Monday Musings...
Another week...and with it, another set of important issues, inanity, and innuendos just waiting around the corner for us to take a look at. So, hitch up the horses Martha, we're "goin' to town"...
** First off, there was some GOOD TV on this weekend (who knew?) and none of it was found on the major networks...(astounding).
I watched the CIVIL WAR by Ken Burns on our local PBS station, and I never seem to get tired of viewing it. And most of it's in black and white...and NO huge explosions, or fancy superhero costumes, or even cute and cuddly creatures. Just good old HISTORY.
Then, later yesterday evening, TCM had on the Oscar-winning movie (from the year I was born - 1952) HIGH NOON, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
This is a movie I had to (recently) buy a DVD of, simply because even though it's barely 90 minutes in length, it's just a great morality play about the human condition.
And you know what really makes this movie work for me?
The script is what movie people call "tight"...
The entire movie takes place in damn near REAL-TIME...amazing for a movie from the 50s!
Hell, we rarely even see such scripting TODAY.
Now...if someone could only "colorize" it....
** So...you attend a weeding, trusting that a great time will be had by all, and what's one of the LAST THINGS you'd expect to occur?
If you said someone coming in and shooting up the place, critically injuring an toddler less than 2 years old...go to the head of the class.
Apparently, that's what happened down in INDY this weekend, at a Hispanic wedding.
Here's the link to the entire story so far:
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/20183671/detail.html
Wow...if it's not those wacky blacks shooting one another (or everyone else) when they feel the need to rob a store or jack a car, it's those wacky Hispanics capping wedding guests simply because these thugs weren't "invited"...!?!
** In Fort Wayne, we enjoy one of the largest BURMESE populations outside of Burma...oh, excuse me...I mean MYANMAR (I still call it BURMA, as do the Burnmese, so sue me...and them). In a related story in today's paper we find one of our S/E side libraries helping the Burmese (or is that the MYANMARESE?) refugees acclimate themselves to our culture.
Here's the link to this story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090727/LOCAL/307279989/1002/LOCAL I find this a noble gesture on the part of our city and those assisting these displaced people.
BUT...
(uh, oh, Bob's found the OTHER shoe to drop)
In another article in the SAME paper, we see a very disturbing situation in the parent country of Myanmar.
Here's the link to THAT story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090727/NEWS0402/307279942
Seems Myanmar (read Burma) is not without it's very own share of AIDS...(imagine that).
Over 240,000 suffer from AIDS, but at $3 per capita, the relief funding just isn't there, aside from Western nations donating needed medicines.
Have they not heard about Obama's "socialized medicine" plan? There's an idea...maybe Myanmar could become our FIFTY-FIRST STATE?
(Nah, I'm just yankin' yer chain...we're not really gonna do that, right Mr. President? Mr President? Anyone?)
** Tom Swift (from the old pulp boys books of a bygone era) had his "Electric Rifle", and today, we have the descendant of that author's creative mind...and we call it (quaintly enough)...a TASER.
(Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle)
And here's the *411* (via WIKI) for all you folks wondering about most every aspect of this device:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser
Now when I visited the Regional Police and Fire Academy (last November), I was given the $5 tour (not to be confused with the $2 tour) by the head of TASER training for the academy, Sgt. Scott Berning (seen here at left...looking good, Sarge!).
We talked about the X-REP shotgun-propelled rounds that act JUST like a taser when a target is acquired, only juicing the perp for 20 seconds instead of the 5 second intervals used by standard handheld TASERS. This "distanced" application allows officers to safely approach a suspect without fear of being shot, or even attacked.
There was an article in Sunday's paper about the use of the TASER by our very own FWPD, and here's the link to it:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090726/LOCAL07/307269928#
Now, let me say, I've always been a staunch advocate for deploying these devices to local law-enforcement since they came out, but many have this "wait and see" attitude. They want MORE studies performed, in spite of the fact that the TASER has a proven track record, and has allowed more than a few officers to go home to their wives and kids, when the outcome might have panned out differently with other "less-than-lethal" options.
