Beat and Release

Yep!

2012-01-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

I'm still awesome!

Hand Painted:

It's Different

2012-01-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

Reading about all of the officers wounded or killed in 2011 and so far in 2012 has been a disheartening experience. I'm not a cop anymore. I don't even carry a 'retired' badge or ID. When I stepped away I stepped away for good. That doesn't mean I don't still carry the same feelings for most of LE I had when I was easily recognized as one of them. To be honest, all the reading was mainly that. Read the article, curse the news, then move on.

When the news involves someone you know, it is an entirely different feeling. I awoke to the news on Saturday morning and the rage was unbelievable. Once the suspects were identified and arrested a quick check of their criminal histories at the Charleston County website only made it worse. Plenty of previous arrests, including one for unlawfully carrying a firearm, and this POS and his pals were still running loose.

The media doesn't tell the whole story. You can read the news and think, "Well, that must have been a hell of an altercation." There was no altercation. This officer called out to the suspect because the officer wanted to talk to him. The suspect matched the description of a robbery suspect. Without warning and without provocation the suspect pulled his handgun and fired four rounds at the officer. Thankfully, the round in the chest was stopped by the officer's protective vest.

Good job to all the agencies involved in this investigation and arrest. Can you imagine somewhere in the area of FORTY police cruisers pouncing on a 'hood and just taking it over until their man is in custody? Wish I had been there for that one.

I am disheartened by the future I see, though. In six months or so this asshole will apply for a bond reduction and some idiot magistrate will let him out of jail to run amok while he waits for his trial to start in the next two or three years.

I'm guessing the shooter got that swollen eye running through the woods after he shot a fine officer for no reason.

"Timothy 'About to be Ass Raped' Patterson

I Didn't Think It Was Possible, But.....

2012-01-13T23:50:00.000-05:00

.....I'm rather disappointed in some of our military personnel commenting across the blogosphere regarding the 'Pissin' Marines'. In all seriousness, did the guys make an error in judgement? Yes. Two actually. We all know they shouldn't have peed on the enemy although most right thinking Americans don't really begrudge them that little pleasure. And then there is the video. As Bob and Tom like to say, "No pictures, no video, deny, deny, deny!"

What disappoints me is the fact that some of our military members are calling this event a war crime. Be real. They speak of the Geneva Convention. I understand the Geneva Convention. I was made to study the salient portions of the agreement while I was in basic training. I remember thinking how noble it was. An effort to make war palatable. Now that I am older and a student of history I KNOW that the U.S. of A. is one of the very few signatories to bother abiding by the agreement. I challenge anyone to name one country we have fought since the agreements were drafted in 1949 who actually honored them. For those who don't know world history I will make it a multiple choice answer for you:

A) United States of America

Tough test, huh? My take on the issue? Pee on, Marines. Maybe the Army should get into the act, too. Better yet, start carrying some fatback, bacon or pig fat on all missions. After dispatching an enemy, rub the aforementioned substances liberally on the corpse. Repeat until all bodies have been sufficiently soiled.

I'm tired now.

Go listen to Mark Levin on the issue. You won't regret it.

Our Humanitarian Marines

2012-01-13T00:40:00.000-05:00

So, back when I was in the Army every few rounds in our mags were tracer, aka incendiary rounds. They made for a great fireworks show above your head as you were low-crawling through the wire in basic training.

So - here is what I think happened in Afghanistan. Taliban started shit with some Marines. Said Marines smoked the Taliban - literally - by lighting them up with regular and incendiary ammo. Once the battle was over, our Marines transitioned to caring mode. We all know the Taliban have strict burial customs and expectations for the afterlife.

