Comcast has GREAT service.

When, that is, it works.

Trying to get to anyone with a clue to fix the broken system, however, is well nigh impossible.

They don't even post a contact number on their website.

When you finally do get to talk to a human (it takes greater than 40 minutes to speak to the FIRST level person) they are only slightly better at trying to fix things than my cats....

When (if) you can convince them to connect you to someone who has any actual abilities besides reading from a troubleshooting script tree and have waited the requisite amount of time, you may or may not get a technician dispatched to your home in 3 or more days.

Then, he or she may not actually know what to do....if they show up at the time chosen by the company to actually fix things.
All of which does NOT make for much in the way of customer satisfaction.

It does seem, however, that the neighbor was having issues....and in fixing their issue, the technician decided that the issue was MY modem in MY home (which, apparently was correct) ....rather than choose to knock on my door and fix the issue, he disconnected me at the pole. No notice....couldn't even bother to tell me.

and it took 3 days for them to dispatch a tech to replace the modem (their equipment) and reconnect me to their network. The tech who was at the neighbors house could have fixed the issue and solved the problem simply by knocking on my door.

Instead it took me 40 minutes on hold, then another 30 to get transferred to someone with more than the IQ of an overripe tomato who could actually troubleshoot the issue...and dispatch someone (in 3 days) to fix things.

And the actual fix took less than 20 minutes. 

We should start a pool:

so in the approximately 80 hours from Friday night to Monday evening, we should place bets as to how many folks are shot in the greater South side of the Chicago area.

I'll place my dime on 48 shot, 3 killed and at least 3 drive-by incidents.

Place your bets in the comments below. 

Why I always carry

I was asked why I always carry....even in areas where the likelihood of "needing" a firearm is low (I try NOT to go places where I will "NEED" a firearm, but that is besides the point)...... Anywhere I can legally carry a firearm, I do. 

"Legally" is defined as anywhere where possessing a firearm will not get me tossed in jail.
Here in Indiana, outside of Federal or State or County or town government offices, Police Stations and Post Offices and schools, in nearly any other public place, if I carry a firearm where it is posted "no weapons" or "No Firearms" or "no Guns", at worst I can be asked to leave. Failure to leave if asked is Trespassing and (generally) Disturbing the Peace, but are not Felonies. So I carry wherever my possessing a firearm won't get me jailed.

Anyway, Here is the real reason I carry:

The average response time, nationwide, to an "active shooter" (remember, this is AVERAGE, Some will be MUCH longer, and "response time" means the time it takes from dispatch over the radio, not from the time someone calls 9-11, so add at least two minutes to that time.... until the cop reports "at the scene"... not the time it takes the cop (or cops) to actually DO something...decide what to do, enter the building, figure out what is going on, who is doing some shooting, make a decision as to what their response should be and actually react......) is 3 minutes...add in all the rest of the time and we are talking more than 5 minutes from the time someone responds....If they do actually, you know, respond, and not hunker down outside like the Parkland "First Responders" did in Florida...(Can anyone say "Coward of Broward")


Start the timer. Count how many shots, or how many people could be slashed or stabbed in these 3 minutes. Or how many punches and kicks can be thrown in those same three minutes.... then figure another 3 to actually make the threat stop.

What if it were you...Or your loved one. Your kid, your parents, your friend? How about just plain bystanders....

3 minutes. Run this video twice to make sure you understand how long that is.



That is a LONG time, innit?

Gotta figure it is gonna take at LEAST those 3 minutes for the threat to be stopped. Probably at least twice that...maybe as much as 4 times. IF the cops react well, and quickly.
That's why I carry. To stop a threat that I won't know is there unless (and until) it happens. So I won't have to wait that terribly long time...watch someone bleed or moan or even begin to die during that time. Someone to be beaten to death (or nearly so) by a group of young toughs.

I hope I never need my firearm. I hope I can use it effectively if chance should bring me to a place and time where I need to.
But I hope that I can stop a threat so that I don't have to wait 3, or 6 or even 12 minutes before I can help those who are damaged or injured by a crazy homicidal person either.

Stopping threats earlier is the best way to prevent people from being killed or injured.

That's why I carry.

