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I live in in Newtown, CT
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[quote:Anonymous Coward 32678919:MV8yMTE5NzMwXzM1NzY3NTEzXzI2MUZEMUYy] [quote:K 16561399:MV8yMTE5NzMwXzM1NzU5MTg1X0JFQzg2QUIx] OP, I heard that some of those parents were satanists and that there was a lot of occult activity in that town. I'm not religious but I don't know those people were just very odd on tv, it seemed as if they were milking the media. Had it been myself losing a child I would not speak about it for a while.... I don't know there are too many holes in the story. Not to mention the websites for funding sandy hook being created prior the tragedy and the whole deal with Victorias rip Facebook page then they went and changed it and yeah hacking happens ... Then the guy who took his kids into his house and changed his story twice... The sweatshirts being strewn outside the car with all four door open? Probably to kidnap the kids who knows... I feel bad for these kids , they were probably in some satanic sacrificial ritual thing or brought to underground base or something who knows... Nothing adds up. [/quote] Yup, I've heard that too. Just like our friendly witch Laura from Newtown who showed up in this thread. [/quote]
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I will post no proof that I actually do live here. I'm sure some have clicked away immediately at that confession and I do not blame them. You may or may not believe in what I am about to say and that is your choice.
I live in Newtown. I live about 1 mile from Sandy Hook Elementary on Riverside Road. I didn't go to work on Friday Dec 14th. I called in sick but I was playing hooky. I work at a restaurant in Danbury. I've spent the past 2 hours debating with myself if I should post this. I could have posted it somewhere else but this site seems to always pop up when the Sandy Hook "shooting" is concerned. I figured this was the most popular spot.
At around 8:50-9:00am I had just finished eating my breakfast. I had Captain Crunch cereal. I had used the last of my milk. I decided to go get some at Caraluzzi's because a friend of mine works there and I wanted to see what he was up to that evening. I get in my car at about 9:05am. I drive West on Riverside Road. Before I even got to the Fire House, I noticed a lot of vehicles parked there. Way, way, way more than usual. A few was parked on both sides of the road. I figured they was just doing some kind of training or a meeting. However one thing did stick out and that was the fact that a lot of the vehicles was solid silver and solid black. I drive past the Fire House and the Senior Center is right next door less than 100 yards. That parking lot was full as well with some of the same vehicles mixed with trucks and what not. Vehicles you would expect to see in a parking lot. Still I thought nothing of it. I go get my milk.
I'm in Caraluzzi's and I've been talking to my friend for a right good while and we hear 2 police cars go by. About 5 minutes later we hear a Helicopter. Dave comes from the back and said, "They must be doing another drill again. Scanner said mass casualty incident involving children". Right then I figured out why all those vehicles was at the Fire House and Senior Center. Because it's not the first time they have done that. They did a similar thing about 1 year ago around this time of year. And they are always doing car accidents that concerns Hazmat or whatever. I told them what I saw. Dave said, "Those cars sound like FBI cars. I guess they would be in on it". So I figure to go so I could catch a peek at what was going on. I get to town and couldn't go down Riverside Road. I told the officer that I live down there. He said, "No through traffic even for residents. Fire and Rescue and Police need to finish doing what they are doing". I said, "What are they doing?". He said, "I would tell you if I knew and I have no clue. The way it sounds they are running a drill but we have been blocked from main traffic. I was just told to do traffic control and make sure no one goes down there".
Then I drive west to Danbury. I don't know why but I just did. I was thinking to myself that that was what I get for playing hooky from work. I had the radio on but not loud enough to hear it. I turn it up thinking maybe I could catch what was going on. The local station mentioned nothing. At about 10:00 they break in from Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55". The guy said that he was hearing reports of an incident at Sandy Hook Elem and that surrounding schools was on lock down however, "I called my wife because she works at Newtown Middle School and she said they weren't on lock down and haven't heard anything about an incident. So it appears information has been mixed up. We need to get our stuff together before they tell me to report".
I get to Danbury and I go into Global gas station to get a Mt. Dew. They had the tv on and I froze. They was watching coverage of the "shooting". I just watched for 30 minutes frozen. Then I started thinking about all of those cars at the Fire Dept. I didn't know what to think about that. My brain just didn't work after watching the tv.
Fast forward to right this second. I've read the theories and the stories and honestly, those are the only ones that add up. I live here and I do not know what the **** went on. This town is fairly small. I know right many people. I know Eugene Rosen. He is an extremely creepy bastard. I know Scarlett Lewis. But I would like to know where in the hell she got all of that money to "spruce" herself up for interviews. But the Phelps and Parker families that seem to be shoved down our throat, I have no idea in hell who they are. I've asked family and friends and they don't know who they are. I know a Robert Parker, but that sure as hell isn't him in the interviews.
I just do not know what is going on.
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The Health Show #1260
By Bob Barrett
The great thing about spring is the chance to get outside and enjoy nature...do some gardening or play some ball. The bad part about spring is all of the above...because outside and nature is where the ticks are. Over the past decade or so the number of tick borne disease cases have risen in the US and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. On today's Health Show we'll talk to a public health entomologist about how to protect ourselves from ticks.
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A golf cart that was being recharged in a basement caused a fire that destroyed a house in Gastonia on Monday morning.
Firefighters who arrived at the one-story house at 2516 Georgemont Court about 10:30 a.m. found a heavy fire in the basement. Two people were in the house when the fire started but got out without injury, according to a report by the Gastonia Fire Department.
The floor of a bedroom collapsed into the basement, but firefighters checking the integrity of the house escaped in time and no injuries were reported.
Damages were estimated at $200,000 and the building was reported as a total loss. The cause was an electrical issue with the golf cart, which was plugged in to recharge.
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Special Correspondent
Puducherry: Professor Manoj Das, a Sahitya Akademy awardee, handed over prizes to children of Soucilabai Government Girls Higher Secondary School on Tuesday, who were adjudged proficient in various competitions and creative arts. The competitions were held in connection with the Children's Day celebrations. The vice-president of the Parents Teachers Association R. Shanmugham welcomed. Principal of the school K.P. Chamola also spoke.
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text: Liberty Print Espadrilles by Espadrille £29.99$57.21€39.48$50.21 In stock £2.75$5.24€3.62$4.60 mainland UK delivery - Order now and receive this item on or before Wednesday 24 December £2.75$5.24€3.62$4.60 mainland UK deliveryEstimated delivery: 2-3 days International delivery available bucoliquebucoliqueEU37 / UK 4EU40 / UK 7EU41 / UK 8EU 38 / UK 5bucoliqueEU37 / UK 4EU40 / UK 7EU41 / UK 8EU 38 / UK 5bucoliqueEU37 / UK 4EU40 / UK 7EU41 / UK 8EU 38 / UK 5bucoliqueEU37 / UK 4EU40 / UK 7EU41 / UK 8EU 38 / UK 5 baby dollbaby dollUK 4 / EU 37UK 5 / EU 38UK 7 / EU40UK 8 / EU41baby dollUK 4 / EU 37UK 5 / EU 38UK 7 / EU40UK 8 / EU41baby dollUK 4 / EU 37UK 5 / EU 38UK 7 / EU40UK 8 / EU41baby dollUK 4 / EU 37UK 5 / EU 38UK 7 / EU40UK 8 / EU41 quantity by Espadrille Location: Cheshire, GB read seller's profile see seller's complete range more items from this seller Brown Suede Wedge Boot With Fur Lining £110$209.86€144.83$184.17 Coraline Espadrilles £25$47.69€32.91$41.85 Metallic Gun Metal Grey Low Espadrille £65$124.01€85.58$108.82 A Piedi Antonia Fungo Sandal £45$85.85€59.25$75.34 Marine Espadrilles £25$47.69€32.91$41.85 Gianluca L'artigiano Del Cuoio Slip On Sandal £65$124.01€85.58$108.82 view all you may also like PRODUCT DETAILS DELIVERY RETURNS gift wrapping available eco-friendly ask seller a question A French classic espadrille with an English twist - the Liberty print fabric gives a contemporary feel in 2 colour choices. The Bucolique has blue, purple and green with a splash of burnt orange finished with yellow edging. The Bucolique espadrille will inject style, comfort and colour to your summer outfits. Whilst the Baby Doll has a red trim and red, soft pink and blue flowers. Easy to pack or great to cheer up your 'staycation'! Jute/rubber sole and fabric upper. Fabric has been lined. True to size. Initial snug fit but fabric will give and shape to foot Choose from the Bucolique or Baby Doll made from: Jute and rabric with full rubber sole dimensions: shoe size product code: 179601 This product is dispatched to you by Espadrille. MAINLAND UK order now and receive this item on or before price Standard Delivery Wednesday 24 December £2.75$5.24€3.62$4.60 NON-MAINLAND UK estimated delivery price Highlands & Islands of Scotland 2-5 daysfrom dispatch £2.75$5.24€3.62$4.60 Northern Ireland 2-5 daysfrom dispatch £2.75$5.24€3.62$4.60 Other UK Islands 2-5 daysfrom dispatch £4.95$9.44€6.51$8.28 INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY estimated delivery price Western Europe 2-5 daysfrom dispatch £9.95$18.98€13.10$16.65 Rest of Europe 5-10 daysfrom dispatch £9.95$18.98€13.10$16.65 USA & Canada 5-10 daysfrom dispatch £17.95$34.24€23.63$30.05 Far East & Australasia 5-10 daysfrom dispatch £17.95$34.24€23.63$30.05 Rest of the world 5-14 daysfrom dispatch £17.95$34.24€23.63$30.05 You have 28 days, from receipt of cancellable goods, to notify the seller if you wish to cancel your order or exchange an item. Please note: goods that are personalised, bespoke or made-to-order to your specific requirements, perishable products and personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear) in instances where the seal is broken are non-refundable, unless faulty. Read more about our returns policy.Should you choose to return or exchange your order you will need to deliver the item(s) to the UK, where this seller is based. Espadrille's return policy


