Useless Nations Revisited

In case you needed more evidence that the inmates are running the asylum, last week North Korea detonated a nuclear device in an underground test. This in itself is bad enough, but when you add in the fact that in the last several months they have tested both long and medium range missiles you can see a very scary situation developing here. So what have our glorious leaders decided to do about this? Go to the UN and ask for tighter sanctions on North Korea. Now we have all seen the effect these sanctions have had which is absolutely no effect whatsoever. A nightmare scenario is developing right before our very eyes and no one wants to do a damn thing about it. What we have here is a power mad dictator with nuclear weapons and missiles that can hit targets throughout the region. Does anybody else see the problem here? The tested weapon is said to be as powerful as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world has seen the devastation that weapons of that magnitude can cause, not just from the initial blast but also from the effects that radiation has on the populace years later, just ask the people of Chernobyl about that. My question for our leaders is what are you doing about this issue and why hasn’t it been dealt with already. The answer folks is yet again to run screaming to the Useless Nations. Clearly this latest violation of international law proves that the UN sanctions are worthless. I have never checked the prices but I am pretty sure that weapons grade material is fairly expensive and hard to procure not to mention illegal as hell. Yet nothing will come of this but more talk and no action. One plan from our government is to intercept ships suspected of hauling nuclear cargo, the announcement of South Koreas involvement in this plan led the North to release a statement that says if any North Korean ships are stopped they will consider it an act of war. For those that don’t know the Korean War is still going on there has never been a formal treaty between the two countries. That is why we still have 25,000 troops stationed in South Korea, and why they are going to stay there for the foreseeable future. Letting the North Koreans have nukes is a monumentally stupid idea they hate the South Korea, Japan, and the US, the missiles they have already tested can reach both South Korea and Japan. How long till they build one that can reach the US? If the world leaders keep refusing to pull their heads out of their asses we may find out when it is too late to stop it. But what the Hell do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

Reality Crap or Where are you Donald Bellisario

It's upfront week for the big networks what this means is all of the big TV networks announce their fall lineups to the advertisers, telling them what stays and what goes and what is coming up. Today Fox announced that Terminator: the Sarah Conner chronicles is officially dead, yet we will get yet another year of are you smarter than a fifth grader and American Karaoke huzzah. There was a time when scripted dramas and sitcoms ruled the nighttime airwaves, now its all about "reality" and crap game shows. My main complaint is the quality of these so called reality shows is crap there is nothing real about any of them, if you want to watch reality TV switch on discovery and watch the deadliest catch, there is nothing real about survivor or American idol. When AI started I liked the premise of the show and although I disliked Simon I could put up with his bullshit, now however its all about showing the worst applicants for the first several weeks just so we can here Simon tear them apart week after week. Not only is his input not helpful to the contestants its flat out mean spirited and at least in my opinion not funny. My wife used to enjoy watching Americas next top model and I would watch it with her from time to time one thing I noticed in the earlier cycles of that show was that the judges always gave constructive criticism they did not try and tear the girls down but gave them tips on how to be a better model. This is something that you wont find the judges of AI doing. Sadly for my wife the last two sessions of ANTM have started to slide into the mold of AI they no longer concentrate on the modeling or the fashion but more on the cat fights between the girls which get old really fast, in the earlier cycles there would always be one real bitch in the group and now they are all bitches it has gotten so bad that my wife stopped watching the show. It is to bad really as she had been a loyal follower for the last several years and now refuses to watch. I know several people that watch every season of survivor and yet I cant stand the show, when it first started years ago I again liked the premise but like every other reality show it just went down hill instead of making these people survive in the remote location of the day its all about who is the best backstabbing piece of crap this time. Here is my idea for a reality show take twelve people that have grown up in overgrown urban centers like LA or NYC and drop them by helicopter into a remote area of the cascade mountains with enough supplies to last them a month or two and the winner is the last person to quit and go home. As an added bonus we could also make these people hunt for their food and see how long it takes them to actually get something to eat. I realize that this would eliminate those of us that grew up in rural areas and actually know how to survive in the woods but I have a solution to that to. Take a dozen country folk and stick them in the middle of Manhattan and the winner is the last person to go insane and walk out. Most people that grew up in the country stay there because they like the lifestyle it offers I know I miss the quiet country life I used to have. Another problem shows like American Idol has caused is if a new series doesn't instantly draw huge ratings its dropped look at what happened to Firefly, Drive, New Amsterdam, Moonlight, Jericho, the list goes on and on all of these shows were well written and had great potential and several of them had big followings yet with the exception of Jericho none of them made a full season before being canceled. Of the above mentioned shows Firefly is the biggest travesty, not only did fox cancel the show before its first season was finished they doomed it to fail from the outset. When the project was first given the green light Joss Whedon mad a two hour pilot that was the perfect opening for a new series, yet the morons running Fox decided that they didn't like it and made him redo the pilot so what was supposed to be the second episode suddenly becomes your introduction. If that wasn't bad enough the programming Nazis at fox then proceeded to run the rest of the series out of order move the show from time slot to time slot and then pre-empted it for several weeks to show baseball. All in all they made sure that this great show failed miserably and left we the fans of Firefly with only one thirteen episode season to remember it by. Drive didn't even get that far before they dropped it lasted just four episodes and then disappeared forever. The heads of fox claimed that 24's ratings were slipping due to the poor lead in from drive to this I say BULLSHIT. the reason the ratings for 24 were dropping was because the show is tired and needs to be put down. Yet as they announced today 24 is coming back for another season of Jack Baurs' shitty life, along with more reality crap. Its a truly sad indicator of this society that shows like Survivor, American Idol, So you think you can dance, and all other "reality shows" do so well, in stead of watching these people have these great adventures why don't you go out and have one of your own. Stop being a lazy bastard and go camping or hit up your local karaoke bar and sing a song or two, be your own idol. The only good news coming out of the Fox upfront meeting was that both Dollhouse and Lie to me were renewed for a second season hooray for scripted television. Bring back the scripted series and leave the reality crap on the cutting room floor, its time we took TV back from the marketing snakes and got our shows back, where is Donald Bellisario when you need him. But what the hell do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