Run the video again, just so you understand how long that time really is. Realize that that is the MINIMUM time for someone else to stop the threat. Likely 3 or more times that three minutes.

Much truth here:

Found HERE:






Pretty much the truth. Especially the "Bad Personality" bit. But those kinds of girls always need an excuse as to why they fail in life, never have the introspectiveness to examine themselves for causality.


(BTW, didja notice how I gave credit as to where I got the image and meme from? That's how you do it, not just steal it a day later and call it your own. It's called courtesy and honor. You should try it. You know who you are). 

So why the push to put out the fires?

I mean, the fires are actually mostly farmers burning off their fields after harvesting....as tey ahve for many generations.  

Yes, there is some small part of the forest being burned, but that practice has been greatly curtailed over the past few years. In fact, it has nearly been cut by 2/3....

Even the NY Times has pointed this out: "Much of the land that is burning was not old-growth rain forest, but land that had already been cleared of trees and set for agricultural use." 

Odd how that isn't the message that most of the media is putting out. Why aren't they telling the truth?

Why the lies....And what is the purpose of the media campaign?

And I have a simple solution: if they don't want the rain forest burned, then people should buy it....Yep, buy an acre. Make it into a park, or a preserve, or whatever. BUT don't tell other people what to do with land that is not yours. Pay them for the land, then You, as the owner, can determine what happens to the land.

Until then, shut the hell up

AAANND here a good point:

Saw this over at The Feral Irishman's blog:


And it is a damned good point,

I mean, that's a pretty big house there...unless you REALLY want to live as far from Michelle as you can and still keep up appearances.

Funny how Barry doesn't live up to his own preaching, innit?  (but few leftists do, really).

Not that Barry gives a shit what any of us think...he's not President anymore, can't run again, and he's  done sold his soul during those 8 years and he's reaping his (earthly) rewards in the time he has left. $135 Million....One wonders how much of our money he spent to get those paybacks now that he isn't President any more. 

One wonders:

So Barry and Michelle Obama are buying a mansion on Martha's Vineyard.

Good for them. I'm happy for them.

But one wonders, where did they get the cash to do so? I mean, 15 MILLION dollars is a lot of scratch....like a whole lot. And the utilities alone are gonna be a whole lot of money each month. Plus upkeep, maintenance, taxes, staff, etc.

Where did they get the money for the purchase and where is the income stream coming from for the residual cost per month? It's gotta be another half million dollars a year just to keep the thing going.

Where is that coming from, much less the 15 MILLION clams it took to make the purchase?
(According to the experts, Barry and Michelle are worth over $130 Million....all from "Book Deals and Speaking Engagements". In 3 years they have earned 130 MILLION bucks. Good work when you can get it, I guess.) 


ETA: One wonders why Barry would be buying beachfront land ON AN ISLAND....since he told us if we didn't spend all that government (taxpayer) money on Solar Cells and other Green Initiatives pout forth by his cronies the icecaps were gonna melt in a few years and flood all the seafronts and Raise the Sea Level by tens of feet or more......Wouldn't that put his mansion underwater?

Or was that where he got some of his money? From grateful beneficiaries of his policies? Perhaps they are the ones paying him the Big Bucks for the "Speaking Engagements" ?

I would think that if he believed his story about melting the icecaps he would have bought land in the mountains....

Or, perhaps, he was just lying when he said all that about Global Warming Climate Change....

Why you should NEVER allow the Feds to disarm you:

27 years ago, the siege that became known as "Ruby Ridge" began.

Federal Marshals, out of control and acting on flawed information from the ATF (go figure), killed Sammy Weaver and laid siege to the home of Randy Weaver and his family until the FBI became involved.

During the resulting siege, a sniper from the Hostage Rescue Team "accidentally" killed Vicki Weaver while she was holding their infant son. The son was not harmed. The shot was against the Rules of Engagement, but Lon Horiuchi, the sniper, was acquitted in Federal court....He should have been convicted of Murder.
No one, not a single agent, was fired for the debacle. No one was convicted of murder either. No one lost their pension, and several were promoted.
The Agents of the State were held blameless for their actions. Repeat: No one was in any way censured for the whole debacle,

Armed citizens are the only barrier to the State and it's minions choosing to do the same thing to the rest of us should we become the target of their choice.