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Teen Titans Deluxe Muscle Chest Robin Toddler / Child Costume
Select one or more items and submit your email address to be notified when the product is available.
Citizens have no fear when Robin is here to battle the bad guys.
Team up with Batman to keep the city of Gotham safe as this spectacular sidekick. The Teen Titans Deluxe Muscle Chest Robin toddler/child costume includes a muscle chest jumpsuit with boot covers, eye mask, cape and belt. 4-piece set. Polyester/Polyurethane.
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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356797342014-12-14T05:31:56.654-06:00Better And BetterIf you don't draw yours, I won't draw mine.Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-37198971349555157662014-11-20T04:59:00.000-06:002014-11-20T04:59:08.188-06:00In case you've forgotten his name?
Christian Trejbal is still an ass.
Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-48579082240984913982014-11-12T00:52:00.002-06:002014-11-12T00:52:56.524-06:00Power line down.Just when you think that you're getting used to the random arcing, the transformer will blow. I don't care how many times you've seen it; that'll still get your danged attention.

The hot wire literally catches the dirt on fire. The sand in the dirt begins making glass bubbles which remain.

Live loose trailing wires in windy conditions are an ongoing problem. Blowing past the fire and police barricades to get to your family because you heard that there was "a fire in the yard" makes you a new source of problems. Prepare to meet Mr. Crankycop and his friend Firefighter SourFace. Seriously, you're better off stopping to ask the firefighter how best to approach your house. Sure you're worried about your family. But if we have to deal with a new problem, we're distracted from helping your family.

I love the smell of a freshly-popped road flare.

35 degrees? Not a problem. 35 and a 20 mph north wind? Kinda raises your skirts a bit.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-88713412596046231892014-11-11T22:01:00.001-06:002014-11-11T22:01:20.207-06:00Thanks. Most of you didn't have to.

Thanks. Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-74315642626974395182014-10-29T23:00:00.001-06:002014-10-29T23:01:29.083-06:00"There's a man at the door." I was in the laundry room, turning dirty clothes into clean ones, when my daughter hollered to me that there was a man at the door.

I've actually been having some issues with a local who has lost his grasp on reality, and who believes that I'm the cause of his problems, so I made decent speed to the door. Not running, not amped, but ready. To my irritation, the door was standing ajar. I opened it, and found one of our newest officers at my department on the porch. I'm afraid that he may have misread my irritation with my daughter's accurate-yet-incomplete report as irritation at seeing him. He stepped back, and noted my hand in my pocket.

"Damn, Matt, you were about to put a cap in my ass!" He laughed.

I protested that I was happy to see him, and that no such thing was on my mind.

"Bull. You've got your hand on a gun, right now!"

I had actually been re-seating my little J-frame back into my leather pocket holster. I shrugged and pulled the whole rig out to seat it better, and re-pocketed it.

I closed the door and stepped outside, expecting there to be a potentially sensitive issue. There wasn't one. We chatted. Seems that a month or two back, I had done the recently-late officer from another agency a favor, when he had asked me over chat on our MDT to check on the registered address of a reported hit-and-run vehicle. I had found the suspect vehicle in its driveway, and documented the damage to it thoroughly photographically. I then had put all the picturess on a DVD,. and mailed it to him (my email couldn't handle it, and I was too lazy to set up a DropBox account.). Well, with his sudden passing, the case was languishing. I said that I would find the pictures and re-mail them to his P.D.

Strange the things that pop up.

Now I need to have a chat with the family about my expectations on answering the door and giving a more complete report than just "a man at the door."Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-66800631229430876122014-10-29T22:38:00.002-06:002014-11-12T00:55:07.126-06:00Daughter's surgery. Part 1. My elder daughter had nothing on her eardrum. Look in her ear? See bones. So today, she went into a little surgical center place and had some skin grafted to the eardrum. Yeah, we're living in the future or something. The doc did it without even peeling back the ear. I asked him if he also built ships in a bottle. (He doesn't.)

So my 16 year-old honors student daughter came out of the surgical center, still groggy from the anesthetics, pain meds, and anti-anxiety meds that they had pushed, and said excitedly: "They gave me stickers! And now I'm free as a pretty pony!"

