Police Work, Politics and World Affairs, Football and the ongoing search for great Scotch Whiskey!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Baltimore Gets Bloodier...is anyone surprised.

Anyone who has worn a badge, patrolled a beat, worn a Sam Brown saw this a mile away. Cities cut court overtime and the officers stop writing tickets. Now you tell them if they patrol, enforce the law, get out of their cars and work you will be investigated, suspended, terminated or indicted. Well, I think the cops will simply sit in their cars and answer calls for service.

I'm not agreeing with the fact cops are not doing their jobs. But I understand why they are in a self preservation mode. They are looking at loosing everything (career, pension, house, family, freedom) because a thug lied.

Now Baltimore has reaped what is has sewn. Mayor Stephanie, are you proud of yourself? Marilyn J. Mosby, you still "fighting for justice" for Freddie Grey, are you gonna fight for justice for the 38 dead people killed by your city's thugs? I doubt it. No video for that.

Now the city had to dead with this, and this is an interesting take.

Baltimore Gets Bloodier As Arrests Drop Post-Freddie Gray

BALTIMORE (AP) — A 31-year-old woman and a young boy were shot in the head Thursday, becoming Baltimore’s 37th and 38th homicide victims so far this month, the city’s deadliest in 15 years.

The most recent killings claimed the lives of Jennifer Jeffrey and her seven-year-old son, Kester Anthony Browne. They were identified by Jeffrey’s sister, Danielle Wilder....

...Thursday’s deaths continue a grisly and dramatic uptick in murders across Baltimore that has so far claimed the lives of 38 people. Meanwhile, arrests have plunged: Police are booking fewer than half the number of people they pulled off the streets last year....


You can read the rest, but this is interesting.

West Baltimore residents worry they’ve been abandoned by the officers they once accused of harassing them, leaving some neighborhoods like the Wild West without a lawman around.

“Before it was over-policing. Now there’s no police,” said Donnail “Dreads” Lee, 34, who lives in the Gilmor Homes, the public housing complex where Gray, 25, was chased down. “People feel as though they can do things and get away with it. I see people walking with guns almost every single day, because they know the police aren’t pulling them up like they used to.”...

You don't say Dreads.
...The Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 on Thursday posted a statement from President Gene Ryan on social media saying that the police are “under siege.”

“The criminals are taking advantage of the situation in Baltimore since the unrest,” Ryan wrote. “(Police) are more afraid of going to jail for doing their jobs properly than they are of getting shot on duty.”...

...The mayor said her office is “examining” the relationship between the homicide spike and the dwindling arrest rate...

Forgive me mayor but your examination is worthless. But I found this interesting.
...Veronica Edmonds, a 26-year-old mother of seven in the Gilmor Homes, said she wishes the police would return, and focus on violent crime rather than minor drug offenses.

“If they focused more on criminals and left the petty stuff alone, the community would have more respect for police officers,” she said.

Ms Edmonds, how to stop the robber who is driving to hold up a gas station. You stop him for the broken tail light and when you run him you discover he's wanted for a minor offense. Then you discover he's a felon in possession of a firearm and he's booked for the felony. All without him killing someone in the middle of a botched robbery. Get it. Now get this, the mayor and prosecutor don't care about you. They have visions of grandeur in the Democratic party in their eyes. They hope for the Congress or a position in the cabinet and youget to live int he hood with no protection. Welcome to voting for liberals.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

A look at Houston today

As many of you know Houston got drenched today and we had localized flooding. Someone put up a drone and here is the video. It's an awesome view of what Mother Nature can do.

I've always wondered where we get social activist from

Funny, it seems "community organizers" or "social activists" are all minorities. In the case of of this dude he's black, in the case of B Hussein Obama he's half black. But again, let's listen to the activist.
'Maybe We Differ On What True Means': Activist Confronts CNN Host For Assuming Cops Tell The Truth

Social activist Deray McKessan criticized the media over the weekend for the way they had handled a white biker shootout in Texas with "nuance," but black rioters in Baltimore who did not kill anyone were not "humanized" in the same way.

In an interview on Sunday, McKessan explained to CNN host Brian Stelter than he had quit his job as a school administrator after Michael Brown was killed.

"The reason that I quit was that I want to figure out how to use my skills and talent to fight in this space because you just can't kill people," he said. "All the work that I did in education was important, but kids have to be alive to learn."

Really. You mean the "witnesses" who lied through their teeth and made up the big lie of "Hands Up! Don't Shoot!", leading to riots all over the country, millions of dollars of damage and injuries, all based on a complete falsehood. Are you ready to go after Dorian Johnson, the punk who helped Brown rob that store? I think we know the answer. Also, just curious, how are you making more money as a "social activist" than as a school bureaucrat? We all know you're there to make money.
McKessan slammed the media for what he called "a constant pathologizing of black bodies," which gave the impression that "when black people assemble, it's always criminal."

"What you saw in St. Louis, the police were literally attacking protesters, and that wasn't always the narrative that was put out by the mainstream media," he noted. "What you saw in Baltimore sometimes, you saw people sort of focusing on the property damage and not actually people actually focusing on what caused the unrest in the first place."