Those dispatched by our war fighters are promised 72 virgins. Our Marines, notorious chasers of poontang themselves, were simply being considerate. They noticed their incendiary rounds had started several small, smoldering pockets in the flowing garments of the enemy. Marines know it is hard to copulate when you are on fire. In desperation they cast about for water with which to extinguish the embers before a full scale conflagration began. Having finished all their water before and during the fire-fight, the Marines, true to tradition, improvised, adapted, and overcame. They whipped out their Johnson's and used sterile H2O from their own bodies to extinguish the flames threatening to consume the enemy and which would have prevented the Taliban from getting laid in the afterlife. It is difficult to engage in intercourse with a wiener shriveled in a barbecue, after all.

I think our idiot politicians should recognize these Marines for this kind act. Rather than forget about the enemy, our Marines chose to sacrifice their own bodily fluids in a humanitarian manner so the deceased enemy could become vagitarians in the hereafter.

The Party of Milquetoasts

2012-01-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

Seriously. What happened to the ass kickin' Republican Party I used to know and love? When did they all become a bunch of Casper Milquetoast morons? I guess all those years of political correctness have paid off for those folks with the desire to kill America. Even the Republicans have been watered down to believe in socialism lite.

The best evidence of this is the current crop of candidates for 2012.

Rick Perry? Mr. Be Kind to Illegal Mexicans? Give me a break. Be a true Texas cowboy, pick up the Remington and run those shitheads out of the country at gunpoint.

Rick Santorum? Mr. Abrogator of the Second Amendment? Yeah, right.

Mitt Romney? Mr. I Believe in Socialism Until It Doesn't Suit My Purposes? Fuck him. If he holds true to form he will run us further into bankruptcy, then break us up, sell us to the Chinese and lay off every true American.

Michele Bachmann? Yeah, I'd bang her until her eyes bled, but I sure as hell wouldn't vote for her.

Ron Paul? Mr. Crazy Brain? I would consider him just a tiny bit since I found out he told the truth about the black plague in this country via his newsletters, but then he recanted, thereby causing me to lose all respect for him.

Newt Gingrich? Mr. Shag All the Broads? I do sympathize with his love of the female anatomy and his desire to experience as many varied anatomies as he can before he heads off on his final journey. And I do enjoy listening to the professor speak on all things involving history, but voting for him for President? Um...no.

So - what are we to do? Do we compromise our principles and vote for the moron with the "R" behind his name, or do we vote for the same-same moron of a different color with the "D" behind his name? Soft core socialism versus hard core socialism. Hell of a choice, ain't it?

Officer Reaction

2012-01-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

Side Note: If you haven't already noticed, I am taking a new tone. I no longer have to worry about losing my job as a result of this blog should someone find it, so I'm typing it the way I feel it. Don't like it? Tough shit. On to the post.

After typing that last post I checked my book of face account to find PoliceOne had the dog sniff story.

Let's run down the facts of the case. Cops get an anonymous call reporting a possible marijuana grow operation at a residence. They set up surveillance. Cops take a K-9 up to the front door and let him take a whiff under the front door. Dog allegedly alerts. Cops type up a warrant affidavit, using the dog alert as probable cause to obtain a search warrant. Subsequent search yields over one-hundred plants.

The initial judge agrees with the defense theory that the officers entering the property without a warrant and using the dog at the front door violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure. An appeals court disagreed and now the case is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a student of the Constitution and of the law, I have to agree with the original judge.

Wanna get pissed off with me, dear citizens? Read some of these cop comments left at the PoliceOnce site:

" If an officer(s) has probable cause to search the house or believes their may be evidence or anything illegal in that house and the owner refuses to let officers search it then it's fair game because obviously their is something in the house that the owner doesn't want officers to know about (therefore, let the K9 and his handler do their job)"

Hmm...maybe I don't want you to search my shit because I believe in the Constitution. How's that reasoning grab you, fucktard?

"Just don't have a grow op and you got nothing to worry about!"

Well now, that really isn't the issue at the heart of the matter is it? Run on back to the academy and engage in some remedial search and seizure classes, fucko.

"Quite obvious that a large number of those who view this site probably have some extensive criminal histories."

The above was posted in reference to a smattering of folks who pointed out the violations of the Fourth Amendment involved in this case. This is the typical view of a lot of cops. If you aren't with us, you must be a maggot. You know what they say about assumptions, dickhead? Research it.

