And then there was one..........

I work in a small town in South Carolina (third most violent small town in America in 2019)(I think they're underachieving) and recently many of the surrounding agencies brought the pay rate up to average for the state. Some a bit higher. This town didn't budge, even though the council said the town could afford it.(Heck, we've been coming in under budget in a big way for two years now, though some of that money is unaccounted for now) Then they began cancelling training oportunities. In a matter of a month and a half the entire department, including the Chief, quit. I stayed behind to shut the lights off and lock the door behind me.(I'm looking for a place that I no longer have to work road patrol. 22 years is enough) They hired a new Chief with promises to fix things but they lied to him. He has a positive attitude and is a leader but I've already let him know I'm looking for other opportunities and he should too. It would take at least two years to rebuild this department on the pay rate we have, if at all. The council has learned it can save up a bunch of money by just eliminating the police department. Wonder what the consequences to that decision will be?

It's been a long time

Five years or so. I wonder if anybody even reads blogspot blogs. With the exception of influencers who put links in their YouTube, Insta, etc, I doubt folks remember this media exists. Overshadowed in the long run by video blogs such at TikTok, Instagram, etc. At one point in the early 2000's, blogging was starting to overshadow other print media. Then the other print media all but disappeared. Hell, I even forgot about this blog. I posted a few things on Instagram. Made a few TikTok videos. But these days I mostly just comment on the content others create. I talk to my friends, both online and in real life through such media. Too busy and too far away to just run and visit. Don't get me wrong, when I sid 'reads' I in no way meant mine. I barely had anybody reading my stuff. I guess that's why I faded away from this site. It felt a bit like talking to myself, and it wasn't a brilliant conversation. Maybe I'll start journaling here. Pretty safe to say my secrets will stay secret.

     Been seeing alot of hate lately and after some 19 years of it, I don't get as worked up about it as I used to. I've spoken with former Black Panthers who think the insanity against the police has gotten out of hand. I guess I'll put down here a few clues, some of which are old and obvious enough to be cliche while others not so widely known.

1) Folks in bad neighborhoods want us (the Police) to make their neighborhoods safer by cleaning out the criminals. They are angry at us for not doing so yesterday. They want us to arrest the bad guys right up to the point when we actually do, then it becomes we are harassing them. How does this climate shift occur ? Those criminals we arrest, those bad guys we put in jail, THEY ARE SOMEBODY. They are somebody's brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends. They are uncles, aunts, fathers, mothers. Regardless of what godawful thing they have done, somebody will always be there to condemn us for arresting them. Now with social media widely available, it's quite easy to manipulate the facts and present a sad tale of how the police arrested their [insert relationship] who was doing nothing wrong.

2) Which brings us to point number two. If it comes to the point where somebody is arrested and taken to jail, THERE IS EVIDENCE THEY COMMITTED A CRIME. The judicial and law enforcement branches have dozens of checks and balances built into the system. The primary one for police are the elements of a crime. Think of laws as recipes. You need certain ingredients, or elements, to make what you are baking. Remove one ingredient and you can't bake your muffins. It really is that simple. Now add a tablespoon of Fourth Amendment. If all the elements for the crime are present and not just assumed, the police must also be able to prove the person they arrested is the person that did it. Remove an element, remove proof of guilt, and an arrest can't be made.
     I'm not saying false arrests aren't made. I'm not saying mistaken identity doesn't happen. I'm not saying there aren't corrupt cops out there blurring the lines, but there are checks and balances to weed that out to.