And then we put her in the car and took her home.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-27376852636569221902014-10-25T03:02:00.000-05:002014-10-25T03:20:42.786-05:00Blogorado the ?th I've lost track. (6th, I think.)I didn't have much time this trip, so I raced northwest, visited, and then raced back. There just wasn't enough time. But I was honored to be able to ferry a friend who otherwise wouldn't have been able to make it.
I roomed again with my great friend Ambulance Driver. There are a few people in this world that become one of your best friends the first time you meet them. One for me was my old patrol partner, P. Another is Ambulance Driver.
I didn't get enough time to shoot. And that what I shot wasn't great. I kept getting distracted from what I was going to do. I didn't spend anywhere nearly enough time with my good friend Gay Cynic.

I didn't spend anywhere NEARLY enough time with my gracious hosts, Farm Mom, Farm Dad, and Farm Girl. I got in some good breakfast time with Tam and the Nerds.

I didn't hang out much with my Dad and his wife, because we see each other all the time. PhlegmFatale I got to chat with a fair bit. AEPilot bought me a lovely hat. And he provided a LOT of food. Thanks, man!

Old NFO took Spear and Gunsmith Jason to shoot on Sunday morning, but didn't invite me. He sends me good coffee, but he doesn't invite me for the early morning rifle frivolity. Hm. I made coffee at the range again. Because dammit, I like a little coffee at the range.

DanielS arrived with his lovely wife, who was a maven of the open range, cooking burgers.

And others. We had a good time. We'll do it again, I hope.

Then, there was ChristinaLMT and SciFi and SciFi Wife and... I'm missing people.

Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-52811394798058914502014-10-25T02:05:00.001-05:002014-10-25T15:04:01.894-05:00End of watch. In a medium-sized county, you don't know every cop, but you eventually hear about the recipients of the clown awards. We had a local guy pass, and I didn't know anything about him. Ergo, he wasn't a bad egg.

It was time to go pay my respects.

I took my wife, at least partly because she had never been to a cop's funeral, and might need to know what to expect. And for the company, because I'm selfish.

The place was packed with family and friends, and with police and fire personnel, along with dispatchers and EMTs and paramedics. A lot of us parked on the grass.

The ceremony went as they go. There were prayers and testimonials and a few funny stories. Having not known the man, I tried to pay attention. Finally, the deceased officer's chief directed those of us with radios (I was in uniform and thus was one of them.) to turn on our radios and monitor the officer's agency's dispatch frequency. As I did so, I realized what was coming, but my wife did not.

The chief called dispatch under his call number, and we waited. County dispatch beeped an alert tone, and called out the deceased officer's radio call number. No answer. Dispatch called it out again. No answer. Dispatch called it a third time. Dispatch then announced the officer's end of watch date, and thanked him for his service.

The room, filled with a disproportionately high number of young-to-middle-aged men, pretty much as one ducked our heads into our hands to wipe our eyes.

That end of watch call* always gets me.

__________________________________

*Here's a version that I found on YouTube, which was vaguely like what I heard today.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-62628154221167965852014-10-22T12:07:00.001-05:002014-10-22T12:47:05.810-05:00Get off of my side. Look, neighbor we've got some things in common, you and I. We both like to shoot. We appreciate nice guns. Heck, we even have a certain appreciation for not-so-nice guns. We both also hold our current administration with some contempt. So, common ground, I guess?

But you see, my contempt for our sitting President isn't based upon the color of his skin. It's not completely based upon his origin*. It's not based upon his religion or lack of it**.

As a matter of fact, it is actually his pandering to race which is one of the reasons that I'm annoyed by our sitting President.

I don't like racism. I find myself irritated by racists. But I try, for the most part, to live and let live.

But you know what really pushes my button?

Imply that I'm a racist.

And here's the thing: when you and I, recent acquaintances, are having conversation between almost-strangers, and you casually drop the N-word and other racial remarks about our sitting President-- you're making some assumptions about me. You're assuming that I'm complicit with your speech, and your way of thinking. You're assuming that I'm not offended, and will continue this conversation. By implication, you are saying that you believe that I'm like you. A racist.

I'm not. And while I may appreciate the courtesies that you may have shown me and mine, I'll be taking my leave. Because today I can't stand talking to you, and your racist friends.

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_____________________________
*Hawaii? No. Kenya? I'm not a birther. Politically, he's from Chicago. There's a lot of righteous disdain to be held for Chicago's political system.

** Although his attendance to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church, and support (until called on the issue) of a man who is patently racist, bothers me.Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-12493049288040232172014-10-22T10:36:00.003-05:002014-10-22T10:37:24.339-05:00Mornings with the girlsSchool has been bearing down on us.

The night before last, my elder daughter returned home from band practice. Her band advanced to the Area Marching Contest last weekend (with a sweepstakes 1,1,1 from the judges, which I gather is A Good Thing), and this weekend will probably advance to State. She got home after 8:00 pm, after going in early. My wife and I have been noticing that chores haven't been getting done enough around the house, and that her usually exemplary grades have been slipping. Well, she's taking dual-credit (college and A.P. high school) in two classes, and marching band, wind ensemble, choir, literary criticism, ready writing, and her other classes. Something's gotta give.

We, uh, may have gone off on her a bit hard. There were tears and teeth grinding. She got her chores done and then stayed up studying for a history exam.

The next morning, I made breakfast. (Bacon, eggs, toast, milk, coffee. You know-- breakfast.) I fed her and sent her off to school with a sandwich. She gave blood just before lunch, and apparently the phlebotomists were shocked that she actually had consumed a real breakfast.

She stayed late for concert instrument practice, then for Literary Criticism, and got home at about 6:30pm.

This morning, I got her up at 5:40, with a full breakfast and packed another lunch (ham and cheese sandwich, dressed up with thin-sliced pickle and dijon, romaine, sharp cheddar, on multi-grain) and took her in.

At 06:24, we drove into the high school parking lot. The lights were blazing on the stadium. The football team had been practicing on field for about an hour. My daughter said that she was "late." I said she was crazy-- she had until 6:30?!? She pointed to the kids exiting the band hall with their instruments in a steady stream, and said, "The call time is 6:25!" (My phone still read 6:24AM.) She raced in.

I'm amazed at how involved these girls are.

I got home and woke my younger daughter. I gave her a full breakfast, and took her in for "Zero Period" for math tutoring at 07:30. At least she has her band practice for the week completed.

I didn't spend as much time at school as this in high school and junior high. But my mama made me a fantastic* brown bag lunch every day to take with me. I appreciated it a little back then; now I am simply amazed.

______________________
*Seriously: Big Orowheat pumpernickel slices around mayo, mustard, good lunch meat or left-over pot roast or meat loaf, lettuce, thick-sliced cheese, tomatoes, onions, sometimes some peppers. A baggie of chips. A piece of fruit. Maybe a cookie or two. Often a dill pickle. Dang, those were great lunches! Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-34193683019088094382014-10-02T15:59:00.000-05:002014-10-02T15:59:51.466-05:00Ambi safeties. I don't understand the constant claim that the ability to equally use a firearm with either hand is undesirable.

I've been carrying Glocks and double-action revolvers for the most part for the last 8 years. Sure, I love my beloved 1911s. But you know what's hard? Picking up a stock 1911 with your left hand, knocking off the safety (one-handed), and firing it.

I practice shooting partly because I need to know that in a gunfight, I can do what needs doing. While the chances of getting into a gunfight are small, the chances of me getting shot in a gunfight that I'm participating in are actually pretty high. (Well, higher than I'm comfortable with.) Given that my strong arm would likely be presented to an adversary in a gunfight or even a blade attack, the chances of my strong right arm or hand being injured aren't inconsiderable. Why not have a good plan to end this thing?