"Omg this liberal country!!!!"

I don't think the bimbo that left the above comment is a cop. She is, however, a fine example of our dumbed down system of education in this country.

"No, it does not. If you are not doing anything wrong, You have nothing to worry about."

Typical cop response here and it is frequently repeated in the comments. This one was from an ass-clown with a badge who uses the Punisher logo as his FB profile picture. That should tell you all you need to know about this officer.

"All it is for is PC, nothing wrong if you're not a POS drugie"

Another frequent response from the officers commenting. These morons don't even take the time to consider the implications of such searches and the negative effect this type of stuff will ultimately have on THEIR rights. Bet you will hear them screaming like little, violated bitches in the future, though.

"I will say NO!!! bad guys always get the breaks!!! This is why this County is going down the drain!! BAD GUYS GET ALL THE BREAKS!! BULLSH*T!"

Sorry, dumbass, but when YOU violate the law it results in bad guys getting a break. You can have a fucking hissy fit about it, but you only have yourself to blame. Personally, if I screwed up and a bad guy caught a break as a result, I would feel lower than whale shit. Instead of complaining about it, I would attempt to educate my fellow officers about the consequences of doing stupid shit. Get a grip.

And here is the final authoritarian word on the matter, from someone who probably graduated in the bottom of his academy class:

"if their doing drugs who cares if it violates their rights :)"

Officers like this should take a few minutes to study a wide variety of laws. For example, in my state, if an officer is violating my rights and attempting an unconstitutional arrest I have the right to resist that arrest, up to - and including - putting a bullet in his fucking dome. State law. Take heed and do your job correctly.

And, we have one officer in all those comments who gets it right:

"Every house has the right to privacy. As a police officer I do NOT go pass someone's property line unless I have a valid reason to be there. That means the same for a K9, which is used as a tool. I can NOT use thermal to ID grow houses so therefore it's my opinion that a K9's scent would be ruled the same unless they & the handler were @ that residence for a valid reason. I hate criminals but I will show the the same legal rights I want."

Nice job, Officer. It is unfortunate you find yourself surrounded by idiots.

Shit That Pisses Me Off

2012-01-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

Yeah, this one could go on forever, but I will just hit the highlights.

1) Having the race card played when someone with common sense points out the First Lady's fat ass and how that ass conflicts with her desire to cram 'healthy' food down the throats of our children (while she's sucking down chili-dogs and fries) that tastes like heavily used sweat socks and bankrupts school districts.

2) The trend in recent years of local news programs hiring black talking heads that can't talk. Seriously. Back in the day you had to speak English and be able to enunciate properly. Example from my local news tonight: "The Ronalt McDonalt house is looking for donations." Makes me wanna slap the shit out of them, tie 'em to a chair and make them spend weeks listening to proper English non-stop.

3) White kids speaking and typing in the same ghetto dialect mentioned above. You children will go far in life. I'm sure of it.

4) EBT re-load day at the grocery store. I went to my local Food Lion to pick up a few things yesterday. I grabbed some ketchup, some sodas, a loaf of bread, a case of fire logs and a bag of firewood. As I was standing in line I felt someone standing very close behind me. I hate that shit. My first instinct was to remove my wallet from my back pocket and put it in the front. As I did this I glanced behind me and noticed the two personal space violators were EBT queens, cards in hand. As the line moved I reached a point where I could put my smaller items on the belt. As I turned to grab the case of fire logs I heard the queens plunking their items down on the belt. I turned back to the belt and the queens' shit was within inches of my shit, with no divider, leaving no room for the remainder of my stuff.

There was a time when I really did go the extra mile to be nice to people and avoid conflict. This was mainly due to my job. I no longer have that job. As a result of that job, I find I have an automatic, intense dislike of most people. Particularly of people who use the government to take my hard earned money by force and have it redistributed among themselves.