3)  And on to three. Nobody hates a bad cop more than I do. Nobody. Not even their victims. A person is falsely or mistakenly arrested (and there is a big difference between the two) they have several legal channels to set things right. They have a lawyer to destroy the case against their client. They have a civil process to punish the officer and his/her department monetarily for either corruption or incompetence along with attorneys and higher law enforcement agencies to assist them in doing so. They have Internal Affairs complaints to yank that officer by his shirt collar and take steps to make sure it never happens again. But even after the case is dismissed, even after the government has cut the victim a hefty check, the fallout will always hinder me, the cop trying to get the job done the right way. I'm the one who faces the hate from all the people the victim has told. I'm the one who can't investigate a crime because nobody talks to me. Heck, I've questioned victims of crimes who called 911 then asked why I was harassing them. I offer rides home to people walking in the middle of the night or in inclement weather and had them refuse or ask to be dropped off outside of their neighborhood so "people don't see them getting out of a police car". If I were in any way considered the good guy, the protector, the man in the white hat, this would not happen. But thanks to the bad apples, the whole bushel is viewed as rotten.
     On a side note, and because of this, there is no Wall of Silence. Cops do not keep quiet when an officer goes astray. I've burned a few myself. Bad cops keep me from doing my job efficiently. Bad cops put my safety in danger. I won't have it and neither will most other cops.

4)  When a bad cop is doing something wrong, a million other cops are out there doing it right. While those retards driving the jail van were allowing Freddie Gray to die, a million other cops in this nation were protecting and serving. Yet I am at fault and deserve scorn because police, not the whole department but six individuals, in another city did something the wrong way.  Really ? I don't judge you on the basis of what somebody else has done, afford me the same courtesy.

5) Please, for your own sake, stop lying and stop believing the lies.I don't understand why alot of YouTubers need to make lies when there's more than enough real misconduct out there to document. You want the world to see corruption and misconduct, get it and show it. You don't need to edit videos to make a this cop look guilty, just show an unedited video of what that cop over there did. It's all just a FOIA away. But some folks realize number 4 is true and fear that common sense will break out, so they doctor, they edit, and add a false click-bait title. I'm amazed when I look at an obviously doctored video, or a video with a false title, and see in the comments how many folks take it as true.Wake up folks, THIS WAS THE FALLACY THAT RUINED THE CREDIBILITY OF BLACK LIVES MATTER. I had such hopes that organization would become a bridge between law enforcement and the community. Hopes that maybe the officer involved shooting rate would go down as an understanding and trust developed. Instead they attacked incidents where the officers acted properly when faced with a deadly force incident. At the last time, which was a bit ago (at least a year) I'll admit, there were 127 shooting incidents by officers and 11 of them were questionable in some way. That is 11 too many in my book but split second decisions are sometimes wrong. BLM could have focused on those 11 and still be at the head of the fight for justice. Instead they attacked the 116 saying, in a nut shell, the police were wrong for defending their lives (not to mention they made it a race issue even when the officer was black). Even the black people in this area lost trust in BLM. Other organizations wonder why they have no credibility. I direct them toward the BLM mistake and encourage them not to do the same.

6)  Nothing said here will change your mind. I've seen folks condemn a good arrest and praise a bad one. I've responded to calls, and I HAVE to respond, its my job, where the complainant had a black man in their neighborhood that did not live there and expect me to arrest him, then shout insults about how ineffective the police are when I didn't. We are hated by both sides of the coin folks. Nothing I say or do will change that. Excuse me if I ignore your insults and sarcastic remarks. Its not me that has to change, its you.

And the next failure will be......

We have two choices this year. One, Donald Trump, will set race relations, gender relations, sexuality relations, all relations back quite a bit. The other, Hillary Clinton, arguably the lesser of the two evils, is more than willing to take your tax money to increase the Welfare State and has no issues with using unsecure means to transmit secure information and lastly doesn't give a rats ass if US citizens are killed overseas. Thinking there may be no lesser of the two evils on this one. One can only hunker down and pray for the Zombie Apocalypse.

There is no third choice. Sanders won't run independently. We're fucked. The best we can do is sift through the flaws to find the few useful bits of each and decide whether we can live with the bad stuff in hopes of getting the good stuff. 

So while the rest of the world alternates between laughing at us and WTF?, you have a pretty nasty decision to make. Good luck.

Random cop musings

Practically every Law Enforcement agency I know has used the target on the right for weapons qualification. I appreciate those guys from ISIS making it easier for us, should they choose to come see us here in the states.

