The Ticket

 

Greetings and Happy Sunday!
I hope you are having a great weekend.

In church this morning I heard a story that reminded me of a situation that happened in my life that I wanted to share.

Years ago I was driving through the city of Lewisville Texas. Lewisville is home to a many who live north of Dallas and south of Denton. There are a few shops that I go to on occasion.
On this particular day, I was trying to find a new place I had heard about. Taking the exit one must go under a bridge, around a loop and then go back down the feeder on the southbound side of I35.
The time of day was in the early afternoon so the sun about 20 feet above the street if it were right in front of you.
Once traversing the bridge the way to get to southbound feeder was ill-defined at best. There were two entrances one of which had “do not enter signs” around it. The other did not.
Now I had never been on this particular stretch of road. It looked confusing, so I actually stopped and looked around to see what I was missing. There in the parking lot across the street was one of Lewisville’s finest sitting there I assumed running radar. Looking once more that the intersection I turned into the entrance without the “do not enter” signs.
The same officer that I saw sitting there was now behind me with his lights flashing.
“Pull over in the parking lot!” I hear with my windows closed.
Ok, I was not speeding, had my turn signal on, why is he back there?
Getting out of his cruiser he asks for the usual stuff and disappears into his car.
After seeing that I was not a threat to mankind, not wanted for anything and that my insurance, license sticker and everything else was up to date, he hands me a ticket for making an illegal left turn.
“Where was the sign that said don’t do this,” I enquired?
“They don’t have one but they should, he explained. But, if you go back and look up, you will see some signs with arrows on them and one with an X through a left turn arrow.”
As he thanks me for my courtesy, he gets back into his cruiser and floors it, screeching the tire igniting all 500 horses into a full gallop as he leaves the scene of his crime-fighting efforts.
I took the time to turn around and go find the sign. Friends, there it was, 20 feet in the air and about 50 feet in front of the intersection were some arrows, and one certainly had a line through it for the left turn.
Do you remember what else was at 20 feet above the ground?
Yes, the glaring sun blinding you and obscured the signs for anyone to see.
I am not an advocate of hating on police officers. As a matter of fact, I have many who are close personal friends. This 30-year-old man could have done many things including at the very least offering me a warning, as this was my first ticket ever!
I, in fact, drove over a 1000 miles a week for 15 years and never got a ticket.
Looking at all the options, they make it really easy to send them the $200 plus dollars if you take differed adjudication.
What that means is, if you don’t get another ticket in a year, it does not show up on your record. You just go up to the window there and hand the clerk a credit card, and you’re done.
That was ten years ago, and I have still not gone back to Lewisville to shop. I did drive through that intersection on a recent trip to see if they had changed it, and they have indeed put some signs at eye level that take the confusion out of the process.
I guess that officer had to find another honey hole to use to hunt for confused drivers. I am sure that they exist, I have seen them as I travel a good bit.
There is an issue when one gets a ticket. That is this. I think it makes you a less safe driver, at least it did with me. I started second guessing every move that I made. Much like a student driver, I deliberately thought about each and every action when I drove.
Like life, we tend to do things automatically. We don’t think about driving like we don’t think about breathing. You just do it. If the signs are appropriately placed and thought out, that is what it should be like.
This man knew and I would guess was purposefully sitting there at this time of day knowing full well those signs would be hiding in front of the sun, which they were. He admitted that they should have a no left turn sign at eye level. Then he hands me a $210 ticket and leaves, screeching his tires and using unnecessary acceleration to get onto the feeder.
I wanted to take it to court. Because of a head-on collision with a drunk driver 30 years ago, I physically cannot sit for any length of time. So in effect, I am deprived of my legal rights to be heard by our system of justice, as I cannot physically sit in one place while they go through there painful procedures at the speed of grass growing.
Allow me to be very clear. I honor our men and women in blue. As I stated, I have many close friends who serve in this capacity. Those that I have shared this story with called the man a prick. I had a few other choice words which I will not share.
Having said that never, I repeat never adjudicate your case on the side of the road. We recently learned of an officer in Roswell using a coin toss app to see if he should detain a driver.
In Irving not long ago we saw a woman accosted on the side of the road by an officer.
Make sure they can see your hands at all times. If they pull you over in the evening make damned sure that your light inside the car is on and your hands are in plain sight. When they pull you over their adrenaline is pumping, and they too are human and might mistake a sneeze for you pulling a gun on them.
“Yes Sir, No sir, thank you officer!” should be the most common words in your vocabulary when dealing with the man or woman in blue. Judges go through a little more training than the people in blue do, and they are not afraid for their lives like the person who just chased you down might be, and is now wondering what he or she is about to face.”
I was driving a minivan, a soccer mom mobile so I am confident that this young person felt that it was a safe bet to pull me over and save the world from my illegal left turn. FFS!
The losers are the cops and the City of Lewisville. Yes, they got $210 of my hard earned money. But, that cop represents all police. He represents an unfair practice of finding confusing intersections and waiting for someone who is driving on automatic mode and not expecting something so out of the ordinary. Or my personal favorite is the officers who sit in parking lots at the bottom of a hill with their radars shooting up the hill.

If you need a radar gun to tell that I am speeding by a couple of miles an hour you probably should not stop me.

This man who stopped me works or worked for a group of people who think what he did was great, and wish they had thought of it. The city loses because I don’t take my business there any longer, period. I will go way out of my way to stay out of that city and have done so since the ticket fiasco.

Business owners in Lewisville should probably go to a city council meeting and bring this up. Do I still sound pissed? Yes, I think I am. That was unfair and wrong and just Bullshit!

Will they miss my money that I spend elsewhere? Will they lose the tax revenue? Probably not but, you see I am also a writer, Unlike that officer who could have made me aware of the sign hidden by the sun, and then tell me to have a beautiful day he chose to use it as a revenue-generating moment.

I chose to use this blog to point out that there are people in this world who are self-serving and some of them wear blue.

I am of the opinion that all money generated from traffic infractions should not be in the city’s coffers. Generating revenue from tickets encourages speed traps which I have seen throughout the country.

I am for law enforcement, just not as a source of revenue.