Shouldering my burden in my right arm I used my left to sweep the queens' stolen prizes off the register belt and into the magazine rack, all the while glaring at them and daring them to say one fucking word. They backed up while the cashier intently began scanning my items.

5) Dumbass fuckers running the country.

6) Dumbass fuckers running the country and trying to get us all killed.

7) Dumbass fuckers with agendas trying to use the acts of a crazed criminal (who wouldn't have obeyed a gun ban anyway) to disarm those of us who will ultimately end up fighting to return to this country to it's former glory.

8) Cops who are ignorant of the law and the U.S. Constitution, or choose to ignore the same. Read the article, then research the issue of curtilage. This evidence was properly tossed out because the officers, with the sole intent of conducting a search with the dog, entered upon the property without a warrant in order to do so. They then based their search warrant affidavit on the results of that illegal entry. As a result, the evidence is 'fruit of the poisonous tree' and should be excluded. Using a dog to conduct a 'sniff search' of a vehicle on the roadway is an entirely different issue and the concept cannot be extended to include homes. Read US v Carroll. If the Supremes allow this case to go forward it won't be long before you will see your local K-9 units walking through your neighborhood, entering your property and sniffing around your front door. Trust me - it will happen.

Alright. Now I'm too pissed off to type anymore. More to follow at some undetermined time in the future.

Oh, Well, So Much For That

2012-01-02T21:52:00.000-05:00

So I'm in a bit of a down-time period after the holiday. I guess folks have pretty much shot their wads when it comes to purchases. I went out today and bought enough stuff to do four sets. My son wants a BoSox set, I need to bang out a Citadel set that has been pending, then, unless I get an order or two, I will do the others in whatever I feel like. I'm thinking about grabbing some gel stain and doing a multi-hued stain design, or snapping up a wood-burning thingie and playing around with using that rather than paint to flesh out an image.

As I was cutting down the sheets of birch and cutting my layout guides today I had plenty of time to think about shit. As my mind wandered from subject to subject I thought, "Hey, I should seriously take the time to transfer this to the written word," or, "No shit, I should write about that to give all the wannabe police a heads up on what to expect." I haven't lost the desire to write, just the time to do it.

At this point in time I will retract the previous Beaten and Released post. New material may not be frequent, but I'm not deleting anything important and B & R will still be here.

Beaten and Released

2011-12-13T19:38:00.000-05:00

In the next few days I will be putting Beat and Release into a hiatus of indeterminate length. One reason is that my side business has been taking a lot of my time. Working 10-12 hour days in the shop doesn't leave much time for anything else. As the economy continues to tank and the price of everything continues to rise I have to double-down just to stay even. It is frustrating and takes a lot out of you.

Another reason I have decided to shut down is the fact that no matter how much we bring to light, no matter how much we complain, no matter what great ideas we put forth, nothing ever changes. The current crop of candidates only serve to point out the futility of it all as every citizen prepares to enter the voting booth and flail away at buttons and levers hoping to improve their lot. None of these slimy bastards, of either party, give a shit about us average Joe's.

It is my opinion, in light of all the terrible news out there, the world is headed for an all consuming conflict. Given the state of leadership in this once fine country I doubt we will come out ahead this time. My spidey sense tells me we are not only headed for a world war, but the potential for an internal conflagration increases with each passing day. Time to concentrate on the necessary stockpiles we will need to survive.

Those of you who have been following the business side of things also have the business' blog address and I look forward to seeing you there.

Good luck people. Stay safe. Stay armed. Stay prepared.

Not a Decal in Sight

2011-12-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

Started on this set Wednesday. Finished it Sunday. All hand painted, no decals. Oak tops with a cherry stain on the exposed wood.

Ehh

2011-12-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

First attempt at using spray paint. Not too bad, I guess. Getting better at the 'more than one color' logo stuff.

Here is a rush set I did in two days.

Yeah, I'm a badass!

2011-11-22T18:40:00.000-05:00

Best set yet, in my opinion, even though Clemson isn't my team. Oh - no decals. All hand painted.

