Tag: gun

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“What is one to do, shoot someone for $200?”

A recent post on a neighborhood blog elicited this response from me. The man had some tools taken from his truck in his driveway and was upset. He asked the question, what is one to do, shoot someone for taking my tools?

Here is my response to him and I think germane enough to share with you, good folks.

You (he) asks a good question. “What am I to do, shoot someone for $200?”

Firstly, shooting someone for any reason will affect your life forever. My litmus test is “Am I genuinely afraid for my life, or those lives of my family?”

If I am genuinely afraid, then the rest of this is a mute point. Carried by six, judged by twelve, simple math really.

The opioid epidemic is probably responsible for the increase in small crimes like this, as fewer and fewer doctors are now prescribing these types of “legal” drugs Legal or not, people are addicted to them and addictions will cause some to sell their mother into slavery for them. If they cannot get them legally, they will get them on the street.

That in and of itself might solve some of the addiction issues, as what they get on the street might very well end their suffering, permanently. Not my wish or desire, just simple facts. Truth told they know the risk too and will do it anyway. That should tell you something about their state of mind, and the risk they will take for a few tools from your truck.

Balancing petty crimes against lethal force is a tough call. So what is one to do?

In this day and age, we have many tools at our disposal.

Alarm your vehicle. Mine is set to lock and arm after 45 seconds, should a family member, or I forget.

“Viper Alarm from Car Toys.”

Keep your valuables out of sight.

Brand your tools or other valuables so that a pawn shop will not be interested in them.

Ring.com makes some not too expensive devices like the floodlight cam and the doorbell.

Both are easy installs for the average homeowner.

That video goes up to the cloud and stays there for some time. In case your home is vandalized the evidence is not where the criminal can get to it.

You said you heard them, Dial 911
Turn on lights, so they know that you heard them.
With the Ring floodlight cam, there is a siren that you can set off. Noises are not what they want.
Open your window and set off an air horn if nothing else. Yell at them telling them the cops are on the way! I would not use Uncle Joe’s advice about touching off your shotgun in the air. Noise is the right idea, just not shotguns.

I would imagine that smash and grab is their ideal way to work so sound and lights will alert your neighbors as well. Usually, they work in pairs. Getting a plate for the cops is a very good idea. Any information is valuable. Many have cameras set up to watch the streets and alleys. Talk to your neighbors and see if they captured anything.

If you were to go out there with your shotgun or another deadly force weapon you might very well be surprised to find that you are now in harm’s way as they had a partner. If on the other hand, you were to injure them or kill them, some subhuman life form of a lawyer would find any family members that they had and represent them on a contingency basis to sue you civilly. Pictures of the dead or injured person from his or her days in church, scouts, the soccer field as a 12-year-old, or as a family member and good dad or mom would adorn the courtroom. They would paint this person as the ideal person having them appear the saint, and you the angry old curmudgeon without any heart, hell-bent on killing people with your mean old gun. If the perp is or was a different race or gender than you, that too will factor into swaying the jury that you are now a racist or a sexist or both.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, they might very well get a judgment against you. It is relatively simple to emotionally manipulate a jury. This would then cost much more than a few hundred dollars in tools. As it is a civil case and not a criminal case, no free Lawyers for you.

If you can afford one and you had best be able to, it will cost you no less than $5K on a no bill. The process will go on for months, and it will consume you.

“What is one to do?” You asked

Good luck, I hope that you or our neighbors find some of this information helpful….

Full disclosure, I have no vested interest in any of the products or companies mentioned. I also do not believe that all lawyers are sub-human life forms. 🙂

-Best

https://drugabuse.com/

https://ring.com/

https://www.viper.com/

Faraway places…

This time of year always seems to ground people…well me anyway. We get so wrapped up in the “season” … that we forget what the season is about. As we make it through Thanksgiving, the rest of the turkey is either tossed or frozen along with the last bite of cranberry sauce; I cannot help but think of those less fortunate folks that would have non left to freeze or toss.

Troubles exists everywhere and you don’t have to look very far or hard to find them. The bell ringers are out there in force and many; including myself have done a fair amount of shopping through Amazon or other such services. Local retailers will certainly feel the sting of online purchases as we hear about an American Icon …Sears… that is headed for the scrapbook or dustbin of history. Like so many shops before them; box stores and our shopping habits align the blocks and events of history in a sequence for them, “like dominoes in a row” to fall, or in this case fail.

The poor blame the rich, the government blames the rich, while taking their money for super packs and what have you, and the game goes on, not really identifying the problem. Folks, government is the problem and cannot be the solution as it is currently flawed. Those that make laws for themselves, which are different from the laws that you and I are saddled with, must be changed. There must be term limits for all of them…

I firmly believe that we only live so long, because the God in heaven that created us knew; that if we lasted too long, one person could gain so much wealth and power that they could literally create dynasties that would enslave an entire world forever.

Few understand micro economics, much less macro. Some pay credit card bills, with other credit cards to get by, not even understanding the hole that they dig themselves into until it is far too late. These credit card people make it easy to do with checks made for the express purpose of transferring money around.

Our leaders are doing the very same thing with their credit card, (the one that you pay) to the tune of $18.5 Trillion dollars and counting. If leading by example is the plan, they are doing a bang up job!