Pathologizing, a form of the word pathologize, "regard or treat (someone or something) as psychologically abnormal or unhealthy." Hate to tell you but black bodies are normal in Da Hood, it's just it doesn't get much coverage unless a white man (or white-Hispanic man) does the shooting. Need a say more, in Chicago over this three day week, 12 killed, 43 wounded. Or in Baltimore, where the mayor and that other idiot attorney are working to put the cops in jail, 28 people were shot, 9 of them killed. Some of the similarities, all were black, in these cases, unlike Mikey Brown, all the people around there who "didn't see anything" because when it comes to black on black, snitches get stitches. Remember Deray, black lives matter.
"So when I see broadcasts, news articles that present the police narrative as true," McKessan added before being interrupted.

"But it is oftentimes true," Stelter insisted.

"Is it true?" McKessan asked. "I don't know if it was true with Mike Brown. Maybe we differ on what true means."

"You're talking about anecdotes as opposed to statistics," Stelter replied. "Are you saying the majority of statement by police officers in the U.S. are not true, public statements, press releases."

"What I'm saying is that the police are killing people, and they're saying that it's justified in every case in a way that it just isn't," McKessan pointed out. "When I think about Walter Scott, the police gave an account that was untrue. And we would not have known unless there was a video. And there are many other cases..."

No Deray, it's simply if it was true or not. In the case of Brown, the "witnesses" lied through their teeth. The forensic evidence back up what the officer said, that Brown reached for his gun, there was a round fired near Mikey's hand (power residue), Brown's hand were not up because if they were, the entry wounds would be on the bottom of his arms. There were on the top. But I guess this is how the "truth" is subjective to you.

Read the rest if you want to lower your IQ level, but remember, "Black lives Matter"

Officer Down


Corporal Scott R. Thompson
Manchester Township New Jersey Police Department
End of Watch: Friday, April 10, 2015
Age: 47
Tour: 29 years
Badge # 18-352
Cause: Heart attack

Corporal Scott Thompson suffered a fatal heart attack while working out in the police department gym as part of its wellness program.

He was transported to Community Medical Center where he passed away.

Corporal Thompson had served with the Manchester Township Police Department for 17 years. He had previously served with the Seaside Park Police Department, South Toms River Police Department, and Lakehurst Police Department for a combined 12 years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

He was posthumously promoted to the rank of corporal.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Officer Down, Officer Safety, Police, Police Training


Monday, May 25, 2015

Bob Woodward, George Bush, B Hussein Obama and Iraq

I've made this point more than once, ISIS (or ISIL or Islamic State or whatever the hell it's called this week) is because of the lack of leadership of the current idiot in the White House. If you want the difference in the Bush's decision to invade and B Hussein Obama's decision to cut and run, the words of Bob Woodward say it succinctly. From the May 24th edition of Fox News Sunday,
You can make a persuasive argument there was a mistake. But there is a kinda line going on that Bush and the other people lied about this. I spent 18 months looking at how Bush decided to invade Iraq. Lots of mistakes, but it was Bush telling George Tenet the CIA director, don’t let anyone stretch the case on WMD. He was the one who was skeptical. If you try to summarize why we went into Iraq, it was momentum. The war plan kept getting better and easier, and finally at the end, people were saying, ‘Hey, look, it will only take a week or two.’ Early on it looked like it was going to take a year or 18 months, so Bush pulled the trigger. A mistake certainly can be argued, and there is an abundance of evidence. But there was no lie in this that I could find…

… Look, Obama does not like war. But, if you look back on this the argument from military was keep ten-fifteen thousand troops there as an insurance policy. And we all know insurance policies make sense. We have thirty thousand troops or more in South Korea sixty-five years after the war. When you’re a super power you have to buy these insurance policies and he didn’t in this case. I don’t think you can say everything is because of that decision but clearly a factor.

The video:

That's Bob Woodward. All The President's Men. The man who took down Nixon. Not exactly Rush Limbaugh or Matt Drudge. And he's saying Obama screwed it up.
If you want an example of B Hussein's mindset on Iraq, please watch this:

Or this:

Our greatest president had a two minute speech at the site of the greatest battle of the Civil War. In two minutes he said more than most men could say in a book, but as I see the Iraq and Syria disintegrate into chaos, ISIS take hunks of Syria, the Islamic Brotherhood takes Libya and threatens our allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel, I recall theses words:
...It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...

The man-child was handed a stable Iraq and Middle East and by his actions/inactions and incompetence it is now on fire again. And the morons in the Congress seems to want to assist B Hussein in handing Tehran nukes. Gee, that's brilliant.

God Help Us All.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

A Cop's Funeral

On Monday, May 18th, I was awakened by Beth that an officer of the Houston Police Department had fallen in the line of duty. After two suspects stole an ATM (yes, they do that now) the suspects robbed a women of her car and continued the chase. Officer Richard Martin was deploying spike strips when the human waste, Jeffrey Conlin, ran him over. The pursuit continued for an hour when Conlin stopped. Knowing he was a dead man (The express route to Huntsville in Texas is to murder a cop) he shot himself, dying of the injury the next day.
Officer Richard Martin, Houston Police Department
Immediately peace officers from around the area covered their badges with black bands showing Nemo me impune lacessit, No one Treads on Me with Impunity. On Tuesday night, Officer Martin’s son pitched his Little League baseball game with dozens of Houston Police officers sitting in for his dad.

