This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Ex-PH2

  • Friday Feel Good Stories

    From Wilted Willy:

    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-port-orange-volusia-shooting-stalking-20181101-story.html

    An armed 32-year-old Port Orange man was shot at by law enforcement Wednesday night at a 7-Eleven and died of a gunshot wound to the head, Volusia County sheriff’s deputies said in a Facebook post this morning.

    The man, John Wurms, was taken by helicopter to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said he had pointed the gun at police when he was shot.

    The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

    “The good thing, thank God, is, number one, our victim in this case….is alive,” he said.

    Chitwood said Wurms had committed several crimes since July and appeared to have “come off the rails.”

    Wurms was sought by Port Orange police after he reportedly threatened the woman, identified as the victim in a pending aggravated stalking case for which the man had been charged, deputies said in their overnight social media post.

    From AW1Ed:

    A trucker was uninjured Tuesday morning after defending himself against an attacker at a gas station in Florida.

    http://livetrucking.com/armed-trucker-able-to-defend-himself-against-gas-station-attacker/

    Police say the trucker was outside of a 7-eleven when a man suddenly attacked him.

    The incident happened at around 2:15 a.m. in Northeast Miami-Dade, Florida.

    Miami-Dade Police say that the trucker was standing outside his rig speaking to someone at a 7-eleven at 1000 Northeast 215th Street when a man suddenly came up and attacked him. Luckily, the truck driver was armed and was able to pull out his gun, opening fire on the assailant, who promptly fled to the 7-eleven building to find help.

    Excuse me, the assailant needed help? Glad the trucker’s okay.

    Next on our menu:

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20181031/da-quinn-cab-driver-acted-in-self-defense-in-fatal-shooting

    FALL RIVER — Bristol County DA Thomas M. Quinn III said his office has determined that a cab driver acted in self-defense when he shot and killed one of two men trying to rob him during a botched Aug. 10 holdup in New Bedford.

    “After a thorough investigation, it is clear that the cab driver acted in lawful self-defense and the use of deadly force was justified under the circumstances,” Quinn said in a statement released to the media Wednesday at the Superior Court arraignment of 23-year-old New Bedford resident Kyle S. Dawson, the surviving robbery suspect.

    The cab driver for the Yellow Cab Co. picked up Dawson and Christopher Dunton, 24, of New Bedford about 1 a.m. in the area of Cottage and Willis streets and drove them to Bentley Street in New Bedford’s near North End, four houses away from Dawson’s home, prosecutors said.

    Dawson asked the cab driver if he had change for a $50 bill and then Dunton placed him in a chokehold, while Dawson held a knife to his side, prosecutors said. The cab driver freed himself and fired three rounds into the cab, killing Dunton, investigators said. Dawson ran out the passenger side and door and was arrested later that day by police.

    “The victim was violently robbed by two men who threatened his life while choking him and putting a knife to his side,” Quinn said in the statement. “Fortunately, he was able to extricate himself and get out of the cab.

    But you’ll be pleased to know that the robbery suspect faces heftier charges.

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20181008/surviving-new-bedford-robbery-suspect-faces-heftier-charge

    Kyle S. Dawson, 23, of 28 Bentley St., Apartment 1, the surviving suspect in the Aug. 10 robbery in New Bedford, will be arraigned Oct. 31 in Fall River Superior Court, according to Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

    A Bristol County Grand Jury indicted Dawson on charges of armed assault with intent to rob, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and involuntary manslaughter, Miliote said.

    The charge of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in state prison, is a new charge brought against Dawson by the grand jurors. Dawson is currently being held without bail at the Bristol County House of Correction, after a dangerousness hearing in New Bedford District Court.

    As if Pittsburgh needed this now.

    https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/11/01/police-medical-examiner-mount-oliver-home/

    MOUNT OLIVER (KDKA) – Allegheny County Homicide Unit Detectives said a suspect is dead after an attempted home invasion in Mount Oliver.

    Lt. Andrew Schurman said the man who resides in the home on Sherman Avenue shot and killed the intruder just after 5 a.m. Thursday.