Last week we had a full on assault on Christianity, which many consider the magnetic north of their moral compass. It was no accident that this happened at a Christmas party, and yet the Washington Elites in their ivory towers, tried very hard to spin this as workplace violence, calling for more gun laws in a state that has some of the toughest gun laws around. The Hollywood marionettes for the administration took to the tabloids, and airways to echo the administrations agenda which will only effect the law abiding among us. They need to focus on mental health…

30 odd % of the folks would argue with this, as they are probably the few who cannot accept the truth, and only watch liberal media; which is the propaganda machine for DC. Somehow they feel that Bernie Sanders is a viable candidate, which boggles my mind. If however; it was a choice between Bernie and Hillary, I would pick Bernie; at least he is truthful certifiable but, truthful.

Those faraway places with strange sounding names, are calling me.

The places are not so much geographical places but, places in time… The country that I grew up in has been changed and I feel not for the better. Special interests have taken control of our government and I firmly believe have transformed it into something that our kids will learn to hate. Kids getting out of school today are not ready for the challenges that we were ready for. While trades are necessary, we don’t even have those types of apprentice programs today.

Someone needs to get this country back to basics, before we really are making those small umbrellas for the Chinese to put into their drinks…

Those faraway places with strange sounding names might start with an A, and end with an A, as this place is … pretty strange…

“Spend wisely my friends…”

-Best

Insight

There is a theme to my blog here, and it is simply that…insight or enlightenment…

I coined the phrase “mirror-time” In that one needs to know that person who looks back at them in the mirror.

Over the years I have given you clues like “know why you like, or don’t like something.”

I have asked you to examine why you did something a particular way.

Other things included looking for the truth outside of what you would like it to be, or your particular bias and once you find it, embrace it. The truth truly will set you free….

The media in our country has divided this country driven by differing ideologies. Social media is ablaze with ideas which are diametrically opposite of one another… We have devout socialist on one side and conservative capitalist on the other, and their opinions are driven by what the media and Hollywood are selling.

These folks who espouse that guns are evil, all have body guards with guns. Folks who say that guns are a tool, turn a blind eye to the violence in this country.

Garbage in garbage out…

People who see the American way of life as “bad,” teach their children from a young age that dying while killing another people that they don’t like is glorious. We have groups working with 3 year olds showing them how to kill someone, while extoling the virtues of it, while here we have people teaching their children to stifle their free speech; as to not offend anyone…

“There are none who are so blind, as those that will not see…”

Alcoholics refuse to believe that their drinking is a problem.

Drug addicts fail to see the connection between their use of drugs and a lifestyle that they have relegated themselves to while placing blame elsewhere.

Socialist, refuse to learn from history. The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.

Some capitalist, don’t know when to stop. How much money is enough?

Most politicians, lose their souls after they are elected, as power is such an aphrodisiac, that soon they rationalize that living in an ivory tower while looking down at the “little people” is there god given right.

(That is why we need term limits.)

When you start believing your own lies, or the lies of your peers… You are lost.

The people, get it. The people understand what the problems are, and that is why they have gravitated toward non-politicians. Washington insiders are totally perplexed. Like the men who flew the planes into the buildings on 911… They truly believed what they’re doing was “right and good!” they were in fact delusional. The man in the White House truly believes that what he is doing is “right and good.” Instead of looking in that mirror taking a selfie… He should be looking in that mirror doing some soul searching… He is lost. His advisers who are all connected in some way to the liberal media, are also lost. The voters have sent resounding messages to them and their response is to ignore those messages and find more voters in swing states who they can corrupt via scientifically targeted smear campaigns, to vote for them, or their kind. Technology used in this way is in fact a cancer. To corrupt the American way of life to fit an agenda that is anti-American, is by definition evil.

Once your mind is made up, you lose your objectivity… You are of no value as a politician. You are of no value as a voter. As the matter of fact the opposite is true. If you are unwilling to watch something else other than FOX or MSNBC, or CNN… You actually harm the body that we know as the United States of America.

As the Brian Williams’s of the world are called out, you can at least know that somebody, somewhere, cares. If groups have to make up the facts and otherwise lie to sell their agenda… That should at least prompt you to dig into history.

We have lost our moral compass in this country, and somebody is trying to tell you what it is rather than what it should be. In this case, history holds the key and you should look at it quickly before somebody rewrites it. Talking with recent graduates from high school and college, one has to wonder if they have rewritten it, or simply stopped teaching it.

Back in the days of slavery it was illegal to educate them or teach them to read. I would challenge the American people to look at their school systems today. Is not teaching to the test, and ridiculous things like common core, not creating tomorrow’s slaves?

-Best

Featured Post

#Mental-Health

Mental Health

So I have figured why there exist so much division in this country and probably the world and why we have the problems we are seeing reported on all too often.

When we grow up and play sports, two team leaders are randomly chosen.

Those two team leaders then pick teams from the remainder of the class.. Some pick sides because they like this person, or that or don’t like this person etc.

Where the boys are concerned, we then decide who is going to be the shirts or the skins, I liked the skins because I liked not wearing a shirt when playing sports but, your mileage may vary.

The game ensued and for the remainder of that day, or possible the week, the rivalry that existed and the winners generally taunted the losers, until there was a re-match.