So what's going on ? Lessee. We have a young man running around robbing people and businesses. 16 years old. We put him in jail, charged as an adult for kidnapping, burglary, and armed robbery. Judge let him out on his own recognizance the next morning. He was seen later that day talking smack to police officers, saying we couldn't hold him. Over the next week he went on to steal two cars and rob a convenience store. Even in this day and age there are still places with "It can't happen here" mind sets.

I'm taking a MOOC, Massive Open Online Course, through www.Coursera.com. I'm studying under a professor at Leiden University, located in The Hague, Netherlands. The one I'm taking is a study of terrorism and counter terrorism and is proving quite informative. The best part is, it's free unless I want a certificate at the end of the course. I'm thinking $50 is worth it to put on my resume that I took a course there. The site has hundreds of courses available from such small time schools as MIT, Oxford, etc.(sarcasm is just another friendly service we offer) You should look into it. The days when you could spend the rest of your life without continuing education are over.

It's summer, so the kids are out breaking into cars. You'd be amazed how many folks leave their car doors unlocked at their homes. Several firearms stolen so far. Seriously. Who leaves a gun in their car unlocked ? Answer: morons. Hope I don't have to recover one of those weapons off the body of some kid who thought he was a gang banger. Be more than happy to return it to the owner with a punch in the face. Mind you, I praise folks who purchase firearms and are responsible with them. On the low side they can at least protect their families til we get there. On the extreme side, the average body count for an active shooter situation stopped by Law Enforcement is 14.3. For those stopped by an armed citizen it's 2.3   Do the math folks. The criminals have taken away your right to NOT own a gun. All I ask is that you train with it and keep it responsibly. For those of you who think that one day the government will pass laws to take it away, be at peace. They'll have to tell folks in my business to do the taking and I'm sure all police agree, it's not going to happen.

One thing a few folks have asked me about is the present state of affairs concerning race in this country as it applies to my profession. I'll tell ya, it doesn't affect me at all really. I point to the Charleston shootings as an example. Perhaps it's just the area of the country here in the south, but there seems to be some logic here that is missing elsewhere. Folks around here, of all races, understand that most of the people being killed by officers would not have had that happen had they stayed inside the laws. And even though the p.o.s. that gunned those poor folks down  at the church did it to spark a race war, it didn't happen because his motives were directed toward a society he thought was predominantly racist. The North Charleston officer who murdered (yes, I saw the video, that's what it was) that fleeing suspect was immediately arrested (once the dumbass with the video finally came forward with it). That's how it's supposed to work.Newsflash, it's not the way these morons thought it was. If society were so polarized that some dumbass could shoot some people and start a race war, it would have started long ago, during the Jim Crow lynchings era. But it's not. If society was so misguided that they saw all police as killing that man, rather than an individual officer, that they felt justified in armed insurrection, rioting, looting, etc, it would have happened. But it didn't. Logic prevailed where elsewhere it didn't. Be an interesting psychological study.
     I see race. You can't be human and not. And many black people whom I encounter see me as a white cop, not just a cop. And it does give one preconceived notions. But I don't have to act or make decisions based on them. Most other people don't either. These turd didn't recognize that because their wiring was screwed up. People died for it. They'll get theirs. Society around here understands that. Wish other areas did too.

State of the world

In Syria we've been dropping explosive stuff on places where non-combatants live. Nothing new there. Irritating that the President thinks this is a way to keep his hands clean rather than sending ground troops, but regardless. Fourteen missions in the past two days according to the Pentagon. ISIS is the target but those pesky civilians keep getting mixed up in it too. Reported 6 dead in the attacks. Bullets have your name on them but bombs and missiles are addressed To Current Resident.


