Mary S. Jones you are Remembered

On this the 5th anniversary of the tragedy on September 11th, 2001, Bloggers from all over the internet have come together and taken the name of one of the nearly 3,000 fellow human beings that was cruelly wreched from us that day.

We without hesitation signed up to singly remember and honor each one those 2,996 people with a tribute on our Blogs.

I am not sure I ever knew anyone personally that perished on that fateful day in September of 2001. I have never read the entire list of names of those that were so savagely murdered by Islamofacist Scum.

Mary S. Jones is mine to remember and I take heart felt solice in knowing that I am not the only one that will be keeping her in memory. I know she had friends and family that remember her as well.

Mary worked as a Mailroom clerk for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in one of the World Trade Center Towers and her passing is one of those confirmed.

Mary Jones was 72 young at heart years of age when she passed from this world. A long life yes, but still cut needlessy short.

Some of the people that did know Mary thought enough of her to offer written praise.

Carlos A. Cabrera Jr., Former Port Authority GM wrote;

My Dear Mary, Thank you for the great mailroom memories! You're the best! You will never be forgoten. You were a very special person. The time we spent working together at the mailroom was great. I will always remember the way you made us laugh. Thank you for the fond memories.

Another who knew her Brenda Lee in part wrote;

I had not seen you in years. You were one of the first people I met when I came to the Port Authority. You are truly a memorable person. You made a lot of people very happy regardless of the type of day they were having. May you be at peace. Thank you for having blessed my life in knowing you.

Even with just these bits from two of the people that knew her one can paint the picture that Mary was a delightful person to know and be around. That Mary touched the lives of Carlos and Brenda and made them better for it is expressed in thier own words. We will never know the countless others that were made better for having known her but there must be many.

Her photograph makes it easy to see why she was highly thought of.

That mischevious smirky grin, the cocked in confidence head, the I've got a secret facial expression wrapped around all seeing and knowing eyes, are features that speak of a self assured woman who was comfortable with herself.

People like that tend to bring out the best in others, I have no doubt that Mary was like that and I truely would have liked to have known her.

Not knowing her personally I could not find much else about her on the web. I will remember her though, and I hope that these few words I offer in honor and tribute can in some small way do justice to the life that she lived.

I remember, honor and offer this tribute to Mary S. Jones.

Mary may you forever rest in peace.

Chain Ranch redeux or Redemption is at hand times two

Back in January I wrote an entry about a hunt my wife and I had at the Chain Ranch in Canton Oklahoma. My Brother was there as well and I closed the piece with the promise that I would post about his success as well.

Jim and I had been to the Chain Ranch before and he had failed to connect on a Hog he deemeed worthy of his effort.

This time he was out for redemtion with a capitol R.

From Thursday afternoon the wife (She Who must be Obeyed) and I had hunted together from the same blinds until we both harvested the game we were after on Saturday morning. The rest of that morning and part of the afternoon I spent butchering my Fallow deer and getting the hide and backstraps off of her hog.

Early Saturday evening I was told by the wife I needed to spend more time with my brother elected to go out to the blind with Jim while the wife stayed at the lodge and cooked some of "Sizzleen" (Yes she named her pig, see previous post here).

We interrupt this story to bring you the following

My brother is right handed and left eye dominant so he shoots southpaw. Due to the price of left handed guns he had for years put off buying a suitable firearm for someone so afflicted with this malady. Like many he just used a right handed firearm from his left shoulder.

In phone conversations prior to our hunt I had extolled the virtues of my Mossberg SSI-Ones and being a break action rifle it is reasonably suited for left or right hand shooters. He dutifully checked them out and was impressed to the point of aquiring one in 30-06. Topped with a Leupold 3-9 telescope he now has a firearm that works exceptionaly well for him.

We now return you to the regular scheduled story

We were dropped off at the same blind that the wife and I had both scored from that morning. After getting things in order we, in hushed conversation, caught up on things brothers who haven't seen each other in a while catch up on when the "wimmen folk" ain't around. Since this was probably his last evening to hunt there was also a bit of tension as to whether he would have to go home empty handed again. As with his last hunt he had seen a lot of hogs, just none that he wanted to harvest.

It was getting near dark when a herd of pigs broke out into the open and began feeding. We judged their size and Jim decided at least one of them was big enough for him to harvest. As he slowly eased his virgin Mossberg SSI "thutty aught six" out one window in the blind I was watching with fingers stuffed tightly in my ears out of another window at the hog I thought he was going to shoot.

Ka-Wha-Boooooooom

At the sound of the shot and thinking he had some how missed a sixty yard shot I watched the hog run off apparently unharmed.

"He's down, he's down I got him".

Leaning farther to the side for a better view there was indeed a big black hog sprawled on the ground. He hadn't shot the one I thought he was going to.


It was then the unthinkable happened;

That big pig got up and started to run off. Instantly my mind began to reel with the panic induced images of me, flashlight in one hand and pistol in the other, tracking this hog through thick brush in the dark. Two seconds later my chest heaved an involuntary sigh of relief as the old boar piled up stone dead at the very edge of some thick cover.



"Yea that's what I am talking about".

We were elated. Trading high-fives and grinning ear to ear we began to notice that the herd of hogs was apparently unphased at the crack of Jim's now proven rifle. We got settled back down and watched as they slowly began returning to the field to feed. One pig which was as nearly as large as the one he just shot went to Jim's now deceased pile of pork chops and started rooting at it.

It was at this point the following hushed conversation took place;

He; "I am going to shoot that one too."

Me; "If you do I'm not cleaning that one, you can do it yourself or pay Newly to do it".

Note: I had agreed to clean and butcher ONE hog for him if he got lucky.

He; "I gotta get another one, it is redemtion for the last time".

Me; "Okay go for it, but I'm still not cleaning it, I might butcher it though ...maybe".

Jim drew down on the the second pig that was rooting at his first, as I plugged two fingers back in my ears, and fired.

Climbing the Stairway to Hog Heaven

The pig he shot did the sharpest military about face I have ever seen and took off running. When it had gone about thirty yards it appeared to run right into a ladder and began climbing it. Its front feet came off the ground as if it were trying to climb the stairway to Hog Heaven. When it reached the full apex of height it simply toppled over backwards and lay still.



Two down and dinners done

Voluntarily skunked for lack of size the first time he was at the Chain Ranch Jim properly redeemed himself by taking two pigs of about 200 pounds each in about two minutes with two shots from a new rifle on his last night to hunt.

Mean while back at the Ranch

When we got back to the Lodge the wife came out and asked if he had gotten a pig.

She was momentarily crest fallen for him when said;

"No I didn't get ONE".

(Insert lengthly pause for effect here while we supressed the giggles)

"I got two".

At that she went over and gave him a brotherly-in-law punch in the arm for the short lived deception and a hug for his success.

Good Bread Good Meat Good Gosh let's eat!!!

After we got the meat hung we cleaned up and sat down to a wonderful meal of fresh pork backstrap, potatos and vegetables lovingly prepared by Mrs. Gun while we were out being brothers.

While we ate one of the ranch hands field dressed and skinned the bigger of the hogs. After dinner Jim and I went out and did the same to the other one. The rest of the evening was spent sitting around the lodge imbibing just KeyStone or two and refining our tales of the hunt for future telling.

Now the Real Work Begins

Sunday Morning dawned early and it found me with knife in hand reducing the rest of the wifes pig and Jim's two into cooking size portions. All of the usable meat was then vaccuum sealed and put on ice for the trip home by about one in the afternoon.



Taking a Picture Break

Yes I brought a vaccuum sealer with us. The packages were dated and marked with the cuts they contained so that all we had to do when we got home was put it in the freezers.

The Ranch has a hoist set up right out side a meat locker and butcher room. It is available for the hunters to use in processing their own game or the ranch hands will do it for you for a fee. The meat locker comes in handy if one hunter lucks out early and has to hang around a day or so for a companion to bag his trophy.


The Chain Ranch

I have had a great time at the Chain Ranch in the past and expect to again in the future. If you are looking for a reasonably priced Hog hunt I suggest you get a hold of;

Property Owner Newly Hutchison (580-886-2910) or

Ranch Manager Jerick Henley (405-820-4056)

They also have Whitetail and Mule deer hunts as well as any number of exotic animals on the ranch, so if you can't afford that trip to Africa the Chain Ranch may be the answer to your bagging some of the game from the Dark Continent.