As I leave you today, I want to leave you with this thought. As I complain about an unjust treatment and an abuse of the vehicular codes, my heart and prayers go out to the officer and his family today who died in the line of duty. The officer was viciously attacked by a person with a rock and then shot with his own gun multiple times.
These people disserve the ability to work their shifts protecting us, and serving us, and then go home to their families where they transform into mom or dad until their next shift.

As I write this, I got a news alert telling me of three cops shot and the shooter killed. Pray for the police and their families.

I could pontificate about why this is happening, but when you see the heated rhetoric in this country today, and you see Hattie become a no man’s land because of civil unrest, just possibly it is time we dial back the rhetoric a little bit @CNN…
There is a loss of respect for just about everyone, and it is justified or rationalized through the lens of hate. I don’t hate that officer that misused his position of authority, I dislike what he did, and I think it is a disservice to his uniform, his fellow officers, and his community.

Those that push this hate driven agenda don’t care. They need the country divided at all cost, and it is a ploy that anarchists have used for centuries. With social media, it is just much more accessible.

The Creative Spark

Update 5/22/2018

So the Satan worshipper cannot get the death penalty as he is too young and not responsible for his actions.  17, too young to be responsible… Do you all have a full appreciation of this?  Now we have a number of 17-year-olds trying to affect gun legislation but they are not old enough to really know what they are doing…

I just found that odd and thought I would share it.

 

That is all…

 

Original post below…

 

I think outside the box.  That is one reason that my novels are so entertaining.

Since Friday my thoughts have been with the families who lost loved ones.  My thoughts have been with those that are still in Hospital hurting, wondering if they will ever be normal again.

My thoughts are also with those that have endured this PTSD causing event that will never be “OK” again.  Realizing that Ok is a relative term, their lives have been indelibly altered.

The Satan worshiping animal in jail who stupidly gave up his Miranda rights just shows how much of a fool that he really is.   I am sorry for his parents and family.  Their lives too must be absolute hell.  If this person gets the death penalty his parents will most certainly endure more hell and it is certainly not fair to them.  It is my hope that this person understands how much pain he and his actions have caused those around him and of course the rest of the civilized world!

His family is most certainly asking themselves “what if?”

• What if we did not do this or that?
• Why did I have those guns?
• Why were they not in a safe?
• Why did we have the kid?

What if…..?

As some small amount of solace to his family had he not managed to get your guns he was actively working on making explosives.  Now truthfully, he does not seem that bright so the odds are good he would have blown himself up trying to make a working device but… With all the information out there on the Internet and with the anarchist of the world, just a google search away he might have made something that worked.  A working IED might have taken far more lives than it did.

We need to learn from this.  Our goal should be to figure out what triggered him, what were the warning signs and where did he go off the rails.  Worshipping Satan was probably a good first clue.

The ripple in the “pond” from this event goes far and wide.  Many today and even now are troubled by these latest events.  That creative spark which allows me to create realms with aliens has been subjugated by a more pressing, a more altruistic endeavor.

I have been thinking “What If?”

I have tweeted out an idea for a gun that is BTO or Biometrically Triggered Only.  Maybe we should call it a BTG or Biometrically Triggered Gun or possibly BOG Biometrically operated Gun.

This is no longer in the realm of science fiction, which is what I write.  This is doable.

What if:

Ruger or Smith & Wesson or Springfield thought outside the box?  Can we make a gun that will operate with only fingerprints of the legal owner?

The answer is a resounding yes… “We have the technology, we can build it!”

Do you realize that if we could do this and I am certain that we can, the US could start the process of revolutionizing the world.? Countries like the UK could give their citizens their guns back so they could defend themselves.

Countries like Mexico could give their people their guns back so just possibly the citizens of that country could defend themselves from gangs.  Could you imagine what it would be like if Mexico could defend itself against the cartels and Gangs?  In 2017 26000 people were massacred and our MSM said little to nothing about it.  Instead, we have an invasion on our southern border and we are putting a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage. The Wall is a 20 billion dollar Band-Aid!

Give the people the tools they need to take their country back from the gangs and corruption that most certainly is going on south of our border.

You will never get all the guns off the streets that were not BOG but, What if you stopped making the ammo for them and only made ammo to fit the BOG?
How long would it take to put a huge dent in the non-BOG’s supply of bullets?

I realize that those NRA enthusiasts will scream bloody murder, sorry!

If you have a better idea I am interested but I don’t hear one.  I see one side trying to score political points blaming the Republicans and the NRA.  They don’t give a damn about you or your problems.  They have bodyguards and your issues are not theirs.  They need issues which trigger emotional outburst so they can blame it on the other guy.   I am telling you how politics work here so take it to the bank.

They tell you what is wrong with the world and who is to blame for it.  That is how you win elections.  In order to tell you what is wrong, something must be wrong.  Shootings are a made to order disaster which they never let go to waste.  Politicians suck!  The MSM sucks right along with them as they are their propaganda machines.

We should demand that they all have term limits but that is another argument.

What if we created this technology and then replaced those guns of legal gun owners with BOGs. You have ten guns we give you ten BOGs.  You want an AR style BOG you got it.  When you die, it dies with you.

We have the technology to biometrically allow guns to be functional only in the hands of the legitimate owner.  Apple already has developed the finger print technology so how about we use this technology and marry it to guns.  Your handprint becomes the key to take the safety off.

If I purchase a gun, it is assigned to my handprint.  Only I can make the damned thing work.  When I die, the gun dies.  No resale value, no loopholes, nothing.  They can bury it with me or melt it down as it has no value to anyone but me.

Gun shows could be free of rules as there would be no bullets for them.

To qualify for this BOG, of course, you pass background checks and what have you so the guns cannot any longer be used in the hands of cray cray’s!

Cool idea isn’t it?

What say you down under, would you allow such a program in your country? Would you allow your citizens of good moral character to own such a gun?

How about the UK, never mind asking that mayor in London, ask someone with who gives a shit for the rule of law. This mayor just told the people of London that terrorist attacks are a way of life, get used to it!”  FFS!  Do you want that in this country?  We need the 2cnd Amendment we just need guns out of the hands of mental midgets or animals.

The first gun manufacturer to come out with this will be one rich company.

I have given so many ideas away in the past, some of them to Apple who I am certain some employee said it was theirs. I am a starving artist and author but …if you use this idea and it all works out, how about remembering where it came from?