On Friday we held his service in Houston (Officer Martin was buried in Oklahoma today). How his 22 year old daughter got through her comments was beyond me. His 11 year old son stood bravely but had the Houston Police Chaplain Monty Montgomery read his letter to his dad, including these words:

“…I will make good grades and work hard, And when I play in the major leagues, I will think of you. I will follow your steps into law enforcement….”
After the ceremony Chaplain Montgomery directed the assembled officers out and they were formed into groups, including Houston Police, Harris County Sheriff’s Office and military. A horse drawn hearse brought his casket for the final ceremony.
Four Houston Police helicopters flew over, with one pulling off in the classic “Missing Man” formation. A 21 gun salute was fired, Taps was played and the flag presented. His badge number is retired, perhaps to be used by his son at a later date. And then the dispatcher calls Officer Martin for this last time.


We will hold the line from here. Thank you for your service we will never forget your sacrifice . May you rest in peace Officer Martin and may God watch over your family.
Posted by Clayton Graham on Friday, May 22, 2015
And it was over. For us. His family will never get over this. His partners at Houston Police Westside Night Shift will always have a missing man. But it’s not how you’re buried, it’s how you’re remembered. And he will be remembered well.

Rest in Peace Officer Richard Martin…We Got The Watch

Why fair is a four letter word to cops.

Having spent a day or three on the streets, one thing that is essential is concentrating limited force to where it is needed. That is why, when a suspect is acting up, we don’t use one officer or jailer on him, we use several. It’s call intimidation and if needed, overwhelming force.

When handling a protest on the street, we will put several officers on one protestor and then remove them individually. Or in the jail if we have a prisoner who’s being uncooperative we use several jailers to intimidate and if needed, manhandle him.

I’ve come upon a good article from two NYPD supervisors on why we use overwhelming force and why being fair on the street is not a recipe for survival.
"Good guys don’t act first:" Why the culture of ‘fairness’ pits people against cops

Overreaction prompts officers to fire fifty rounds at unarmed suspects — under-reaction leaves officers brutalized or dead

By Daniel Modell, Lieutenant, New York City Police Department, and Russell Jung, Sergeant, New York City Police Department

“Action is faster than reaction” is a fundamental axiom of tactics. Curiously, if you poll police officers about whether they conceive of themselves as actors or reactors, they answer — with little variation — “reactors.”

If the axiom carries any value, that answer is alarming. Tactically, it means that police officers see themselves as — and therefore are — disadvantaged. The issue therefore merits substantive inquiry. Why do police officers tend toward a reactive posture when it is disadvantageous to do so? That inquiry is crucial, particularly at the extremes of the spectrum. Overreaction prompts officers to fire fifty rounds at unarmed suspects — under-reaction leaves officers brutalized or dead. Both are responses to the same fundamental pathology: panic. Panic rests in not knowing what to do.

To a significant degree, then, training is the culprit. To the same degree, training is also the solution. Here, we propose to explore the assumptions, practices and conditions that buttress the tendency toward the reactive posture.

Cinematic Drama

In the movie “Tombstone,” the villain — Johnny Ringo — challenges protagonist Wyatt Earp to a gunfight. Earp is a fine marksman, but not so fast as Ringo.

Knowing this, Doc Holliday — fastest gun in the west — unbeknownst to his friend Wyatt Earp, shows up in Earp’s stead to square off with the villain. As a shadowy figure approaches, assumed to be Wyatt Earp, Johnny Ringo says, “Well, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

The shadowy figure reveals himself dramatically: it is Doc Holliday.

“I’m your huckleberry,” Doc says in a famous line. Verbal jousting follows. They square off to fight. “Say when,” Doc says. By “say when” he means to challenge Johnny Ringo to draw first.

The moment makes for riveting drama. After all, fattening drama is the point.

Tactically, of course, it is madness.

In a real world violent encounter, it is absurd to cede the first move to an adversary knowingly and as a matter of course. Nevertheless, countless movies and television shows, multiplied across decades by an industry whose lifeblood is entertainment, ground the tacit assumption that the good guy never strikes first — indeed, the good guy often prompts the bad guy to strike first.

Real-World Ramifications
The trope shapes a mindset — all the more dangerous because it flits about the subconscious, unexamined and unchallenged. Good guys don’t act first. This unexamined premise frames a reactive posture.

Pre-conscious assumptions about “fairness” in violent encounters, inherited largely from athletic competitions such as boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, reinforce a reactive posture in real world encounters.

“Ultimate Fighting” is often advertised as the closest thing to the “street” possible. In Meditations on Violence, Rory Miller demolishes the preconception that martial arts and real world violence share a mutual connection and applicability.

Competitions are steeped in ritual and rule; the streets in chaos and lawlessness. Competitors warm up before a match. The street affords no such luxury. Competitive fights transpire through fixed limits of time and space (ring, octagon; three minutes, five minutes).

The street abhors limits. Competitors rest between rounds as corner men give advice and work cuts to stop bleeding. Adversaries can only wish for these things in the street as they navigate a mix of adrenalin, chaos and terror.

Referees recite and enforce rules — and stop fights when serious injury seems imminent. The street has no referee.

Competitions are flanked by prohibitions: no rabbit punches, no kidney punches, no sucker punches, no groin strikes, no biting, no eye gouges — that is, all the preferred tactics employed by street predators against their “prey.” The street brooks no prohibitions. Despite the violence, a sense of honor and fair play underwrites these competitions. Dishonor and desperation underwrite the street. Competitions are steeped in ritual and rule; the streets in chaos and lawlessness.

Competitions nevertheless shape a mindset about what the “fight” is supposed to look like: mano-a-mano, skill against skill, size is proportional, and force employed is of a type.