On the home front, scam artists targeting older folk are on the rise. Attack is by volume. Call hundreds of folks and you're bound to find quite a few who really believe you when you tell them you have a warrant for them and unless they send you the security code for a cash card you instruct them to buy they'll be arrested. We make reports on the victims. They feel hollow and stupid when we explain to them we don't serve warrants over the phone, they'll never see their money again unless IC3 (the FBI computer crime division) or the feds can track these guys down, and most likely the suspect wasn't even operating inside this state. Like to one day get ahold of one of these weasels. Just sayin'


Getting closer to Christmas, people. Time for the bad guys to fill their Christmas fund. That means the answer is a resounding NO, people. Your work laptop you left on the back seat is NOT safe until the morning. NO, the handgun you keep in the glove box will not be there next time you look for it. NO, your car is not safe even though its in your driveway, with no valuables in sight, in a gated community or relatively safe subdivision. Most suspects we catch are under 20. Many looking for something they can sell. Just sayin'

Living in the world

Was going to mention the progress in Syria. (Not tooting my own horn but three posts down.....) Syria is now admitting to stockpiles of chemical weapons. Rather than the sarcastic comment, I'm pointing toward this as progress. Russia has stepped forward to assist. The sabers are still there, the rattle has just lowered in volume a bit. We may be able to get through this one without getting up to our necks in yet another Middle Eastern war. As much as I see inevitability in US involvement there, would be nice to keep our troops out of it. Would be nice to see diplomacy take care of some of our differences. While I don't look through Rose Colored glasses, its still and always will be a primarily Muslim region, there are still thinking people there, just as there are here. Play it like Japan, and we'll have a war to end all wars. Play it like a mutual problem to be solved together, and we may get through this.

So tomorrow is September 11th. I don't expect to see anything happen. Tactically, there would be a much greater chance of success were they to wait til a day or two later. I'll be working tomorrow night. With two military installations in my jurisdiction and a third within my county, I'll be max attentive. Never let your guard down. But I expect, if anything is scheduled to happen, it will happen Thursday. I'll be working then too. Bring it.

Oh, the young dirt clod in the below post was arrested since that post.

 

http://www.love146.org/love-story
Remembered this site, coming back periodically to my much neglected blog. Think I may have to get this t-shirt.

The above is Lucas M Morgan. Having an armed home invasion robbery to his credit, you'll not be surprised to find he's now wanted for shooting some folks. One is dead, two are seriously injured. Probably still inside Beaufort County right now, so if anybody in South Carolina sees him, might want to phone your local authorities or, if within Beaufort County, 911. Consider him armed, dangerous, and with nothing to lose so don't try and take him yourself. That's what SWAT teams are for. Depending on who you talk to he's 5 foot 5 inches or 8 inches. About 150 pounds. The photo was his mug shot of about a year ago.

A bit on the Casey Anthony trial

Now, I'm not going to register an opinion here, not yet, as to her guilt. The problem therein lies in the roots of the jury's decision. Hint: We don't know what she did.

    Just wanted to make a comment on the defense. Now, ask any cop and you'll probably recieve a negative opinion in reference to Defense Lawyers. (Why does California have so many lawyers and New Jersey have so many toxic waste dumps ? New Jersey got first choice.) But I would have to say, Baez is making me question my opinion.
     The wife and I followed the trial quite avidly for different reasons. At first, like many others, I saw Baez as a slimy little maggot, spouting lies in his opening statement and appearing to have no real and valid defense. In fact, several times during those first few weeks I thought he was history, his defense of Anthony a joke at best and he incompetent.

     But as things went, around the second week I saw an intellect. My theory was that he would create room for so many appeals, Incompetent Council being one, that Anthony would eventually be offered a plea bargain. But there are Judicial checks and balances for such tactics and for Baez to weave such a string of venues without getting censured by the Bar, it would take an intelligence that most did not realize and give him credit for. Yet there he was doing it. Yes, His Honor had to reel both sides in a few times but for the most part Baez colored outside the lines without being obvious.

     I still think that was part of his plan, but it took two more weeks to see the real genius behind his faux stupidity. What most Americans don't realize is the Defense Lawyer's task in a case such as this is not to prove the innocence of his client, its not his job to prove anything. Its his job to create questions. Unanswered questions carry the most weight but conflicting questions answered incompletely will also serve the purpose. And thats exactly what Baez did.

     Once again I wrote this and forgot to publish it. Guess I'll just throw it out there and move on to a different topic.

Do they not realize ?