Do you know, I have sent ideas in the past to GE, Apple, Novell, Cisco, RCA..oh yes and Sony.  In almost every case they told me that they were already working on something like that… Yeah sure. Months to years later there it was.  Well, I got what I needed.

Listen, the world needs a solution and I don’t have a million dollars to spend on attorneys to secure a patent.

While I am certainly bright enough to make a prototype, I don’t have the dollars or time to devote to it.  Time being the main issue as this is needed yesterday!

Can you imagine the applications for the military alone?  The guy gets killed or loses his gun and it is of no use to the bad guy.

Do you know that if you file a patent here in the US is cost 10 to 15 thousand for just the US.  Then it is over $3,000 for every other country in the world.  There are a lot of them.

It is amazing that new technology is ever let loose by the little guy as it is cost prohibitive.

In summary…Invent the damned BOG… Should not take long, not rocket science.

Do away with all current sizes of ammunition which would effectively stop the gun trade and illegal possession of guns.

Look for and arrest anyone trafficking in black market ammo.  This market will go cray cray!  The good news is lead is a lot harder to smuggle then meth.

Create a substitute gun (BOG) for those that are of a good moral character and provide them free of charge.

Would not need a gun buy back as the ammo would become scarce and over time disappear.

You could certainly offer a buyback program however… Cash for clunkers II.  Instead of cars, it is guns.  I bet the liberals would fund it for you rather quickly!

If the gun makers are averse to this idea get me a bloody grant and I will do it!  I will stop my normal routines and create the BOG!  BOG for the Swamp, I like it!

Trust me, I can do this so I know it should not be a stretch for Gun Makers and companies like Apple to work together on a project that would save lots of lives.

If you just hate this idea save your vitriolic email.  I don’t need it, and I can ignore it with the best of them.

If you love it, go invent the damned thing and be rich!

If you have ties to the political swamp creatures who control the purse strings and can convince them that this would solve the issues, get me a grant!

I need enough for lawyers which is just crazy.  I can put together a business plan on request and come up with a non-DC related budget. It would be over a million dollars for the prototype which is nothing for DC.  For Ruger, it might be an issue.  Hell Ruger, you go get the grant!

I would bet that I could have a prototype in less than a year!

Now until I hear from someone, I am going back to outer space, there is a war going on between the Ularins and the Zenites.

All kidding aside this would work.

People would hate it because they would feel threatened but, I am here to tell you it has to be sold properly and for that, you need a good PR firm.

I am not talking about violating the second amendment. I am talking about saving lives and getting illegal guns off the streets.

Much Love

-TW

Agapao Love

If you follow this blog or my tweets or even heaven forbid, read any of my novels you will quickly discern that I care about people.  I may not like some of them from time to time, but I certainly do love them.

What does that look like?

Sitting in a restaurant the other night the waitress was downtrodden.  It was evident that she did not want to be there.  I watched her interact with customers.  In some ways, they mirrored what she was putting out.  Much like the sun reflects warm energy off of most surfaces her macabre energy if you will, was affecting those around her.

Moods are catchy!

The hostess sat us in her section, and I just about read her mind. “Great, more people to serve.”

Pasting on her smile, she put the menu in front of me and began her programmatic spiel.

“Can I get you something to drink while you look at the menu?”

I took a deep breath trying to negate her negative energy and launched into my “spiel.”

“Hey, how are you doing tonight?”

I broke the program, she was expecting me to say water or tea or something along those lines.

“Tired, been a long day.” She replied.

“That is a pretty necklace you have, is it special?”

“Yeah kind of, my mom gave it to me.”

“You are a lucky girl to have a mother with such good taste!”

A smile breached her face as her mind drifted back to some event where she received the neckless. I swear I could just about see her receiving it from her mother.

“I guess I am,” she said.

“You work here, tell me, what is the chef good at making, or what do you like to eat here?”

Seeking her opinion is empowering her.  She now feels that she has something to contribute which indeed she does.

Her mind changed gears once again as she thought about the things that she has served all day and who the chef was and what sounded “yummy” to her.

Thoughtfully she responded with something that she liked.  I smiled at her and told her that sounded good.  I then asked her what her name was.

I will use the name Monica which was not her name but for this blog, just in case she sees it, I would not want to embarrass her.

“That is a lovely name, your mother not only has good taste in jewelry but, in picking names.”

Her face had warmed with my few moments of “loving her.”

Using her name when in communication with her the rest of the evening “re-humanized” her.

We are not our jobs.

I don’t care what your vocation happens to be, you are no better or no more dishonorable than anyone else according to yours or their profession.  The minute that you think that specific jobs or tasks are beneath you, the slippery slope of humanity vs. humility will elude you.

We can dehumanize someone by what we say, do or how we act.  Someone needs to do these jobs.  Before some tech firm develops a robot for this job or that which is genuinely dehumanizing just maybe we should look at any job as an opportunity instead of some menial task that somehow defines us.

I worked at the Texas Medical Center for fifteen years.  I am here to tell you that most doctors would not agree with what I am saying.  It is their loss and short-sightedness too. In most of their eyes, much like some lawyers, they are the top dog, crème of the crop better than anyone else even those folks in Hollywood.

We see it all the time.  We see it in Hollywood in spades. Those that give themselves awards for how great they are! Indeed those folks are missing the boat.  What a hollow life it must be.

There is this story about Barbara Streisand.  It has been reported that she will not allow her “servants” to look her in the face. I pray that story is false however I have heard it many times from many different sources.

Folks, I make a point to speak with the people who collect the refuse from our homes, or at the office.  I make it a point to know their names and use them when I see them.  What they do for a living does not define who they are.

I am not telling you this for you to think better of me, I am mentioning this to you as I like to lead by example. Since you do not know me, other than from my musings or my writings I must write about it to pass it on.

I have followed the shooting in Santa Fe Texas.  They have not released much but the stories told by the victims are telling.

This person who killed those that he did not like had low self-esteem.  Was he bullied by his peers?  Was he slow or awkward?  Was he fat or smelly?  What was it about him that made him unappealing to those who he hated?

The full story may never be known. 

When you toss a pebble in a pond, the energy from that action ripples out to the edges of that pond.  The small waves might have some effect on the shoreline of that pond.

When an event like the mass shootings occurs, those events send out waves into the world.