As the article states, there are times when a perp, who might be flyin' on PCP or some other poison coursing through his (or her) veins might "fight through" such devices as OC spray, or even beanbag or rubber rounds, but you go and throttle someone with TENS OF THOUSANDS of VOLTS, they tend to become pretty damn docile...pretty damn quick.
The closest comparison would be someone having a major seizure...you can't help seizing the hell up while being tased. And yet, after the voltage goes off, you return rather quickly to whatever state you were in prior to getting juiced.
Of course, with ANY less-than-lethal device, there HAVE been a few people that have died after being tased...BUT, they had a PRE-EXISTING CONDITION that was exacerbated by getting jolted with a TASER. People also have reacted to OC with asthmatic attacks, and have been concussed with rubber rounds, so you're never going to have a perfect record with ANY device out there. That's why they're NOT called NON-LETHAL, but rather LESS-THAT-LETHAL.
The really NICE thing is that the "average, law-abiding citizen" can now purchase a TASER for themselves, and it costs a LOT lower than $1000 (police version X-26). A citizen taser (model C-2 seen at left - click on picture to enlarge) can be had for way under $500 these days, and you can get a clear plastic model of the X-26 as well. For the pros, we still have the M-26 (feels remarkably like a GLOCK in hand).
The FWPD has the X-26, but just because it's SMALLER in size...don't let THAT fool you (sounds a lot like ME...LMAO).
Plans are to have enough officers with TASERS to adequately cover all sectors during all shifts.
I guess that will make it EASIER for me to spot the perps walking down my street who have BEEN (regularly) tased in the past....I'll just watch for twitchy movements.
"Yo, Saggy-Spazz....betcha not gonna go rob that liquor store or hold up that old lady anymore, right?"
And YES, you CAN tell the difference between METH twitchy...and TASER twitchy.
So get out there and go buy yourselves some TASERS...
But remember...you're NOT James T. Kirk, and that isn't a Hollywood prop you're hefting, kapeesh?
Another week...and with it, another set of important issues, inanity, and innuendos just waiting around the corner for us to take a look at. So, hitch up the horses Martha, we're "goin' to town"...** First off, there was some GOOD TV on this weekend (who knew?) and none of it was found on the major networks...(astounding).
I watched the CIVIL WAR by Ken Burns on our local PBS station, and I never seem to get tired of viewing it. And most of it's in black and white...and NO huge explosions, or fancy superhero costumes, or even cute and cuddly creatures. Just good old HISTORY.Then, later yesterday evening, TCM had on the Oscar-winning movie (from the year I was born - 1952) HIGH NOON, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.
This is a movie I had to (recently) buy a DVD of, simply because even though it's barely 90 minutes in length, it's just a great morality play about the human condition.And you know what really makes this movie work for me?
The script is what movie people call "tight"...
The entire movie takes place in damn near REAL-TIME...amazing for a movie from the 50s!
Hell, we rarely even see such scripting TODAY.
Now...if someone could only "colorize" it....
** So...you attend a weeding, trusting that a great time will be had by all, and what's one of the LAST THINGS you'd expect to occur?
If you said someone coming in and shooting up the place, critically injuring an toddler less than 2 years old...go to the head of the class.Apparently, that's what happened down in INDY this weekend, at a Hispanic wedding.
Here's the link to the entire story so far:
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/20183671/detail.html
Wow...if it's not those wacky blacks shooting one another (or everyone else) when they feel the need to rob a store or jack a car, it's those wacky Hispanics capping wedding guests simply because these thugs weren't "invited"...!?!
** In Fort Wayne, we enjoy one of the largest BURMESE populations outside of Burma...oh, excuse me...I mean MYANMAR (I still call it BURMA, as do the Burnmese, so sue me...and them). In a related story in today's paper we find one of our S/E side libraries helping the Burmese (or is that the MYANMARESE?) refugees acclimate themselves to our culture.Here's the link to this story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090727/LOCAL/307279989/1002/LOCAL I find this a noble gesture on the part of our city and those assisting these displaced people.
BUT...
(uh, oh, Bob's found the OTHER shoe to drop)
In another article in the SAME paper, we see a very disturbing situation in the parent country of Myanmar.