With each shot fired, the revolution grows stonger ? Even the UAE has a certain grasp of the modern world while still maintaining a healthy respect for their history and beliefs. A child tries a jump on a bicycle and fails. Others try and fail. The cuts and bruises multiply but eventually, the others see the folly and don't try it themselves. Surely there are enough cuts and bruises in history for the Syrians to see that their modus operandi for conducting their governmental business is taking a cruise on the Fail boat. Yet they continue. And the bodies pile higher. But the business as usual complacency is blinding them to the harsh reality. Humans are getting tired of being treated like cattle. You can believe in tradition and yet not accept government soldiers killing your loved ones. And with the world's attention focused on the Middle East almost primarily these past ten years, those who continue to slaughter their population are in for an eventual wake up call. The sheep are no longer content in the pasture, and the farmer best pay heed.

They need not accept democracy. Lord knows its limped along in America, it no longer resembles what it was intended, but change is an inevitable fact of life. Embrace it ? Maybe not. But the intelligent leader recognizes inevitability and makes room for it. I would go as far as saying that had Sadaam recognized this, learned to govern with a pen and an ear toward the people, he might still be alive today. Maybe not in power, but breathing. Governments have a short memory for past sins when the sinner has outwardly changed his ways and time has presented more pressing problems.

So it goes......

Nothing's changed in the world of the bad guys. Chased a car the other day. Suspects bush bombed behind an apartment complex. Like clockwork, within minutes the owner of the vehicle called it in as stolen. Never fails. One could almost get blase about it. Call the owner while the chase ensues. "Ma'am/Sir, just calling to get your stolen vehicle report now to kind of hurry things up. Yes, I know you have no idea who is driving it. Yes, I understand you accidentally left it running in front of your house in a bad neighborhood. Yes I believe you when you say that's not your nephew with the suspended driver's license behind the wheel even though it looks like him...."
Good to see nothing's changed.

I've changed departments....

I'm working for the Township of Port Royal in South Carolina now. Small department, for sure, but the command staff and boss man appear to have alot of vision and some good ideas as to where the department should be heading. More importantly, they're actively trying to get things heading that way as opposed to having ideas but no way to make them fruitful. I get the impression they have plans to use my experience and training to the best of their advantage and that's just fine with me. I like to be needed. If you're not working toward a brighter future, why be there at all ?
This blog has sat dormant a while. I've had thoughts of ressurrecting it but never got there. Each time I looked for some great news item or idea to discuss. Guess that's why it never gained momentum. Think I'll keep it simple for a while and see what developes.

Where is my God now ?

Where is my God now ? I speak metaphorically. I've been an agnostic most of my adult life. Don't hold to one theory or set of rules, but I still can't help but think there is something going on here bigger than just a random combining of atoms. And I look with a cynical eye at most things but yet cling to the hope that people are basically good. Maybe if just for myself. I want to be one of the Good Guys, wear the white hat. My biggest fear is that I'm not.
So I look to the world around me and force my thoughts to be positive. This really isn't that bad of a place.
But now I'm not so sure.
I used to refer to spree killers as The Beast. I had a nagging thought in the back of my brain that there's something making these people do this, they aren't just coming to this on their own if only because they are so much alike, even in their randomness. In my old blog I did some research on the subject and combined it with what I knew from my job (if you don't study the enemy, you can't defeat him) and really don't have an answer. That's what scared me the most. You can prepare for it, but you can't predict where and when. The Beast is at the advantage there. He controls the choices. For the most part, The Beast was random and infrequent. He took victims from all walks of life in many varied locations but they were spread out. No need to be paranoid. Yet that is fast becoming the past. Tenn., Alabama, NY, how many tomorrow, or next week. You call them Spree Killers, we call them Active Shooters, call them what you want but they're all psychos with guns dropped into a target rich environment. Al Qaida doesn't need to send terrorists, we're growing them right here. Back in the day, when I looked at Klebold and Harris (thankfully, below)I looked to train myself to be alert, to know what I needed to do should the Beast show its face, but there was always that little bit of complacency, that small place in the back of my mind that said it wouldn't happen hereIn a flash of a moment The Beast has become so prolific that even the best of the best aren't ready. Two of those killed in Oakland were SWAT. Two patrol officers down is not something surprising but the SWAT team took two dead and one wounded before they perforated the suspect. Maybe they too have become complacent. We keep trying to put some rationality to the world today. It just doesn't work like that anymore. Those three in Pittsburgh were killed over an argument that started when the dog pissed in the house.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_re_us/pittsburgh_shooting
Nobody can afford that anymore. Because even though those were major events, major incidents in our terminology, the smaller ones you don't hear about still continue, and even grow in their horrific nature. Like this one.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_re_us/children_slain
Or, this one, which took me back a few seconds and was the first time I've been shocked in years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090331/ap_on_re_us/sisters_slain
Even the veteran officers responding were so taken aback by The Beast in their presence, it took them a moment (too fucking long guys) to react appropriately. I think we've been anesthetized by the war and Combat News Network. Its terrible, but its over there. We turned our back on The Beast in our midst and now we pay for it almost daily. The answer ? I don't have one. You might ask your local police department as to whether they've undergone Active Shooter Training. If they haven't, any reason they have for that shortcoming (including budget) is retarded and a lie. Other than training your cops to counter the threat, take advantage of the Second Amendment like many here in the south. Keep your mind thinking as you walk down the dark street, "What would I do if....?" I play that game all the time. Keeps one sharp. You don't have to become paranoid, friends, you just have to be ready when and if the time comes that you meet The Beast.