The person who shot up the church on the East coast did so to provoke a race war.  Those in that church realized that not all white people wish harm to black folks and his plan was foiled by logic and love.

His actions did, however, spark a rebellion against the Rebel Flag.  Some could argue that it started the uprising against the statues and shamefully history.

We still don’t know why the person in Las Vegas killed so many at that concert.  The waves are still being felt, as many are practicing Knee Jerk reactions including sparking the gun control debate.

The reasons for the delay in the information release I am sure has to do with litigious actions by so many who were affected.

In order to mitigate their losses somehow, they are sequestering the facts of this case.

The Florida shooting has many young people taking guidance from those with an agenda to push for gun control instead of addressing the failures of the system.  Florida of all of these unfortunate events should have never ever happened!  There were way too many red flags and yet they were all ignored.

While it is easy to blame the NRA and of course the Republicans, that is a lie and a fallacy and will get us nowhere.  Should those 17 lost lives be used for political gains?  The liberal media is ok with it.

Root Cause Analysis

 

In my line of work, I perform a root cause analysis when something goes awry.  I am like the forensic data miner who unravels the bits and bytes to see why something failed.  My expertise in this area includes the sum total of over 30 years of twiddling bits.

Providing companies with things like business continuity plans to disaster recovery plans I also provide security plans right down to the physical security.

It becomes incumbent on us to unravel the events to see where things went wrong.  To point fingers at one group or another instead of the facts is disingenuous at best and loathsome at its core.

The Florida debacle is still a debacle because those in charge will not accept accountability for their failures. They would rather let the emotional kids disrespect a sitting president and aim their vitriol toward the NRA instead of focusing on the failures of those who were paid for and expected to protect them.  In short, they are diverting your attention away from them to the NRA.

When you fail to acknowledge where the actual failure was or is, nothing will be accomplished.

It is easy to blame a “target” like the NRA or the president because CNN and others are willing accomplices to the lies. Our own local paper after the truth came out of the shooting in Texas lied about the weapons used calling them “AR Style” guns.

It was a shotgun and a 38 revolver.  Why would they knowingly lie?

AR or assault rifle is a deliberate term to trigger an emotional response.  They too are part of the problem and not the solution.  It is yellow journalism and a sad day for this country when the media is complicit and part of the problem.

A root cause analysis must be performed in every such event with the chips falling where they may.  The truth must be discovered, or we learn nothing and those that died, did so in vain.

I am confident that there must have been red flags but what were they?

We must learn from this as that is the only way we can prevent it in the future.

Love must triumph over evil.

 

I get e-mails from time to time asking me about the blogs vs. my writings or novels.

“It appears that you are a church going person, how can you write novels with sex and lesbian stuff and spanking in them?”

The short answer is that I am human, like you. I have my public face, my private face, and sometimes bedroom eyes. That makes me normal.

Sexuality is part and parcel of who we are.  Without it, I dare say we would not exist.

I find nothing wrong with foreplay among consenting adults and I certainly will not stand in judgment of those of the same sex who love one another.

I will stand up to bullies of any kind, and that includes lesbians or others who use their sexuality as a weapon.

Labels are ugly things that we all should rail against.

What people do in the privacy of their own home is their business.  I have many friends who are gay and I love them unconditionally. I have many friends who are straight and the same applies. Judging you or them is way above my pay grade.

I have stated in many of my novels that God is outside of time and space.  Omnipresent means that he sees the beginning and end in one instant.  That means my dear friends that he knew you before you were born.  He knew what you were going to do and allowed you to form and be born.

Is that a guarantee that we will all be in heaven together when this is over?

Nope.

Are you responsible for me or someone else’s actions?

Nope.

I love that scripture regarding the chip on their shoulder and the log, on yours.

Don’t throw stones in a glass house…

Bottom line, don’t judge anyone else, just worry about your own actions and let God sort out the rest of it.

Update 5/20/18

I am currently working on re-editing the Hole in Time series and in some cases working on the cover art.  So many have commented on them over the many months and I listened.  That series was designed to be a lunchtime read.

Going back into the text I have found a few bloopers that I have addressed and will continue during the weeks ahead.  Most of them are a free read on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.

 

Much Love -TW

The Gun Debate, A Solution.

 

Let me say this about that!

Did you ever just want to scream?

I am not given to fits of outrage.  I am just not.  I am old enough and wise enough to know that some people are just not as intelligent as their dog.  In fact, their dog should probably put them on a leash.

I could write this blog in one sentence.  I could save you the few minutes it will take to read it by just telling the American people much less the world how to solve this issue.  The answer is simple!  The problem is people.  People who think that they know better than you how you should live, think, etc.  That is the problem, and those people want to continue to be empowered to control you, so they muddy the waters with absolute bullshit!

Here, try this solution.  Put those signs in every school or every building that say “This is a gun free zone!”  It will work because it is a law!

Now, who among you thinks that will work?”

“If you think that is the solution you seriously need to read some history, not the redacted version but actual history.  Study the real unvarnished history of man.” How about the rise and fall of the Roman empire for starters, how many of you have studied that?

No, we have pansies walking around looking for things to be offended about.  Oh, my this history is so terrible let’s just take those statues down and remove them as they are horrible.  If nobody sets the people right, this country will fall without one shot fired.

There is actually something very dark going on in this world, and it has to do with destroying this country.  This country is the best country to live in bar none. Sorry, my international friends, I still love you but, where I live is the best place to be, so far.  It will be until the people that want to destroy it are successful in doing so.

I am not going to give you a history lesson on this blog as you would stop reading it, and that is a problem.  Don’t confuse me with the facts!

What would twitter or Facebook look like if it had been around when Hitler came to power?

“Hitler Hitler he’s our man….”  I can see it now!

Twitter or Facebook would be singing his praises while downplaying the atrocities that they were committing. They would, in fact, be distorting the truth and making the Jews out to be disserving of extinction to protect their anointed one.

What would it have looked like when Stalin was killing millions of his people by starvation?”

“We need to send our food to other countries and starve to death as that is the thing to do! We need to sell it for more guns and weapons so our fearless leader can keep us safe!  If you don’t starve to death for our leader you a racist or whatever the evil term was in the day.”

The hell of it is there will some that read those last two sentences and will not know what I am talking about.

