are not high powered. They are medium powered. A high-powered assault rifle would be too heavy to be of much practical use anywhere, difficult to carry, it's recoil  physically punishing to the shooter, and accuracy would be unreliable if used in a rapid fire manner.

OK, now that you understand that, you need to understand what these weapons are best suited for: Tactical situations.
In military combat, the vast, vast majority of bullets fired with an M-16 or AK-47 are not aimed at anybody.
The tactic is to throw a hail of lead in the direction of the enemy, known as 'cover fire', holding him back or causing him to hunker down and not poke his head up while you maneuver troops into position to launch the real attack.
(I've read somewhere that the US armed forces have fired 250,000 rounds in the Afghanistan conflict for every enemy that was actually killed. I do not know how accurate this is, but it would not surprise me.)
Also, these bullets do kill if they hit the target in the right place, but the lighter caliber, non-expanding bullets have a greater tendency to wound and maim (instead of kill) than previous generations of combat arms that relied on heavier loads like the 30-06.
There are reasons for that, too: killing the enemy combatant take him out of the fight. Wounding him takes him, and two of his buddies out of the fight because they have to drag him out of the way, treat him, etc... not to mention it's more difficult to keep your head in the battle when your wounded comrade is screaming out in pain right next to you.

But nobody needs one of these rifles, right? They are not practical for civilian use, they are just killing machines, right?
Guess again.
Forget that scenario of warrior patriots standing up to defend their freedom from military forces. I'm not going there here.

Instead, I can tell you what happened in Los Angeles during the riots 20 years ago. The rioting quickly spread, so fast, so far, so violent, so out of control, that vast swaths of a very large city were abandoned by all forces who's job was to provide law, order and protection to the citizens.
No police would help you.
There were not any.
This was the real life situation for days.
My neighborhood where I grew up, where my mom, brother and sister were still living was going up in flames. Many of the stores that I used to walk to as a kid were being looted and torched.
Citizens were exchanging gunfire with thugs.
It was crazy ass shit where there was no law, no protection, no cops to defend you.

>>> This photo was taken just three miles down the road from where I grew up just off of Vermont Ave., about two blocks from my best friend's house where I spent large portions of my junior high years.

The livelihood of every shop owner or businessman was absolutely at stake. Those that had civilian version military rifles had an edge against the hordes of thugs.
A shop owner could stand before his business (usually on the roof) and when the looters arrived let loose with a quick flurry of shots. BangBangBangBangBangBang into the air was an intimidating way of saying: You do NOT want to fuck around here!
The looters would move on to another target of safer opportunity.

Now, try that with a bolt-action hunting rifle: You can't do it. Two seconds in between 'bangs' does not have the same effect. That, and the gangs know that you don't have as much juice to spread around, they can take you, and they will try...
In response, the bolt-action guy has two choices:
Run, and abandon his livelihood, maybe the business he spent decades growing.

Or get real, and fight for what is his by right. This would require careful aim and dead bodies in the street, further pissing off the gang. Before the battle ended, the blood would be flowing, the honest citizen dead, and one more city block lost to lawlessness.

<<< Korean store owners taking a stand during the riots.

Many shop owners died defending their shops during the riots. All of them that I am aware of were outgunned, being armed with pistols, shotguns or hunting rifles. I did not read one report where a man armed with a modern military-style rifle lost his life.

Yes.
Military-style semi-automatic rifles do have a real and legitimate place in a civilized, law abiding society.
Even more so when that society becomes less civilized, as it sometimes does, and those sworn to protect and serve are no where to be found.

Hey, It's Been A Week!

I have thoughts, but no words.
Pick a topic, I'll try to fake it.

Without sorting through the whole story, I'm just going to go on record that I find it a hypocrisy that sports writers who spent years reporting and cheering for the Home Runs and expanded stats of The Roid Era (even when it was not-too-unclear that there was some steroid abuse or something... going on) and now it appears they can't seem to find anybody worthy from The Roid Era for the Hall Of Fame.

Yes. No. Maybe.

Sometimes I get to wondering if media effects culture,  if culture effects media, or maybe they work in tandem... where one encourages the fantasy of the other wherein they feed off of each other.

Certainly, one can never expect a 1950's episode of "I Love Lucy", where Lil Ricky comes out of the closet unless he was actually getting his coat or something...

Closer to home for most of us: You do remember that 'The Brady's' and 'The Partridge's' were  products of widowhood, as was "Nanny And The Professor."
Most kids that I knew growing up who were missing a parent  were missing it for social reasons (divorce, illegitimacy, etc.). A few widows, but very few.

Safe to say, in my early time, media wasn't presenting the norm as I knew it, just the fantasy that we wished was the reality. *

Media folks ( screen writers, news reporters... and all those in between who work in that field) are as human as the rest of us.
They have their fantasies and their realities, just like we do.
They see the world through their lense-of-the-moment, yet will find value in the ideal when the money says to, or not to.
It's about the money, after all.

As media types, they eventually have to market to the audience if they hope to keep cashing paychecks.
Being 'cutting edge' is part of that.
Societal norms, the acceptance by people of what most people see happening in their own lives, is a larger part of that... the envelope can only be pushed so far before a career is ended, or... riding a once edgy trend that becomes the norm of acceptance.

The question of how complicit the media (in all of it's forms) is in spreading the more negative aspects of our culture (like gun violence, sexual promiscuity, casual disregard for others) can best be answered with 'Yes, No, Maybe.'

Go ahead and weigh in.

* I still remember when my best friend from grade school learned, after her death, that his maternal grandmother never had that 'grandfather' for him who 'passed' before his mother was born. But he was  passing through, a fighter in The Spanish Civil War who never returned to claim the bride who waited for him, who's pregnancy he had yet to learn of. (Maybe because he couldn't? It was a bloody affair... he will never know. But when the subject came up, she spoke lovingly of him as if he was her husband, and remained unmarried through life.)
That was a shock!
It wasn't acceptable in her culture to have sex before marriage. She was too embarrassed to allow her grandson to know the truth.