Never give up your defense. Ever.

And despite the Taxpayers paying a large settlement to the Weaver family members for the actions of their employees, the fact is that a family lost a mother and a son. I once met Randy Weaver. He was, then, a broken man. No one can fix the damage done to him. And yet the Agents of the FBI, the US Marshals Service, and the F-Troop ATF agents all skated on their crimes. No one was called to account for this debacle.

I sincerely hope this never happens again. But without the means to see that it doesn't, to defend against out-of-control Law Enforcement, it will happen, sooner or later.
Never give up your means of defense, your means to at least fight back.

Armed men are Citizens, unarmed men are Serfs. Choose which you will be.

I guess Wayne need a new wardrobe

Seems that Wayne needs more money.

He told me so in a Email that he sent me from the NRA.

It had a "Personal" video from him telling me all about how, with my help, the NRA can "continue the Fight"  and without me (and my money) they might fail.

Fuck That.

Not a DIME until Wayne La Pierre is gone from the NRA.

But do it for the "Environment" !

I do love it when an urban apartment dweller tells me that because I don't sort my trash for recycling  I am a terrible person who is destroying the environment and causing global warming climate change.

This from a person who drives (when there are public transportation options available...IE trains) over 50 miles every day (each way) to get to work, who lives in an apartment and cares for zero greenspace.

He seems to feel that sorting trash for (energy wasting) recycling efforts somehow offsets several acres of greenspace (which I own and maintain as habitat) with significant tree and other vegetation growth, that is close to where I need to be...my average daily (or less) round trip is less than 25 miles.

But hey, Greenie "Holier than thou" or something.

I offered to bring him my (average) 5 cubic foot of sortable trash each week in order that he could sort it..... I mean, "If you really think it is that big of a deal, and will make all that much difference, I can toss a bag or two into the back of my pickup and deliver it to you every couple of days.... it isn't out of my way or anything"... He declined.

I LOVE exposing liberal hypocrisy.

And, as has been pointed out, even though it often makes no sense energy wise or monetarily (which equates to energy, really) recycling is (often) a religious expiation. 

After 22 hours

The 16 year old girl was found.....in Arkansas.

So she was well beyond the scope of the local-to-home Amber Alert at the time the Alert was sent. 

Apparently unharmed, she is on her way home.

And thousands of disgruntled people have now turned off their Amber Alert function on their phone so they aren't awoken at 5:50 AM on a Sunday next time.....

I think I'm gonna give it a bit more time. Perhaps the cops will get their heads out of their asses. I doubt it, but "hope springs eternal". 

No one yet knows if this is a case of "Running away with her boyfriend" or an actual abduction either. Either way, it was a 16 year old "Princess" and a 22 year old man, so....

Kinda missing the concept:

So at 5:33 AM  today I get an "Amber Alert" on my phone.

OK, I get that. Be on the lookout for XXX vehicle with plate number ABCxxyy. Timely info could lead to a quick resolution of the issue....

Then later this morning, I find out that this is for a 17 year old girl who "may" have been abducted 18 hours before from an area about 15 miles from my home.

Firstly, this isn't what the "Amber Alert" system is for....it is supposed to be used for more timely stuff like child abductions that have JUST HAPPENED, not for something that happened 18 hours earlier.
Second, waking people up early on a Sunday for stuff that happened 18 hours before is likely to cause them to turn the Amber Alert feature "OFF". Had this been put out at 3 in the afternoon for something that may have happened at noon or 1 pm, it might have made sense. Finding someone who MAY have been abducted and putting an alert out for the abductors vehicle makes sense. Putting the Amber Alert out at 5:30 in the morning is obviously not a great response time nor is it likely to result in finding the abductor 18 hours after he has fled.
I'd bet that nearly everyone that got the alert simply turned it off and went back to sleep. I was already awake, but it even irritated me at the timing. A part of me thought about turning the feature off since the authorities obviously can't use common sense, but I didn't, as the next one might be an alert where I could actually help....