These unexamined assumptions about “fairness” serve to frame criticisms finding expression in questions such as:

“Why were there so many police officers there for just one person?” (The unstated presupposition is: “That’s not fair, many against one!”)

“Why did the police officer use a baton? Even though he was struggling, the person didn’t have a weapon.” (The unstated presupposition is: “That’s not fair, one has a weapon, the other doesn’t!”)

Fairness assumes a defined framework of rules jointly accepted. Real-world violence carries no commonly accepted framework of rules — only the predatory drive to destroy.

To talk of “fairness” in real world encounters by way of unexamined assumptions inherited from a radically different context is a category error — an error that, in practice, often swamps the capacity for meaningful tactical evaluation.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Officer Down


Police Officer Juandre Gilliam
Jeanerette Louisiana Police Department
End of Watch: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Age: 22
Tour: 2 years

Police Officer Juandre Gilliam was killed in a crash during a vehicle pursuit at approximately 10:30 pm.

A vehicle he was attempting to stop for a traffic violation fled, and he pursued it onto St. Peter Street where his vehicle overturned near Route 182. Officer Gilliam was extricated from the vehicle and transported to Iberia General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Both occupants of the vehicle, one adult and one juvenile, were arrested a short time later.

Officer Gilliam had served with the Jeanerette Police Department for two years but had only graduated from the police academy three weeks prior to the crash.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Officer Down


Police Officer Jared Forsyth
Ocala Florida Police Department
End of Watch: Monday, April 6, 2015
Age: 33
Tour: 3 years

Police Officer Jared Forsyth was accidentally shot and killed while participating in firearms training at the Lowell Correctional Institution's firing range on NW Gainesville Road at approximately 3:00 pm.

A firearm was accidentally discharged during the training and the round struck Officer Forsyth in the side of his chest, between the panels of his vest. He was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center where he succumbed to the wound approximately two hours later.

Officer Forsyth had served with the Ocala Police Department for three years.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Officer Down


Police Officer David Lee Colley
Montgomery Alabama Police Department
End of Watch: Saturday, April 4, 2015
Age: 24
Tour: 2 years
Badge # 2499

Police Officer David Colley was killed when his patrol car collided with a tractor trailer at the intersection of Narrow Lane Road and East South Boulevard.

He was responding to a call when the crash occurred at approximately 6:00 am. He was transported to Baptist Medical Center South where he succumbed to his injuries.

Officer Colley had served with the Montgomery Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife and 1-year-old child.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Beth, here is the new toy I want for Christmas! A breeching explosive for my AR-15!

New from Israel. How long before we can get a few! :<
)
That is awesome. You can use it with your AR-15, don't have to switch magazines and allows breech at a safe distance.

Thank you LTC Allen West for the link.

Officer Down


Trooper Trevor Casper
Wisconsin State Patrol
End of Watch: Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Age: 21
Tour: 3 months
Badge # 2605

Trooper Trevor Casper was shot and killed in Fond du Lac while attempting to apprehend a bank robbery and murder suspect at approximately 5:30 pm.

The subject was believed to have robbed a bank in Wausaukee approximately four hours earlier. Approximately one hour after the bank robbery the suspect abandoned the vehicle he was driving, murdered a citizen, and stole a second vehicle in Marinette County.

Trooper Casper located the second vehicle as it was being driven through Fond du Lac and began following it. He was directing other officers to their location when the man pulled into a grocery store parking lot and stopped. The man exchanged shots with the responding officers and Trooper Casper was fatally shot. The subject was also shot and killed by return fire.

Trooper Casper had graduated from the police academy only three months prior to the incident and was on his first shift after being cut loose from field training. He is survived by his parents and two sisters.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 



Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Officer Down


Police Officer Michael Johnson
San Jose California Police Department
End of Watch: Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Age: 38
Tour: 14 years
Badge # 3718

Police Officer Michael Johnson was shot and killed as he and other officers responded to a suicide threat at an apartment in the 2600 block of Senter Road shortly after 6:40 pm.

A friend of the subject in the apartment had called police and stated the man was drunk and was possibly having thoughts of hurting himself. As officers approached the building the man stepped onto the balcony and opened fire without warning, fatally wounding Officer Johnson. Other officers returned fire and provided aid to Officer Johnson.

The subject was found dead on his balcony at approximately 3:30 am after the SWAT team's robot made entry into the apartment.

Officer Johnson had served with the San Jose Police Department for 14 years.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Achmed the Dead Terrorist

Too funny not to post



"Achmed the Dead Terrorist" comes to Israel -- and he's got some issues! A funny bit of comedy by Jeff Dunham
Posted by The Israel Project on Monday, May 11, 2015

Cuban cigars....

I've often listed to David Zeplowitz, aka Cigar Dave on his weekly radio show. Occasionally he covers the mystique of Cuban cigars and he is not impressed with what has become of the formerly great Cuban cigar industry. It's common knowledge when cigars enjoyed a reassurance in the 1990s, Cuba increased production at the cost of quality to make money. Leave it to Fidel to screw up something so good.

A point Cigar Dave's made over the years is many of the excellent producers left Cuba in the early 60s as they could see what was happening. They took the seeds and more importantly, their skill and knowledge, and went all over South America and set up other production. While it doesn't have the Cuban ground they have fertile grounds and experienced producers, putting out excellent cigars.