Nice

2011-11-10T18:18:00.000-05:00

Don't have any current orders on hand so I spent the past two days designing and building my own. What do you think? The state is hand painted, the palmetto tree is vinyl.

I decided to do a South Carolina, Gamecocks, Thin Blue Line theme on the scroll saw project. Should make a nice Christmas gift for someone's sergeant or squad mate.

Just Playing

2011-11-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

Latest project is complete and delivered. Hand painted. I was bored, so I decided to practice with my newest toy, a bench top scroll saw.

Latest Project

2011-11-01T18:46:00.000-04:00

Bengals almost complete. Hand painted except for the large 'Bengals' on top and the small decal at the bottom.

Fraud Alert

2011-10-30T20:24:00.000-04:00

So I have decided I need to purchase a vinyl cutter to use for my cornhole/beer pong table business. I have spent the past two weeks searching the 'net, trying to figure out where I'm going to get the most bang for my limited buck from an entry level vinyl cutter. I even broke down and went to Ebay to see what was there.

I found a company there called USCutter. They regularly post cutters with ridiculously low starting bids, leading folks to believe they might just get a deal. Too bad I spent my life as a cop and believe the old adage about things that are too good to be true.

A bit of research into the bid histories of the items sold by USCutter reveals they are engaging in a practice known as 'shill bidding'. It is fairly easy to determine a company is engaging in this practice even though Ebay now hides the names of bidders behind a mask. When you look at the bids on any given item take note of how many of the bidders have a very low number by their name. For those unfamiliar with Ebay, that number is a user's feedback indicator. I have been buying and selling on Ebay for a few years, but I'm low volume. I have a feedback rating of 150.

When you look at the majority of the bidders on USCutter's auctions they have feedback ratings of 5 and many have a zero next to their names. Sure, everyone new to Ebay starts out with a zero, but most volume sellers will not accept bids from the unproven, especially for high end electronic items. Thus, you can see the reason for my suspicions. I even took some screen shots to show you what I'm talking about.

Note the number of bids by "0" feedback bidders.

The zero feedback bidders are the company's shills. They work for the company and place bids that raise the price.

Here is another of their auctions.

On this bidder listing I have included the 'automatic' bids. For example, you want an item for sale so you can place a bid, then you can set your high bid amount. When another bidder bids less than your high bid amount, the system will automatically bid for you up to the high bid amount you set. Note that every time a legitimate Ebayer puts in a bid, one of the shills will then sign on and place a bid or two to drive the price up to the last bidder's high bid amount. You will notice the shills even bid against themselves when the price has gone stagnant for a while.

Now, according to Ebay this practice is not acceptable. According to federal law, it may even be illegal. Take note of this every time you use Ebay and click that little link that shows you the 'to date' bids on the auction you are interested in. I took the liberty of reporting this fraudulent company to Ebay, but don't expect much to be done. Folks are leaving Ebay in droves and 'power-sellers' like USCutter are how Ebay is making their money.

What the Hell Happened to You?

2011-10-28T22:08:00.003-04:00

Okay - so the cornhole business has slowed down this week and I'm a little (read: a lot) bored and don't know what to do with myself. I am in a transition phase at the moment as I am trying to accumulate enough capital to invest in the necessary tools and supplies to move on to building South Carolina themed Adirondack chairs and tables. I am also going to attempt to build an Anne Marie storage daybed for my grand-daughter for Christmas. In the meantime -

The great thing about the book of face is that it allows you to re-connect with people you lost touch with years ago. I recently established contact with a childhood friend who had moved to California when we were still in junior high school. Normally I delete folks from my friends list who have a habit of posting libtard propaganda, but I also enjoy poking people with a stick. This friend posted the picture below. It seems the OWS folks are putting this image out there claiming the young lady was shot with rubber bullets by police during the 'peaceful' OWS protest in Oakland.

Great goose eggs, Glenda!