Had this country had the gun laws that Australia and other countries have now you might very well be speaking German or Japanese.

“Oh TW you are mellow dramatic!”

“No, don’t think so.”  The reason we are not speaking Russian is that we have nukes that are aimed at them like they have them aimed at us.  One nuke detected sets off the end of the world.  How is that for a cheery thought?

That is no joke, that is why rogue nations must not have them as one nuke launched would end the world period.  There are no winners with nukes, even “strategic nukes whatever the hell that is?” By the time we went to sort it out and discover that a mouse ate through a control cable shorting it causing the nuke to launch, we would all be dead.

Stopping the Japanese in world war II with two very inefficient nukes worked, we were the only ones that had them.  Had Japan had them I dare say that this planet would look much different.  Yes, they would have had their revenge but would probably not have been around to witness it. There is always that chance, had they had them they might have been smart enough to realize that they should not use them?

Do you know how the Russians got them?  Hmmmm?? Yes, a spy gave them the plans who was working with J.Robert Oppenheimer. Klaus Fuchs was one of the guys caught and only received 14 years for his treason. The only reason he did not get killed was that Russia was classified as an Ally back then.  What do we do with our treasonous people now??? Shit, you know what we did.. He is now a girl on the taxpayers’ dime and an activist.  PFFT!

“What does all this have to do with Guns TW?”

Japan did not even think about coming on shore on the mainland because they knew that every farmer in the land was armed and dangerous.

If those who are being manipulated with their emotions had their way, they would disarm the American people in a heartbeat.  Just like they did in Australia and Mexico and countless other places.

If you want to fix Mexico, give the people their guns back! I dare say drug traffickers and gangs might think twice if they thought that they might get shot.

Know why it will not happen??? C’mon take a guess…

The government any government loves a disarmed public so they can do whatever the hell they want!  90% tax rate, no problem what are the peasants going to do about it, we will have CNN tell them it is for the good of the country!

“Still thinking more gun laws as the answer?”

If the signs saying this is a gun-free zone would not work, why would more gun laws work?

Who obeys laws?

Honest people obey laws.  Criminals do not, nor do they have any respect for them.

“Ok TW you are so smart what is the answer to the problem?”

“Wow, glad you asked.”

The solution is not as simple as there is no “do this” and it will stop.  That is another reason why these stupid, inane arguments about gun laws are a waste of time.

“If it is a waste of time why are they mentioning them, look those actors are spending their time telling us that we don’t need guns!”

“Yes, those actors with armed bodyguards are telling you the peasants that you don’t need a gun.” “Are they telling you to eat cake too?”  Just curious.

Every time there is a shooting these sycophants for the Democrats parade out the same old tired arguments that anyone with a brain knows are useless.  So why are they doing it?”

They know that more laws are pointless too.  The idea is to paint the other party as the bad guys and make it appear that if it were not for the Republicans, those 17 innocent children would be alive today.  They do this so when election time rolls around they can paint the NRA and the Republicans as white, gun loving, god fearing, beer drinking, misogynists, good old boys, and, get you to emotionally vote against the very people who are trying to protect your rights.  It is a high stakes card game with you the American people as the chips.  Those playing the game don’t care who gets killed or hurt, in the process.  To them, it is about money and power!  The party in power takes the money from lobbyist and large companies to write laws that help them, not you.

If they cared there would be no sanctuary cities anywhere!

If they cared they would focus on immigration and fix it.  They don’t want it fixed.
This is in fact so transparent even the most dimwitted of voters should be able to see through it.  CNN and their ilk will create propaganda until the story cools down and have it ready again once another loon does something stupid.

“These gun free zones seem like a good idea?”

“Actually I would and will argue that there should not be one gun free zone ever!” If I was a bad guy that is where I would go as it is a soft target.”

Here is the skinny whether you like it or not.

Mental health is the most significant part of this equation.

If I could be involved with the forensics of this case, I would want to know several things.

• What is this kids background
• What was his home life like
• Was he a good student
• Was he social or an introvert
• Did he have friends
• If so who were they
• Did he play violent video games
• Did he give any warnings on social media
• Were there any triggers?
• Did he have a girlfriend?
• Was he on drugs, legal or otherwise?

In short, I would develop a profile of this kid and compare it to the other loons that have shot up places.

Yes, then I would take that data and provide it to school counselors and other mental health professionals who could look for similar profiles or traits among their students.  I realize that this is thinking outside the box of being politically correct but, what we are doing is not working for us, so why not try something new?

I would develop programs where social media of the students was monitored by the school.  It is public, so if that program saved just one life, it would be worth it. These kids are constantly bombarded with crap and in many cases don’t have a father and or mother around to talk with.  The family unit needs help Hollywood…Do you care or is it all about ratings???

We still don’t know why the guy shot up Las Vegas.

Why that case is still in the dark is beyond me.

My heart breaks for these families.  It truly does.  I am also distraught with the Hollywood ilk who want to take your guns away!  Shit, arm the teachers and administration in all the schools.

As far as this kid is concerned, when they are finished extracting any useful information from him, I would have him executed by some other method than putting him to sleep. I would want to make an example of him to copycats. Classify him as a domestic terrorist and send him to Gitmo.  If you think you are going to do this and you don’t get killed in the process, you will not be treated well once you are found guilty!

I know it seems brutal and it is.  Instead of pussyfooting around with brain dead misfits, make it known to them that the consequences will be dire!

To you elite knuckleheads who think that gun laws are the answer, please learn some damned history!  You are wrong, and you are selling the country down the road to hell.  People look up to your pedantic verbiage because you can read a script and emote!  That my thespian friends place the burden of more responsibility on your heads so be careful of what gobbledygook comes from your narrow view of the world as it is.  Not everyone can afford a bulletproof limousine and an armed bodyguard!

While they totally ruin the state of California with their vacuous ideas, I would not put much stock in anything some nighttime comedians or other personalities have to say.  Without good writers, they are probably fairly dull individuals.

The enemy is inside the courtyard and is attacking us with our own ignorance! And boy are we dumb!  Anyone who cannot see the forest for the trees needs to get the hell out of the woods and take a look around.  “Yes, that is a metaphor for you MSNBC CNN zombies.  They are feeding you poison. Russian poison to be factual.