Are Cubans up to standards of the current Romeo y Julieta or Rocky Patels? Will see in the future. But Mr Detore has an interesting look at the issue.
Are Cuban Cigars Really Better?
By Jonathan Detore

The debate over the Cuban cigars of today rages: are these legendary cigars still exhibiting the same qualities? Or are they not quite like the pre-embargo smokes that made their names so famous? Many argue that the current blends from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua are actually more similar in taste to pre-embargo Cubans – or better.

The North American socio-economic world was flipped on its head in December 2014 when President Barack Obama signed an executive order to initiate what is being dubbed, “the Cuban Thaw.” In simple terms, the policies set in place against Cuba during the Cold War by the United States are slowly being withdrawn in order to warm relations between our nations. While this is perhaps the greatest achievement in World legislative word play history, it also happens to be a historic moment in normalizing trade relations – with (hopefully) increased economic and social benefits for both the United States and Cuba. We in the cigar industry however, must put the future of U.S.-Cuban trade relations under the microscope for a closer look to help answer two important questions these policies will pose when Cuban cigars are legalized in the United States. Simply asked, are Cuban cigars really better? Or, are they at least up to snuff in terms of quality to consider importing them? And if so, what will be the impact upon the rest of the industry as a whole if we do import them?

Quality: Is It There?

The last time Cuban cigars were legally accessible, the brands and factories were independently owned by cigar gurus using Cuban tobacco; their works were regarded as the best cigars the world will ever know. This old reputation is no doubt one of the factors as to why we perceive Cubans to be so great today. But these masters have since left Cuba after the Revolution and ensuing Embargo; they continued their life’s work using new tobacco types, along with mastering multi-nation blending, while Cuba was left to rebuild their empire. This left U.S. smokers to experience the evolution of the non-Cuban cigar industry, which continues to prove to be astounding – while remaining somewhat in the dark about what Cuba presently has to offer. This is especially true considering an estimated 98% of all Cubans on the U.S. black market are fakes.

Luckily, we have it on good authority that present day Cuba is turning out some legit product after the relatively dark period of losing their top blenders in the 1960s. For legal reasons, we can’t mention the name of one devilishly handsome, literary superstar and cigar insider – regardless of the fact that he looks strikingly like me – but having smoked a good deal of legitimate Cubans in London, he can attest to the fact that Cuba is certainly a powerhouse once again. The only caveat is that he smoked these cigars in London, the only recipient of English Market Selection tobacco in the world. In other words, the UK gets the best tobaccos made by the best rollers in Cuba while the rest of the world markets get whatever remains, whether it be of the same quality or lower. So at the end of the day, we’re immersed in the non-Cuban side of an industry that produces a majority of the best cigars in the world, all while we’re facing a Cuban industry that may not export their best quality cigars to the States.

Quality: Production

This English Market Selection dilemma will undoubtedly reach epidemic status once Cubans are legalized in the States. The U.S. is the largest consumer of cigars in the world, and with Cubans projected to take over 25% or more of the U.S. market once the embargo is lifted, demand for Cuban cigars will practically double literally overnight. With a production model that only uses Cuban tobacco and limited real estate to grow said tobacco, this model of rolling Cuban puros is doomed to stretch resources extremely thin to the point where they will likely sacrifice quality across the board, including EMS cigars, to meet demand. Queen and country won’t be too happy about this, but lifting the embargo to create this mess is just another way America can be a thorn in the side of the English.

I have to disagree here, the belief that Cuba will take 25% of the American cigar market overnight. Cubans are more expensive than non-Cuban cigars and have to prove themselves again. After the initial novelty of smoking a Cuban wears off, consumers will ask "Is this twenty dollar Cuban stick as good as my six dollar Montecristo?" If the answer is no, the novelty will wear off quick.
However, two other scenarios can play out to save the reputation of Cuban cigars without sacrificing a drop in quality: First, Cuba can limit the number of the cigars they roll. It’s a risky move because they would miss out on fistfuls of money coming their way, but it would preserve the reputation of all of their brands. However, to combat a loss of sales, Cuba would likely jack up the price per box, making Cuban cigars insanely expensive due to the high worldwide demand. The other route they can take is to work with non-Cuban brands to produce multi-nation blends to expand their portfolio. By doing this, Cuba can focus on rolling their most popular Cuban puros using the highest quality tobacco they can harvest, while using the rest to create new and enticing blends.

The Legalities

There are plenty of Cuban and non-Cuban brands that share the same name which will no doubt cause massive legal trouble in the near future. The best example is that of the two Cohibas. First rolled for Fidel Castro in 1962, Cohiba is the crème de la crème in terms of Cuban cigars. In the 1980s, Cohiba Red Dot was released, well past the enactment of the embargo in 1961. For decades now, Cuba has all but rented a room out in U.S. courts to strip the Dominican Republic factory’s owners from using the Cohiba name. Since the U.S. does not recognize Cuban brands or their trademarks because of the Embargo, Dominican Cohibas have been given status under U.S. law. But with the loosening of policies, and yet another appeal from the Cuban state’s tobacco monopoly going to U.S. Federal Courts, Dominican Cohibas may lose their trademark and be forced to produce under a new name if the courts side with Cuba. The loss of brand recognition and loyalty to Cohiba Red Dot may be lost, marking a possible end to this line.