I qualify twice a year, and shoot quite a bit more than that. I don't shoot enough left-handed. Whenever I do, I'm reminded of how much I suck at it. I don't see any point in making an already difficult task near impossible. I like small auxiliary ambi safeties.

Admittedly, some ambidextrous safeties aren't made properly or installed properly. I am assuming that you have a quality part and installation. Swenson has made some fine ones for years.

So here I am, at odds with friend Jim Wilson. At least Jim and I agree on the uselessness of full-length guide rods.Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-64818522706062200192014-09-26T09:41:00.000-05:002014-09-26T09:42:13.980-05:00Let's all get shoulder-to-shoulder on this one: A South Carolina state trooper named Sean Groubert shoots a guy. The guy (Levar Jones) was reaching for his wallet. The last shot was fired as the victim was actually raising his hands and surrendering.

Oh, and the victim was black, with the trooper was white.

The race of the victim may or may not have influenced the trooper's perception of what the victim was doing, but if so, this cop was so badly out of check that nothing was going to correct it.

There is nothing redeemable about this shooting. This trooper needs to be fired (done), charged (done), convicted (soon), and condemned by all cops. This isn't us. This was a fool who should never have been allowed to slip between the cracks and be a trooper.

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I'm sorry, y'all. There's nothing more that I can say. We're better than this.Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-2413015352324467132014-09-24T05:11:00.001-05:002014-09-24T05:12:08.922-05:00Upside down. After working a full night and then some at the PD on Sunday, I hurried home, and changed clothes and went to the Fire Department. After doing a thorough vehicle check on a new piece of apparatus that we had just gotten second-hand from a larger department, I went to get my physical.

One of the reasons that I went to get my physical is because September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and it was time to see if my PSA had fluctuated at all. The last couple of years, my Prostate Specific Antigen has been so very low that the chances of me being one of the one in six men who develop prostate cancer are extremely low. I get this every year. No, I've not had the digital-rectal exam in some time. Yes, the PSA test has a certain false result rate. But over the years, getting multiple negatives tends to show a trend line. Get yourself checked, gentlemen. It was part of the same blood draw that they did for my overall workup. My insurance pays for the wellness check once a year for FREE, and that's not at all uncommon. One single stick in my left arm, and I get to find out all kinds of things about myself. You need to do this. And you need to donate to the outstanding fundraising efforts being coordinated by my good friends for Kilted To Kick Cancer.

While at the doctor's office, I endured his very nice, but kind of embarrassing praise about my recent weight loss. I guess that 30 lbs is a lot to most people, but when you start at over 300 pounds, it's really just 10%. My doc asked what I've been doing, and I shrugged and said that I've been moving around a little more, eating a little less, and I've cut carbohydrates in my diet. This last part makes me sad, because it's akin to scrubbing on a stain for 10 minutes, and realizing that you're actually making progress. Dang it-- I'm going to have to keep at it. :(

As you can see from my trend line on my geeky homemade spreadsheet, the progress is slow but sure. But no one wants to read about someone's diet; I apologize.

I then took the Fire Chief's city truck in to get serviced, and found myself waiting in the lobby of the dealer maintenance department for 2 hours, realizing my blunder: I hadn't eaten all night and all morning, because I was NPO for the blood draw! Curses! I stopped on the way back to the FD and ate heartily of sandwiches without their buns.

Getting to sleep after 3:00pm, I expected to get up and work on my EMT class online from about 11:00pm until 7:00am. I woke at 3:30am-- I had slept the clock around. I've not done that in a long time. But I'd been up for about 23 hours, too.

So it is that I'm now finishing my weekend kind of upside down. I got up this morning at about 1:30am, when I should have gotten up 10 hours or more before. Today is going to be rough at work.

_______________________

I just now was getting my workout gear together, for a half-hour workout before my wife and kids get up. The majority of my marriage, I've been on opposite shifts from my wife. I have learned how to gather clothes in the dark pretty well. By accident, I've learned the value of a blacklight flashlight. It turns out that I can shine a pretty bright UV flashlight around the bedroom as I get my stuff together, and this doesn't bother my sleeping wife the same as even a weak white light would. The reflected UV light just doesn't seem to penetrate the eyelids. So now I've got one on my bedside table.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-70014051247008941632014-09-10T07:27:00.000-05:002014-09-10T07:28:25.617-05:00September, this and that. Curmudgeon. --I'm training a rookie. He's a nice guy, but I'm not used to having another guy in my patrol car. We're joined at the hip all shift.

--My daughter just turned 16, and I won't let her take her driving test until I'm completely satisfied with her ability with the manual transmission Honda that I'm giving her. She's really coming along, though. Something finally just clicked with regard to her feathering the clutch while revving an underpowered engine (there's just not that much compression left after all these years). I want her to really GET the joy of using your gears to maintain a perfect speed and keep you at the top of your power curve while downshifting through a downhill double-S curve, and then accelerating out of it, never touching the brake. I also love that she will know how to drive whatever she chooses to drive.

--I'm getting old or something. I've been really noticing lately how people let their kids interrupt adult conversations to have their say. I'm talking about 4 and 5 year-olds, lately. I'll be dealing with the parent in an important issue, and the parent will stop down to hear what the kid has to add. Which, of course, means that I have to stop down to hear it, too. There is this egalitarian philosophy that seems to have pervaded the world, about how Everyone Has A Right To Give Their Opinion. Except that: that 4 year-old's opinion was not sought. It did not add to our understanding of the situation. Grownups were talking, and you have now rewarded undesired behavior.
I weep for our future.

--I get some evil looks when I casually mention that someone's kid is "kinda high maintenance, isn't he?" Oops.

--I bought some stuff from an older gent that my mother knows. He has Parkinson's and was clearing out some of his gun stuff. I got some dies and a bunch of bullets and a whole bunch of fired cases, along with some .44 Mag ammo and some other reloading tools, for $100. I expressed interest in the old reloading manuals that he had, and he asked for $15 more. I only had a $20, and he didn't make change. Ah, well, I came away with a pretty good haul. That said, I don't have a 7mm magnum, for which a lot of the cases, bullets, and some dies were for. Also I got a bunch of cases and bullets for .22-250, which I don't have. (I would LOVE to have a Savage 99, but I'd rather it be .250-3000 or .300 Savage.) There was a case of 12 gauge shotgun shells which touted the "New Plastic Hulls." There were 20 round boxes of .44 Magnum for under $5.00. I bought a couple of large shallow TupperTote boxes to put it all in, and put the lids on them, to keep the dust out.

--It never occurred to me to go visit the guy without taking my dad along. Those kind of treasure hunts are right up his alley.

--Now I'm the parent haranguing his 7th grade daughter into using her agenda planner every day to be organized about studying for tests and getting assignments in on time. I have to stay on her, or she won't use it. She protests that she's not organized. I answer that that is EXACTLY why she needs to use it. All the time.

--I'm wanting a new car for me. I'm thinking about a nice reliable used Tacoma 4dr pickup.

--This crappy low/no-carb diet of mine has caused me to lose a belt notch or two this past summer, and about 20 something pounds. I will grudgingly admit that the diet works. Eh.