Thinking of ressurecting this blog

One can always use a forum, even if its to an audience of one's self.

Sore losers these Republicans.....

George and the good old boys are sifting the details about troop withdrawals, having worked it out with the Iraqi guv'mint. Takes place over the next three years. http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081129/wl_csm/osofa_1;_ylt=AvSDXYG89OwYInnD1ny_rmz5SpZ4
I must say it shows their stupidity, to think rational people wouldn't see this as an act of sabotage for the incoming Obama regime. They know the American people are sick of the death toll. They know we can't continue footing the monthly bill in billions of dollars. So come next month Obama will have to start from square one to make a new plan and a new agreement with the Iraqi government, all the while having to endure the Republicans screaming to the heavens that they already made the deal and Obama is screwing up. They're deliberately throwing a wrench in the spokes, disregarding the inevitable human cost in lives this type of politics provokes. Just like Vietnam. And what do the commanders say ? Well, their toads are saying that for security reasons it would take three years. But that doesn't wash. I was a soldier, I know units are designed to be moved much quicker than they would have you believe. And more recently I've looked over the Iraq situation more than once, and not the rhetoric, but moreso the facts. If Muqtaq and the rest of the spiritual leaders want us out of Iraq (hint: they do), a 6 month withdrawal would be practically bloodless if we were to ask them to call off the dogs. . What dicks. I'd slip my entire next paycheck to The Man if he were to just yank everyone out of there and tell those parasites to make it on their own. They have close to $100 billion in cash reserves yet pay nothing. Our people are dying performing patrols that they should be doing. Hmmmm. Sounds familiar. Just like other wars ? Bout done losing friends to that meatgrinder. We can go a bit more giving our money away to rich sheiks (the documented corruption over there is astronomical and they all granted themselves amnesty recently) but too many young people have died there. Like so many others before them. My but I do ramble.
Its funny. I'm still a conservative by nature. Just so disillusioned with the outgoing regime.

If you are able,
save for them a place inside of you
and save one backward glance when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say you loved them,
though you may or may not have always.
Take what they have taught you with their dying
and keep it with your own.

And in that time when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O’Donnell, 1 January 1970, Dak To, Vietnam, Listed on February 7, 1978 as Killed In Action, March 24, 1970

Are they serious ?

As most of you (all three of you ?) who read this, I am definitely FOR private gun ownership and the rights of gun owners. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the way. HOWEVER...

Apparently we are to believe now that it is safe to take a gun into an airport in Georgia. Recently the Georgia governing body passed into law a statute allowing those with concealed weapons permits to carry a concealed firearm on public transit.