    Detectives said the intruder had a weapon “similar to an assault rifle” and they think he entered through a second-story window.

    The homeowner, who was taken away for police questioning, said he believed the intruder had a weapon and shot him with his personal handgun.

    No charges have been filed.

    The identity of the deceased has not yet been released since investigators said he did not have any identification on him at his time of death.

    “The homeowner was the one who called 911 and was very cooperative with investigators,” said Lt. Schurman. “The victim, the burglar, the actor, was pronounced dead at the scene.”

     

  • Thursdays are for cooking….

    Sausages – eat your heart out

    Gravy

    12 oz bulk pork sausage

    1/3 cup all-purpose flour

    ½ teaspoon salt

    ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

    3 cups of milk

    Those are Pillsbury’s  measurements.  Me? I figure gravy is not a lost art, despite what some unfed Marines may think.

    You need a fat and starch to make the roux for the gravy, and the roux is fat, which comes from the pig (or the cow)  and starch, which is flour. The amount of fat (butter, bacon grease, sausage pan drippings) depends on which meat you cook first.

    This is supposed to be a cream gravy, so using cornstarch to make a clear au jus gravy is just wrong! You can stretch the gravy with a broth like chicken broth, if necessary,  because milk will burn.

    If you cannot find bulk pork sausage, then buy the patties and crumble them up in to the bulk form. They’re already seasoned in most brands, so pick your favorite brand, unless you have a really cool seasoning of your own.

    You cook the sausage to render the fat, then remove it from the pan. (This is for the benefit of people who buy canned gravy. Poor things!) If there is not enough fat from the sausage, add some bacon grease, about 1 tablespoonful (or a soup spoonful if you’re feeding a crowd), and let it melt.

    Make sure you include all pan scrapings in this, too. That is flavor. You do not throw out flavor. That is blasphemy!!!!

    Next, stir the flour a little at a time, into the fat. It should thicken enough to produce a little under a quarter cup of this roux. Add the milk to it slowly, stirring it constantly, on a low flame. VERY low flame!!!!! Add the seasonings and keep stirring. Use a clean spoon to taste the gravy to see if it needs more seasoning than the recipe calls for. The cracked black pepper that you have to grind yourself adds ginormous flavor to a cream gravy, and if the sausage is already seasoned, you may not want to add any salt. Gravy is always seasoned to taste. And Mrs. Dash has several blends that are salt-free and full of flavor.

    Keeping the flame very, very low, return the cooked sausage (or pork) to the pan and stir it so that it is thoroughly mixed with the gravy.

    I use canned flaky biscuits because it’s quicker than making them from scratch and some of them get buttered and swathed with strawberry jam.

    If you didn’t fix the biscuits ahead of time, turn off the heat under the skillet and cover the gravy mixture, then follow the direction on the can.

    If you did bake the biscuits ahead of time, then put two of them split in half on a plate and add a generous portion of sausage gravy to it. Add some strawberries or apple slices soaked in cider to the menu, on the side, and tuck in.

    And since it’s what Chester used to call “soppy” on Gunsmoke, wear a big napkin.

  • 11/6/18 is only 5 days away

    Yes, I knew those Polish soldiers would get your attention. There’s a reason I posted it. Anyone besides me remember Lech Walesa?

    The Fox News article below is a couple weeks old, but still has validity.

    http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/10/15/jobs-not-mobs-stuart-varney-sharp-contrast-between-gop-dems-midterm-messaging

    Democrats are leaning on divisive rhetoric and encouraging mob rule. Using mob rule to get what you want is not something new. Robespierre used it to his advantage to whip up the mob frenzy that sent Louis XIV  and his ditzy wife Marie Antoinette to the guillotine. Unfortunately , it backfired on him and he was sent to the same fate by the Council that he had started. Mussolini was hung. Hitler blew his own brains out in his bunker. The Gang of Four in China were arrested, tried, and punished. Stalin’s iron grip on the USSR eroded with his death from a stroke. It went belly up in 1989. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge thugs were routed by the Vietnamese Army after several murderous years, and Cambodia had a new government.