My school was integrated and we had no bias between Blacks, Hispanics or any other ethnicity. We were simply one team or another, and we all had a good time.

This was then elevated between different schools.

Each week there was a pep rally to spur on the team to victory against whatever school we were playing.

The signs posted in the school were slogans like “”Crush the insert name” or similar venue but, you get the point. This was rather violent rhetoric for a sport.

In Football, there were injuries and some of that rhetoric I feel was carried out into the field, as there was constantly “un-sportsman like conduct.”

Here is the dichotomy between sports, and somehow making it personal.

In our PE class, most of us left our determination to defeat the other team, out on the field. We either won or lost. The winners got to brag for the day but they were hollow victories, as most of the class consisted of people who “had to take PE” but if it were up to them to decide, they would not.

The un-athletic kids were singled out and sometimes bullied by those that were more physical.

Sometime this was simply name calling but, often it was an easy mark for the less secure but more physically fit to elevate themselves; by pummeling the weaker kids.

The bullies were in fact, mentally challenged and made up for it by picking on, and in some cases physically injuring the weaker child, even though that weaker child may possess a superior intellect. That intellect gets you nowhere when you are surrounded by several of your classmates, who happen to rally around the big kid, who needs to prove something to himself and prove for his physical prowess to keep the rest in line.

Not everyone is Heisman trophy material, and not everyone is suited to win a Nobel Prize for curing cancer!

Everyone has gifts and talents but,navigating our youth without becoming a psychopath or agoraphobic is key.

This week we had another mass shooting that represents a failure in our system.

While we can see that someone is physically fit, can hit a ball or run the bases, we cannot see what is going on in their heads. We can’t see what is in their hearts and, encouraging them to “tell a teacher” if they are being bullied usually is a recipe for disaster, as the person being told on will enact revenge and; that revenge will be through his or her peers and it could be life threatening for the child being picked on.

In the animal kingdom, the weak or sickly are shunned from the pack and the predators take care of the problem. The weak or defective become part of the circle of life.

Do we allow the weak or timid to become ostracized and bullied and take the attitude “save who you can?”

That is what we have been doing for the last 60 years that I can attest to. Is it working?

Some of the physically weak go on to invent computers or control space craft. Some discover a cure for diseases and some work out complex mathematical formula while not being able to move or even speak because of their infirmities.

Some of the physically weak carry a grudge, and one day when life has kicked them around as their self-esteem and lot in life is so bad, they figure out who is to blame for their lot in life “without looking into a mirror,” and they use an equalizer, a gun or other device.

The perpetrator was quoted by one of the victims. “I have been wanting to do that for a long time!” This was after he killed a few folks, and started to kill some more. This was a ticking time bomb, much like the person who killed the news reporter and her cameraman.

It would be interesting to dig into this kids past. Was he well thought of, could he play sports, was he a bully?

No Mr. President, we don’t have a gun problem in this country. As much as you and the liberal left and those idiots in Hollywood want to make this a “gun problem” it is a people problem.

Some of us are simply “assholes” and we treat others badly and are not called on it. We are not being held accountable for our actions and allowed to injure others for the shear enjoyment of watching them in anguish. As we injure them, our “friends” egg us on, as they too are living vicariously through our actions, just like the Sunday couch potato quarterback who yells at the TV from his popcorn laden, beer stained lazy boy, at the players on the field or the referee for being blind or stupid! Those actions to some; bring some meaning to their otherwise pathetic life.

We gather behind the team in some mob mentality, and if our team loses we may even destroy our own town in defiance of the bad calls of the referee, even though we were miles away sitting in some sports bar watching the game through a smoke filled room.

The common thread of most of these killers is they are left behind by the “system.” “We saved the kids that we could.”

No, you failed. Each and every life that goes through school needs to be watched for signs of either the bully or the bullied. Neither are healthy mentally, and both should be watched and worked with so they don’t become the next in-mate, or the next mass murderer.

I also feel that Hollywood and the entertainment industry is culpable as people are desensitized to this kind of activity.

Mr. President, people are desensitized to this because it is on 250 cable channels, and if that is not enough they play realistic video games that are nothing more than training simulators for them to go and become efficient in killing, in wholesale fashion. These kids that spend hours in a “closed door room” or their parent’s basement; playing these games must by their very nature, become mentally impaired!

The NRA is not the problem, they are an easy target by the un-thinking idiots who want to “take action!”

Mental health is the problem, as only a sick person would commit such horrific crimes and I am amazed that this is not what we are talking about, and looking for ways to abate it. Is this because it does not fit into an agenda?

Guns, the NRA and the 2cnd amendment are easy targets for the un-thinking among us.

Action Step!

Hire some mental health folks, place them in each and every school in this country. Get them engaged in the process of looking for tomorrow’s mass-murderers or tomorrow inmates, and allow them to do what they do best! Bring personal accountability back into the schools.

-Best

Featured Post

Out of the box thinking on Guns

Each and every time some loon goes on a rampage, or goes postal, we have activist calling for gun laws, getting the guns, etc. It is in fact, predictable and not helpful. This puts the focus on that which is not the problem.

The problems are that guns are making their way into the hands of people who clearly should not possess them.

This is happening basically by two methods, they are sold on the street, or theft.

Government has a terrible track record of telling the truth, much less being able to administer anything.