Something that just Pisses me off

Lets talk about another subject that pisses me off, drunk driving. Everyday in this country people are killed by some asshole that thinks he can drive even though he has put away a case of beer, why do we let this happen again and again. If you look at the statistics of alcohol related accidents you will find that the majority of them were caused by a repeat offender, someone who has been arrested for DUI before. Why on earth is this person still on the street? I remember a time in college when I was taking an English class, so of course I had to write several papers for the class. One of the papers I wrote was based on my experience as an EMT in the state of Washington and it involved an accident caused by a drunk driver. The way the class worked we did a peer review system in which all the other members of the class had to read and critique my paper on of the students was a teenage female when she saw what my paper was about she tossed it down and said she couldn't read it because her friend had just been killed in a drunk driving accident. I asked her if he was the drunk driver and she said yes, I then asked if anyone else had been hurt, she said no and I replied in my oh so gentle manner well at least he did it right and only killed himself. She was livid and demanded an apology which I refused to give, I will not apologize for my opinion of drunks who get behind the wheel and kill themselves which is good fucking riddance. Why should I feel sorry for these people the risks of driving while intoxicated are well documented yet they did it anyway. I feel sorry for the victims that these morons injure or kill by being stupid bastards. If you feel the need to drive drunk do the world a favor and put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger it will get the job done quicker and you will only take your own worthless ass out of the gene pool. I believe that killing someone while driving drunk should be a capital offense where the death penalty is a viable punishment for the offenders. Think about it the person involved plans on going out drinking, then knowing that he is to impaired to drive gets behind the wheel next thing you know he is in the hospital and someone else is in the morgue. that is pre meditated murder, at the very least murder two with a punishment of life in prison without parole. I have nothing against drinking by all mean drink up but in today's world you cant tell me that you don't have options for getting home from your night on the town. Most cities have multiple forms of public transportation, be they light rail, busses, trolley cars, or the ever present taxi. pick one if that doesn't work for you call a friend, find a designated driver or if all else fails drink at home. If you throw a party at your house make sure that your guests have a plan to get home safely or have them crash at your place. Just stay the hell off the roads. I spent the better part of ten years as an emt in Washington and during that time I saw a number of DUI accidents one of these is still on my nightmare play list to this day. it always ends the same way to, with a little girl in a pink dress covered in her own blood, all because four people had a party and one of them thought he could drive turns out he couldn't. We as a society need to put a stop to this through stricter laws, harsher penalties for offenders, or simply enforcing the laws we have I don't know but it needs to stop. But what the HELL do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