Note: I haven't gotten any freebies or any thing else for hyping the Chain Ranch on my web site. We have been paying full fare on all our trips there. I have had such good times at the Ranch that I am delighted to write about it on these pages. Newly and Jerick do know about this site and check in here from time to time.

Do me a favor though, if you call for information or to book a hunt tell them you read about it here.

Let them know word of mouth advertising works.

Let's just eliminate Primitive Firearms Seasons altogether Part 2

This is Part 2 of a dissertation on why separate Seasons for Muzzle Loaders may not be necessary any more and why some states might opt discontinue them altogether.

Read here for; Part One

and here for; Part Three

Where I am going with this

Right Here >> HIGH PERFORMANCE MUZZLELOADING by Toby Bridges

High Performance Muzzle Loading is a well funded group of selfish, snotty nose, wet-behind-the ears, Johnny-come-latelys, led by Toby Bridges, who are slapping the face of tradition and jepordizing the future of Black Powder huntings separate seasons.

How you ask?

Toby Bridges is bringing law suits against many states in an effort to change the separate season regulations. It is Toby's goal that all of the states allow the use unlimited use of Telescopic sights on Muzzle Loaders.

What really disgusts me is that no where on Toby's website could I find anything that even alludes to the history that is Muzzle Loading. Quite the contrary, it is repleat with photos of muzzle loading firearms made of NASA induced space age materials topped with the latest in long range telescopic sights that resemble any one of two dozen modern centerfire arms.

Let me pause for the umpteenth timeto re-interate; I have nothing against in-line muzzle loaders. What I have a problem with is a group of people who mostly happen to be In-line muzzle loader shooters lobbying to eliminate a sport I happen to take part in.

Yes I said eliminate

Separate Seasons for Black Powder were created because the firearms had an average limited range of about 70 yards. Modern development of the In-line has extended that range 3 fold and now so called hunters want telescopic sights on their "Primitive guns" (Ha ha that was a sarcastic joke) that will allow them to slaughter game that far.

(Note I did not say hunt. Hunting implies seeking something rather than sitting in a tree and waiting for it to walk by two football field distant while the camera rolls and Toby waxes eloquant about what a great hunter he is.)

When Toby and his minions set themselves before the various game commissions DEMANDING that the regulations be changed they may be in for a rude awakening.

Since Toby's modern "Primitive guns" (Haha there is that joke again) shoot just as far and hit just as hard as a 30-30 when the bullet gets there, many Game Commissions may just conclude that there is no longer a need for a separate season for Muzzle Loaders.

Why Should there be?

Muzzle Loading hunters are no longer at a disadvantage. They have firearms that will out shoot a 30-30. They don't need a special season anymore since the equipment they use is equal to or better than any number of centerfire cartridges that hunters have been using since the turn of the last century.

So you want to use that modern made space age singleshot front loading firearm topped with a 1000 yard scope for deer?

Well guess what Bucko, you got use it during the regular gun season because of technological advancements of the equipment Game Commissions no longer see a need for a separate season.

You are not shooting from a disadvantage anymore, your guns are more than up to the task of a regular season.

Peformance Performance Performane it's all about Performance

The web site reads like a guy selling peanuts at a football game;

"Performance here, We got Performance, Get your Performance here."

It appears as though they have absolutely no respect for history or why Primitive Hunting seasons were established in the first place.

Possibly they just don't care.

It is my opinion that these people are thieving from those of us that use real primitive type firearms for sport. Their whiney ass cry baby tactics are right out of an ACLU playbook and represent a serious danger to separate season for Black powder Hunting as a whole.

Toby wants to take a concept that is rooted in the very fabric of this country and twist it into his own image.

All hail Toby the Conquering Hero

No where on Toby's site can I see any reference to tradition or reverance for history. No quite contrary it screams;

"To hell with the past, who cares about history, we don't give a crap why these separate seasons came to be in the first place, we are a bunch of greedy modern day shooters that just want to hijack what many of you worked so hard to get and transform it into what we think it should be."

They see it as building on a concept. That has already been done. Back in time our forefathers hunted with what we now call primitive firearms because that was all they had. Through a process of evolution in firearms design the firearms they used were replaced by what we know as the modern centerfire rifles.

In creating the separate seasons for Muzzle Loaders we took a step back in time to celebrate the past and become closer to our ancestors. We do that by doing things the way they did with a respect and reverence for history.

I don't see any of that on Toby's site.

Now there are certain people amoung us that want to fast forward that that into a more modern concept. A concept that negates the whole purpose of having the separate Muzzle Loading season in the first place.

Again in essance what Toby and his followers are saying is;

"We don't give a shit about history, we don't care how they did it then, all we want to do is take your hallowed celebration of the past and turn it into a modern shootfest where we can kill as many deer as we can at as long of a range as we can with the latest and greatest in precision equipment. Oh and by the way we are going to use your seasons to do it."


Warning ACLU tactic ahead

Playing the Cripple Card

Toby is espousing equal rights under the Disability Act for in his effort to force the states to bend to his will.

His Mantra;

People with limited vision are excluded from the sport because they can't see the sights well enough to shoot something at 200 yards with their Muzzle Loaders.

The single biggest change they want is for states to allow variable power telescopes on Muzzle Loading rifles.

To hell with actually hunting, now that some of the Muzzle loading manufacturers build Muzzle Loaders that shoot nearly 3 football fields.

Their main point is that there are folks who, or want to, hunt with Muzzle Loaders whose vision is such that they cannot participate in the sport if they can't see what they are shooting at from a quarter a mile away.

Well Whoopty flipping do dah day Toby, I am an almost 50 year old Disabled Veteran. I have a busted up back, two ruined knees and wear glasses with bi-focal lenses. I can't see to shoot a deer with open sights on any of my guns at 250 yards either. The truth is not many people ever can.

Waaaaaaa Waaaaaaaa Waaaaaaaaaa

If your looking for sympathy from me you will find it in the dictionary between shit and syphillus.

But you know what Toby? I can still shoot my open sight Muzzle Loaders very very well at 100 yards or less.

The Seasons were created for hunters to take deer and other game at 100 yards or less.

News Flash: You don't need a 300 Magnum centefire or a 300 yard 45 caliber Muzzle Loader with a 4 x 16X Varmit telescope to do that.

Getting as close as possible to harvest game is a skill we call hunting, you should try it sometime.

End Part 2 (There will be a part 3)

Yes we went to see Kansas

The finally concert of the 2006 Nebraska State Fair featured Kansas.

Note to the vertically challenged,

Do not attend a concert at the open air auditorium and have the expectation of being able to see the stage. It was not built with enough slope top to bottom for decent viewing when everyone is seated let alone standing.

Standing everyone does it, even me

Yes everyone stands at concerts, I stand at concerts, it is something people excited at seeing a favorite band do. I don't have a problem with that at all. But please have some consideration for those around you; If everyone else is seated then plunk your overage ass down on your seat.
We want to see the band not some nearly geriatric deadhead gyrate like he/she is 18 again.

Viewing at that venue is so bad that a some of the shorter adults and children took to standing on the bench seats just to be able to see. These weren't tall people trying to get a better view, these were people that were just trying to see in the first place. Most of them when standing on the seat were no taller than those around them standing on the ground.

They were not hurting anyone and they certainly were not blocking anyones view anymore than anyone else that was standing flat on the ground.

This of course did not go over big with event security.

"Oh No We can't actually have everyone having a good time.... this is Nebraska for Pete's sake."

"Hey Dickless Tracy, who can we intimidate the hell out with the least threat to our own physical well being?"

" Hey Deputy Fife I know, let's make the short people suffer, their mostly wimmen & kids anyway, if they give us a hard time surely we can kick their asses. We don't want to make big people mad we might get hurt."

For most of the concert, in our section and all others I reasonably presume, rent-a-badge wannabe sour faced Dickless Tracy's and Barney Fife's huffed, puffed and chugged their way up and down the ailses telling short people to get down from the benches.

If everyone was doing it or didn't need to I wouldn't have a problem with it, but the people that availed themselves of standing on the seats were acting out of a desire just to be able to see in the first place.

If because of rude people and overzelous security types one is forced to only listen to a live concert they are being cheated out of their experience. There must not be very many Cornhusker fans that are also Kansas fans, because I did not see one inkling of the courtesy that Husker fans take pride in and are noted for in evidence.
I did see a lot of Husker Red though.

