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The resilience of America is on display.  Never mind the mind control games that have been perpetuated by the media who would have us believe there is a crises at every turn.  Please don’t be misled into thinking we have become the laughing stock of the rest of the world when, in fact, the rest of the world recognizes the unbelievable success and fortune of our country.

We are entering the New Year having identified a number of “things” and people that have captured our attention and provided the fertilizer necessary to fostering a feeling of doom and helplessness.  Let’s charge on with a new mindset and burn energy changing the things we can…..and ignoring those we cannot.  For instance, lets……

…embrace our new political landscape.  Conservatives have lived through 8 years of  liberal control…..a blue print for the liberal faction today, who are now beginning a similar experience…we all approach the same life in different ways…

…..ignore the folks who kneel during the National Anthem and otherwise disrespect the symbols of our democracy….they are not worth our time……

…..expend energy evaluating the message…not killing the messenger.  Snitches are not the problem……never have been.  Nobody likes them, and that is a heavy cross to carry….think message, message, message…..not messenger, messenger, messenger…

……encourage our children and grandchildren to understand and manage adversity, not shrink from it.  It is never going away……weeping and avoiding the unpleasant is not in the recipie for leadership and success…..life is not a rose garden….

…..galvanize our contempt for those who harm our police officers….when an officer is killed, the butterfly effect guarantees that untold numbers of our citizenry will suffer accordingly…..it is never okay to harm an officer….never

……be passionate, not stupid….there is room for differing, intelligent argument on everything under the sun…..it takes energy to be passionate….it takes very little to be stupid….

…..recognize that freedom has a very sharp edge…..those that would destroy us from within exist and there exists no magic lens to identify them before they strike….so…..be careful…..when driving…eating…….playing….always

Finally…be a part of the solution…..if you are not…..you are a part of the problem…..

Happy New Year

 

 

 

Flying is expensive!  There is no end to the rationalization that occurs to justify the realization of my life long objective……becoming a pilot.  I have doggedly pursued this goal over the last two years, relying on a strategy that only a masochist could conjure up……..but pursue I will.  For those of you considering this lofty goal, please consider the advice that I am offering here.  It is your money and your time….spend both wisely.

First of all, begin this adventure as soon as you can.  There is a reason professional athletes are pretty well done when they hit their mid thirties.  You lose a step here and there and stuff breaks……The FAA recognizes this and requires an aviation oriented physical examination that really takes a hard look at the things we take for granted, like hearts and minds.  When you are 35, in general terms, this physical is a walk in the park…..when you are 67, not so much.  Because of heart related issues, wonderfully corrected at the Cleveland Clinic, this physical presents a risk to my erstwhile flying career…fail it and you are done.  The FAA developed a new rule, the Sport Pilot Rule, that let’s folks like me fly a certain class of airplane without the aviation physical.  I must fly only under certain conditions, all really common sense, such as on clear days, daylight hours, under 10,000 feet, and in little airplanes that must weigh under 1,320 lbs. There are speed restrictions, fixed landing gear requirements and airspace limitations.  I can only fly with one passenger, preferably an underweight midget wearing only a thong and headband.  My instructor, fortunately, is a petite lady who can escape the necessity of under dressing to save weight!  Still, it is worth it and I am not dissuaded.

Secondly, If you take the route that I have chosen, locate a Light Sport Airplane that you can rent for training.  The picture accompanying this article is of my beloved Cessna Skycatcher, N7027F.  This airplane and it’s stablemate, another Skycatcher, are located in Olathe, Kansas where I was extremely fortunate to find a diminutive instructor named Jeanné to teach me.  Please note, this excellent program is located in Olathe, a three hour drive for me, one way, for an hour in the air.  In an already expensive proposition, this adds up folks…..in a hurry.  Miss Jeanné and the Skycatcher are billed at 150+ an hour.  In Missouri, the light sport airplanes that are available are in St. Louis, Kansas City and one, a tailwheel, in Joplin. Not being close to the airplane and instructor will exponentially increase your time commitment, thus financial commitment and is simply NOT the way to do this!  Once again, it is worth it and I am not dissuaded.

Where am I today?  I have enough hours logged to qualify for a private pilot’s certificate, (the physical thing again!), am ready for a checkride and am reviewing to retake the FAA written exam, as my existing exam qualification is time lapsing today.  I am looking for a Light Sport Airplane to buy (preferably a classic vintage airplane like a J3 Cub, Tailorcraft or Ercoupe) and will attain my certification in it. There are a number of light sport airplanes in production, worldwide, but I am not ready to mortgage the house to write a check for 150K-300K to own one!  Typically, the weight of LSA airplanes leaves you with between 400 and 500 lbs payload, INCLUDING gas which weighs 6 Lbs. per gallon.  See midget comment above!  As a side note, I should mention the Skycatcher is a twitchy, overweight, Chinese built and cramped little guy that will climb like a homesick angel, which has been abandoned by Cessna, who is apparently crushing the few remaining airplanes in it’s inventory, thus dooming the owners of the 300 or so Skycatchers that were actually sold to the public, should they need replacement parts. Again,  it is worth it, and I am not dissuaded.