I believe that capitalism is the solution.

Build it and they will come.

I would propose that eBay, or some other entrepreneur, develop strategic relationships with gun dealers around the country. Selling guns and gun stuff on eBay through responsible partners like gun dealers with a current FFL I think is the ticket.

This would provide a vehicle for those that collect, swap, sell, or trade, guns to do so in an environment that was transparent, in that if a gun was used in a crime, we would be able to track it to who owned it last. This would also provide a way for people to sell guns, and get top dollar, while keeping them out of the hands of loons. The gun dealer would be the go between securing a valid back ground check of the new owner, before releasing the weapon to them. The owner of the gun could keep it until they received a message that the new owner was cleared by the gun dealer at which time the gun dealer could secure payment for the gun and their services and get the gun shipped to them to give to the new owner. They would get some amount of money from the sale of the weapon from eBay, or other business entity for their efforts. For this program to work, these fees would have to be kept to a minimum.

The method of tracking could be done programmatically, and eBay or some similar capitalist, should be able to do this without government assistance, as this would be a huge money maker for them.

Theft:

Theft is a problem and there is a solution.

Create a provision in the tax code for anyone who chooses to purchase gun safes, or gun locking paraphernalia, be able to deduct that expense from their taxes.

Opponents of this idea would feel that any transparency would allow government oversight that intrusion of their rights which might be infringed upon sometime down the road.

The 2cnd Amendment must be held sacrosanct, and the government should “defend the constitution” instead of looking for ways to do an end run around it! The Chicago way will not stand.

Selling this plan to the people will require that the government recognize and respect the 2cnd amendment, and stop fighting the people on this. The government is here to serve the people, and in this, there is no room for equivocation!

There are simply too many instances in history where the guns were taken away and the government went nuts. This will not happen in this country, ever!

This administration is responsible for increased gun sales, and ammunition sales, because of the consistent anti-gun, anti 2cnd amendment rhetoric.

While mental health is truly the target, there is a solution to keeping guns off the street and out of the hands of those who should not have them. Is it a perfect plan? No, criminals will still get guns.

Will it keep guns out of the hands of some who should not have them, yes.

The government must, as part of this “healthcare” plan provide more mental health awareness programs, and seriously look into these simulators of death called entertainment via violent video games. When young people play these extreme games for hours on end every day, it has to have an effect on their mind.

Each and every time someone goes postal, we need to learn all we can from them; and see if we can come up with a root cause analysis of the problem.

Were they on drugs, were they co-opted by some fringe group, etc.…

We must be smarter about this and calling for stricter gun laws each and every time is not the solution. Working with the NRA, instead of against them, would go much farther than butting heads.

If this makes sense to you, pass it around. If you have idea lets talk about it. There seems to be little way to get the attention of those that can effect change in a positive way. This is an out of the box approach to the problem, and it should be considered by those who are smarter than I am.

-Best

Featured Post

Here we go again!

First and foremost, my heart goes out to the folks in Oregon. This is another terrible tragedy which is the exact reason I started this blog years ago. Trying to make sense of out of the senseless!

Listening to the president speak about this latest tragedy; I get why there is such division in the country.

“Where we have the strictest gun laws, we have the lowest gun related crimes and those are the facts! ” Obama today October 1 630pm EST.

This statement is blatantly and patently incorrect…False….It is indeed a prevarication, a lie!

We in fact have the highest murder rates, and gun related crimes, in the places we have the strictest gun laws, Chicago his home town is the primary example; and DC is the next!

C’mon Mr. President! That school was a gun free zone!

Say something comforting for those people who lost loved ones, instead of standing on a soap box lying to the people.

The problem with these lies are simply this. A lot of people don’t know the truth, and it is because the liberal media does not report on that which this administration does not want reported on. So they listen to the lies and shake their heads in an up and down movement in agreement. Then we have celebrities “who have body guards” saying things like “we don’t really need that 2cnd amendment, we ought to give that up!” Get real Bevis! Regular people can’t afford body guards!

They too are basing their “opinions on lies!”

We are importing into this country thousands of refugees from places that are rife with terrorists and we are not vetting them, as we can’t! We have a flood of illegal aliens coming over our borders from other countries other than Mexico. We know from what they leave behind they are not great people.

Japan never invaded this country because of one simple reason, they knew that every farmer in this country had a gun. They weren’t worried about the military, they were worried about the citizen. With good cause I might add.

Cops don’t prevent crime, they write it up, and investigate it. Yes Mr. President; if that school had been conceal carry, there is a good change the loss of life would have been much less than it was. Soft targets like gun free zones are easy pickings for loons. You would think that we would have learned that by now!

Mental health is where we should be investing our resources and I would look seriously into the people who are loaners, and who happen to play violent video games several hours a day!

This guy was on social media yesterday talking about his actions today! You would think someone would have mentioned it to the cops.

Bad things happen! Until you focus on the real problem, nothing will change.

Focus on mental health. And for the record; it makes sense for a background check for anyone buying a gun whether it be from Walmart, or some guy on the street that needs some quick cash. Put the mechanism in place where Joe the plumber can easily sell his gun to Sparky the electrician. Don’t base this law on lies, base it on common sense! Or are lies part of the “process?”