As for the concert itself, it was an even worse rerun of the Three Dog Night concert we attended last week.

Instruments too loud for vocals and vocal microphones too distoted to understand most of the lyrics.

The band also had their fog machine going.

To the naked eye this created a wonderful visual effect. For pictures it sucked. Because of the lights refracting off of the smoke I did not get one usable picture.

Of course the band saved their trade make "Dust in the Wind" And "Carry on Wayward son" for the obligatory encore. I will say that Kansas did a fantastic job with "Wayward son". The instument/vocal balance was just right and it was a pleasure to see it done live. If they can do it for one song why not the entire concert?

I was disappointed in their rendition of "Dust in the Wind" though. It is one of my all time favorite songs and it seemed to have been done as an "Well okay if we really have to we better do this one for you too" afterthought.

I am not alone in my thoughts on these two concerts either, everyone I have talked to has made the same comments in regards to performance.

So what if it's substandard it's free ain't it?

Concert goers paying admittance to the fair do not incurr any addittional charges to attend the concerts so they are billed as "free entertainment".

What they don't realize is that some people only attend, paying the 6 or 8 bucks entry fee to see the concert. Many do not even check out the rest of the fair, they go in see the concert and leave.

Whether I incurr any addittional cost or not the band is paid to be there. Do these bands put on a better concert when the seat prices are 25 bucks or more? Are they just slacking off at the fair because they know the audiance is there at a cut rate? Did they cut their rate to do the show so they are then entitled to give a cut rate performance?

It may not have cost them any extra dollars to attend, but I did see a large number of people express their dissatisfaction with their feet. In the section we were in I noted no less than 25-30 people get up and leave during the concert. It was obvious they too were disatisfied with the entertainment as they headed out shaking their heads with negative expressions on their faces.

When you pay cheap prices you get just exactly what you pay for; cheap entertainment.

Let's just eliminate Primitive Firearms Seasons altogether Part 1

Authors Note: Since this will be a rather lengthly disertaion I am going to present it in two possibly three parts over the course of the next several days. At some point after the last part has been posted I will change the post dates so that they run in order instead of the last first.

The important part

I am over 45 and I am a Muzzleloader Shooter and have been since about 1970. I am a Muzzle loader Hunter and have for years hunted during various states Muzzleloading seasons. Most members of my family, including my wife are Black Powder shooters and hunters as well.


I have addressed this before

When using a Muzzleloader I personally choose to pursue game with either a precussion or flint fired firearm. I have not held any prejudice against those that choose to use a more "modern" In-line Muzzleloader. The first patent for an In-line firing system was issued in 1822. Historically then an In-line Muzzleloader is as authentic as the precussion cap firearm.

Historical note: The precussion cap ignition system was inveted in 1807/8 by an English Preacher. It did not catch on quickly though. Flintlock shooters rightly pointed out that if a person was days from nowhere in the wilds of the new frontier and you got your gear wet including your precussion caps you were done for. When caps get wet they are forever ruined. Black powder and flints could be dried and still be usable. Flintlock firearms were still in use on through the War between the States.

Where it all Started for me

In the late 1960's early 1970's pretty much the only types of muzzleloading firearms available were originals or replicas of mostly military arms. The primary use of these arms at that time was by historical re-enactors. At that time to my knowledge there were no states that hosted any special big game seasons for "Front stuffers". If one wanted to hunt with a "Smokepole" one had to do it during the regular firearms hunting seasons.

Why it all started for everyone

At that time the essential maximum effective range of a typical Muzzleloader with either round ball or conical bullet was about 75 yards. That range is little more than double that of Archery tackle and about half that of the 30-30 deer rifle.

The people that strongly advocated the various State Fish & Game Departments for a separate hunting season for primitive firearms historians of a sort and sought to have an opportunity to take to the woods in early 1800's period clothing carrying front loading singleshot firearms that were in use at that time. These hunters have/had a keen interest in the personal re-creation of Frontier America. Accepting the challenge to harvest game the way our ancestors had to gives us a better understanding of the hardships they had to face in day to day living.

Hunting with a limited range primitive firearm in period clothing was recognized as a legitimate sporting activity and most states have since en-acted separate hunting seasons for those that opt for this endevor.

Other reasons for taking up Primitive hunting

Many other Big Game hunters, after hunting for years with high powered long range centerfire firearms, no longer felt challenged by the hunt and sought to make their trips afield more difficult and opted to use a firearm that limited the range in which they could harvest food for the family table. In the process many of them have developed a respect for what our Forefathers had to endure in the early days of this Country just to survive. Others accepted the limitations of the equipment and began hunting with a Muzzle Loader to increase the time they were able to spend in the field.

To keep it as traditional as possible, many states in enacting their special seasons mandated certain criteria for the blackpowder firearms that were authorized. Some stipulated that only patched round ball be used, others allowed lead conical bullets and most prevented the use of telescopes. States that did allow for the use of telescopic sights only allowed scopes that were of the type in very limited use during the War between the States. Nebraska madated and still does a telescopic sight of no more than 1 power and that must be visably marked on the scope by the maunufacturer.

The advent of the In-line

Sometime in the late 70's early 80's firearms manufacturers dusted off the 1822 patent and aquired some new ones. I did not see anything wrong with that then and still don't in principal. What has followed though is an unmitigated high jacking of the entire process.

Innovations in front loading firearms has reached a point where the performance of todays inline Muzzle loaders rivals that of a 30-06 or similiar high powered rifle cartridge. At least one company boasts that one of their Muzzle loading firearms has an effective range in excess of 250 yards.

Looking at a modern version of a muzzle loader from across the room with it's variable powered scope renders it almost indistinguishable from many centerfire rifles. In fact many companies have based their muzzle loaders on their existing line of centerfire rifles.

That is more than three times the range of the firearms that were in use when the special seasons were en-acted. 250 yards also exceeds the generally accepted range of many centerfire high powered rounds used for deer including the venerable old 30-30, the standard by which all other deer cartridges are measured.

No longer are most Black powder hunters using the patched round ball or conical bullet of our forefathers. Todays in line shooters are using copper jacketed projectiles nestled in a plastic cup called a Sabot (say bow). It works like this;

A 45 caliber jacketed hollow point bullet is inserted into the sabot, the sabot is then placed in the muzzle loaders 50 caliber barrel and seated on top of a measured amount of powder. These modern conceptions have improved the peformance of Muzzle loading to a point where, as mentioned before they rival or exceed many standard centerfire hunting cartridges.

What is really laughable about all of this is that there are some states that, for reasons of Human population density, do not allow centerfire rifles for big game hunting, but do allow Variable powered telescoped Muzzle loaders. What difference does it make when you have a .45 caliber Muzzle loader that has an effective range that is farther than some (30-30) and nearly as far as other (30-06) centerfire rifles?

They don't want to hunt they just want to shoot

There is no longer the challenge there once was in persuing game with a limited range firearm. People don't need to learn the skills of hunting anymore to participate in the "Primitive Firearms" seasons. Now anyone with a few bucks can buy a long range In-line ignition firearm mount a variable power scope on it and be a Muzzle Loader.

Who hunts with a Muzzle loader today

Today it seems that there are very few of us that still hunt with a Muzzle loader for the nostolgia that created the special seasons. Many of todays Muzzle loading hunters have no inkling of why the seasons were created. For them it is not to re-create a historical era or develop the skills necessary to harvest Game at short ranges in the manner of our ancestors.

For these people it is just another chance to shoot game from as far away as possible with as little effort as possible without having to learn even the most rudimentary skills of hunting.

Why do we need Primitive Firearms Seasons when no one is using primitive equipment anymore?

It really isn't that hard to sit in a tree and shoot a deer at 200 yards with a telescope mounted 30-06 or 50 caliber In-line Muzzleloader. It is quite a bit harder to get that deer to approach withing 50 yards of that same tree when armed with an open sighted 50 caliber Flintlock. It is even harder to stalk within that short distance of a wary Whitetail or Mule deer.

End Part 1 Part two can be read here and Part three can be read here

It was a Three Dog and a Cow Night

Dear concert goer,

Yea you, the six foot plus bleach bottle blonde heffer with the Big Red sweatshirt and the ass that's at least two axe handles across.