For the record…..I am well aware the Skycatcher in the picture makes my hat look big..and my butt for that matter.  You will notice the only thing that looks small in this picture is the airplane and my wallet…….

Finally, it is worth it, and I am not dissuaded!

There is a reason that folks reach a certain age and hang it up.  No doubt, in the business of policing, it is related to a host of factors, visual acuity, strength, stamina, you know…the usual stuff.  It is the same thing that limits a professional athlete to 10 or so years before he or she is worn out and relegated to the boredom associated with spending some of their considerable fortune.  Thankfully, very few retired law enforcement officers are faced with the prospect of losing sleep over seismic shifts in the stock market…….

I suspect that most of us who have made a career out of policing, in one form or another, can look back with satisfaction in having made a difference in the world we were charged with serving.  We understood the expectations.  We correctly, for the most part, read the folks we dealt with appropriately and applied just the right amount of logic, persuasion and inference to accomplish our goal which was to restore dignity to an undignified situation.  We were schooled in the fine art of winning, an absolute necessity when losing often carried unthinkable consequences.  We relied upon a slapper, stick or backhand when the circumstances were such that our verbal skills were just not getting it done, or when the folks who had attracted our attention in the first place narrowed our options with their behavior.  I recall a fellow trooper, an academy classmate actually, who was confronted by a big, loud, drunk and provocative cowboy at the state fair.  The cowboy announced to the world, and his audience was considerable, that he was going to whip this officers ass (not his donkey…) and the officer replying “well, okay but you are not going to like this”.  The cowboy made a bad decision and was soon cuffed and on his way to jail……I never saw this fellow again and trust he recovered from his broken nose and what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder…the results of said trooper relying on certain compliance techniques popular in our day.  The times have changed…..and our generation would likely get into trouble rather quickly……..

A mob of mannerless thugs blocking a street in our day would be met with a mob of officers equally passionate about unblocking the street.  We would win and a few folks would get hurt.  I can guarantee the thugs would regroup and rethink their decision to block another road.  Today, our officers are instructed to remove their campaign hats at a civil disturbance, so as to appear less imposing and intimidating.  My generation would not have been concerned with the sensitivities of folks intent on burning  and looting.  Again, folks would have likely been bruised up, but they would probably sit out the next riot…..or “rally” as one news organization referred to the stooges who are protesting the presidential election as.

Could I survive in today’s police climate?  Yes and no.  I am not as quick and certainly not as strong as I once was…..and quick and strong are great attributes for an officer.  I could certainly function as an administrator again, but would likely quickly fall into disfavor with the political leadership today when I backed my officers who applied a little more force than the pol thought necessary to resolve a situation.  The cameras, cell phones and kinder and gentler approach so popular today may well be reflective of the desires of the society we protect, however; it is not working folks. The torch has been passed to the new Centurions and these highly trained and better educated officers are being killed at an unprecedented rate.  My sage Sergeant, back in the day, insisted we meet people just one notch above the terms they establish….with the understanding that if they insisted, we could quickly adjust to the circumstance and slip one notch below their expectations………..see the cowboy story above.

This picture was taken on the last day I wore a uniform.  It reflects the passing of the torch to the next generation.  I am proud of my daughter’s commitment and style…..consistent with the expectations we have established for our profession, however……..

I would love to have the torch back………….

 

Ernie Raub,  one of my oldest friends and co-workers back in the days of perpetual blue, and I enjoyed lunch this past week at Bandannas, in Jefferson City.  The conversation moved around a bit, but we did manage to focus on a few irritants. This list grows longer as you age.

If you are of the conservative or even moderate persuasion, the dramatic shift in the attitude of America will provide all the conversational fodder you need. If you are an old cop, there is yet another layer of head scratching stuff to discuss.  We easily slipped through road rage, remembering the days we could actually do something about the bone heads who seem to surround us on the highways these days.  I confess, every time I slapped my ticket book closed after rewarding a bone head with a invitation to explain his or her latest maneuver to a judge, I smiled.  Good guys 1, bad guys 0.  Politics, bad drivers, the latest ailments and family considerations aside we focused on the grand-daddy of all that is terribly wrong with America, the scourge of daily life, the impetus for cardiac event inducing anger accompanied by acute indigestion and apoplectic seizures.  The call taker.

Back in the day, totally unknown to each other, Ernie and I had a policy in our respective divisions.  Our iron clad, guaranteed response to the calls that were routed to our shops was an answer, by a human being, to your question!  Magic stuff today.  Ernie directed the Research and Development shop and I had inherited the Traffic Division, so odd calls that hit the switchboard were often directed to our offices.  If we had no idea what the answer was, we took a call back number and ran the traps for the caller until WE could provide the answer to the question.  If further information was needed, we caused the appropriate person in state government to call the person making the inquiry back and help them.  No phone tag, no wandering around from office to office, we cut to the chase.  If two Missouri State Highway Patrol Captains could not get an answer to a citizen inquiry, imagine the frustration of the caller, as he or she navigated the system in Jefferson City!