-Best

Guns Don’t kill People

My Gun

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Remington 30.06 right in the doorway. I left 6 cartridges beside it, then left it alone and went about my business.

While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, the neighbor boy across the street mowed the yard, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign near the front of my house.

After about an hour, I checked on the gun. It was still sitting there, right where I had left it. It hadn’t moved itself outside. It certainly hadn’t killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities it had presented to do so.

In fact, it hadn’t even loaded itself. Well you can imagine my surprise, with all the hype by the Media about how dangerous guns are and how they kill people.

Either the media is wrong or I’m in possession of the laziest gun in the world.

The United States is 3rd in Murders throughout the World. But if you take out just 4 cities: Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom, in the entire world, for Murders.

These 4 Cities also have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.

It would be absurd to draw any conclusions from this data – right?

Well, I’m off to check on my spoons. I hear they’re making people fat.

They’re on TV, they know the right answer!

Not so fast… Liberal hacks have been spewing out verbiage (verbal garbage) for years, and people suck it up as the Gospel.

Why? You see them on the “silver screen” and they appear “all knowing!”

They are actors, which is what they do, they act! Do you think that the “actors in Big Bang really have a clue about particle physics? I am dubious that they could spell Higgs-Boson much less know one if it bit them in the ass! Please understand I have no ill feelings towards this group of actors. I have watched them through most of their careers and enjoy their talents. If I met them however; would I like them? Who knows?

Their entire claim to fame is that they can read a script, remember it long enough to regurgitate their lines and emote. I am certain that looks and who you know has a lot to do with it.

When liberal elites run things, it is almost never good for the “little people.” I would expand that to say the “elites” period.

Let’s take the tax code for example. Each and every election cycle we have people talk about changing it, making it simple. Makes for great talking points and for a great control of the narrative but in reality, it will never be simplified. It is thousands of pages of text which benefit the people with the gold, written by the people with the gold for the people with the gold! It is a way to legally extract money from you and give it to them or at least distribute it in ways that buys votes from the disenfranchised, aka those who refuse to work no matter what! There is a part of the population that vote, as their sole job, they vote for a living; and you pay them to do it.

Hey Hollywood, if your so damned bright how come California is bankrupt? How come every liberal idea of socialism and communism has never worked in history, ever! The only people that this ideology benefit is the 1% who look down from their ivory tower and say stupid shit like “let them eat cake” thinking cake is cheaper than bread!

If Guns are so damned evil, how come you guys have them? You want gun laws for the peasants, but not for you. The people know, and surely you must know; that laws are for the people who are not criminals! Passing gun legislation will only hurt law abiding citizens.

If you don’t like guns, don’t buy them! If I were president; I would push legislation that would have every “able” person in the country that was willing and able to take the proper course and get from the government free guns and ammo. Once every year or two they come in and re-fresh their proficiency and renew the certification. Don’t you know that crime would go down to nothing! We who make an industry out of locking people up would change that quickly. Would more people die in burglaries and other stupid criminal acts, Yes! Would the courts be busy at first, probably, why? Because people, (dumb people,) would test the system. There are stupid people out there that would have to see if grandpa or grandma would really shoot them. “Tap it three times grandma!”

The truth is that the typical response time for a 911 call is twenty minutes. Let me say that again, TWENTY MINUTES! Do you have any idea how fast a criminal can kill you and your entire family and be gone? Long before the first police car ever arrives on the scene.

By the time you hear the door kicked in, pick up the phone “instead of a gun,” that bad guy is already in your home looking for you, and or a family member. Now you can grab your shotgun and fire a warning shot like Mr. Biden suggested, or you can call 911 and try to stay alive while the cop finishes eating dinner, or writing up that guy that was going 5 miles over the speed limit, or investigating a domestic disturbance or; you can pick up your gun, that you know how to use and save the taxpayers some money, and your life!. The simple truth is that the cops will get there in time to write up the incident (most of the time.) What will they be writing up? If you have a gun that Matthew Mcconaughey and other liberal silver screen people (who have guns and body guards) think that you don’t need, or should not have, they hopefully will be writing up that there is either an injured or dead person that was attempting a break in, which needs to be dealt with.

When the people that you love from the silver screen come out and advocate for this or that or for some candidate remember that you have no idea who that person is, or what they are about. I loved Ed Asner. Did I really? Lou Grant, Mary Tyler Moore and even the bumbling news anchor Ted Baxter. Those are the people I loved, to watch.

Ed’s philosophy and activist rolls he has taken are diametrically opposite of mine in every way. This man believes that we took down the Twin Towers. When he talks in public do you see him as the lovable, intelligent all knowing news editor, Lou Grant?

Mr. Obama seems like a real nice person. I am certain that I could be friends with him but, as president I could not agree with his politics. With him, I learned and embraced the word “Feckless.” That is a terrible thing to have to admit and relate to a sitting president. I thought that Jimmy Carter would go down in history as the worst president ever, I think he got spared that title. I think President Obama’s ideology is flawed beyond repair. I do believe that he believes that what he is doing is good. This is the classic Ivory tower syndrome. Cake is not bread Mr. President. People need a hand up, not a hand out, Mr. President. With your approval rating so low, how about stop governing by the damned polls and just do the right thing. Stop leading from the rear! If you are lost; call me. I don’t have a red phone but I am certain that your guys can find my number. I am not a yes man and will tell you like it is! I am older than you; and I probably know more history than you do. I have run a company and I know how balance a budget, I do like it when you don’t have the teleprompter, when you talk and it is from you, and not half a dozen script writers.