Don't take this the wrong way, but when you are built like the prize milk cows I saw in the Ag barn before the show, it is very fricken rude to stand through half of a rock concert unless you are in the very last row or everyone else is standing. It is extremely rude when you wobble side to side clapping your hoofs hands almost but not quite in time with the music so that the four people behind you can't see no matter what they try to do.

You haven't seen your teen years in almost three decades, quit trying to act like you 18 again, just sit your fat ass down and enjoy the show so that everyone else can see and enjoy it too.

Really Bossy it gave us no pleasure to see your prize watermelon size asscheeks shake and quiver two feet in front of our faces right at eye level while listening (because we couldn't see the stage) to a live Three Dog Night song.

Thank you though for not lifting your tail and ... well lets just say that you were more curtious than some of the dogs at the Haymarket.

Console yourself with the fact that you were not the only one. There was the Switek looking wannabe dweeb (Miami Vice) just in front of you and the malnurished Bruce Willis looking wannabe and his entire onterage in front of Switek.

The open air concert area at the State Fair just does not have a steep enough slope from top to bottom for good viewing when seated let alone when rude people want to stand. If you want to get up on your hind legs and gyrate your rolls of fat go to the top of the deck or all the way down front.

Thoughts on the Concert

Other than that the Three Dog Night Concert wasn't bad ... as long as you knew the words to the songs they were singing.

• Too much Mic on the drums
• Too much volume on the keyboard
• Too much distortion in the microphones

I tried really hard to hear the guitar riffs when it was obvious that one was being played, (you know when the guy with the guitar almost in the dark off to one side for most of the show comes to the center stage spot light and begins to look like he is having a spastic fit) but the drums were just mic'd up way to flipping load ...I mean loud .. Really ...most of the time the snare and tom drums were louder than the vocals being sung on the mic. With that being the case unless you were there you can only imagine the volume of the foot pedal base beat and the crash of the cymbols. The drummer was good, his instuments were just set three rock concert notches higher than everything else including the vocals.

Coming in a close second to the drums the keyboards proved at times to be more of a distraction than an accompaniment.

Bands, on getting long in the tooth tend to distort their mics a bit and hide behind loud music to cover any perceived loss in vocal prowness from too much booze, pot or other mass quanities of unknown hulcinegenics. On the few songs that we were able to actually understand the lyrics the band did a damn fine job vocalizing, thus proving to me that they still got it.

It would seem that they have forgotten what to do with it though.

The encore

I don't think I have ever heard "Jerimiah was a Bullfrog" done better, we had to wait till the encore to hear it though, but hey I can hang with that and yea it was worth it.

Geezers & Gadgets

This is something I have been thinking about for some time and finally decided to write on the subject.

Technology as I knew it

A long, long, long time ago in a bygone era when I was just a wee bit of a lad some of the first technological things I remember were;

Rotary dial telephones and party lines (for you young still wet behind the ears whippersnappers that meant that there was more than one home on a phone line and each house had their own ring i.e. 2 shorts repeated, 1 long & 1 short repeated or another combination of long and short rings depending on how many homes were on that line.)

Wood cabinet cased AM only radios with large knobs and huge clock like dials. On Saturday nights we would sit and watch the radio while listening to "The Hayride", (or something like that) a show that was featured on WWVA, in Wheeling West Virginia. (Yes you read that right, sat and watched the radio)

Replacable needle phonographs with mono 33 1/3, 45 and 78 rpm records. Yes some in the family had an old wind up Victrola or two, but electricty had been invented and I mostly listened to 45's on a record player that was slightly larger than a kids lunch box. (PTG remembers those I'm sure)

Tube operated oval screen black & white televisions that you had to turn on at least 15 minutes before a chosen show so that they could warm up. These modern marvels were contained in large real hardwood doors on the front cabinets with a set of rabbit ears that slid up from the back of the set. In those days the only ones in the family that had a television was my Grand Parents and I thought the only thing that ever came on television was the Nightly News and The Lawrence Welk Show, that is until Hee Haw made its debut. (You could tell the houses were the money lived because they had an ariel affixed to pole on the roof of their spacious dwellings)

Memories on the rocks -stirred but not shaken

As I said earlier I have been thinking about this for awhile, but what really brought it to a head was something I saw the other day while having coffee and a crossword puzzle at the reataurant that is office away from home office. (the LA Times puzzle if you must know).

I hadn't really noticed the elderly couple that the Maitre' de had seated near me until his cell phone went off. Now I am not picking on the old folks here, I am going to be barging through the half century mark in a few months myself. It did bring my thoughts back to the working title of this missive and the ever increasing number of our more experienced citizens Geezers I see with high-tech tools Gadgets like cell phones, Digital Cameras and PDA's.

Don't get me wrong here either, I happen to think it is great.

Damn that's high-tech

Above I listed a few things I remember from my childhood, let me add to that list a number of other things that have come and some gone since those days.

• Portable AM/FM radios
• Reel to reel players/recorders
• 8mm movie cameras (I bet PTG still has one)
• The push button telephone
• The 8 track tape player
• Poloroid instamatic cameras
• The cassette player/recorder
• Beta and VHS tapes/recorders/players
• Cable television
• CD's and the associated players/recorders
• Personal Comuters with the associated versions of DOS and windows 3.11 through the current XP ( We are still waiting for "Longhorn" or "Vista" or what ever they are calling it)
• DVD's and their associated players/recorders
• Laptops, PDA's, cell phones and a host of other electronic leashes that are designed to make our lives so much better.

My point is that all of these gadgets have come to pass in just about one single generation and at one time I fancied I could live without a number of things on that list. These gadgets were for the next generation, nothing more than hi-tech toys for the youth of today to play with and use in their bid to inheret the world from us aging fogies. We are in the midst of passing the world on to them why do we need to be on the cutting edge? Another thing to consider is that there are adults that may read this Blog that have never know life without some of these gadgets.

I wasn't dragged in kicking and screaming

12 years ago I swore I would never have a need for a computer, I didn't even want one, then someone showed me how beneficial it would be for my business. (DOS 6.1 etc. and then Windows 3.11) About that time I poo poo'd cell phones as well and ended up with one for the same business reasons. ($40.00 a month, no free minutes and $2.00-3.00+/- a call roaming charges if I remember correctly)

The way was already greased I just slid in

When I see people out and about that are far more senior in life than I using their cell phones, laptops, digital cameras and PDA's, I also consider how technolgy has crept up on me and how many of those devices I own and know how to use.

I guess I really shouldn't be suprised that we are partaking of the future since it was our generation that "invented" such a large portion of it that so many of us take for granted today. We (our generation) made it, why the hell shouldn't we use it?

But for different reasons maybe

The youth of today need these tools to succeed and get ahead in an ever changing fast forward world. That they are taking the tools we gave them, improving on them and succeeding in life with them is a credit to both our generations.

For the rest of us that have retired or nearly so they represent a way to keep in touch with our off spring of this generation as they grow up and leave the nest. They are a convenience that negates dropping a fistfull of quarters in a pay phone, waiting days for a stamped letter to be delivered/arrive or waiting days for Walgreens to develop the pictures that didn't come out. Can you say "look and delete"? I can. There are many that a generation ago would be limited in their mobility if it were not for a cell phone. Many older folks that are of limited mobility can be ever more in touch with the rest of the world through the internet.

For us older Americans modern technology may not be so much of a neccessity as it is a convenience.

Yea Geezers & Gadgets ..... has a nice ring to it .. ring oh wait ... is that my cell phone? ..ohh sorry where was I? ... doesn't it?

That reminds me I have work to do

After I use my PC to post this to the Blog I have to send a couple of pics on my digital camera phone to my desk top so I can photoshop, cut & crop them before I send them to the kids via email. Then I just might toss a bag of popcorn at the microwave, get some ice from the refrigerators built in ice maker, pour some Ice tea, pop in a DVD movie and sit back in my recliner and watch it on the big screen TV with surround sound theater quailty speakers.

• Lawrence Welk: "A one na, anna two a anna a ...
• Buck Owens: "I'm a picking
• Roy Clark: "And I'm a grinning
• David Brinkly: "Good night Chet"
• Chet Huntely: "Good night David"
• Walter Cronkite: "And that's the way it was"

Preferential Treatment? Don't tell me there isn't

Rarely do I write about events that occur in my personal life, but the following that appears in the

Saturdays Journal Star (Second story down)

has moved me to do so.