--Some dudes are up on my house right now to put on a new roof. We're negotiating it into gutters as well. Getting excited about putting gutters on your house pretty much makes you an Old Man.

--Get your prostate checked. And donate to Kilted To Kick Cancer, which my buddy Ambulance Driver and others are raising money for.Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-8058505968387984702014-09-10T00:46:00.001-05:002014-09-10T16:35:05.345-05:00More coffee. The high-end stuff. After my last post, Old NFO sent me a pound in two packages of Kona coffee. I reiterate: NOT "Kona Blend", but 100% Kona.

I have been making it in the French Press, with filtered water. I have shared it with my family but little.

My wife tilted her head and squinted and asked "Why are people sending you coffee?" I smiled and told her that it was because I'm such a big deal, which made her roll her eyes. In truth, I don't know why I'm blessed to receive such blessings, and I know that I don't really deserve such friends and friendly gestures.

[Raised cup] Here is to you, Old NFO. Until the next time that we can share a pot of coffee on the range or at our friends' place.Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-42942823072691567682014-08-12T14:59:00.000-05:002014-08-12T14:59:05.453-05:00Coffee in the round-about manner. My wife and I went into Town to the large local pizzaria-and-bar, and sat with Dad and Holly and friends, to play trivia. It's fun, not least of all because our table pretty much always wins. It seems that our family and friends are frickin' huge repository of knowledge of questionable use. The restaurant is always full on Trivia Night, so there are a couple of dozen tables in play. I want to say that I think that I contributed one or two answers to our table's win, but I may have also negatively influenced some answers, too.

Toward the end, Holly waved from the other end of the table and said that she and Dad had a package for me. The package was one sent to me care of Phlegmmy, who had transferred it to Dad and Holly, who held it for me to come by and pick up.

Next day, I went to their house, and opened a box with three packages of coffee from The Roasterie, sent to me by ZerCool. I immediately ground some Kona, and Dad and I consumed a pot of it while discussing his new (to him) coach gun and his new (to him) S&W M27-2 (P.&R., natch).

Now friends, I don't know what YOU did with your Wednesday, but an afternoon drinking fresh coffee, eating ripe peaches off the tree and talking guns with JPG happened to be exactly what this man needed. You are welcome to be a little jealous.

That bag of Kona went fast, but I found that the Kansas City Dark Blend, ground fine, makes an excellent light espresso, and that the "40 Sardines" blend makes another good cuppa.

I think that ZerCool sent that CARE package about 6 weeks ago, but it was timely-- I was out of coffee again.

Thank you, brother. There is nothing more pleasurable than finding an unexpected gift in the post.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-83471105312302880362014-07-10T14:28:00.000-05:002014-07-10T14:28:45.250-05:00Multiple language barriers. I speak a little Spanish. Not a lot, but I can usually get basic concepts across.
I do not know sign language, beyond one or two very simple phrases. I can't "get by" in it.

A few months ago, I had a traffic stop in which the driver, a Spanish speaker, was deaf.

My daughter had started drawing in my pocket notebook when she found it on the table while I was doing laundry. I found it in her possession, and confiscated it, because the contents are not her business. (Mostly data without actual connection to specific charges, but still, that's mine.) I found part of the conversation that I had had with the driver when I issued the citation, in the notebook, which I attach here:

It's interesting to me that if I knew sign language, it would cut across that language barrier.
It's handy having access to Google Translate in your patrol car, too.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-77337254550009940152014-06-30T11:37:00.003-05:002014-07-10T14:29:41.787-05:00The unions. (Why I don't want to be part of them.)So, today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) released it's opinion on Harris v. Quinn.

The main question:

May a State, consistent with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, compel personal care providers to accept and financially support a private organization as their exclusive representative to petition the State for greater reimbursements from its Medicaid programs?
The question we thought that it would settle is whether a person could be compelled to pay union dues without joining the union, just because of the job that he or she held?

The pivotal case of precedent was Abood v. Detroit Board Of Education, which had affirmed that they could, saying that it was fine to require share payment of those in the public sector who benefitted from collective bargaining agreements. The thinking was, "Hey, you benefitted from this agreement that gets you better wages and benefits, so you better pay up and not be a freeloader."

It puts in mind that guy who signs the card on the gift that he did not contribute anything to. Well that's not right, is it??!?

But to continue the analogy, consider the other employee who comes to you and says, "It's Bob's birthday. I bought him a new laptop. Everyone's chipping in $50. Cough it up." Well, that's not fair, either. First, I like $50. I need my $50. Also, this creates dangerous precedent. What about when it's Maria's birthday? And Gordon's birthday?* Are we going to do this EVERY year? And you get to decide how much I chip in? Can't I just opt out and not sign the card? I'm just trying to work, here.

You'll note that the cases are in Detroit, MI, and Illinois, where unions are a big deal. I myself find it amazing that a person can be compelled to pay union dues, and be told that it's okay, because they don't have to actually join the union; they only have to subsidize it.

As it is, Abood didn't get fully overturned, because the Court didn't find that the petitioners (contract employees receiving state subsidies for home health care) were the best fit. They didn't have good enough standing. But Justice Alito made clear that he is rubbing his palms together to receive a case that fits the issue best. As well he should.

Unions have done some good things in this country. The ability to belong to a union is of course nothing that I dispute. But they have generally gone too far, and the law as it has stood under Abood v. Detroit B.O.E. has been nothing less than a state requirement to join and subsidize a union.

I see current unions as doing crazy things. I know a local industrial manufacturer which employs union workers to make its trucks. Brand new employees with no more than high school diplomas can start working on the line at around $30 an hour, which sounds great... until they're laid off after a few months. When they get a big order, they recall the workers. There's no job continuity. If their union hadn't bargained so stiffly, these young men and women could keep $18/hour jobs (which is a living wage in Texas, I assure you), and not miss work.

I am a cop. I regularly hear about how police unions make it next to impossible to fire a dirty cop. And, in some places, that's embarrassingly true. Regular readers here may recall how I pushed for a letter-writing campaign to have Officer Harless with the Canton, OH PD fired after his incident, after which his union actually temporarily won his job back for him.

So excuse me if I don't particularly like unions. They make hard-working, honest employees look like lazy money-grabbers. They have hurt the reputation of my own profession, even while I work in a "Right To Work" state. It is jokingly stated that "Right To Work" really means "Right To Terminate," and there's some truth to that. I can be fired from my job pretty much any time. I don't have a union protecting me. Oh, I belong to the Texas Municipal Police Association, which provides me with legal insurance (I pay in monthly dues, and in exchange, I get a policy for up to a million bucks to pay for legit legal fees, in such instance as if I am sued), but that's not a union. I'm not entitled to my job or my badge. And I'm fine with that-- it means that I and my co-workers had best keep our walk on the straight and narrow.

I am embarrassed for public employees who feel otherwise.

___________
*Or Big Bird's? Or Cookie Monster's? Sorry. The names came at random.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-74758326064999518202014-06-26T14:41:00.000-05:002014-06-26T14:41:54.564-05:00Controlling one's own destiny. Well-known and well-thought-of firearms trainer Louis Awerbuck passed away this week.