Ballistic Therapy

Two weeks ago my buddy Hobbit and I loaded up my truck and headed for the sticks for something I call ballistic therapy, now you may be wondering what the hell that means, well I am going to tell you. As you go through your day to day life you have stress, stress from your job, your relationships, your kids, whatever an it all adds up. The question is how do you relieve that stress? It could be exercise, alcohol, fishing, video games, or any number of other ways for me a day out shooting with friends does the job. Now on this particular day we had to venture out to unknown territory as our usual spot has been closed to the public for the summer, after a bit of driving and some confusion we found a great spot to set up and start our day. One of things I noticed as I got out of the truck was the people that had been there before us were complete pigs, there was trash everywhere empty beer cans, leftover targets, water bottles you name it the place was a mess. Now I don't mind the targets as they are made of paper and will break down with the rain we get here, but the bottles and cans won't. After getting the weapons ready hobbit and I grabbed our target stand, which consisted of a cardboard box, some targets and a roll of duck tape to hold it all together found a nice backstop and set up. We proceeded to blast our stress out with a variety of ballistic instruments from .45s to ar-15s all in all it was a successful session. Now I can hear you thinking, "Hillbilly how does this help relieve stress?" The answer to that is simple, having to concentrate on the proper shooting technique helps focus your mind on something other than what is going on in your life, and the simple satisfaction of putting steel on target bleeds off the stress that has built up over time. We went through a couple hundred rounds of ammo during our session and yet other than a few cans, bottles, and one very unfortunate box no one man, or beast was injured. afterwards we collected our trash and packed up the truck had I known what we were going to find when we got there I would have brought along a few trash bags to clean the place up a bit. It pisses me off to no end to have to clean up after a bunch of slobs but if we want to be able to continue using the area someone has to clean it up. Many public sites have been shut down due to excessive trash being left behind, we as firearms enthusiasts have to start taking responsibility for our actions, we need to start cleaning up after ourselves. Something I am thankful for is that the people that were drinking and shooting weren't there alcohol and guns are a very dangerous combination. If you all decide to try ballistic therapy remember one of the key rules SHOOT SOBER, or you to could become just another statistic for the anti freedom crowd. And please remember to clean up after yourself, leaving your crap behind just gives the eco Nazis more ammunition to use against we the outdoorsmen. Well after saying all this by blood pressure is starting to rise I think another trip is in order. But what the Hell do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

Gun safety for children or stupid housemates.

Last week my wife and I were watching the local comedy (news) broadcast when they ran a story about an old man that had accidentally shot himself with a gun his son had given him for protection, after the story ran my wife brought up an interesting argument, she said that with the economy the way it is and crime on the rise more people are buying guns for protection and yet most of these proud new gun owners never learn how to use the gun they bought. Now I can't fault her logic on this one but I can expand upon it. If you have read any of my previous posts you will know that I am a gun owner and I believe that all citizens of this great nation should be gun owners, a gun can give a weak person great power but as the great wise man Ben Parker once said "with great power comes great responsibility." Just what are the responsibilities of being a gun owner? One, learn and understand just how your new gun operates, two learn and understand how to operate your new gun safely, and three teach your children how your gun works and that it is NOT a toy. I grew up with guns in the house everything from small pocket pistols to great big hunting rifles, and yet in my last thirty one years of walking around this funny world I have never had an accidental discharge. Now you may be asking yourself "but hillbilly how is that possible?" My father and my brother both taught me well the rules of gun safety which are quite simple. Rule #1 all guns are always loaded all the time! If you pick up a gun that YOU haven't checked its loaded period. Rule #2 Never Ever point a gun at something you don't want to destroy. Rule #3 Always know what is beyond your target. And for those of you with kids or really stupid housemates Rule #4 Never use a gun without proper adult supervision. Now I could go on and give a few more common sense rules but if you follow these simple rules at all times you should be alright, they have always worked for me. I can hear the questions already, "Is it really as simple as that? The news makes guns out to be dangerous no matter who you are." Yes folks it really is that simple, if you treat every gun as if it is loaded you should never have to utter the words "I didn't think it was loaded” Now I realize that the anti freedom community wants you to believe that guns are dangerous evil creations but that is just not the case, In the hands of a safe responsible shooter guns are no more dangerous than a pen. It is not the gun that is the danger it is the human holding it that is the dangerous element. How many stories do you hear about kids getting their hands on dads gun and killing themselves or on of their friends? Why was the kid playing with the thing in the first place? When I was a child I was taught that guns were off limits without my dad or oldest brother around to supervise. This was damn near the eleventh commandment in our house, and because of this I never shot myself or any of my friends and there wasn't a trigger lock in sight. If you truly want to know how to keep your kids safe around guns teach them in a responsible manner. If you just tell them no you can’t touch that, or that's bad don't touch kids will get curious and wait till your not looking and that's when tragedy strikes. Now I am a believer in the gun safe and I feel it is your responsibility as a gun owner to keep your guns out of children's hands but if you are stupid enough to leave a gun out and you haven't taught your children not to play with it don't blame the gun for your stupidity. By federal law all new firearms must be sold with a locking device of some type and the majority of these do work there are some that don’t but most do however it is all to easy for a criminal to steal your gun bust the lock and go on to cause havoc and mayhem with your gun, the answer to this is simple buy a gun safe. Time and time again the anti freedom crowd exploits the tragedies of families that have lost a child to accidental gunshots to advance their own agenda, and the sheeple of this country let them do it. Instead of wasting money passing more ineffective laws how about we spend that money o help educate more people about gun safety, oh wait that makes sense so obviously we can’t do that. If these people really gave a shit they would preach safety not outright bans. Bu what the Hell do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