Man arrested on suspicion of threatening judge

A Lincoln man was arrested Thursday morning after threatening to go to a judge’s home and kill him.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said 37-year-old Steven Nash, 2626 N St., called the Clerk of the District Court’s office and threatened to kill a judge if a protection order Nash had filed against someone was dropped.

Nash was arrested on suspicion of intimidation by phone.

Sure they'll jump through the hoops for somebody wearing black robes. Seems they have a way and a record of looking out for thier own.

Divorce

Several years ago our daughter was in the process of legally shedding 160 pounds of ugly fat. The low life scum bag that she was divorcing, did among other things;

1. Meet her and her Mom (Mrs Gun) at the Grand childrens day care and threatened them and me (I was not there) in front of daycare staff
2. Made credible threats against me (to others at other times)
3. Went to Mrs Guns place of employment and harrassed her concerning our daughter.
4. Made threatening phone calls at all hours of the day and night to our daughter, and if she did not answer the phone he left messages on the answering machine;

• If I can't have you no one will
• I'll make it so that no one else will want you
• I'll blow up your car with you in it and then I'll have custody of my kids (two girls)

The Lincoln Police Department was called. My daughter played the phone messages for a LPD female officer who told her that there wasn't enough credible evidence to do anything about it.

The Court was petitioned on all of the above and a Lancaster County judge ruled that there was insufficeint evidence for an order of protection for any of us.

His conduct continued and our daughter was forced into seclusion of the Friendship home. We were not even allowed to know where they were and couldn't see our Grand daughters for fear that our daughter would be followed back to the Home.

When the divorce was finalized things had denegrated to the point that our daughter felt it was best her and the kids safety that she relocate to another state. Our daughter currently lives 8 eights away, has a concealed carry permit and carries a handgun for personal protection daily.

Numorous times in the last three years we have noted this lowlife scumbag driving his very distinct motorcar slowly past our house and several times we have seen him doing surveilance from the dirt road on the backside of our property.

Looking out for their own

Oaky so let's get this straight, we have an individual that in one phone call threatens to off a judge and the Sheriffs Department wasted no time in time locking the alleged offender up on suspicion of intimidation by phone.

On the other hand we have a Mom of two small children that has several of these same types of messages on her answering machine, several personal confrontations and there isn't enough evidence to make an arrest or issue an order of protection.

Could someone possibly explain this to me? (It's a rhetorical question folks)

Since then

1. This fine specimen of manhood has fallen, at a rate of $580.00 a month, over three years behind in child support. ($25,00.00 +- a few cents)
2. Not had gainful employment in order that his wages could be attached for delinquent support. (For awhile he was job hopping. Everytime he was located and his employer given a garnishment order he quit)
3. Has amassed a criminal record (where none existed before) of charges that include but not limited to;

• Theft by deception
• Fruad (possible multiple counts)
• Forgery (possible multiple accounts)
• Buying and Selling (drugs)
• Disturbing the peace

(If your not working you have to get your money somewhere)

Prior to our daughter leaving the state and for months (over 24) after officials involved with the Nebraska state agency that handles Child Support gave her the run around about enforcing the support order issued by the court.

A few months ago she was able to transfer the whole child Support thing to the state in which she now resides.

They immediately issued a warrant for his arrest and told her that they would extradite him if and when he was found.

A few weeks ago I learned that my scumbag lowlife ex-son-in-law was being held in the Lancaster County Jail. I found this out because someone I know received a letter from him with Lacaster County Jail as a return address. I have since been given that letter and in it he has expressed the desire to "locate" and "visit" his children.

On informing my daughter she contacted (last Wednesday the 16th of August) the Lancaster County District Attorneys office and was informed that they did in fact have him and that he would be incarcerated with them for an extended length of time. She made arrangements for her current state of residence to fax the warrants to Lancaster County so that he could be processed on the delinquant child support charges.

Abracadabra

Imagine my suprise when on Wednesday (the 23rd) of this week I received a phone call from an aquaintance who informed me;

• Caller: "Gun your not going to believe this, but I am sitting a local fast food restaurant and I just saw your lowlife scumbag ex-son-in-law go through the drive up window lane as a passenger in a car"
• Me: (Deep Breath of disbelief) " WTF Your sure it is lowlife scumbag?"
• Caller: "I knew him as well as you did, of course I am sure."
• Me: "(After a string of unprintable epithets and several unkind words for the judicial system)........ Okay thanks for the heads up."

At this point I am not sure if the other state was successful in getting the paperwork to the Lancaster County D.A.'s Office before he was released or not.

So there you have it, a Judge gets one phone call and the perpetrator is buried under the jail while in the same exact county a single Mom with two kids and a vidictive felonious ex-husband with a track record of harrassment gets the run around.

During that three years however, that single Mom completed full time college, earned a diploma in her chosen field and is licensed in two states to practice her profession. A profession in which she is gaining a reputation as one of the best at what she does in the community that she now resides.

(That is not just the wishy wash of a proud Dad talking either, that is thoughts of the people she works with and to an extent the local media and civic leaders where she lives.)

We love her and are ever so proud of her and what she is becoming.

TED NUGENT ON DEER HUNTING

Since I haven't finished either of two lengthly posts I have been working on and since "The Nuge" is is a big bow hunter and since archery season starts in a few weeks I thought I would launch you into the weekend with this;

While on a European tour, Ted was being interviewed by a French journalist. The journalist asked, "What do you think the last thought is in the head of a deer before you shoot it? Is it, 'Are you my friend?' or is it 'Are you the one who killed my brother?'"

Nugent replied, "They aren't capable of that kind of thinking. All they care about is, 'What am I going to eat next, who am I going to screw next, and can I run fast enough to get away.' They are very much like the French."

Keep your powder dry, don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes and shoot low cause their riding shetland ponies.

Hey Rubin get your head out of your ass

Barry Rubin, executive director of the state Democratic Party plans on wasting a few thousand dollars of the tax payers dollars in a bid to soothe his temper tantrum.

Short Story

Kate Witek was a Republican. She is the State Auditor. Witek switched parties last week. Witek is now a Democrat. The primaries were months ago and the Dems did not field a candidate. Now that Witek is one of them, Rubin figures he can just get her name on the ballot and wahla he'll get her re-elected.

Things don't work that way. Rubin conveniently ignores the fact that the Nebraska State Constitution and Statutes have something to say about that. Secretary of State John Gale rightly disqualified the turn coat from being placed on the ballot as a Dem without following the established legal process.

Rubin went into a tissy and will file a lawsuit to over turn Gales decision.

Isn't that just like a a liberal fricken Democrat? To hell with the Constitution and State laws, we can't let little things like that get in our way, get me a damn Judge that will legislate from the bench.

Rubin must not be to sure he is going to succeed in his drain on the tax payers coffers as he has his minions busy gathering the 2000 signatures needed to get Witek on the ballot by the end of next week.

A lawsuit will be filed to try to overturn Gale’s decision and petitioners will begin collecting signatures to get Witek on the ballot, Rubin said.

What makes Rubin look even more like a whiney ass cry baby is the comments made by Witek herself when asked if she thought Gales decision what partisan;

When asked if she believed Gale’s decision was motivated by partisanship, Witek said, “I know John Gale and I don’t believe so. I certainly hope not.”

Even Witek doesn't believe the tripe her new fearly leader is pawning off on the public.

Decent hard working tax payers of Nebraska take note of how much of your money this is going to cost because Rubin got an erection and has to prove his manhood.

Is Hagel drinking the same Kool-aid as Johanns?

What a load of slop, and the Journal Star sends its reporters out like frsh baked biscuits to sop it up like it is a pan full of Gramma's good sawmill gravy.

I have been commenting on these pages for at least two years now on Chuckie Hagel and his fantasies.

When will it end?

(For the full effect read the following in your best imaginary John Kerry imitation)

"I spent Christmas was in Viet Nam, I got three purple hearts you know voted a straight Republican ticket."

Since then Chuckie thinks the party has lost its way.

News Flash Chuckie; The party has not lost its way. We Republicans most certainly did not follow your head when it went up your ass.

You lost your way Chuckie not us.

You Senator Chuck Hagel, in the mold of your buddies Bob & Johnny (The Kerry twins) and like your pal never met a plane he didn't crash John McCain from Arizona failed to pass the first test of Officer Candidate School.

Allow me to remind you Chuckie since it seems to have escaped your mind when you suffered that cranial/rectal inversion.

LOYALTY

All together now LOY.....AL......TY.