    Unfortunately, it is not working well for the Democrats. Brett Kavanaugh did get voted into the bench of the Supreme Court. And Lindsey Graham finally found his feet and gave the Democrats what-for.

    As Stuart Varney indicates in the article, so-called “activism” is more oriented toward mob behavior than anything else, and the Lefterd side of the fence has not displayed any interest in reducing the turmoil.

    “I haven’t seen a single leading Democrat say, ‘Hey, tone this down, stop this mob rule, stop this confrontation,’” Varney said on “Fox & Friends” Monday. – article.

    No, and you won’t. If this is a continuing trend, and not even one of the Democrats is saying ‘this is going too far’, then they are complicit. Period. It is a mistake on their part to think it works to their advantage to condone it by not speaking out against it.

    There are anti-Trump op-ed pieces in the local newsrag all the time, with no acknowledgement at all that the economy has drastically improved since Trump took office. Nothing. They report the incredible financial deficit, as if none of Trump’s predecessors ever incurred debt. They want the “free health care for everyone” but no reference to who will pay for it, as if the cash to pay the bills just magically falls out of the sky. I could go on, but I want to keep this short.

    I’m having some solace in watching this episode of “Pot Boiler Politics”, knowing that the midterms are only a few days away. It is more important than ever that you vote in every election, even if it’s a pain in the neck. The Venezuelan rule about voting is that you are only qualified to buy food if you have a voter ID card. And of course, the Soviet Union had only one party running, with a 99% turnout each time, so qualifying to buy food may have meant “Show your voter ID and ballot ticket”.

    Stay tuned. The midterm vote is next Tuesday. I expect to see some turmoil, shouting, and more angst, even if it rains buckets. And I believe there will be some turmoil, somewhere.

    Buckle your seat belts. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. (Thanks, Bette!)

  • A Follow-up on the Gun Ban That Failed

    This is a follow-up to the news from last summer about the Mayor of Deerfield, IL, a bedroom community near a shopping center, declaring a gun ban and trying to seize guns that belonged to the residents, even thought those people were following the very strict, strictured rules of the Illinois FOID and CCW. A suit was filed against her ban and it was overturned, partly because the mayor’s methods were unreasonable and also because they violated the Illinois state laws on gun ownership.

    https://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/local_news/gun-sanctuaries-spreading-across-illinois/article_50eb5881-4f97-56d0-b3aa-feb45c264c14.html

    Since then, the resolution declaring Effingham County a sanctuary for guns has started a statewide trend of opposition to legislation directed toward firearms. But it remains to be seen if it has any real effect in Springfield.

    So far, 30 Illinois counties have passed “firearms sanctuary” resolutions that oppose bills before the state legislature and declare that the counties will not enforce laws that infringe on the Second Amendment. The resolutions have not been tested by any new laws, but it appears the resolutions would not affect how law enforcement operates. – Article

    The article includes a color-coded map of the counties in Illinois which have voted themselves into gun owner sanctuary status as of July 2018. This is partly because they are good game hunting counties, which represents a certain amount of income.

    The map also shows by color coding which counties are in the process of voting to declare themselves gun sanctuaries, as well as those which are planning to move in that direction. I cannot imagine moving back to Macon County, but the southern and western parts of the state are very attractive. And the further you get from Chicago, the more you see that the state of Illinois is a farm state, not an industrial platform.

    There’s an NRA video about it here:

    https://www.nratv.com/videos/cam-and-company-2018-sanctuary-counties-for-gun-owners-are-a-growing-trend

    The article is dated July 2018. It’s the most recent information I could find on this. It’s the vox populi* part so disliked by politicians who want to stick their noses into everything – they don’t want your opinion, nor do they care what you want, unless it’s voting time.