But Cohiba won’t be the only brand that may be forced to change their name if the embargo is lifted. Many other brands originating in Cuba may be forced to drop their names and rebrand themselves if Cuba wins their trademark cases. Cuba does have the right to fight for these names and marques, but they may have trouble claiming brands that were relocated by their rightful owners during the exodus. As another point of interest, the Cuban government has previously partnered with non-Cuban manufacturers to produce non-Cuban versions of their historic brands to help protect their rights to a small number of these brands. Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo are just two examples of cigars that will likely keep Cuban and non-Cuban lines intact once the embargo is lifted...

Again going back to a Cigar Daveism, he's made the point if tomorrow Cuba is free, Castro is finally dead, the original growers come back, the issue with land seizures is settled, it will be the better part of a decade until the Cubans produce cigars up to the standard of the pre-Castro era. I've smoked Cubans in England and Kuwait and been impressed with them. Will they maintain that quality is a very big question.

Officer Down


Police Officer Alex Yazzie
Navajo Division of Public Safety
End of Watch: Thursday, March 19, 2015
Age: 42
Tour: 14 years

Police Officer Alex Yazzie was shot and killed near Red Valley, Arizona, while pursuing a subject who had shot at another officer who had responded to a domestic violence call in Little Water Trading Post, New Mexico, shortly after 4:00 pm.

The initial call involved a report of a barricade situation in which a subject armed with an AR-15 rifle was holding his family hostage. The man opened fired on responding officers and then fled across state lines into Arizona, approximately 29 miles away. The man opened fire on officers a second time after they located him in Red Valley at approximately 10:30 pm.

Officer Yazzie was fatally shot and two other officers were wounded during the shootout. The suspect was also killed during the gunfight.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Good news from the streets...

With the hood rats tearing up their cities, threatening cops and even celebrating when officers go down in the line of duty, it's good to hear some show of support for the cop on the beat.
Armed Citizen Stops Suspect’s Furious Assault on a Cop

On Wednesday, an armed citizen drew his gun and intervened to save an Oklahoma City police officer who gotten separated from his fellow officer during a foot chase and was allegedly being savagely beaten by a burglary suspect...

...According to News 9, Rookie Officer Adam Eller and field training officer Sgt. Michael Lambert” responded to a burglary call, then became separated while chasing suspect Jermaine Williams on foot.

Eller was able to corner Williams in a driveway, only to have Williams allegedly fight instead of comply with arrest orders. During the fight Williams “was able to take Eller’s police baton and then proceeded to strike him over the head somewhere between six and 12 times.”

As the fight continued an armed citizen approached the two with his gun drawn. He told the suspect he was going to shoot if he did not stop hitting the officer. Williams complied.

Williams was taken into custody and booked into jail. Officer Eller was rushed “to OU Medical Center with serious injuries, but was released on Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery.”

The name of the citizen who intervened to save the officer has not been released.
Officer Williams, all of our wishes for a quick and full recovery, Oklahoma City needs you on the streets. And to the citizen who helped that cop, thank you even more. With YouTube showing people video taping cops in fights rather than helping, it's good to know we can count one someone like you.

Patrolman Adrian "Curtis" Arellano
El Paso Texas Police Department, Texas
End of Watch: Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Age: 39
Tour: 10 years
Badge # 2397

Patrolman Curtis Arellano was killed when his police motorcycle collided with another vehicle at North Yarbrough Drive and Edgemere Boulevard while escorting a funeral procession through the intersection.

A second officer was directing traffic at the intersection when the driver of a small sedan disregarded the officer's signals and entered the intersection. Patrolman Arellano's motorcycle struck the vehicle, causing him to be thrown to the ground. He was transported to Del Sol Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.

Patrolman Arellano had served with the El Paso Police Department for 10 years. He is survived by his wife, son, and parents.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Saturday Night Live does it again

I've described Saturday Night Live as a guilty pleasure and for the most part it's tame compared to the original "Not Ready for Prime Time Players." Then again it often hits it out of the park, like last night. Satire on the fear of drawing a picture of a god.


In recent discussions on the shooting in Garland TX that many of the liberals who said the shooters were provoked by the drawing contest are the same ones (NY Times, etc) lectured the American people on "Piss Christ" when that was a federally funded insult to Christanity. Seems their committment to "Freedom of Expression" has limits. Shocking (insert sarcastic remark here).

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Time has past for Time

Another police shooting, white cop, black suspect, another riot, Jesse Jackson et al at in the hood to make a statement and some money, B Hussein Obama sticks his nose and ears into something to stir the situation up. He calls the governor, saying "...I assume that you and your team will be exercising due restraint...", implying he wants the terror to go on. And the riotings goes on And America's newsmagazine (They actually used to call themselves that) is showing why it's practically digital only now.

From the cover this week, we see a rioter in Baltimore, running from a police line.


The Roots of Baltimore’s Riot

The city’s eruption follows decades of systemic failure

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was in church when she heard that Freddie Gray was dead. She says she knew “immediately” that this was something more than the depressingly common passing of another young man in a troubled old city. Black men dying at the hands of police had become “a slow-rolling crisis” in America, as President Obama would put it nine days after Gray’s death. And Freddie Gray was a black man who entered a police van handcuffed and conscious on April 12 and came out less than an hour later comatose, with his spinal cord nearly severed.