If I seem upset, it is because I am.  This miscreant did have all sorts of warning signs, and they were all overlooked.  He legally bought the gun which he used.  With the warning signs he produced, how the hell is it that when he applied for the gun ownership, something was not triggered?

Speaking of white, when did it become a crime to be white?

And god, when did having faith in god turn into a mental illness? They will say anything for ratings.

I am sorry Hollywood, but you have lost my patronage on anything that you turn out.  I happen to think seeing people in person has much more value than spending money watching what you turn out.

-Best

Churches and Other Soft Targets Why?

Every time I go into a place that is a “gun free zone,” I shudder, as I know that I am now entering a soft target.  The world we live in is not our grandfathers’ world.

Hollywood has been pumping out nightmares on elm street, long enough that they have skewed the thinking of average people.  Video games are incredibly graphic and violent, where killing with some sort of gun or other imaginary weapon is glorified.  These games are simulators for death and destruction. The movies are so graphic that for all we know, some of these kids could have PTSD!

The kid who killed all of those in Sandy Hook was so “efficient,” because he practiced day in and day out with such a “game.” Do you really want to buy that game for your 8-year-old?

Between the two, and the lack of morality that pervades our music industry, or our entertainment industry as a whole, we have the perfect storm.

Many on Twitter are asking WHY?  Blaming guns and gun control and other talking points, pinning the blame squarely on the GOP and the NRA. That is not true and does not help.  It deflects away from the real problems I outline in the previous paragraph.

Look no further than Chicago for all the proof that you need regarding laws and gun control.

The trolls are out there as well pumping out hate on both sides, trying to divide us as a people even further. “Never let good crises go to waste.”  Manipulate the masses with their emotions, strike while the iron is hot, for tomorrow they will forget about it.

It has only been five weeks and we have stopped talking about the 58 killed in Vegas.  We still don’t know the motive and the case seems cold.  There is a total lack of information about this case.

Just possibly they should look at mental health.

Mental health is the issue.  The vitriol between the politicians trying to paint the other in the worst light possible is part of the problems we face. Actors and Actresses who deny any complicity in this depravity calling for the NRA’s head on a platter are not helping.

Simple facts are that logical debate will prompt thinking people to devise solutions.  Emotional rhetoric will prompt some into action.  Actions based on emotions and biases are unpredictable and just about always a bad thing.

The recent advertisement in the Virginia governor’s race depicting the republican as a man in a pickup with a rebel flag running down immigrants, with his pickup is such a hateful, vile, despicable, trashy, indefensible ad, that it boggles my mind.  Who thinks up this shit! Not only are they attacking the Republican candidate, but the entire south!  It is a lie!

You want to see the south, look at those people grieving their losses, that is the south!

“Use fear and terror to manipulate the masses.”  Who in their right mind would vote for such a contemptible man, that would approve that kind of garbage!

This shooter, not unlike the person in Las Vegas, was a disturbed individual.  He had a long history of abusive behavior and yet somehow he got a weapon meant for killing.

While a good guy with a gun prevented him from creating more carnage in that small town, we should ask the question why, or how, did this 26-year-old have such a weapon?

My heart breaks for those people.  It truly does.  We are still reeling from the evil in New York, not to mention the Las Vegas shooter, and now this.  Is this the new norm?

Soft targets need to do what it takes to, not be soft targets.

We can no longer afford the luxury of leaving our houses and cars unlocked.  We cannot afford the luxury of not being armed.  Had those people not checked their guns at the door, I dare say the outcome would have looked different than it did.

This guy hated his X mother in law, who was an attendee at that church.  He probably knew that they would be unarmed. Coward!

Actors and other elites who call out for Gun control have bodyguards who are armed. I discard their arguments, as they are the ultimate hypocrite, who have no dog in this fight.  It matters not to the wealthy what laws are passed, as they will find a way around them.  They live in their ivory towers behind large gates and issue mandates in the way of song, stage, or tweet, of how the little people should conduct themselves.

You are out of touch with the “little people” and have no idea what they go through just to make ends meet.  Obviously, I am not talking about every thespian, just the activist who promote their brand of exclusive snobbery!  “Let them eat cake kind of activist.”

Similarly, it matters not to the criminal element what laws are passed, as they don’t care about laws.

Laws only affect the law-abiding.  Let that sink in.

When there is such an event with bad people and guns, the police rarely are there to stop them. Usually, they show up in time to write up the carnage and start an investigation while the bodies are being removed by the coroner.

This is true in this small town, and in most home invasions.

A good Samaritan put an end to it! A good guy with a gun!

“If you can pass a background check and are not the ruling class of elites, you should probably buy a gun, and learn how to use it.”

Some person on twitter posted that “those who were killed probably voted for 45, and Karma is a bitch!”

This is the mindset of some out there.  I could not believe that someone would write such a thing but by looking at his posts, he truly is a demented person and has a long history of such.  He is also ANTIFA.

Fascist who pretend to be anti-fascist.

Does our MSM have any culpability? I think so.  I think they promote the hate and bigotry that exists in this country and possibly in other countries as they are all acting like petulant children.  Is this the result of generation X in control of some form of power?

I listened to MSNCB for twenty minutes before I heard the word Russia yesterday in the height and fervor of this event. They actually went 20 minutes without talking about Trump and Russia!

The sad part of this is, between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, MSNBC had the best coverage of the events as they were unfolding. I wish the MSM would stop trying to create the news, and just report it!  So here are some question to find the answers to MSM…

• How did he get a gun?
• Were there any warning signs, notes, behaviors etc that someone should have noticed?
• Did this kid play violent video games?
• What happened in his military career, should any of those years have told us anything?
• Did he take mind-altering drugs, prescribed or otherwise?
• Did he suffer from any mental aberration such as depression?
• Who were his friends?
• Who were his Facebook friends?
• Who did he associate with both at work and after hours?
• Was this preventable in any way and if so how?

There are no words that will make things better, ever!

If you see something say something!

If you have a few extra dollars I know they could use it.

https://www.gofundme.com/SSFBC

Much Love -TW

My heart breaks!

 

The evil that exists in this world never ceases to amaze me.  What kind of chicken shit coward goes into a church, and kills 26 people; women, children and old men?  Churches are welcoming places where anyone is welcome.