Cyclists and Pedestrins or Hood ornaments

If you pay any attention at all to the local news her in the Portland Metro area (Liberal Hell) you might have noticed the increase in pedestrian/Bicycle vs. Car accidents. Every time a car hits a cyclist or a pedestrian there is a great uproar about the safety of our roads and how drivers need to learn to share the roads, and to a point this is true we as drivers do need to share the road with pedestrians and cyclists, but they to need to learn to share. On many occasions I have watched cyclists ignore traffic laws such as stoplights, yielding to pedestrians, and giving proper right of way, yet if one of these morons runs a red light in front of me and I hit him I am instantly at fault even though he broke the law. According to the Oregon DMV bicycles must follow the same traffic laws that cars do, and still I see cyclists everyday that run reds and cut drivers off, and they yell at us to share the road. Where I live in Oregon is very bike friendly most of the roads in the cities have bike lanes for cyclists to use and the cops will ticket you for encroaching on them. I have no problems with this system in theory, but in practice the cyclists hug the line between their lane and mine if I can get a ticket for driving in their lane shouldn't the opposite be true also? Drive through the middle of Hillsboro on any given day and you will see cars slowing down to pass a cyclist the is riding on the very edge of a bike lane and impeding the flow of traffic for everyone. Its just a little insane to me, if you are on a bicycle that weighs maximum 50 pounds why in the hell are you trying to get closer to a lane of traffic where the average car weighs a minimum of 2000 pounds? In a collision you the cyclist have absolutely no chance of winning the war of the lug nuts. The laws of physics state that (force = mass * acceleration) so your little aluminum and steel contraption will do far less damage to the car than the car will do to you.
Now that I have beaten that horse lets move on to the other group I mentioned earlier the pedestrian. Lets start with a true story. Last week as I was driving my truck to work I noticed the jogger going down the sidewalk in the same direction that I was heading that's fine right? WRONG! As I rolled up to a major intersection the light had changed from red to green some time before so I started into my turn when the jogger from earlier ran right out in FRONT OF MY TRUCK!! Now here is where the real problem comes into play, I drive a red 1977 GMC 4 wheel drive truck with a big gas hog V8 engine my truck is neither quiet nor small yet this snapper head was completely oblivious to my presence until I locked up all four tires and scared the crap out of him. Luckily for the jogger I trust no one on the road and expected him to ignore the bright red DON'T WALK sign across the street, I can already tell you why he missed the fact that I was even there. Like most of the world his sheepness had his IPOD plugged into his ears and could not hear what was going on around him. It is either that or I really need to find and disengage the romulan cloaking device on that truck. I don't know about you but my parents taught me to stop and look both ways before crossing the street, they also taught me not to ride/walk along busy roads with headphones in. This guys parents must have encouraged him to play in the street or something. When my wife and I go out walking which we do on a frequent basis we are always careful to watch for traffic and obey the crosswalk signs as they are there for our safety. If these groups want drivers to share the roads maybe just maybe they should think about sharing the roads themselves. But what the Hell do I know I am just an angry Hillbilly.

GovernMENTAL spending in a recession.

In a fantastic waste off money and resources Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler has decided that a new position is needed. The ne job which will pay between $60-70k per year is wait for it,,,,,,,,, Chair's Office Communication Director/Multnomah County Social Media Coordinator. That’s right folks their whole job will be to update websites like twitter, facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites. WTF? We need to pay someone $70K for something millions of teenagers do everyday for free. Is this really the best use off tax dollars in today’s economy? This is just more proof that our government officials have lost their fucking minds. When will this kind of governMENTAL bullshit stop? This state is already reeling with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and the solution is to create 1 job that is going to pay way more than its worth. The vast majority off crap put out on the social sites will taxpayer funded campaign bullshit so of course the sitting officials think this is a great idea, no challenger is going to get a fair shot if this truly does go through. What a load of crap we really need to send our governmental officials during the next election, I think its time for a whole new crop of morons to be planted in public office, at least in Oregon. But what the Hell do I know I am just an Angry Hillbilly.