Yea I guess it is pretty hard to say for someone that has not practiced it for years if ever.

Conspiring with the opposition

A few years ago when you were the State Chair for the Re-elect George Bush Campaign you never missed an in-state opportunity to bad mouth the President. You also had the audacity, during the Republican Convention, to co-host with Bob Kerrey a dinner for then Presidential hopeful John Kerry. Wasn't John McCain there too?

Let me say that in plain english so everyone can understand it;

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel during the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City joined Liberal Democrat Bob Kerrey in hosting a dinner party in New York City, for Massachusetts Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry.

That is called, to use a term that your friends John McCain & Kerry should be uniquely familiar with "Sleeping with the enemy".

The Fallout

Then a few weeks after the election you were on KLIN whining and crying because the President was giving you the cold shoulder.

Waaaa Waaaaa Waaaaa Chuckie you didn't think he would feel that knife in the ribs? You got and are still getting just exactly what you campaigned for. But wait you haven't even begun to reap the full reward for your actions.

Remember all of the Farmers across the state of Nebraska that parked their shit wagons next to the roads with DUMP KERREY signs on them?

You should it was one of the reasons that got you elected.

Guess what Chuckie

Those wagons will be back and the only thing different will be the name on the sign.

DUMP HAGEL

We hired you to do a job for us and thus far you are not doing it. Please be reminded than we can fire you as well.

Senator Hagel we the strong minded, God fearing Republican Christians of Nebraska DID NOT send you to Washington to be your own man. We sent you to the Nations Capitol to toe the party line. You told us you were the same kind of Republican we are and we believed you. We expected as a former Military man that you would be loyal to those that entrusted you with your office.

Senator Hagel not only have you not been loyal to the party you claim you belong to, you have not been loyal to the constituints that elected you.

Since you are a Republican, it is not incumbant upon us to call or write your office everytime a bill comes up for a vote or a position needs to be articulated or the President needs to be supported. It is expected on our part that you will follow the party platform on your part.

You have chosen to turn you back on the President and the people that elected you to represent us Senator Hagel. It is not your lot in life to tell us how things will be and how you are going to vote. It is your duty to vote the way we expect you to as a Republican.

Senator Hagel, you ran as a Republican, "We the People" elected you as a Republican. With that comes certain resposponsibilities on your part. Namely we expect you to act like a Republican.

1. Support and defend the Constitution
2. Support and defend the policies of a Republican Administration
3. Support the Republican Party with your votes in the Senate.

You are entitled to your own opinions on the issues Senator, but that is and always will be secondary to to the "Will of the People" that elected you.

I suggest that if you wish to remain Senator you consider the foregoing. If it is not in your purvue to act like the Republican we elected you to be then take the lead of Kate Witek and change parties.

You certainly haven't represented the one you claim allegience to very well.

Another Politician Gets it wrong

Since I have not ever really been disagreable with Mike Johanns to say much about him on this Blog one way or another, I was really struck by his comments in the Lincoln Journal Star today.

“I haven’t had a boss for a long, long time. I was a partner in a law firm in my 20s, then was an elected official,” Johanns said during a telephone conversation this week as he traveled from a fundraising breakfast in Lincoln to a luncheon.

Excuse me Mike but I must differ with you and respectfully point out that the entire time you were an elected official you had a boss.

Me

That's right Mikey, Me and every other Nebraskan that hired you to the position that you occupied at the time.

I guess you are to high faluting now to remember High School Civics.

Oh Mikey, by the way you still work for Me.

Me and every single American. You serve at the liesure of the President and he is your boss that is true, but the President works for "We the People".

I truely am dissappointed in the comments you made to the Journal Star Mr. Secretary, it reveals a calous and cavelier nature that implies that "We the People" are somehow subjugated to you and not the other way around.

This is not Jolly Ole' England

Some Lincolnites are shocked that Firefighters need to eat

Until now I have refrained from comment of the on going "Firetruck crossmember conspiricy" that has polarized Lincoln. Well I am not going to comment on it now either. All that can be said until Chief Casady and the FBI complete their investigation has probably been said by Coby Mach, the Journal Star and local Blogs. This diatribe addresses the complete and utter stupidity of some people when it comes to the daily activities of our local frontline Firefighters.

At Seven every morning Lincoln Firefighters begin a 24 hour tour of duty. During that day long shift, they respond to calls, look after equipment, train and even get a little sleep.

I recently discovered that some Lincolnites are distressed to learn that during their 24 hour shift Firefighters also require nourishment.

You know EAT FOOD.

Almost everyone knows that each of the fire stations contains a kitchen for the Firefighters to prepare their meals while they are on their 24 hour rotation.

What some people don't seem to know is that the tax payers do not provide gourmet quality cuisine or a Chef Emeril to "kick it up a notch" it for them.

It has always been common knowledge to people with common sense that Firefighters are required to provide and prepare their own meals.

Yes Virginia, I know it comes as a shock to you but Firefighters have to buy their own food. Hold on to your seat Virginia I have to tell you that they have to actually cook it themselves too.

I know, I know, but take a few deep breaths there old girl and read on, I will make it so abundantly clear that even you will understand.

How they do it

• Near the start of their shift they decide what they want for dinner that day.
• They decide who is going to do the cooking and who is going to wash the dishes.
• They all "kick in" a few dollars to cover the cost of the food.
• At some point during the day, when time allows some of the Firefighters go to a supermarket in the area of their station and buy the food needed for the evening meal.

Yes they take a firetruck and yes the whole crew assigned to that truck goes to the store. It should be obvious to all but the most seriously mentally challenged that this is done for expediancy and safety.

If there is a call while they are out buying food they can respond immediately from that location without having to return to the station to pick up the rest of the crew or having some Firefighters "bum a ride" from another truck to get to the emergency.

Understand that the Fire Department is not a building it is the truck and the crew.

The Fire Station is just a structure that shelters the vehicles and crews when they are not on call. As long as that truck is fully manned and is located anywhere in the sector assigned to that truck that sector has fire protection.

Now for the really ignorant stoopid cold-hearted people part

It is not uncommon for the Fire Deparment Administration to receive calls from "concerned citizens" complaining about Firetrucks parked at grocery stores and on duty Firefighters engaged in the activity of buying food.

Yes you read that right, there are seriously mentally deficeint people in Lincoln that are fit to be tied that local Firefighters have the audacity to actually want to eat decent food while they are on their 24 hour tour of duty.

Firefighters work "24 on 24 off" for 14 days at a time What the hell do these "call & complainers" expect the Firefighters to do? Order Pizza every other damn night?

Although I have no doubt that it would bring glee to some high minded citizens if these lowly public servants were forced to starve for a day or so.

No wonder Lincoln is in the shape it is in, cranially challenged people like this can and do vote.

Doggy Ban infuriates the Social Elite

The gauntlet has been dropped;

How dare they ban my dog from the Haymarket Farmers Market. Fido is a valued member of my family, where ever I go he goes. I will not ever go to the Farmers Market again, they have lost my business forever.

Reader comment in the Journal Star

Comm UnSense wrote on August 13, 2006 9:15 AM:
"I think Sue has the right idea. Lets ban smoking at the farmer's market. Then we can ban strollers, then wheel chairs, then women with too much perfume, guys with bushy eyebrows, minors, crutches, back packs, cameras, cell phones, tatoos, piercings, and shorts that don't match your top. Not to mention flip-flop sandals. Those really annoy me. "


My response;

To damn bad. Now that your prescious untrained four legged child can no longer run rampant whining, yapping, snapping, pissing all over the vegetables and tripping up other shoppers I may for the first time visit the Farmers Market.

Kinda funny isn't it; the same people that want to ban concealed carry are pitching a cry baby bitch because they can't take their ill mannered pooch to a public venue so they can crap in the isles of a vegetable market.

Someone made the comment that dogs are banned but guns are not.

Lets compare for a bit;

What happens when people go out in public with their dogs

1. Dogs Piss where ever they want when ever they want
2. Dogs Poop where ever they want when ever they want
3. Dogs Growl, snip or bite who ever they want when they want
4. Dogs on long leashes can and do interfere with and get wrapped around other people.
5. Dogs depending on the size and attitude intimidate and scare people around them
6. Dogs are territorial and initiate fights with other dogs.
7. Dogs can and do take it upon themselves to attack and bite anything they feel needs biting, including children.
8. Too many dogs are untrained and are not properly controlled by their owners.