Did I say script?

Yes, Script, only Mr. Obama does not memorize it, he simply reads it. His wife has aspirations of being on the silver screen too, as she has been in at least one show that I saw; Parks and Recs. She is pretty and has the right connections, so who knows.

I am unsure what drives people to want to be on the silver screen in the first place; I suspect narcissism but, psychology is not my main interest. This country is!

I dislike the process of politics. What kind of life is it where one begs for money and votes the entire time that they are in the public eye? No damned wonder nothing gets done in Washington, they are too busy setting things up for their next election!

Things need to change so these guys can actually get some work done.

I have some ideas that would fix it and guess what, they are from history and some are simply common sense which, we as a nation seem to be short of these days!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing! Scene 5 of Macbeth, if memory serves…

-Best

Tale of two cities

Drivers Beware …

I am unsure if the stars are out of kilter, the moon is lined up incorrectly or if people are just out of sorts however; yesterday was a bad day for drivers in general.

Here in Texas; yesterday was a normal spring day by all accounts. The weather was nice, mid 60’s and sunny, open window weather for most of us.

There were accidents where I usually don’t see them, which was odd.

While going to clients yesterday I just about had the opportunity to test the air bags as some young blond women in a red Mercedes, “nice car,” ran the light right in front of me! She had a phone stuck to her ear and never saw me. Even as I came to a screeching halt she never looked. I shook my head and was thankful that my breaks worked so well.

My truck would have made a mess of her paint and might have scratched my bumper had a hit her. Actually 7000 pounds at 30mph in the side of her car would have made a mess. I wonder if she would have looked up then.

The Day was not over for idiotic drivers. I had dinner plans which took me to an out of the way restaurant. While parking some guy started backing out of his spot and came close to backing in to me. When I tooted my horn to alert him I could see him screaming at me “I guess” through his window. He then waved the traditional one finger salute and sped off.

My only guess is that he is not a Texan, as we really are a little friendlier than that. It was all his doing and I did not honk to be mean, just simply alert him that he was about to hit me. “That is what they made the horn for.” We are not talking a long horn blast either we are talking a “tap.”

They serve alcohol where I was going so I can only surmise that he had been drinking and his better judgment was impaired, or he is a jerk.

That is the reason for this “blog”..

As we guide our thousands of pounds of steel down the highways and roads we really need to be mindful that they are really “loaded guns.” In a split second of indecision or distraction, we can take a life, if not our own, someone else’s.

While the girl in the Mercedes was not texting, she was clearly distracted. If someone other than I was in that intersection that also was either not on their game or driving too fast or texting or otherwise distracted, thousands of dollars of damage would have ensued. Damage to her personally could have happened and possibly me, as it would have been an abrupt stop. I don’t know how solid a Mercedes passenger door is but, it might have triggered my air bags which would have sucked, because I heard that they hurt!

The guy that cussed me in the parking lot is another story. People in Texas carry loaded guns. An armed society is a polite society “don’t you know.” You really don’t want to bring your “northern attitude” down to Texas and pick a fight. WE DON’T SCREW AROUND HERE IN TEXAS! Drive friendly or else! If you decide to drink and drive and then come at a Texan with an Attitude, YOU WILL LOOSE! Our Prisons are full of your kind. Be responsible if you come to Texas. We will welcome you with open arms, if you are a jerk; you will not like it here.

About 25 years ago one day in November I was met head on with a guy driving a vintage Cadillac. His wife had just bought it for him as he whined about wanting another car because he had wrecked his previous car. “I learned this later on from her directly.”

We were on the freeway, I topped a hill and there he was, barreling down the road at over 60mph, on the wrong side of the freeway!

Friends, when you see something like this and you have exactly enough time to say “oh $hit!” followed by a large bang, your day gets ruined quickly!

In the few milliseconds between seeing him, and the subsequent crash, several things happened.

I quickly noticed a red truck beside me in the right lane, slammed on the breaks “locked up anti-lock breaks and actually bent the brake pedal, and then the crash.

Funny thing about a crash; time seemed to fragment. It was almost as if one were watching a movie in slow motion as the film went by, frame by frame.

My personal theory is time is like a frequency. It has to do with gravity and motion and space and what have you but, the crash had somehow caused a ripple or harmonic. Don’t know enough math to prove that; and I am certain that Michio Kaku could not come up with the equation either. This is far past p=mv or F=ma.

I have heard that adrenaline causes this “effect.” If adrenaline can cause “time distortions, ” than we have discovered how to slow down time. While I am certain that there was a “shot of adrenaline we are talking about less than a second from seeing him there and the crash!

As we hit head on, the window beside me imploded. Tiny pieces of glass tumbled horizontally in front of me to my right. I remember vividly watching the glass tumble as past from left to right, I felt each piece bury itself in my face, arm and hands. The steering wheel came in and crushed into my face and chest breaking my nose and most of ribs and sternum. “That bone between the ribs up front.”