    *Vox populi = voice of the people

  • Thursday Morning Feel Good Stories

    Here’s a bunch, several provided by AW1Ed:

    https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2018/10/masked-gunman-killed-by-armed-father-in-mcdonalds-shooting-identified-as-birmingham-24-year-old.html?utm_source=reddit.com

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) – A masked gunman, who police say opened fire in a Birmingham McDonald’s and was killed by an armed father, has been identified.

    The Jefferson County Coroner identified the gunman as 24-year-old Antonio Demond Sanders.

    Police say Sanders entered the McDonald’s on Lomb Avenue and opened fire before being fatally shot by an armed customer Saturday night. The customer and one his sons were injured in the shootout, but their injuries are not life-threatening.

    Police say the father is not facing charges at this point, and do not know the victim’s motive for initiating the shooting.

    http://www.nbc-2.com/story/39388541/lehigh-acres-mom-shoots-father-of-her-child-in-selfdefense

    Deputies arrested a Lehigh Acres, FL, man for assault and battery charges.

    Latravin Fain is accused of beating the mother of his child and putting a gun to her head.

    The mother left with her kids looking for help in fear for her life. Deputies said Fain caught up with her and her sister, cutting them off in his car. Fain started walking toward them as the woman stated he should not approach.

    With an eight-month-old baby in the backseat, she shot Fain in the arm with the same gun put to her head.

    Fain ended up driving to Lee County Core Facility after getting shot for help, but then he ran out of Lehigh Regional Medical Center hours later against doctors

    There’s a video at the link, too. And we need the Name Scrabble score on Fain.

    https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/cumberland-county-news/motorcycle-seller-shoots-would-be-thief-during-meeting-at-school-fayetteville-police-say/1562043955

    FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – A man trying to sell his motorcycle fought back and shot a thief who tried to rob him at gunpoint during an incident at a school in Fayetteville Monday night, police say.

    The two men met around 8:10 p.m. at school property in the 200 block of Bonanza Drive, according to a news release from Fayetteville police.

    Police did not say which school was the site of the meeting, but Westover Middle and High schools are located in the same block as the meeting.

    The possible sale of the motorcycle was set up using a “smartphone buy/sell mobile app,” police said.

    The incident happened when the “potential buyer” displayed a handgun and tried to rob the motorcycle owner, police said.

    “The victim then produced his own handgun and shot the handgun at the suspect, ultimately striking the suspect,” the news release said.

    Police said a man later showed up at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with a gunshot wound.

    https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/cumberland-county-news/one-shot-outside-fayetteville-food-lion/1395043037

    FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – Police say one person was shot outside the Food Lion on Rosehill Road in Fayetteville Friday night after a man swung a knife at a man who was with his toddler daughter.

    According to Fayetteville Police, 26-year-old Marquel White was leaving the store carrying his 2-year-old daughter when a man approached him, yelling expletives as White was walking to his car.

    After White put his daughter into the car, the man began swinging what authorities believe was a knife. White then shot the man, hitting him in the abdomen.

    Richard Bradley, 31, was identified by police as the man who was shot. As of Sunday night, Bradley was in stable condition at the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

  • 14th Amendment, Pt. IIa Sec. (B1015zillow)

    GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham announced on Twitter Tuesday morning that he will introduce legislation similar to any executive order President Trump might issue ending birthright citizenship in the United States. He tried to do that in 2010.

    “Finally, a president willing to take on this absurd policy of birthright citizenship,” Graham tweeted Tuesday. “In addition, I plan to introduce legislation along the same lines as the proposed executive order from President Trump.”

    Oh, and now, the Democrats are experts on the Constitution, as noted [below – my bad!]  before.

    On Tuesday morning, Rep. Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican who frequently vocalizes his differences with the president, emphasized that ending birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment.

    “A president cannot amend Constitution or laws via executive order,” Amash tweeted. “Concept of natural-born citizen in 14th Amendment derives from natural-born subjects in Britain. Phrase ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ excludes mainly foreign diplomats, who are not subject to U.S. laws.”

    Apparently, Amash has forgotten that statute on the books that gives American citizenship to people who were born overseas to American parents, e.g., military and diplomat families stationed in France or Japan or the UK.