More Journal Star Comments

the reason there are rules.... wrote on August 13, 2006 9:39 AM:
"Loved the footage on the news last night about the farmer's market. Especially the clip of the dog peeing on the vender's tablecloth. No-class owners are the reason for the dog ban, of course! As long as there are clueless people there will be rules. DUH!"

agree with the new rule . . . wrote on August 13, 2006 11:17 AM:
"And you gotta know that wasn't the only incident of a dog peeing on a tablecloth or a foot or a basket of tomatoes."

My personal favorite,

hope to visit the market some day wrote on August 12, 2006 10:24 AM:
"Sorry, I can't help it. One more word on the dog thing. I love dogs. Unfortunately, with my severe adult-onset asthma, dogs and cats happen to be my biggest trigger. I am wondering if you folks who can't stand the thought of going to the market without your dogs are the same folks who voted for the smoking ban? I'm just curious. While second-hand smoke may kill you in 50 years- your dog could kill me TODAY. Do you care? Of course not. Why? Because you are ENTITLED to take your dog any place you please. Oh yea, I forgot. YOU are all that matters. Some day I hope you will notice that you aren't the only people on this planet and behave accordingly."

What happens when I go out in public with a concealed firearm

1. My gun won't release bodily functions and will not go off by itsself.
2. My gun is secured in a concealed holster that no one will ever become entangled in or trip over
3. My gun doesn't make any noise nor does it intimidate anyone from its concealed position
4. My gun is an inanimate object it is incapable of having an attitude it will never take it upon itsself to shoot someone
5. My gun is not territorial it doesn't matter how many other firearms are around it will not initiate fights with other guns.

If a dog is in the Farmers Market it may bark, whine, bite, injure and disrupt the activities of every person there.

If I am in the Farmers Market no one will ever know I am even carrying a gun and it poses no danger to anyone there.

In short my gun is not going to lift its leg and piss all over the squash you were just getting ready to bag and buy. My gun is not going to irritate your allergies. My gun is not going to steal your kids food.

I am willing to bet that a large number of people that favor a concealed carry ban are the ones whining the loudest about a doggy ban. I'll even go so far as to say that I'll bet a bunch of these doggy lovers pulled the lever in favor of the smoking ban a few years ago as well.

The new Lincoln Mantra;

You can't take your gun or your smokes out in public, but how dare you have the freaking audacity to tell me that I can not take my dog to the Farmers Market so it can piss on vegetables, table clothes and bite your kids.

Fisking Cheeks of God

In the past week or so I have been having a very respectful and friendly debate in the comments section of a post by Neal, author of the Blog "Cheeks of God".

I figure it should see the light of day so I am crafting my response to Neals last post here on my Blog.

I guess what continues to exist as a fundamental obstacle preventing us from seeing eye to eye is that you view using a firearm as being equivalent to using a spare tire or a first aid kit. I do not.

Those analogies are good, and should I someday view using a firearm against someone as being on the same level as using a fire extinguisher or a spare tire, they would be effective as well.

Okay let's drop the spare tire bit, although it was only used to illustrate an undesirable task. Using a firearm in defense of ones person is also an undesirable task. It was not used to equate that having to use a firearm for protection is only as undesirable as having to jack up a car.

But for people who don't love guns, an item that is designed to launch a projectile at high speeds in order to puncture something else is not on the same level as a fire extinguisher, which is designed to put out fires. If you use a fire extinguisher as it was intended to its full extent, it puts out a fire. If you use a gun as it was intended to its full extent, it kills someone.

The point I make with my annalogy Neal is that if you are put in a position to use a fire extinguisher you are likely saving a life or several lives. If you are put in a position to where you have to use a firearm for defensive purposes you are saving a life, quite probably your own.

And Neal I do not love my guns. Firearms are inanimate objects that can't love you back anyway.

Granted, just as you can misuse a gun, you can misuse a fire extinguisher. But CCW proponents don't want guns so they can put out fires nor do they want concealed guns so they can protect themselves from people misusing fire extinguishers; they want them so they can protect themselves (and/or others) by way of intimidation or physical harm.

Not true Neal. If that were the case the decidedly anti-gun media would be rife with stories about "redneck gun owners" engaging in shoot outs over parking spaces or running gun "road rage" battles up and down the interstates.

If you were to do some checking on who it is that avails themselves of a concealed carry permit I think you would find that in addition to a "Redneck or two" that the citizens that take the time and expense to get licensed are people like;

1. your wife/girlfriends Gynocologist,
2. some of your own family members,
3. the lady that runs the floral shop that you buy from,
4. the manager of the restaurant you most frequent,
5. possibly a member or three of the local college alumni association,
6. the old couple across the street,
7. the abused woman with three kids down the street whose ex-husband is ignoring the protection order,
8. the young woman who lives in the upstairs apartment that never ever wants to be raped again,
9. many members of your congregation,
10. any number of the people you know from the health club you belong to.

Into short Neal average everyday ordinary people that you know and relate to daily. Do you think all of them will carry concealed so that they "can protect themselves (and/or others) by way of intimidation or physical harm"?

Anonymous up there instructs me to "get a clue," since CCW permits aren't causing rampant deaths across the country in the other states where it's legal. If I'm the one with the problem perceiving reality, where is the rampant crime spree that necessitates packing heat while dining?

Granted you probably won't be accosted during your meal, but the place was crowded when you got there and your car is parked all the way to the far side of the lot where the street light doesn't shine. And that Neal, is where the rapes, robberies, muggings and car jackings occurr. After you have been satiated by a good meal and not fully cognizant of your surroundings.

Your average burglary happens when no one is around.

Your right, but what does burglary have to do with personal protection? If I'm not there I don't need to protect myself.

Your average thief who robs a place when people are around doesn't want to use his gun.

Don't count on that Neal, it is becoming a trend in some places that the thugs come in guns blazing for the shock effect. In fact the person that comes through the door of Brewskys with a gun is not intent on robbing the place. The intent is probably to kill, maim, and injure as many people as he/she possibly can. Remember Lubys? How about countless other places where criminals have barged through the door and opened up on the unsuspecting diners?

What's going to make him use his gun?

Who knows what will make him use his gun Neal, maybe a baby starts crying, maybe a nervous wait person drops a glass, maybe someone starts screaming hysterically about how they are about to die, maybe the object of the thugs attention can't get their wedding ring off fast enough.

When someone else pulls a gun on him. When the situation escalates, that's when it gets dangerous.

News Flash Neal: It got dangerous when that thug walked in the door with a gun in his hand intent on robbing that place and it will remain dangerous to any and all who are there until he/she/they leave.

What we have are a whole bunch of people who want to escalate the situation because they don't want to be the victim and they do want to be in control.

What is wrong with not wanting to be a victim? Some people have been victims in the past and didn't like the way it felt. Many of them had months in the hospital to contemplate it not ever happening to them again.

If I'm out to dinner, and some moron decides he's going to rob Brewsky's while it's packed with patrons, I would much rather hand over my wallet and let the police take care of the rest than have some vigilante wannabe pull out his perfectly legal weapon and play hero.

Exactly as I stated in a previous comment, even if you are armed sometimes the best thing to do is hand over your wallet and be a good witness. The chances are however that the miscreant will not barge into a place like Brewsky's and rob the place during Happy Hour.

What will most likely happen is that the robber/s will wait in hiding in the darkened parking lot and jack you up for your wallet and possibly your ladies sexual favors. Additionally under the law even if you did have a permit you could not legally take it into a business that derives more that 51% of it's gross income from the sales of alcohol anyway. There would be no armed permit holders in Brewskys that could do anything to stop the robber anyway.

I would like to thank you for pointing out that the robber would have no quams taking a firearm into a forbidden place Neal, that is what we have been saying for years; Gun Laws are only obeyed by those that are law abiding anyway. A criminal could care less whether there is a sign on the door banning guns or not.

Hell it tells him/them that the only gun in the place will be theirs.

Businesses that post no guns signs should post this instead;

Criminal Protection Zone

Criminals, the Management of these premises, has for your convenience, disarmed all of the law abiding citizens, you are free to safely ply your illicet trade here.

I would much rather be a victim of a mugging than a bullet.

A mugging usually entails taking a bullet Neal, of a knife between the ribs or a pipe to the head. Some guy with his hand in his pocket indicating he has a gun is not a mugging it is robbery.