A simple Google image search of the term 'girl shot with rubber bullets' produces the same image, but it accompanies articles and blog posts dealing with police breaking up a violent anti-war protest about eight years ago. The picture was posted with some bullshit asking if police should be able to use rubber bullets and asking if rubber bullets were safe, thus my first comment. I was going to stay out of this fray, but, as I said above, I'm bored. I was just going to delete the 'friend' from my list, but, once again, the boredom factor kicked in.

Below are screen caps of the conversation on the book of face. My jabs are labeled 'ME' and the comments of my 'friend' are also labeled:

Should I leave it alone or continue to jab away?

UPDATE: I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I went back and gave it a few more thrusts:

Saw Gets Cut Down

2011-10-28T19:55:00.000-04:00

Big news among cops around here is the recent dispatching of one Solomon Chisolm. I had the pleasure of dealing with this moron on more than one occasion and a couple of his rap sheet entries are a direct result of those encounters. For some unknown reason our local judges would never give him any significant amount of time. In 2007 he was declared one of the worst criminals in the area - at the tender age of twenty and three murder charges in the same year. Not to mention all the manufacturing and distribution charges, the auto theft charges, the aggravated assault charges, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

As evidenced by his Facebook page, Chisolm, who called himself "Living Legend" was pretty full of himself. Read it for yourself. I'll hit the highlights below.

CAUTION: Typical 'real nigga' images and blather to follow:

Here is some of the jibberjabber that followed the pic:

Crackas owe him ten grand!

Parenting 101

Yet another generation of money in da mouf hoodrats is coming.

Of course, when mama is involved in your illegal activities, we can see where the past few generations of hoodrats received their home training and why the black community is in such a sad state of affairs.

You go, Ma!

This business enterprise seems to be a family affair.

I love this post he made on the occasion of his 24th birthday a couple of weeks ago:

Oops......spoke too soon!

She needed that fistful of ill-gotten gains, cause her section 8 and EBT weren't enough.

Whatever, dead man.

Here is a shot of the Living Legend in the process of cooking up his product. Note the supporting messages that follow.

And his last post and responses:

Still Working

2011-10-23T18:45:00.000-04:00

This doesn't look like much yet, but will probably be an extremely 'sick' (as my son puts it) set when complete. Except for a test 'Bengals' decal above the hole the entire set will be hand painted. It won't be the standard one or two inch lines around the edge, either. :)

Calling Virginia

2011-10-23T12:35:00.000-04:00

Will the reader from Virginia please email me again. Instead of hitting the 'reply' icon on my Iphone's mail I hit the 'delete' icon. Doh!!!!!! Please send your email again.

Thanks

USC vs Air Force Academy

2011-10-22T21:08:00.001-04:00

This set is now out the door. Next up is a Cincinnati Bengals set.

Interesting

2011-10-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

I deleted that last post linking to the 51 points refuting Obama's eligibility to be President. I suffered no dire consequences from visiting the site and did not receive the malware warning until I just tried to visit it again. Selective malware warnings? Possible. Better safe than sorry, though.

Ha!

2011-10-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

You may notice I have removed the PayPal link on the right. Thank you to the two individuals that bought me a few sodas a few months back. I have terminated my association with PayPal due to their new policy of holding any money I earn here or on Ebay for twenty-one days and preventing me from accessing it. Since PayPal is owned by Ebay, I have also ceased doing business on that site. Should have done that a while back when I found out you couldn't leave negative feedback anymore and EVERY seller now has a 100 percent rating, even if they are a thieving piece of shit.

Why are companies like this trying to drive away business in a down economy? First B of A, now PayPal and Ebay. Go figure.

Testing

2011-10-16T15:22:00.000-04:00

A couple of designs I painted as a test.

Thin Blue Line

Football Field

Lots of Work

2011-10-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

I am trying to do my bit to get the economy back on track. The American Flag set which was donated to local charity has yielded one order. This is a 'versus' set - one school versus another. The first half has made it through the paint process.

I like leaving the grain exposed. It adds character.