    So they want to trash the Constitution because of the Electoral College, but they want to keep it, too, because of “citizenship” stuff. Well, you wouldn‘t want to lose all those votes, would you?

    Okay. Whatever.  Pres. Trump certainly does know how to poke the bear when he needs to.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-the-past-republicans-have-suggested-ending-birthright-citizenship-requires-amending-constitution/

    Thanks for reading.

  • The Martians Are Coming! Happy Hallowe’en

    Happy Hallowe’en! If you want to mess with your kids’ heads, put this old radio play on speakers without warning them, but don’t let them see the screen. Speakers only.

    It is Mercury Theater On the Air’s 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds with Orson Wells at the helm of it. No commercials or breaks, no explanations, just actors and sound effects, and much more effective than any of those movies that have been made about this matter.

    There was a disclaimer broadcast at the beginning of this show, but if people tuned in a few minutes late, they’d have missed the disclaimer and became – well, concerned. Some people did leave New Jersey for “safer” places.

    As the Smithsonian article says, some people became upset, called police stations, newspaper offices and radio stations to find out what was going on. But the panics reported in the press were mostly exaggerations, like that’s anything new, right?

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/

    And here it is, in its entire silly glory with Orson Wells in charge. He sold no wine before its time.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0K4ApWl4g

    How would anyone pull off something like that today? Simple: shut down the internet, all of it and wireless telecomm. Shut down all satellite communications, too. One bodacious solar EMP would likely fry cell towers, power stations, and high power lines. Even radio stations might go off the air, if their power source failed and nothing could get out.

    Remember, we have a full generation of people whose entire lives are embedded in electronic junk and if that shuts down, so will their minds. If only there were some way to really blow their minds…. (nefarious laughter follows)

    Alexa is not your friend…. she knows what you’re up to….

    Happy Hallowe’en!!

  • Wednesday AM Feel Good Stories

     

    https://www.mrt.com/news/crime/article/OPD-Officer-involved-in-off-duty-shooting-13345835.php

    An Odessa police officer has been placed on restricted duty following an off-duty officer involved shooting, according to a press release from the Odessa Police Department.

    ttps://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/stephen-willeford-sutherland-springs-mass-murder/

    A year after this shoot ‘em up at a church on his block, the man who stayed home in case he might get a midnight plumbing call at a local hospital, and instead, ended up in a chase down a highway, believes that what happened that day was a battle between good and evil. He says he was terrified, but he thinks the calm he experienced was the Holy Spirit taking over. He tells people he thinks it was the Lord’s hand shielding him as the man doing evil fired over and over again in his direction. And looking back now, he feels like God had been shaping him every day of his life, carving him into the perfect tool for that day.

    There are a couple of good stories about dealing with bobcats here:

    https://sanangelolive.com/news/texas/2018-10-29/woman-shoots-and-kills-bobcat-her-backyard

    KTXS is reporting that Paula Kitchens was alerted to the cat prowling around her backyard by her dog barking. Kitchens six-year-old son plays in her back yard near Loop 322 and Oldham Lane.

    Coyotes and cougars will also stalk and kill your children and pets, if given the chance.

    And this lady killed a rabid bobcat with her bare hands:

    https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2018/06/georgia_woman_kills_rabid_bobc.html

    “They go for your jugular,” the Georgia woman recently told OnlineAthens. “Because when they can get the vein you’re dead in a couple of minutes.”

    That intel on the wildcat’s attack plan may have been what saved Phillips’ life. On June 7, the 46-year-old came face-to-face with a rabid bobcat, setting off a bare-knuckle death struggle between Phillips and the animal. She won – killing the cat with her hands.

    “I thought, ‘Not today,’” she told OnlineAthens. “There was no way I was going to die.”

    Phillips was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for cuts and gashes, as well as broken fingers. She also is undergoing treatment with the rabies vaccine.

    “It was either me or the cat and it was going to be the cat that day,” Phillips told WYFF.