The dash came in, crushed into me knees and legs. I distinctly remember the pain as my left leg was punched up under me, torquing my hips in such a way that the sacrum is twisted to this day. This is how it happened and the order in which it happened, all in a split second.

There is a Star Trek Movie where Picard is with some gal who teaches him to “live in the moment.” Friends, I think they got the idea for that from someone who has experienced this very phenomena, as that is exactly what it was like however; “and I stress this,” it was not pleasant!

I had just stopped at a service station before this and filled up not only my gas, but my stainless steel thermos full of coffee. The thermos was sitting beside me. As the truck went from 55mph to zero in about .025 seconds or less, the thermos tumbled down to the floor. Little did I know at the time, the thermos had wedged itself between the firewall of the truck; and the frame of my seat! I in fact have legs today because of that thermos and the fact that it was full of coffee. Has something to do with hydraulics, if you are scratching you head.

As the truck came to a rest in the middle of the median, steam and Freon and what have you escaped from what used to be my engine which was now sitting underneath my seat.

The pain in my chest was unbelievable, and very soon after that, blood started coming out from everywhere, nose, mouth ears and of course where lots of glass was now buried up under my skin.

Very soon after that I began to loose my vision and figured well, this is it. “Jesus, if this is your plan, I’m ready.”

I struggled with the seat belt, while I was still conscious thinking if I could get it off, the pain would subside and maybe, just maybe I could breath, no such luck.

There was no time for anger, or fear. I was consigned to the fact that this was most likely it and I was waiting for the final “sting.”

Before too long, someone came to my door asking me if I was OK. I turned my head to look at him, he had a camera and was evidently a free lance photographer. As I spoke I remember blood escaping my mouth spurting, punctuated by my words, “no, I don’t think so.”

I must have looked a sight as the picture that made the front page of the local paper was of them taking me out of my truck.. For that I am thankful.

I remember watching as they took the old man out of his car and put him on a stretcher. Not too long after that I heard loud sounds as they were cutting my door off of my truck and extracting me out of what was left of it. As they laid me horizontally on that “board” my vision returned. Hmm I thought, maybe he has another plan.

The man in the ambulance told me that he was going to stick me in the arm and it would hurt as it was an 18 gauge needle. The needle paled in comparison and quite frankly I was OK with it as if I felt it, I was still alive. He told me they were putting “sugar water” in me… “Ok…..Fill er up…”I said as best I could! He smiled as I said that, I knew that things were going to be ok…

The trip to the hospital was uneventful and before long I was being wheeled to some ER room.

The ER visit was terrible. The doctor was summoned in from his day off. He was wearing sports attire and clearly distressed that he was missing the game or what have you. His bedside manners were terrible and quite frankly he sucked!

You know what they call the guy who graduates with the lowest grades from medical school, “Doctor.”

While there, a curtain divided me from the man who hit me. He was drunk and later I learned he was on several medications that he should not have had alcohol with. Oh yes, he was in his 80’s!

We had the perfect storm for a disaster and it struck. He was not wearing a seat belt and because of his inebriated state only ended up with a small cut on his forehead which required a few stitches.

My care was abysmal. After they took care of the old man they came “by they I mean an entourage of police, some “want to be doctor women” and the rude guy with the sports attire.” They ripped, cut my clothing off. The paramedic was also there and the cop was telling the doctor that I did not have my seat belt on. I told him that I had taken it off and he said “sure.”

I think that they somehow wanted this to be my fault, some how some way.

As my shirt was removed there was a huge purple stripe where the seat belt had cut into my skin through my clothes and across my belly. The trooper was visibly upset as I think he wanted to write a ticket. I want to preface this next remark by saying that I have huge respect for law enforcement folks. I know several and am friends with several. I listen to the scanner, a lot, as I like to know what is going on that the press does not think is newsworthy. Having said that, some cops are simply assholes! The guy that caused this was on the other side of the curtain and he “the cop” was giving me shit… I am laying there in pain, bleeding from everywhere, and this guy is looking for something to write me a ticket about or blame me in some way.

The “doctor” treated me like a cadaver flipping me over, was rather brutal and really did not take into account that most of my ribs were broken. His final “test” was to stick a finger up my rear. I really don’t know where he went to school but I can tell you that is probably the one place that it did not hurt. Of course everyone watched the entire process.

You know my part in this; I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. God knew where I was so, I have to guess that all of this happened for a reason.

The old man had lived in this town his entire life and was most likely known; I was an outsider and relatively young so guess what “it just had to be my fault.”

Other than the sugar water they did nothing for me. Other than leaving me naked on the table for all of the gawkers, nothing. I was waiting for the doctor to start filling out a toe tag, as they were doing nothing! I was in pain, probably scared although that the time I was more pissed than scared. I worked in the Texas Medical Center for fifteen years. I know what professional care is and I know what a real doctor does in a trauma situation. This wasn’t it!

He finally ordered x-rays and a sonogram of my chest. Finally, some orderly came along and gave me a wool blanket. Someone had some compassion but not the people that should have.

It is cold in ICU and it was winter, and oh yes, they were pumping me full of something cold. “Sugar water.” I guess it is “hummingbird therapy.” Isn’t that what they eat, sugar water? Oh, and did I mention I was naked! Beat all to hell, naked and shivering is a terrible combination. I would imagine there was also a “shock factor” involved as well.