One wonders about the intelligence and cognitive skills of the people in Law Enforcement who make these decisions. (Not meant to be a slam on cops in general, just SOME of their folks who do boneheaded stuff like the above)....If the dude has left the area, then there is no reason to be waking anyone up because he is long gone....18 hours worth of gone. If he's holed up close by, I doubt he's moving at 5:30 AM. Shoulda put the Amber Alert out within the hour of the abduction

Absolutely.....of course

Epstien's death was a suicide.

And Oswald acted alone.
Jack Ruby acted in the best interest of Jackie.

Vince Foster was a suicide.

Bigfoot lives with the Loch Ness Monster.

Am I missing any?

(for those of you too young to know what the other references are, use Google)

Meeting night at the range

Once a month we have a meeting at the range to discuss range business and improvements, induct new members and decide if we are gonna spend any of the dues money on projects and schedule work parties to fix or improve things.

Some meetings are boring, some are more entertaining, some are slow paced, some are quick. Usually cordial, once in a while one is contentious.

This meeting, one member who wants something done and wants it right away (but expects others to do the work) was asked what he was gonna pay to have it done since HE never volunteered to do any work nor any fundraising. 'Twas a priceless moment.

It would seem that even among (mostly conservative) gun owners there are Liberal type folks who think that they can spend the work, money and effort of others...and feel that their needs and wants should be paid for with the effort of others.

Odd, that

Seems that a bunch of Americans were hired recently after applying to the positions "vacated"  by all those illegals arrested in Mississippi at the Koch poultry plant last week.

Funny. I was told that those illegals only "do the jobs that Americans won't do" and don't compete with US Citizens for jobs.

Apparently that isn't true.

Aaaand, there ya go

Seems that the guards assigned to Epstein were "Sleeping" at the time of his untimely death. Both of them. Both guards. At the same time.

Oddly, they also "falsified reports" as to when and how they did their inspections (if any).

Funny how that happened, innit? And funny how his roommate "posted Bail" the day before, leaving him alone in the room....

Next, I expect to hear that the video cameras (if any) were "temporarily non functional" or "under repair".

Either way, a major and important witness is dead. Conveniently. Too conveniently for me to believe it is just incompetence.

One can expect that those guards will shortly be killed in a rouge alligator attack on the streets of greater New York. (the smartest thing they could do is promise to talk in return for protection....and hope that those protectors could not be bought...Either way, I wouldn't place any bets on their long term survival). 

Incompetence?

I am informed that Epstein was not in the custody of the New York Penal System, but rather in Federal custody.

And that he wasn't on "Suicide Watch".

Again: Why no Suicide Watch? Why no monitoring?

And who ordered that the precautions be lifted?

Someone, at best, screwed up. At worst, they helped silence a potential witness...one that could embarrass or ruin many highly placed men (and, if rumors are true, women). I find it hard to believe that this was simply someone making a mistake in judgement. Not with such a high profile client. This wasn't random nor do I believe it was simple incompetence.

Who will be fired? Who will lose their position and pension?

The big question is which prison employee will die in a terrible car accident or under strange circumstances in the next few months?

Someone, somewhere, has the answers. If they are not silenced, then will they talk to try and save their own lives?

I used the term "Arkancide" earlier. However, if half the rumors about Epstein are based in even a semblance of  fact, then there are MANY people besides the Little Rock power couple that had an interest in Epstein's silence.

If nothing else, those officials in charge should be fired and punished for their incompetence, and investigated (especially financially) for involvement.....

Agreed:

Non Breaking News of interest:

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (I thought he was in a Manhattan Jail???) Jeffrey Epstein was NOT on suicide watch....He had been taken off only just the week prior....

If not on suicide watch, why not? He had attempted suicide only weeks before.

One wonders if suddenly, in the very near future, some New York jail officials will suddenly become oxygen starved, or fall from tall buildings, or have terrible manhole accidents, etc.


You know what I mean. Gotta trim those loose ends.

Watch for it. 

The sad part is that it might be true:

THIS

And even sadder is that they are likely gonna get away with it.
(I especially like the third one)

To be fair, there are a LOT of folks (allegedly) as likely to have benefited from Epsteins's inability to testify. Some of them as powerful (and even MORE wealthy) than the Clintons. Lots of folks here is the States and (reportedly) even more abroad.

ETA: as stated in comments on SCC: "Dead Pedophiles (and panderers) tell no tales".