Many on social media are calling for Gun control.

Define gun control?

Unless you can wave a magic wand and make all 500 million plus firearms vanish, there is no such animal, like gun control.

While a good guy with a gun stopped the bad guy with a gun, those same advocates of gun control would take his gun away from him as well.  With that rather stupid logic, the only people with guns would be the criminals.  Criminals don’t give a damn about laws of any sort, just in case you did not know.

If bump stocks were outlawed, the criminals would still have them.  If machine guns were illegal, the criminals would always have them.  We have rogue nations with nukes pointed at the US!  That is illegal, immoral and probably going to get them all killed!

Me, You, and the rest of us are being manipulated by people who hate the US.

How or why do I say that?

Anytime something happens that evokes an emotional response the evil people go to work spreading hate and discontent.  The memes are all ready to go just waiting for the next crazy person to react to some trigger.

If I want to manipulate you I just “trigger” your emotions.  Then I pour gasoline on the fire by using expletives and calling you names.  I may have several twitter accounts, picking a fight with myself that others see, and think it is between several people.   Those others chime in and before I know it I have tens of thousands fighting a Twitter war that I am having with myself!

Dividing us, pitting us against one another through social media is what they do best.  Some of them are just robots spreading hate word salad.  Some are trolls of a foreign government. Some are just really misinformed or radicalized miscreants hiding in their mother’s basement, using her internet feeling all big and powerful in their anonymity.

• The NRA had nothing to do with this, nice try.
• The GOP or the DNC had nothing to do with this.

Many out there are using the F-word calling anyone that is not a gun control fanatic a Nazi.

Your vile rhetoric is lost, as is your argument.  You are probably one of the trolls of which I speak.

Since the guy is dead, we may not understand why he did what he did.

There are early reports that he was discharged dishonorably from the air force. If that fact disqualifies him from owning guns, then we need to find out why he had one.

I will cede one point with the gun control crowd.

I believe that if you choose to own a weapon, you should be required to submit to a background check by the FBI. I don’t know what the laws are currently, but I think you just have to full out a form and answer all the questions correctly.

The hate in this country is reaching new levels, and I genuinely believe that social media plays a large part.

Just possibly we should shut it all off!  Zuckerberg and the other Twitter moguls would lose money, but just maybe we might talk with our neighbors again instead of tweeting to the world en masse!

This is so far past anything that I have ever seen before.  Maybe they do need to legalize pot so everyone could just take a few hits and chill!

We are all the same, we all bleed red, and there is no excuse for the vitriol we see today.

A town of 400 people will be devastated perhaps from now on.  We need to learn the root cause analysis, or genesis of this persons anger, and try to unravel the events which brought him into this town with the large cache of weapons that he had.  I do not believe this was his only target.  It is just possible that the church down the road was his next target.

Our words carry weight, and they matter.

Much Love -TW

 

 

“Screwed” Food for thought

 

 

In as many weeks, I have had two sheet metal screws extracted from my tires.  This time I had the windows down when it happened.  You ask, what does that have anything to do with it?

 

When you drive in an alley, the sounds emanating from your car bounce nicely off the fences on either side.  This is a great diagnostic tool if your vehicle is making any noises that it should not make.  At slow speeds with your windows down, you can hear not only squeaks and other sounds that you may never otherwise hear but also if your tires have picked up a rock in the tread, or, in this case, a screw you might hear it tapping away on the pavement.

 

Halfway down the alley headed toward my house I hear this “tap…. Tap…. tap, that should not be there.

 

Much like taps on one’s shoes, a screw or other hard substance that does not belong embedded in your tires possibly will alert you to its presence…

 

Why?  Why do I waste your valuable time telling you about screws in tires?

 

Firstly, try it.  When you are about to enter your alley or leave your home as most of us do, roll your windows down.  Yes, the allergens are there, and this is still Texas in the Summer. It is hot but, if something is going on with your tires, or maybe your brakes, you might hear that metallic scraping sound of the “feeler” telling you that you need new brake pads. If you have something in one or more of your tires, you might hear that too.  You could possibly hear that incessant squeak of your CV joint or U joint that is ready to leave you stranded someplace.

Ideally, your car should not be making any sounds when not in motion other than that of the engine.  On the move, there should be minimal sounds too.  Any metallic squeaking or tapping is an indicator of something that might need attention.

Like the insurance commercial with the stranded kids holding a crowbar asking if this is a lug wrench, it is a sorry feeling to have a flat in the middle of nowhere.  Even with Cell phones, you are still stuck!

I hesitate to ask how many of us these days would even know how to change a tire or where to place the jack or possibly where the lug nut key is or how to use it.  Are your kids driving?  Have you had them change a tire? Can you safely change a tire?  Does your spare tire have air in it?  Do you know where the spare tire is? Don’t laugh; many cannot or do not know.

We have become too dependent on “services” to rescue us.  Services which cost money and leave you at the mercy of said service.

Removing a screw in your tires immediately might save you a tire as in my case, one of these was too near the edge of the tire to be safely repaired, they would not have fixed it. Had the screw violated enough of the tire’s tread, it would have been $250 plus, shot to hell for a 5 cent screw carelessly discarded or lost which will mess with your attitude as well as your wallet.  Removing it before it hammered itself into the tire saved me that money, as well as the aggravation and lost time.

If you remove a screw and hear a hissing sound, you’re screwed.  Mark where it is before you remove it.  Listen for escaping air, if none then apply soapy water to the area and watch for bubbles.  If none appear, you are ready to go, if bubbles appear you will need the services of an NTB or Discount or one of those other tire places.

A can of fix a flat might get you to the next tire place but do not rely on that stuff.  Like any tool in your arsenal, it is a tool that might get you off the side of the road.

If on the other hand, that little light on your dash appears days later, then at least you know where to tell the technician to look for the leak.

What else might we do?

 

These types of screws are prevalently used by air conditioner type people, but any handy man might use them for something including the use of plumbers tape.

If you look at the picture, you will notice that the end of the screw is very sharp and indeed made to pierce sheet metal and make its own pilot hole.  That is why these types of screws are very good at flattening tires.

If you are having any home repair, of any kind, as a courtesy to your neighbors and as a favor to yourself, you might want to inspect the area where the person was working and, where they were parked.