This was clearly the hospital without funding as the equipment was a joke; it would not stay in place and kept moving after the tech would place it.

Wheeling one around on a gurney, “which way are you looking?” You look straight up, at the ceiling. The ceiling had several brown stains from leaks and what have you. How much mold do you suppose is loose in that hospital? Folks, if you run a hospital, look at the damned ceiling once in a while. This was the basement where the morgue and radiology was. If the ceiling in the basement is stained with dark brown stains from leakage, what leaked?

The old man was released that day and I got to stay in ICU for about a week before I was moved to a room. I did not sleep for 72 hours. I entertained myself by using biofeedback techniques to alter my heart beat. I once got it so slow I scared myself. One of the leads came off and the monitor went to that “solid beep.” Twenty two minutes later someone showed up running to my bed to check on the reason. I had a solid beep for twenty two minutes before they noticed! Now you know why I was afraid to sleep!

Some doctor (dentist I think) came and stitched up my lip where my teeth had come through, another came and tried to straighten my nose without any kind of pain management. Huge forceps up the nose with this guy twisting on it, without so much as an aspirin.

They did not do anything for my pain as they were worried that it would adversely affect my heart which had been “bruised”. I had to take little breaths as it hurt to breathe. I could not turn my head because of vertigo. I could not lift the sheets to pee as I could not lift my arms. When they pump you full of saline solution you have to pee a lot. I had to have help each and every time; you would have thought that they would have installed a catheter.

On the third day in ICU I asked to be cleaned up because even with the broken nose I could smell myself. The busted glass was still in my hide, my body was still covered in blood and my beard / mustache was caked in blood. The nurse said she would have to shave my face as there was no way to get blood out of my beard… REALLY? I told her, whatever just please get me cleaned up; I was going to live and if I did not for some reason I damned sure did not want my next of kin to identify a blood covered corpse.

She never did anything.

Would you believe that it was not until I got into a room, days later and was able to take a shower was I able to get “cleaned up.” I dug into my luggage, found my tweezers and dug the glass out of my arm and hands and face myself, after the shower! A male nurse came in as I was finishing up to check on me. There was enough blood from my digging out the glass he got concerned. I told him to get me some bandages but he sent on the doctor anyway. I had not seen the guy since the first day as there were other Erudite s to take his place. He seemed visibly upset that I had taken the glass out of myself. I am unsure if he was upset with me or the fact that it was still there.

The entire time I was there they kept asking me “what I was on.” I guess they thought that I was on some sort of recreational chemistry and kept confronting me. “No, don’t drink. No, don’t do drugs…” They had taken my blood several times a day for a week and yet they kept asking. Had I been able, I would have walked the hell out of there, it was that bad!

By the end of my stay the doctor was treating me somewhat better as I guess he was finally sure that I was indeed “clean.” They had collected blood and urine for several days, I guess he was satisfied. Maybe it took that long for the tox screen to come back! If you are young it would seem that you are guilty of whatever they decide you might be guilty of.. Small Texas towns… Be wary… BTW, most small Texas towns are speed traps so don’t speed. They depend upon giving tickets for revenue. Now if you are from the north and have attitude, forget what I said and speed all you like. You too can meet some “nice trooper who will address you as “boy or son ” and will have absolutely no use for wise ass remarks from Yankees! Heaven help you if you give them attitude!

The old man and I had the same insurance company so I was lucky to get my bills covered and get what was left of my truck payments covered. She (claims person) argued about the cost of my cooler and camping supplies which were ruined. Looking back, I think that was a distraction from the bigger picture. Pain and suffering was not covered here. Embarrassment and harassment from the locals was certainly not remunerated.

Oh and pain today as a result of this was and is not taken care of either… Insurance is not for your benefit. They sell it as if it is, but trust me, have a claim and you will learn.

When this type of thing happens; nothing good comes of it. I don’t know whatever happened with the guy that hit me, that was 23 years ago so I am in hopes that if he is still alive, that he is not driving.

Insurance claims and such have a life of 2 years. Statute of limitations…

Guess what, after an accident like that, things happen much later in life as a result, like bone spurs and such, which cause pain. You are never normal again after an event like that.

I drive a larger truck today and have little to do with small vehicles. Screw the mileage; if I get had again I want the larger vehicle. I support MADD, and encourage everyone else to as well. I don’t care if you drink, just don’t drive!

If you don’t have a “hands free device” get one, or simply call back, nothing is that important. Oh yes, that bell alerting you that you have a text, ignore it if you are driving. It can wait. Too many times I see people texting and driving. I know that they are doing something because they are weaving or their speed is erratic. Upon closer inspection they are screwing around with the phone. “I drive a truck, I can see.”

This inconsiderate old man changed my life forever. I live in constant pain, and had to quite my job and re-invent myself because I could no longer do my job. “Not compensated for that either BTW.”

Over 30% of all drivers on the road are impaired by either alcohol or prescriptions drugs or “recreational chemistry.” Add to this statistic now we have distractions of people who think that they can drive and text, or what have you.

There is nothing smart about a smart car! I would drive a tank if I could get one.

Actions have consequences… Be safe and courteous and if you are in Texas, don’t speed, drive and text and don’t drink and drive!

Best to you and those that you care about…