I never me the man, but I've friends who knew him (like Tam and Rich). I have of course read his stuff for years.

There is something to be said for placing no dependence upon others, if that is your greatest fear (it is not mine). There is yet more to be said for going out on your own terms.

The freedom to decide how we meet our fate is ultimately what most of us who meet here and at my other haunts are talking about. No sane person wants to get into a gunfight. But nobody wants to have all of their options taken from them, either. Louis Awerbuck, it seems to me, made his career out of helping others to maintain their options. Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-81606731272258474032014-06-16T07:05:00.002-05:002014-06-16T07:07:13.654-05:00ApologyBy the way, it was rude of me to hijack Caleb's thread with almost 1500 words in the comments section, and I do apologize. I started out just responding to the post, and the riff just went on and on. I should have reined it in when I started numbering frickin' paragraphs. :rolleyes:

Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-63889589055735995772014-06-12T13:59:00.002-05:002014-06-13T13:56:45.509-05:00On Police Shooting Dogs.Caleb posted about police shooting dogs. I responded there, but decided to bring it here as a post, as well.

This is an emotional topic.
I'm going to speak here as a cop, but also as an academic who has put 20 years into Criminal Justice studies. I ask that people not take this personally, and please don't take my words as those of all police.
_____________

1. Animals are property.
This one statement is going to get a lot of people riled up that I say it, but it's a fact. They are owned. If someone takes your dog without your permission, and they are caught, that person is caught, they are charged with Theft, not Kidnapping. Animals including dogs are bought and sold at a brisk rate.
People know this to be a fact, but they cannot embrace it, when their dog is a family member to them. This is about emotion. Emotion, we know, is neither right nor wrong-- it simply is. But it can play merry hell with an equation built only on facts.

2. Emotions seem to trump logic.
If a cop serves a felony warrant, and uses a sledge hammer to break open a beautiful oaken door, people say, "Well, that's a shame about the door, but if the warrant was in order and the homeowner wasn't opening up, then it was time to open it however." If that same cop is met by a scared and aggressive dog that is doing what arguably is its job (protecting the household), but which is also endangering the cop with bloodshed, and the officer uses his weapon to stop what is the threat of what is, after all, property, from hurting him, the same logic often isn't used. It is short circuited by emotion.

3. Officers should not have to be bitten first.
I have been bitten on the job. I've gone to the ER and been treated and then bought new $70 uniform pants out of my own pocket, and never gotten recompensed for it. I've had dogs nip at me, and come charging into my taser and baton. I will die with clear scars left on my body that I have obtained from dogs attacking me while on the job. On a couple of occasions, I'll be honest with you: I should have shot the dog.

I have heard it said by people upset about a shooting that the dog hadn't bitten the officer yet. Given a large enough dog, a grown man can be permanently injured by a dog attack. Often it is shocking how small a dog can render lifelong injuries to a man. Without getting into breeds, we all know the breeds of dogs that are used the most for dog fighting, which are nowhere near the largest breeds. Sometimes a 40 lb dog is enough to permanently harm a man. Consider also the biological weapons in the dog's bite. Dogs left to roam and attack are often the same kind of dogs not getting their shots.

4. Officers should be trained better about dogs.
Jeff Cooper once said that a properly-trained police officer ought to be able to deal with a single dog attacking him. For the most part, I don't disagree, and that's frankly the main reason that I've never shot a dog that was attacking me while on the job. I have tazed them, and I have used my expandable baton, and I have used my steel-toed boots on them. A lot of the reason that I have not shot dogs when I would have been approved to do so by policy is because of #2, above: Emotions Trump Logic. I had a lieutenant get on to me about tazing my second dog attacking me in 2 months (both were pit bulls, and I promise you, both were in the immediate act of trying to get a mouthful of me. This wasn't a dog trotting up to check me out. One was airborne at me when the barbs hit.), because Taser cartridges are more expensive than pistol cartridges. He may have been speaking tongue in cheek, but I pointed out that I was able to resolve the problem without having our department featured in the news for "Another Cop Shoots Another Dog," and that's a win. (Also, I was in a vey residential area, and I don't like skipping pistol bullets around if I can help it.)

I will say, though, that modern expandable batons were mostly built more as pain compliance devices than as bone-breaking weapons, and they are surprisingly ineffective at rendering incapacitating injuries. To this end, the old second-growth hickory batons were FAR superior. The main feature of an expandable baton is that it is always on the belt of an officer. Strangely, most cops seem to forget about it. That's a two-pound chunk that they carry on their belt every workday for years, but they literally forget to use it. This is frankly a training issue.

5. There are times to shoot the dog.
When there is more than one dog coming after the officer, all bets are off. It is my professional opinion that packed-up dogs attacking a person need to be met with deadly force, unless we're talking about Chihuahuas or Pekinese or teacup varieties of canines. (In which case, proper footwork is key.)
During documented high-risk incidents, when the dog comes after an officer engaging in something that needs his undivided attention, shooting a dog may be the best option, keeping in mind #1. If the officer is swinging away with his baton to defend himself against a dog, he is not focusing on the other threats around him, be they a felon to arrest, or traffic. This last paragraph is not going to make me popular, because of #2.

6. We could bear rethinking the dog issue.
Because the dogs are such a hot topic, and so ubiquitous, we might re-think ways of dealing with them? How? I don't really know. Shin and forearm guards for warrant service where dogs are known to be come to mind, but I really question how effective they would be. I will tell you that tasers are of questionable use if you don't have a means of securing the animal while it's down. Catch poles might be a good piece of kit to bring. Dart guns are basically non-starters, because the amount of sedative that will put a dog down immediately is generally the amount of sedative that will kill the dog. Also, these things are time and resource-consuming. When you are going in to extract a felon, things need to move along rickety-tick.

For officers making a routine call upon a house for an administrative or non-emergency purpose, teaching them to survey the area before walking into the yard is worth doing. If a dog moves up aggressively, back off an call animal control.
We need to keep in mind Robert Peel's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th principles.

7. A lot of this problem could be fixed by talking to the dog owners.
I've already said that we need to do away with no-knock warrants except in hostage situations.
Knock on the door. Call them. Tell them that you need them to put their dog up. Sometimes that's what it takes. It kills the element of surprise, but not the dog. This isn't always possible, but it's possible sometimes:
<phone ring=""> "Hello?"
"Hey, Mr. Smith? Bob Smith of 123 Any Street?"
"Yeah? Who's this?"
"This is the police. We're out front. And out back. We have a warrant for your arrest/ to search the house. We are in uniform, and in marked patrol units. We need you to put the dog away and come on out. If we have to come in, and the dog attacks us, we'll be forced to shoot the dog, and none of us ever wants that. Please comply immediately."
<sigh>"Okay, I'll put the dog in the kennel/bathroom/closet. Don't shoot. I'm coming out."
This happens. Not all the time. Sometimes it's not feasible. But it does happen. Maybe it could happen a little more. </sigh></phone>

I know of one incident in which someone whom I know personally was actually held hostage by a family member of hers, who had put their pit bulls in different bedrooms around the house to prevent SWAT from entering. He was drunk, and actually fired random shots during the stand-off. He finally permitted his hostage to leave. After the hostage-taker finally gave himself up, the former hostage convinced the officers --who were going in to clear the house-- to permit her to secure the dogs. The dogs were upset and would have attacked the strangers when they entered the bedrooms unaccompanied by her. My congratulations to the flexibility and professionalism of the North Richland Hills Police Department for handling that situation the way that they did.