And the fact more whites are killed by cops, the fact a black male is more likely to die at the hands of a black thug is not a crisis. But that kind of crisis won't give you opportunity.
The what, the how and the why of Gray’s fatal encounter with Baltimore police remained a mystery more than two weeks after the event. But the mayor could hear that slow-rolling train pulling into her town. And when rioting broke out after Gray’s funeral on April 27–a night of arson, looting and brick throwing that led the mayor to declare a 10 p.m. citywide curfew as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called out the National Guard–it became clear the train was pulling a lot of baggage cars behind it...
After she told the police to stand down and telling the police and the world "...we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.”
...While the city’s population may have stabilized at about 600,000–from a peak of nearly 1 million–Baltimore’s poorest areas are stagnant. There are roughly 16,000 vacant homes throughout the city, many of them in Sandtown-Winchester, where a quarter of the houses sit empty. According to a 2011 report by the Baltimore city health department, the neighborhood is long on liquor stores (double the city average) but short on jobs (the unemployment rate is also double the city average). One in 4 juveniles was arrested at least once from 2005 to 2009. “It’s one of the most disinvested neighborhoods in our city,” says Lawrence Brown, a community activist and professor of health policy at Morgan State University. And Baltimore, for all these reasons, has become America’s latest poster city for racial and economic discontent.

And who has run this city for the last 60 years? Oh yea, Democrats.
...A “Slow-Rolling Crisis”

For Nine uncomfortable months we have wrestled in new ways with our centuries-old conversation about race. The roots of these days of rage, whether in Ferguson or North Charleston or Baltimore, reach down through decades of compounded failures. Each flash point is different; so was each community’s response. But there is something universal about them all. As Obama noted, during remarks in the Rose Garden that ranged from determined to despairing, “I think we, as a country, have to do some soul-searching. This is not new. It’s been going on for decades. And without making any excuses for criminal activities that take place in these communities,” he continued, in Baltimore and elsewhere “you have impoverished communities that have been stripped away of opportunity, where children are born into abject poverty.” The parents, “often, because of substance-abuse problems or incarceration or lack of education themselves, can’t do right by their kids.”

The President was frustrated that attention to this tangle of problems is so sporadic, with satellite trucks and blue-ribbon panels dispatched only “when a CVS burns … when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped.” But Baltimore is as good a place as any to learn just how complicated and change-resistant these problems can be...

Well B Hussein trillions of dollars have been poured into the inner cites since the War on Poverty was started and for this we have what? Just what you said,..."impoverished communities...stripped away of opportunity, where children are born into abject poverty.... parents..often, because of substance-abuse problems or incarceration or lack of education themselves, can’t do right by their kids..." But you are avoiding the obvious as usual for political points. Where are the parents? To use the vernacual of the hood, where are the "Baby's Daddies"? Well they have been replaced by the federal government. Even during the 60s most black families had two parent households and the fathers were expected to support their children. Now we have told generations of young black women (and now Hispanic women and increasingly white women) that Uncle Sugar will pay your bills and raise your kids. And sperm doners, you can just impreginate one woman after another and not have to worry about it. We got the mom and kids. Leads to desstruction of the black family to a degree the KKK or Margeret Sanger could not dream of, but it accomplishes the goal. It gives Democrats a impoverished population depandant on substidies to draw votes from. Doubt that, may I quote Lyndon B Johnson, the worst president this country has ever had:
“I’ll have those ni%%ers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.” —LBJ to two governors on Air Force One -

“These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.”—LBJ
But I guess the facts will not fit the template there Time.
...Baltimore’s troubles persist despite the rise of a generation of black leaders and a highly diverse corps of public employees. The mayor, the schools’ CEO and the police chief are all African Americans, and 48% of the police force is black. Indeed, Baltimore has always produced strong black figures, from the religious leader Mary Elizabeth Lange to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (who once lived in the neighborhood where Freddie Gray died).

But it turns out that diversity at the top and integration of the middle class are challenges of a different order than the crisis of the left behind. Those African American police officers are not likely to live in Baltimore’s most troubled neighborhoods, and when Mayor Rawlings-Blake initially characterized the rioters in her city, she chose a word–thugs–that seemed to distance her from the deeper problem.

OK, what does Marshall have to do with this incident. The Baltimore he left was a functioning city, not a segregated area with dying industy (except for government), useless schools and corrupt government.
This isn’t to say that race has no part in the toxic tangle. Joseph Capista, a lecturer at Towson University who helped organize demonstrations outside Gray’s wake on Sunday, says he has lived in several neighborhoods around Baltimore. Policing in more-affluent white neighborhoods, he says, is almost always more respectful than in poorer black ones. “We live in an antebellum society in terms of racial justice,” he says...
Maybe Mr Capista it has to do with the minority dominated areas are crime ridden Third World communiites where the cops are much more likey to be attacked, injured or killed. Also in the white upper class areas most of the residents can get throgh a conversation without using profanity or threatening officers and the residents comes from stable households. Forgive me, the issues of the inner city minority communites have nothing to do with federal funding but with people making very poor decisions with their lives. You want to get out of poverty, the numbers show what to do. Finish high school, don't have children when you're a teenager and delay children until you are married.

So if you want to know why the major media is dying, look at this article and she why it is so unmatched from reality. In an article from today Time is discussing a major issue, homophobia in America's high school locker rooms. Yo Mr Iditor, no one cares about this except for the morons who go to parties with.