Here's the link to THAT story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090727/NEWS0402/307279942
Seems Myanmar (read Burma) is not without it's very own share of AIDS...(imagine that).
Over 240,000 suffer from AIDS, but at $3 per capita, the relief funding just isn't there, aside from Western nations donating needed medicines.
Have they not heard about Obama's "socialized medicine" plan? There's an idea...maybe Myanmar could become our FIFTY-FIRST STATE?
(Nah, I'm just yankin' yer chain...we're not really gonna do that, right Mr. President? Mr President? Anyone?)
** Tom Swift (from the old pulp boys books of a bygone era) had his "Electric Rifle", and today, we have the descendant of that author's creative mind...and we call it (quaintly enough)...a TASER.
(Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle)
And here's the *411* (via WIKI) for all you folks wondering about most every aspect of this device:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser
Now when I visited the Regional Police and Fire Academy (last November), I was given the $5 tour (not to be confused with the $2 tour) by the head of TASER training for the academy, Sgt. Scott Berning (seen here at left...looking good, Sarge!).We talked about the X-REP shotgun-propelled rounds that act JUST like a taser when a target is acquired, only juicing the perp for 20 seconds instead of the 5 second intervals used by standard handheld TASERS. This "distanced" application allows officers to safely approach a suspect without fear of being shot, or even attacked.
There was an article in Sunday's paper about the use of the TASER by our very own FWPD, and here's the link to it:http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090726/LOCAL07/307269928#
Now, let me say, I've always been a staunch advocate for deploying these devices to local law-enforcement since they came out, but many have this "wait and see" attitude. They want MORE studies performed, in spite of the fact that the TASER has a proven track record, and has allowed more than a few officers to go home to their wives and kids, when the outcome might have panned out differently with other "less-than-lethal" options.
As the article states, there are times when a perp, who might be flyin' on PCP or some other poison coursing through his (or her) veins might "fight through" such devices as OC spray, or even beanbag or rubber rounds, but you go and throttle someone with TENS OF THOUSANDS of VOLTS, they tend to become pretty damn docile...pretty damn quick.
The closest comparison would be someone having a major seizure...you can't help seizing the hell up while being tased. And yet, after the voltage goes off, you return rather quickly to whatever state you were in prior to getting juiced.
Of course, with ANY less-than-lethal device, there HAVE been a few people that have died after being tased...BUT, they had a PRE-EXISTING CONDITION that was exacerbated by getting jolted with a TASER. People also have reacted to OC with asthmatic attacks, and have been concussed with rubber rounds, so you're never going to have a perfect record with ANY device out there. That's why they're NOT called NON-LETHAL, but rather LESS-THAT-LETHAL.
The really NICE thing is that the "average, law-abiding citizen" can now purchase a TASER for themselves, and it costs a LOT lower than $1000 (police version X-26). A citizen taser (model C-2 seen at left - click on picture to enlarge) can be had for way under $500 these days, and you can get a clear plastic model of the X-26 as well. For the pros, we still have the M-26 (feels remarkably like a GLOCK in hand).The FWPD has the X-26, but just because it's SMALLER in size...don't let THAT fool you (sounds a lot like ME...LMAO).
Plans are to have enough officers with TASERS to adequately cover all sectors during all shifts.
I guess that will make it EASIER for me to spot the perps walking down my street who have BEEN (regularly) tased in the past....I'll just watch for twitchy movements.
"Yo, Saggy-Spazz....betcha not gonna go rob that liquor store or hold up that old lady anymore, right?"
And YES, you CAN tell the difference between METH twitchy...and TASER twitchy.
So get out there and go buy yourselves some TASERS...But remember...you're NOT James T. Kirk, and that isn't a Hollywood prop you're hefting, kapeesh?
And above all...
Stay safe out there, America.
Stay safe out there, America.
10 comments:
I think there are over 3,000 Burmese in Fort Wayne now and about 1,000 Bosnians. Lots of other groups as well, but they seem to be in smaller numbers. Fort Wayne has long been a kind place for foreign refugees to resettle. Programs such as the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services are extremely helpful in allowing such people to adjust to their new community.