I see two ways to defeat this measure. First would be the laws both for and against to be contradictory, thus the new law should be held in abeyance until clarified. The second would be to declare the airport a business, which really it is anyway, just run by a government contractor. A business, in most all states that I know of, has the right to refuse service and access to whomever it deems necessary. If said business were to deny access and custom to concealed weapons licensees, they would not be able to legally come on the property. This would not be discriminating on the basis of race, color, creed, nor sexual orientation, and therefore should fly, so to speak.

Then we can use the same argument against the death penalty for this matter. The biggest argument being that the laws governing such and the system in place for such is fallible, thus innocent people may be put to death. While I am for the death penalty, I will admit that innocent people have been found guilty and given such a penalty. This is not speculation, it's fact. So now the same government also issues concealed permits. Anything run by humans is fallible, so who is to say that somebody who is mentally unstable has not already obtained a permit. Now you are saying that person can take it into an airport ? What happens on the day Starbucks isn't open early enough for him ? Will he then go to the airport ?

Apparently I left this one on the burner, thinking I had already published it. Apparently I'm mentally unfit to blog.

Meeting the minds half way

I must admit that the first thing that springs to my mind is something along the lines of agent provocateur, China has invaded Taiwan from within. How can two countries with such a history of fear and intent on domination come together like this ? (Though Wu Poh-Hsiung does look like the Grandfatherly type with his balding head and powder blue tie)

It has been said, quite a bit ago I might add, that China would stand as the next World Power, taking the place of the United States as the monitor of the world community. It was said that China was the only country with the resources and will to enforce a certain humanity over the constantly warring and struggling countries that make up this planet without having to take over said countries. I can't say whether they themselves could withstand the temptation to dominate and posses some five years ago, but perhaps if we take a close look at the way they handle their own current crisis internally and the results of their diplomacy with Taiwan, we might come to a better understanding of their present social psyche.

Already, before the tremors have subsided, Chinese officials have begun talk of allowing parents to have more children and what is to be done to help those in affected areas to rebuild. Further, some 5,000 orphans are already being held out for adoption. Officials at the lowest layer of government are questioning higher without fear of reprisal and those above them are listening. They want answers as to the destruction of so many schools and other infrastructure related issues. Clearly, not the China of Tienanmen Square, which would have written off the cries of protest, prehaps violently.

Its almost scary

I look into my Stat Counter every so often to see if anybody has read my stuff. For the most part, no, but I can't blame anybody but myself for being the boring old ranting fart that I am. I enjoy doing a blog entry now and again so it serves its purpose. What scares me though is this picture here. It was part of a blog entry I did in April of 2007. Most people who come to see me enter on the April page. Because if you were to look at the statistics you'll find that most of the people who find my blog are looking for this picture. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold dead on the floor (where they should be, of course). Why, I wonder. Are they pundits looking to illustrate their own thoughts and opinions on the subject matter ? Somehow the cynical side of me can't believe that. I think its more of a possibility that its just runts who idolize the two bastards. Mom, Dad ? What are your children looking at ?

Not sure if there is a threat there or not

Seems China is learning lessons from our military actions in Iraq (x2) and Afghanistan. According to the Spooks (that's law enforcement slang for the CIA) China is on a rapid advancement avenue for its military policy, upgrading their defense systems/tools and fine tuning their tactics. Guess the days of the human wave attack are over. Is this a threat ? Don't think so. I think instead its smart policy making, moving their nation up in the overall preparedness department. With so many internal problems right now, I just don't see the Chinese as wanting to start a program of expansion just yet. And with the Olympic Games and other feel good warm fuzzy one world/one people stuff going on just a few minutes from now, I'd say that China has an opportunity to take a respected position in the center of the world stage in diplomacy much like America has done in the past but can't do anymore because our leaders have run the finances into the ground. And who knows, maybe with their no nonsense approach to things (CEO puts radiator fluid into cat food and lead into children's toys-CEO dies shortly after the mistake is discoveredhttp://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/05/05/china-exports-poisoned-medicine-while-fda-cuts-back-labs/) they can clean up messes in ways that our system of government and weak hearted social conscience won't let us (hint- people don't die from water boarding, but then, the Chinese don't water board, they kill your family). So its with a healthy respect that I watch China as world events unfold. I won't turn my back on them either.