A quick peek inside their trucks, you will most probably reveal something that looks a child’s closet with an unkempt pile of stuff, including boxes of spilled screws on the floor.  I once had a man show up in a truck to give me a roof repair quote where a half bottle of Gin “the large size” rolled out and hit the ground.  While the gin is another story, the roofing nails and other screws could not only ruin your day but your neighbors as well.

 

No, not upset or angry and this is certainly not a rant. 

 

I walked the alley this morning picking up yet another screw, pointing straight up, while looking for anything that might ruin someone else’s day.  This is a habit with me at gas stations, parking lots, frankly where ever I am walking. If I see something that might mess up someone’s tire, or perhaps their foot,  I pick it up and trash it.

On a recent trip, I stopped at a gas station in Raton.  This was the least expensive gas station in New Mexico, (per gas buddy) so it was busy.  In front of me were some border patrol agents getting ice and other supplies as well as gas.  Opening the rear side door to put the ice into a cooler, all sorts of “stuff” came crashing out of the vehicle onto the ground.  I pulled out of that lane and moved into another beside them.  I offered them a hand as they were scooping up the rest of their stuff.  My assistance was declined, and I went about getting my gas.

After they left, I noticed the sun glinting off of something still on the ground.  Walking over there while simultaneously stopping another customer from pulling into their spot were several live rounds of 38 S ammunition.  Can driving on top of live ammo set it off?  Probably not but, do you want to be standing next to it when several tons of pickup truck drive over it!  I picked it up and then tried to garner the agent’s attention before they pulled out onto the highway headed south.  No such luck.  If federal agents can be that lackadaisical about leaving live ammo on the ground for anyone to find or drive on top of, what does that tell us about the fastidiousness of two men and a truck handymen or air conditioner repair people?

About services.

I had my oil changed at one of those places not far from here.  They offer a free brake inspection and tire rotation.  Well, of course, their goal is to replace your brakes, but mine were not needing replacing.  Using my lug nut key to remove and replace my tires they neglected to return it.  Of course, I did not think to check for it, so weeks went by without it in my car.

Offering a friend a lift to Grand Prairie in the middle of the Texas Summer, I managed to pick up a large bolt in one of my tires on the return trip.  Broken down in the midst of summer on the side of the road is no place to be.   I jacked up my car.  Sweat is now pouring off me without as much as a bottle of water in the car. I then went to get the spare tire out. Making sure it was inflated now all I had to do is remove a half dozen lug nuts swap the tire and get to the tire store to get it fixed.

“No lug nut key!”

After tearing the car apart looking for it, I could only conclude that the bozo that worked on my car last did not replace it.

Calling the place that rotated my tires, the technician admitted that he had a “few” in his toolbox and one of them “might” work!

That is like saying I have a few keys on my key ring and one of them might open up your car.  Those are not generic they are keys just like the key that goes into your car or home.  Either it was made to fit my locking lug nut, or it was not.

Translated, he knew he had it among others and was rather crappy about calling and admitting his screw up.  They, of course, had no way to send it to me or get it to me on the side of the road, so I now needed “the service” which I paid for monthly.

Calling the service, they could not find a record of my account.  I ask them just to send out a wrecker, and we could deal with it later.  “Nope if you are not a customer we cannot help you! Click”

I was indeed a customer with “WAS” being the operative word but, the side of the road is no place to litigate with idiots.  Calling 411 getting a number to a wrecker service, finally, I had one on the way.  Five hours later a wrecker shows up.  Did I mention it was over 100 degrees and I was on the side of the road now for over 8 hours without food or drink!

 

What can we learn from this little story?  “A true nightmare endured by yours truly.”

When someone works on your car, always make sure that they replace the tire key.  Without it, you are screwed.  Carry water in your vehicle as even hot or warm water is better than no water.  Don’t depend on any service, as it is only as good as their employees, who as you can tell were not shining examples of intelligence.

 

Things that I should have considered are phoning a friend.  With all of the friends that I have, I did not want to burden them with my problems.  Had I any idea that a wrecker driver would take over five hours to show up, picking me up after six p.m. on a Friday night off the side of a busy freeway, I might have just left the car there, and phoned that friend.  I might have gone and picked up that lug nut key in person, which probably would have ended badly.  One should never deal with idiots when one is “upset.” Things tend to work out as they should and just possibly this is one of them.

As I conclude this series of short skirmishes with vehicular mishaps, I might also add that one should never ever under any circumstance argue with a cop when they are being pulled over.  “Yes sir, thank you sir, my hands are in plain sight sir,  I am not moving sir until you tell me!” All of this is with lights on inside the car.  The side of the road is no place to litigate your case with a cop.  Are they idiots?  Who knows.  Probably not but, what they are is anxious.  Their adrenaline is pumping when they turn on the lights.  They know who the car belongs to before they approach your window.  What they don’t know is who you are.

Once they have your information then they know something about you as in “no wants or warrants.”  At this point they are probably a little less tense as they know that you just messed up, and will take their ticket, maybe grumble a bit, and go about your business, and allow them to hunt for their next prey.

Now let’s say that you are not a model citizen.  You have been in trouble before.. You my friend need to even be more purposeful in complying with him or her and not giving them any reason to put their hand on that gun.  Again, yes sir or ma’am, with hands in plain sight not moving unless instructed to do so.  The side of the road is where more bad things happen! You do not want to be the reason an officer is on administrative leave.

Yes, I said prey.  Let’s face it, these people have tools that resemble ray guns from some Sci-Fi movie shooting invisible laser beams while hiding behind some bush or in some darkened bridge shadow while hunting their next victim.  If they cannot tell by visible looking, that you are driving recklessly and indeed need sophisticated technology to see that you are going a few miles an hour faster than the posted speed, that is just crap.  

Before they changed their radio technology to a scrambled or encrypted form of communication I would listen to them.  Young men and women bored I suspect made games out of “hunting” for their next victim.  It is kind of an adrenaline charged game to some of them.  These are people’s lives and a game it should not be.  

I get why some are upset with cops.  Some cops need to find another vocation.  They are there to protect and to serve, and anything else is not part of the job description.  It is a job like any other job however; at the end of their shift they deserve to go home and live life like anyone else.  Full disclosure, I have many friends who are cops or are first responders.

 

Have a great rest of the day.