8. Finally, I will say that Generalizations Fail.
When we say "There is NEVER a reason to" do thus and so, we are almost always stating an error of fact. When we say, "An officer should ALWAYS respond to X with Y" we will pretty much always be forgetting about an exception. But guidelines would be a good thing.

It would be really nice if people-- thoughtful people-- didn't have a basis to state that it looks like some cops basically just look like they wanted an excuse to fire their firearm. On the vast, vast majority of the time, it's not true. Let's be sure and make that point by finding ways to limit when we have to do so. Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-30566610718473382132014-06-07T15:25:00.000-05:002014-06-08T21:24:33.903-05:00The Vocal Minority on No-Knock Warrants. In comments on my last post, my good friend Old NFO stated that the sad thing was that I was beginning to become the minority in my opinion. I began to respond, and then decided that this needed a post all its own.

I don't think that's necessarily the truth. The problem is that too many cops are hearing a vocal minority who are declaring that our lives are too important NOT to do No-Knock Warrants, without really thinking it out:
1. No Knocks increase the likelihood of our being shot at.
2. The argument is meretricious-- the real hidden goal often is to protect evidence.
3. What about the innocents and those maybe not-innocent-but-not-deserving-of-being-shot? Shouldn't we protect their lives?

If we lay it out that way, I think that the average cop will agree that No Knock Warrants have by and large had their day.

The vast, vast vast majority of cops do not serve No-Knock Warrants.

I've served a few felony search warrants (not that many, though), and I have never served a No-Knock warrant, in almost a decade and a half. I've never even been asked to do so.

The last felony search warrant that I served came closest, and that wasn't very close. We had a drug raid where one of our officers obtained a felony search warrant, and there was a discussion of obtaining a No-Knock clause (the guy had a pistol), but in the end, we just beat on the door, and shouted "Police with a search warrant! Open up!" When no one answered after the given time, we opened the door with a sledge hammer, and announced ourselves repeatedly before securing the scene. The guy was gone, but his drug dealing operation (drugs, money, gun, files) wasn't. We taped the warrant to the broken door, and left with the evidence, and got an arrest warrant. Like you do.

In a small department, we do pretty much everything, which means that we act as investigator, entry team member, and bailiff. If a No-Knock Warrant were obtained in our department, I would have known about it. Not once in my career have I been part of such a thing. This isn't a brag-- I don't think that the next department south or north has done one in that time, either. It's just not that common. So why is it that we small town PDs can get along without them, but the larger ones can't? I think that the answer lies in the mentality of the tactical commanders of SWAT teams.

The premier SWAT unit in the United States has traditionally been the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). They have a very difficult and specialized job, which they are trained to do really well. Everyone wants to be the elite, and thus, tactical teams look toward that team as the standard to emulate. But here's the thing: hostage rescue isn't that common. The vast majority of the uses for tactical teams turns out to be high risk warrant service. But since hostage rescue does occasionally happen, they train for it, as they should. The problem comes when you apply training for this situation to other situations. When SWAT goes in on a hostage rescue, you can bet that the likelihood of someone getting shot at goes way up. We do NOT want that increased percentage of a shooting in an instance where we could prevent it, like a simple warrant service. But when you model yourself after a group whose primary role is hostage rescue, you can get into that mindset.

Bona fide tac commanders are the snake eaters in a department, and tend to be highly regarded. They are used to giving directions and being heard. They are used to looking at a problem and seeing how to overcome it. We need these guys. We also need to keep them in check, and check their influence on standard. Often, the tactical commanders have a good handle on when and when not to use force and surprise, but they will be misunderstood and misquoted by others. A culture develops where the guy who raises his hand and questions why we need to make "Dynamic Entries" is derided by those who don't actually know what the tactical commander actually would do.

So it is that we have a good number of guys who are infected with bad information.

Approximately half of the officers in this nation come from departments of 10 or fewer sworn officers. Those smaller departments do NOT have "SWAT teams," per se (sometimes departments will have task force teams). I think that most of the smaller departments do not have as much of a shift toward no-knocks, because they don't have a tactical team. I am not against SWAT-- we need them, badly at times. They practice to do a difficult job which is everything about teamwork and very little about personal achievement. I do not think that the answer is to ban them. But part of the tactical training, especially for commanders, needs to be to recognize when to hold off on the "dynamic entries."

The only hostage rescue that I ever took part in, I played a tiny role of. A murderer had a child that he planned to abscond to Mexico with. He had holed up in a motel. I was one of the first ones at the motel, and with my patrol rifle I lay in prone overwatch on the door of that motel for about 90 minutes, waiting for SWAT to deploy. When they relieved me, I was grateful-- without a shooter's mat, I had found every little acorn under that live oak that I had set up under that night. The next morning, the tactical guys set upon the bad guy as he stepped out of the motel, and arrested him peacefully. Like pros. Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-4267054193596787602014-06-06T18:54:00.000-05:002014-06-06T18:57:04.855-05:00Let's just stop this and maybe be the good guys again. Good guys take responsibility for their own actions. When they hurt someone by accident, they still own up to it.

Good guys weigh the danger of what they're doing against the good that can come from it.

Good guys try not to hurt kids.

So when we throw a flash-bang stun grenade into a baby's crib and critically injure the child, and claim that we've done nothing wrong because OMG drugs!, well, we're not being the Good Guys anymore.

I'm done with people's grandparents dying in a hail of bullets as they respond with a gun in hand to the intruders in their house, who happen to be cops serving a search and arrest warrant on their grandkid.

I'm done with no-knock warrants.

If there's not a hostage involved, we do it by the numbers, serving a felony warrant. We knock on the door, LOUDLY, and announce, LOUDLY AND CLEARLY, that we are the police. We explain that they have an extremely short time to open the door, or we will open it for them. We make clear that we are the police, serving a lawful order. We then make entry, announcing our identity and intent very clearly (Not just hollered incoherently.). We then go about making the scene safe, and serve the warrant.

Will some evidence be lost? Yes. You bet there will be. And that's a damned shame.

But it's not as big a shame as what has become to be far too commonplace, in the case of the No-Knock Warrant.

Matt Ghttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-32468811225919231242014-05-29T14:25:00.000-05:002014-06-16T06:04:02.280-05:00Thursday morning Randoms. --While I agree that we should absolutely brook no foolishness, and should arrest judges and cops alike for DWI --as apparently has been happening in Broward County, FL to three (!) judges this year-- I am impressed at the foolishness of Public Defender Finklestein's comments:

Finkelstein said he doubted Judge Rosenthal's claim of the Ambien CR affecting her. "I have a little bit of experience with drugs. That is not from an Ambien at 10 o'clock at night," Finkelstein said. "The fact that she refused the urine and the blood test is gonna keep people wondering."

Way to get all prosecutorial, Mr. Public Defender! Hope you don't find yourself on the judge's blacklist...

--While watching an old Magnum P.I. episode (Look, don't judge me.), I see Magnum checking his load in his Government model while in the middle of a gunfight in a dock warehouse. He drops the magazine, and we see that he has two rounds left in the magazine. More importantly, we see... that it's a 9mm! No! Say it ain't so!