Some people seem to see it as a burden on our economy, but it looks to me that many of these people learn to pull their own weight pretty quickly. Personally, I think it’s kind of cool every time I see the orange-robed Buddhist monks around town. I think the refugee populations here add character to the city.
Phil:
You bring up one of THE most important points, and that being that THESE refugees DO, indeed pull THEIR OWN weight, and rather QUICKLY, I might add.
One would "think" this would serve as an EXAMPLE to those lazy-asses that have lived here (America) for GENERATIONS...and are STILL doing nothing, because they've learned how to "Play the system", wallowing in entitlement after entitlement.
And if there is ONE THING these refugees learn to do, it's to assimilate and acclimate themselves into OUR (read American) community.
(while still not relegating their own culture to the back burner)
Considering that many in Burma (and China) suffered under the Japanese Empirical rule from the 1920s up to (and including) WW2, you never seem to hear THEM yelling about "reparations" (to anyone that I know of)...
And the Burmese and Chinese suffered much WORSE fates than being slaves (can you say wholesale slaughter?)
Seems there is SOME lesson to be learned by other nationalized races living in our VERY OWN communities...don'cha think?
Thanks for commenting, Phil.
I would love to follow your advice, and go buy myself a taser or three. Unfortunately, up here in the frozen North, we aren't allowed to have such nifty little self defense toys. But then again, we aren't allowed pepper spray either. On the other hand, we are allowed to open carry, just as long as no one actually sees you doing it. Don't you just love the govt telling you what you can and can't do, and not actually letting you do what they said you could do in the first place? (Is it time to take up drinking yet??)
EL:
You mean Wisconsin doesn't allow OC or TASERS...BUT you can carry "open" (covertly)???
(shakes head)...WTF?
(pardon my French)
I'd stop by the local liquor store and grab some Wild Turkey...just in case.
What happened to the world we GREW UP IN?
Seems someone swiped it while we all were sleeping...!
Stay safe
(and, in the words of Pink Floyd - comfortably numb)
You can, by law, open carry, but if you do, the police in some cities (Milwaukee especially) have orders to take you down, until such time as they can ascertain you are not a felon. So very few people bother trying to exercise that right. Welcome to the land of the ummmmmmmmm free?
EL:
I suppose carrying a CCP "ID" card isn't all that effective, hmm?
And "WHY", I wonder, would they be so persnickity in "certain" cities like MILWAUKEE...I can't IMAGINE what is THERE that could sway law-enforcemnet opinion...do you?
Couldn't be the CRIME..or the low-class, welfare-sucking ethnic population full of thuggie-wannabes & gangstas...or the METH users...NAAAHHHHH!
Couldn't be ANY of THOSE...
(I'm just messin' with 'ya..we ALL know that THOSE above ARE the reasons as to WHY)
Maybe not all that "free", but still more "reasonnable" than MOST other countries!
:)
Huh.. I was wondering about the "we have tasers in stock" at the cash cow pawn in town by the grocery store.. usually they are advertising AR-15s. Must be handier to carry around than a cattle prod. My youngest daughter wants two.. (cattle prod) so she and her boyfriend can have mock battles. Geeze.. kids.. Hey Easily.lost if there's bears up there, buy bear repellant. aren't there still bears rooting around up north where you live? It works wonders, this big engulfing pink cloud. Will take down the nastiest dawg.
Diane:
There ARE some days when I'd MUCH prefer having BEARS living all around me, then the current (other) group of "animals"...LOL.
Daughter and boyfriend want to stage mock battles with CATTLE PRODS????
Tell 'em to try PAINTBALL weapons instead....a lot better for everyone involved, trust me.
;)
Thanks for commenting.
well i know if you let the police know you have a weapon (long story) the cops will try to take you down too. even if you were protecting your own property/life and called 911 for your backup.
i dont live too far from that park. trust me it was unexpected that something like that would happen there. i just thank God i didnt buy one of the new homes that back into it. lol the only reason i didnt was i didnt want a higher mortgage payment. i was trying to stay in my budget. guess you could say i potentaly dodge the bullet
Indy:
Just as long as you're not having to go out and purchase Lvl III body armor, right?
Be well.
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