The country is on the verge of bankruptcy, our economy is dead, our entitlements are out of control and need to reformed, the Iranians are about to be armed with nuclear weapons with the support of the current administration you have screeched for since 2008, our enemies don’t respect or fear us, our allies don’t trust us, the Democrat’s leading candidate has committed crimes with destroying official documents and is taking money from foreign governments for influence and you think a football player calling another player a fag is a national issue. No wonder you’re worthless and when your other former newsweekly Newsweek was sold for a buck it was overpriced. I wonder if you will be a penny purchase when it’s over.

Only in California...

The latest from the Land of Fruits, Flakes and Nuts!
Loophole Allows Nudity on Sacramento Streets And Sidewalks

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A person can walk down the streets of Sacramento in the nude without any legal problems under a loophole in the city’s public nudity law.

The culprit is section 9.04.060 of the Sacramento city code. It outlaws nudity in public parks, playgrounds and beaches, but it leaves out streets and sidewalks.

Under that law, a nude person would be violating the law if they were in Cesar Chavez Park, but technically they wouldn’t be if they stepped onto the sidewalk.
...

...Sacramento wants to close the loophole, rewriting what it calls in outdated ordinance. A staff report says several people were arrested last year with everything exposed in public, but the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office couldn’t prosecute them under Sacramento’s current law.

The report explains California’s indecent exposure law didn’t apply either, because even though they were naked, they didn’t have lewd intent or engage in sexually gratifying behavior.

The city says the new law will take the technicalities out of prosecuting public nudity.

“If you’re able to be viewed in public and you’re doing something lewd, your genitals are exposed or you’re in fact fully nude, that’s not OK,” said director of government affairs Randi Knott. “We wanna protect the children; we wanna protect the public.”

There are exceptions to the amended ordinance, including for children under 10, breastfeeding moms and artistic performances. The city says it isn’t trying to take people’s rights away, but it wants to protect the public from seeing a little too much.
Hopefully this gets taken care of before the ACLU or the Justice Department starts a riot over "The Right to Be Nude" in public.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

"Justice" with a chip on her shoulder

A few weeks ago I posted on how a family member and I were in disagreement on Michael Brown. My relative was convinced of Officer Darren Wilson's guilt because there were "witnesses". I told him to wait for the investigation to play out, as a homicide investigation takes time to complete. Well, looks like this the state attorney in Baltimore hasn't learned that lesson.
Rookie leader loooks to expedite justice

BALTIMORE — Shortly before she became the youngest top prosecutor in any major American city, Marilyn Mosby, a daughter and granddaughter of police officers, had tough words about how the nation’s c r i m i n a l justice system had handled mistreatment of black men by the police.

“It’s been 78 days since Michael Brown was shot in the street by a police officer,” Mosby said in October at her alma mater, Tuskegee University in Alabama. “It’s been 101 days since Eric Garner was choked to death in New York by a police officer, and 54 days since the New York City medical examiner ruled that incident a homicide. Neither has resulted in an indictment.”
And you man want to recall the wisdom of a dead yellow man, Sun Tzu, "Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine." But I really question your are interested in justice. As you said Friday, "I heard your call for no justice, no peace. Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man...”
At 35, Mosby — whose official title is Maryland state’s attorney for Baltimore city — has been shaped by her own experience growing up black in a tough part of town. As a student in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, she would awaken at 5 a.m. for an hourlong bus ride to attend school in a wealthy white suburb; she was the only black child there.

When she was 14, her cousin was mistaken for a drug dealer, and shot and killed on the doorstep of her home. As adults, she said in an interview, both she and her husband — Nick Mosby, a member of the Baltimore City Council — have learned what it feels like to be looked upon with suspicion by the police.

“I’ve had experiences as an African-American woman where I’ve been harassed by police, or my husband has been pulled over and harassed by police,” she said in an interview Friday in her office, near police headquarters.

Got it. Ms. Mosley, you're obviously trying to calm the city down (in itself a honorable goal) and make a name for yourself. It will be beautiful to watch you get your ass handed to you by a jury of the officer's peers. Oh, you probably don't know it's a jury of the defendant's peers, not the "victim's".

Another overzealous prosecutor in Florida went for a murder charge where none existed and was humiliated in front of the country. Don't worry, Jessee and B Hussein will take care of you...or will they?

Saturday, May 2, 2015

John Wayne

The Duke, off the screen


One of my favorite actors of all time, as American as they get, John Wayne. Right after Beth and I were married and got back from the mini-moon, they were playing The Quiet Man and I asked "You've seen this?", a rhetorical question. To my horror she said no and I asking "What kind of communist did I marry?!" But she sat with me and like millions, she loved the movie and especially this scene.

Now I've heard he wore a hair piece and just considered it part of his routine, as his costumes and makeup. He once said, "Whenever I go on the screen, I play John Wayne, no matter what the role." But off the screen he was just one of the guys. Here is a short film showing him off the big screen. Maybe a bit less hair, but no less great. We miss you Duke.

Officer Down


Lieutenant Richard Woods
Pell City Alabama Police Department
End of Watch: Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Age: 48
Tour: 20 years
Badge # 804

Lieutenant Richard Woods suffered a fatal heat attack while assisting other rescue personnel extricate several teenagers from a vehicle following a serious accident on Cogswell Avenue, at 5th Street, at approximately 4:30 pm.

Paramedics immediately began to render aid to Lieutenant Woods. He was transported to a local hospital where he passed away a short time later.

Lieutenant Woods had served with the Pell City Police Department for 20 years and was the commander of the Special Operations Division. He is survived by his wife.
Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.