In almost the next scene, he's firing, and you can clearly see the muzzle is not a .45.
So disillusioned. This of course is why he almost immediately gets shot and spends the rest of the episode in "Limbo".

--Wait-- Jeff MacKay is dead? But, he was the best sidekick!

--Wait-- Zsa Zsa Gabor is still alive? At 97, she's still ki-- er, ticking. (She lost a leg a couple of years back.)

--My patrol car suffered hail damage last month. The state insurance agency has totaled the car, for minor peens on the top surfaces, which didn't even crack the paint. Yeah, the car has some years on it, but it runs great! I understand the insurance company's math (the cost of refinishing the surfaces costs more than they reckon the car is worth), but this does NOT work out well for the department. The check that we get will nowhere nearly get us a new patrol car. I wish we could take back the claim. But we can't. The insurance is dropped. That car will never run another patrol. Honestly, I'm thinking about following up on where the insurance company sells it; it's a good vehicle.

--I shot a police pistol match on Friday with my newly-issued Generation 4 Glock 31, shooting our new duty ammo, 147g Hornady XTP .357 Sig. It shot very well. I put the ski-jump big grip swell on the backstrap, and it felt good, so I'm leaving it on. I plan to purchase the Gen 3 Glock 31 that I carried for 7 and a half years. Interestingly, the Glock-branded steel tritium night sights were dead-on. As I have complained for years about the lack of quality of the Glock factory sights, let's hope that this kind of sight quality is the new standard. No scores from the match yet, but I didn't completely cover myself with shame. (At 30 seconds a miss, I shot slow.)

--I'm putting off taking my car in, now that I've cleaned it out to be turned in. Heck, I even threw a little Armor-All on the dash.

--Measles cases are at a 20 year high in the U.S. Jenny McCarthy and Andrew Wakefield can choke on a bowl of oversized phalli.

--You know that crazy woe-is-me narcissist who killed people at UCSB? Two observations:
1. When you show his videos and pictures and repeat his manifesto and say his name, you're putting out sugar for the ants (other people with issues who want to go out in a big enough blaze of glory that they reckon will make you HAVE to say their name.).
2. It was people with guns who stopped the rampage. Wouldn't it have been nice if someone had shot at him even earlier? Keep in mind that the shots at the bad guy don't have to kill him. This guy got hit in the hip, and then shot himself in the head.

--I finished The Watchmen, after having slowed my reading to about a chapter a night (well, maybe just a little faster). It was interesting. My brother was excited that we had something to talk about, and wants me to get into Daredevil. I don't see why not. But I'm not buying this over-priced thing.

--We are out of coffee. Except for that canned stuff, which doesn't count. Friday afternoon is payday, when I get more. (We've been paying huge surplus payments to our standing debt, to make it go away, which means that I suddenly long for Friday.)

--The weather is FAR better than what we usually get in late May. It's not even in the 90s. Blue skies with the odd fluffy white cloud for decoration.

--My daughter was inducted to the National Honor Society last night. Lots and lots of good and great kids are NOT so inducted. But I will say that of those NHS members on stage last night, none of them were regular "customers" of mine. Good kids all. I can be pretty glad that my kid is a member of their little local chapter.

Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-91615085424695720622014-05-26T04:32:00.000-05:002014-05-26T04:32:23.412-05:00Damned good funMy brother and I went to see Godzilla on Saturday night.

If 8 year-old-Matt had his way, we're looking at a complete sweep for the 2014 Oscars.

Director Gareth Edwards apparently had taken some notes on what works in ominous movies starring scary creatures. You literally don't catch sight of the title creature for the first half of the movie. Then, when he's on the rampage, or fighting, you get partially-obscured shots, cut off just when you think you're going to see more. It works. It works GREAT.

When Godzilla finally climbs out of the sea, and challenges his adversary, he gives a blasting scream that had my brother and I pumping our fists and cheering in a manner that in retrospect HAD to have been annoying to other people in the theatre. We got there a little late, and sat in the fourth row from the front, and I remarked that watching the credits at the beginning (which, by the way, are well-rendered in a novel way) felt like watching a tennis match. But it gave us the bigger-than-life feeling. The movie was shot in high-definition, and I never noticed any pixilation. We didn't see it in 3D (my brother says that it gives him a headache), but the CGI has that appropriate quality of not being noticeable. I know that we said that we were there 10 years ago, but it's only these last couple of years that I have really believed it.

The movie has several homages to the classic movies of the '50s and '60s, with a mug for the camera, and a tail-swing, and the great scream (one of which goes on for about 20 seconds) that make him the monster you remember.

Are there some silly plot devices? Of COURSE there are. Just don't worry about that. By the way-- there actually is a plot.

The casting was spot on. Brian Cranston was very well-used, but not over-used.

Ken Watanabe acted his butt off as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa, the world expert on the radiation-consuming monsters' ilk.

Elizabeth Olsen was nice eye candy and the raison d'etre for the rather silly Naval lieutenant played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson who becomes the Forrest Gump of the movie, wandering through every aspect of a world crisis and basically just giving us a personal view of the entire event.

I don't even care that the masked Filipino guards at the initial discovery site have Mexican style looped bandoliers on while carrying AK's. I just don't care. It was a great movie. I loved it. I think that I'm going back to see it again, because fun.

Go see it in the theaters. Because fun. Matt Ghttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-35679734.post-75428236439858409902014-05-26T03:52:00.000-05:002014-05-26T17:46:57.231-05:00Without fear. Because I have a lot of nerdy friends and wanted in on the social references that they made, I bought a graphic novel that came highly recommended. But this post isn't about that.

The adult comic book was originally published by installment in 1986, and was written in 1985, which was set as the present, with a lot of reflection on the previous half century, at which point it had diverged from our real timeline.

What was fascinating, though, was how scared we were of pending war. In this book, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan seemed clearly to indicate that, without some kind of major interference, an invasion of Pakistan would occur. And from the man on the street to the POTUS, World War III seemed inevitable.

But it was just another timeline, in an imagined universe, by a good writer and his illustrator.

Friends, I remember being afraid, as a little kid, of nuclear war. I remember being afraid of something that our nation couldn't control, coming in and taking our lives away from us.

As the 1990's came, and the USSR fell, the nuclear threat (or the fear of it) diminished. I grew into adulthood. I had the opportunity to decide my future.

At no time in my adult life have I felt afraid that our nation would be attacked on a wide scale. Sure, individual attacks can and have happened, but think about how indignant we were to have even those occur. When you attack our country, there are major consequences. It's not a good idea. We send guys like John Shirley and his mates over to kick your butt.

We don't think a whole lot about our military, because of how effective they are at letting us lead our quiet normal lives. I'm not saying that it's right, but I'm pointing out how well they do their job: we as a nation get to continue to be self-absorbed and silly, without paying attention to what our military really does, because they're just that good.

For about 364 days of the year, it's actually okay to be self-absorbed, and not think of who guards our freedoms.

Today, we think of our soldiers, our marines, our sailors, our airmen, and our guardsmen who gave everything. Because we really don't have to. You can bet that their families think about them a lot.

Thanks. Matt Ghttp://email@example.com