The vigilante bravado that comes from the most vocal of CCW proponents has me fearing the bullet of some NRA member living out a hero fantasy much more than I fear getting mugged in my neighborhood, which is near the capitol - a nightmarish hotbed of criminal activity if you ask Jeanne Combs.

Neal I can assure you that if we were in the same building and someone had a gun to your head demanding all your money I promise I will not interfere in anyway, even if/when the thug forces your girlfriend/wife to go with him for a hostage. I will be a good witness for you though and try to render first aid to you after the thug is gone. I don't carry a firearm to protect you or the people you love Neal, that is your job not mine. I might even call 911 for you if I happen to have my electronic leash with me.

The term vigilante infers citizens conciously banding together taking the law into their own hands, and hunting down the bad guys. Nothing could be farther from the truth. People that favor concealed carry want no such thing, in fact more than any they want to be left alone. They do not want to be a victim of a crime, they do not want to have to use their firearm for self defense. Most of the time a CCW person will go out of their way to not use it. Only when there is no doubt what so ever that they will suffer death or serious bodily harm will your average CCW holder discharge their firearm.

The dismissal of LPD during this period is what frightens me most, because that exposes the vigilante spirit behind so many CCW proponents.

No one is dismissing LPD. That undermanned organization does more with less than any department that I know of.

People that favor CCW recognize a truth that every member of LPD has to agree with. 99.9% of the time they are not going to be there when a crime is perpetrated upon your person Neal.

The fact is that even if you could get a cell phone call through to 911 it may at least 10 minutes before a police unit arrives at your location. If you can't make the call until after the event you might not be able to make the call at all.

A lot can happen in that short time; you can be robbed, car jacked, beaten and killed. Your girlfriend/wife can be raped repeatedly, while your forced to watch, and left for dead.

There is respect for our current system of law enforcement...as long as it fits in with their pre-existing political beliefs, which allow them to play cop with no repercussions. But instead, LPD doesn't want more guns on the street in the hands of trigger-happy heroes, so LPD must be corrupt, stupid or puppets of Seng's administration.

No one respects the current system of Law Enforcement more than I, but it does not take a pre-existing political belief to understand that they can not be everywhere all of the time.

Even if they were the courts have held for decades that it is not the role of police agencies to protect any one of us as a individual, their job is only to protect society as a whole.

Don't believe that Neal try this; Make a 911 cal and when the cops don't show up or take the better part of an hour to show up initiate a law suit against the deparment for failure to protect you.

News Flash Neal; They don't have to show up if they don't want to. There is no law that requires them to. If they get held up and you get hurt bad the courts have consistantly held that the police are not liable for failing to rescue you from harm.

Important News Flash; Having stated the above, I do not know one single cop that would not put their life on the line trying to come to your rescue if they knew you were in trouble. But Neal, they have to know your in trouble and they have to be close enough to do something about it. Even 911 calls fall through the cracks.

Even though I have great respect for LPD I also understand this; The last time I checked they still worked for me and are duty bound by oath to respect and obey any and all legal laws that I get enacted.

News Flash; I am a law abiding citizen that has undergone multiple State and Federal background checks over the years, there is not one single police officer that need fear anything from me. How does disarming me make a Peace officers job safer? Better yet how does my owning and carrying a firearm make any Peace Officers job more dangerous?

I don't care what they want or don't want when it comes to my rights and civil liberties. They are servants of the people and they must abide by what the People decide not the other way around. On concealed carry the People have spoken through the legislature. If any one of them doesn't like that then they can quit and get a job in the gun free zones of Illinios, New York, New Jersey or Washington D.C..

Now there is a hoot Neal, Washington D.C. Our Nations Capital has been a gun free mecca for how many years now? They are under a state of emergency right now because of all of the crime.

Why?

The law abiding citizens are unarmed and can not fight back Neal. Criminals in the hallowed city of the D.C. run rampant over decent people because cops can't be everywhere.

That shows me a distint and direct disregard for our concept of law.

There is no disregard for the law Neal, quite the opposite to be sure.

The law provides for an individual to defend him/her self and family. The law recognizes that cops can't be everywhere all of the time and that it is the personal responsibility of each one of us to provide for our own safety and security.

News Flash; It is in the Nebraska Statutes Neal, look it up.

That shows me people who think because they took a weekend class on gun safety they understand law and justice better than the folks who have committed their lives to that concept.

No Neal, the people that take those "weekend classes" do not understand the law better than those that have dedicated their lives to it. What they understand is the law on personal protection and how it applies to them in their everyday lives. A CCW person does not need a law degree or a gazillion hours of training to recognize that the thug holding a knife on them in that dark parking lot is not about to invite them to a church social.

That is when a CCW person will reluctantly use their firearm Neal, when it is apparent that they are about to be hurt or killed and there is absolutely no one from the government around to bail them out.

A great time was had by all

Saturday night was the first ever (to our knowledge) Nebraska Bloggers Bash. Held at an undisclosed location there were four Nebraska Bloggers in attendance and a great time was professed to be had by all.

Two of the attendees have already posted on the event.

That would be Vinnie of Vince Aut Morire




And his lovely wife Merri of Merri Mussings.


PTG of the Plains Feeder was there as well. Vinnie has the scoop on that including a couple of pictures of me and that ole Curmudgeon from the Feed Lot. (I thought sure I was a little more muscular than that but hey you know how the camera lies.)

Outing Myself

Just so you heard it here first (Vinnie mentioned a full expose in detail on the Jawa Report at some future time of his choosing)

Today, August 14th is My and Mrs Gunscribe's Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary, so the Bash was a bit of pre-celebrating for us along with spending time with some of the best Bloggers the Cornhusker State has to offer. ( I was so not worthy, I was so not worthy)

30 years ago when we wed the radio station her Dad worked at dedicated a song to us commemorating our day.

The song you ask?

Put another Log on the Fire by Tom Paul Glaser (<-- Click for the lyrics)

So Saturday night The Missus, Merri and PTG's squeeze conspired with the band. The first I knew of this little conspiricy was when I was called to the bandstand and handed a microphone.

The lead singer then pointed out the wife who had stepped onto the dance floor. Still wondering what was up the band commenced to play the song Put another Log on the Fire.

Now I am not shy about being in front of a lot of people, I have been on stage a lot in my life, but the unexpected situation I had been thrust into caused me to momentarily draw a blank. (okay I admit it I froze) I couldn't remember the words to the song for several seconds.

Regaining my composure and with an audiance of several hundred people I put mic to mouth and belted out a couple of verses of the old song while my wife looked on lovingly.

At that point I noted that Vinnie had slipped up close to the dance floor as well. I have yet to confirm whether he digitaly recorded the event for posterity or future blackmail.

But hey I am off the hook now cause I just told on myself. Put that on the Jawa Vinnie. Hehehehehehe!!!!

Besides that the wife hates that song anyway, but the whole point of her clandestine plan was to put me on the spot. It worked too I was totally suprised (which is hard to do) and I love her all the more for it.

Thank you Merri. Thank you Vinnie. Thank you PTG. Thank you all for a wonderful evening.

And most of all THANK YOU MRS. GUN for a wonderful evening and thirty glorious years.

Note; We all decided that it is worth doing again and would really like to see more of Nebraskas Bloggers attend.

P.S. Vinnie made mention in his post of some Blogger crashers. I have no idea how these Islamotards found out about the super secret location of of our get together, but one of my unnamed sources is tracking down a picture that was purportedly taken of them. As soon as I can get my hands on it (er.. um.. ahhh.... download it from my digital camera) it will get posted. Rumor has it that several pics were taken of the four turban clad crashers, someone else may post it before I can.

Eatin' in Lincoln

I think about doing restaurant reviews from time to time, just to let my none Nebraska/Lincoln readers in on what we have around here for "Good Eats.

But it is not something I can ever remember to do when I am at the keyboard, so I found somebody to sluff it off on.

That would be Sarah and Swoof of the Blog Eatin' in Lincoln.

Check them out, I do when the wife and I are looking for someplace other than our usual haunts.

P.S. I added them to my Blogroll too.

What Lincoln could be like in the not to distant future

This is the Lincoln that Gramma Seng, Councilmen Cook, Marvin, Svoboda and Chief Casady have in mind.

Put the old lady in jail and let the miscreants rule the roads.

I find this type of Government action utterly disgusting and reprehensable.