Ernie Raub is not excitable.  He is one of the more reflective, direct and patient people that I know.  Ernie, having recently lost his mother, had been navigating the various social security and Medicare components of government.  He talked of the various folks, when you actually talked to a person rather than an electronic router, who could barely speak English, who obviously kept a roster of numbers routed through the same electronic prompted maze.  I felt his pain.  Rather than sign up for social security on the computer, I opted to appear in a Social Security office in person, thinking a conversation about my options would be helpful.  It was, to me, not so much for the official who was interested only in getting me out of their office expeditiously.  I should have used the computer.

People cost money….electronically recorded responses do not.  Want to talk to someone about service on an appliance, your call is answered in another part of the world, who relays the information (or not) to a service center in your region, who relays the information to a service center in your state, who then notifies a service tech who must check with his dispatch center to arrange a specific time, who then notifies you he will be by between 6AM and 5PM on the appointed day. Efficiency indeed.

We need to do a study.  Rather than the mating habits of earthworms, let’s look into the daily activities of the folks involved in major, life altering or life ending events.  I am betting you will find an experience with a call taker in the preceding day or two of the event.   While we are at it, let’s add anotheir category for death certificates signed by coroners and medical examiners, “telephone induced cardiac arrest”, or TICA.

Telephones should have warning labels………..

 

As have most of the folks that I share my existence with, I am shocked at the behavior of those lost souls that have taken to the streets to kill my brothers and sisters in proverbial blue.  Shocked, but not surprised.  We did not get to this point as a result of some divine intervention or anomaly in the weather, rather as a result of a generational malaise accompanied by a stunning urge to ignore rule and law and do only what feels good.  The Great Pyrenees breed of dog can teach us many things about responsibility, let me explain.

The Great Pyrenees goal in life is to protect something.  He will protect sheep, goats, cattle, people, children, grass, flowers, bird feeders and other Great Pyrenees.  They are beautiful dogs and capable of uncompromising love.  They are sturdily built and blessed with a thick, protective coat.  They have terrific vision and don’t miss much going on around them.  They are intelligent, possess great temperaments, and are confident in their abilities.  They have great stamina, love their job and are happy when their protectees are secure.  They will fight to the death to protect the sheep or whatever else they are responsible for.  They do not give one sorry damn what color the sheep or cattle or whatever it is they are caring for is.  It is a matter of fact they will rest closest to the most vulnerable members of their  herd or flock , knowing full well this is where an external threat will likely strike.  They will give the full monte to their job and would be confused, bewildered and crushed if a goat or sheep turned on them. Sheep know better, they can sense the great destruction that would follow such an attack,  maybe even having experienced the spectacle resulting from an ill conceived attack stopped short by their Great Pyrenees protectors.  Amazing isn’t it?  The natural order of the animal kingdom reflecting  reason that humans can only marvel at.

When the sheep attack the sheep dogs, we will suggest that is just how it goes for the sheepdogs, you know, unfortunate but to be expected.  A shepherd will not invite the wolves in for a conference, rather he will see to it his sheepdogs are taken care of and well supported.  He will swear vengeance on the wolves.

The current administration is a blatantly anti-cop as any administration in history, totally ignoring the attacking subhuman variants and suggesting the “police culture” is to blame for the current carnage.  Bullsquirt!

When there are no more Great Pyrenees, there will be no more  sheep…….It is the natural order.

I would suggest that if you are one of those, and I suspect there are precious few, of my readers who are enamored with Tribal Politics or see only the the beauty in the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, now would be a good time to find an old copy of Mad Magazine and set this posting aside.  If, on the other hand, you are guided by clear headed logic, or can at least objectively evaluate what falls in front of you, then give this post a read.

Hillary Clinton is a liar of the first order.  Never mind that “others have done it”, (a refrain that I smilingly brushed aside hundreds of times when scratching out a summons to a violator), or “I didn’t know it was illegal”, another favorite dodge that proved worthless as I continued to block print the information needed on the ticket.  It was a rare violator who would look you in the eyes and deny the violation that you just witnessed.  They might attempt to mitigate it with a circumstance or two, but outright denial, rare indeed.  That is  not the case with Hillary……or for that matter, her counsel, Bill, the fellow who happened to “run into” the Attorny General in an airport out west.

The Kansas City Star ran an editorial recently suggesting that Americans don’t deserve either candidate currently running for the presidency.  This is remarkable only in that Hillary is seen as a poor choice by a publication that leans left…….a lot.  While I am still watching Mr. Trump with arched eyebrows, I have seen all I want to see of Hillary.  The woman prevaricates with abandon.

At this point, we should probably make a distinction or two about the seriousness of her prevarication.  Mrs. Clinton sent and received highly classified intelligence data on a private server in the basement of her home.  A server that enjoys the same level of security afforded me as I write this article on my computer in my home………..none!  State secrets, mind you, many of which we will never know about as they were destroyed. This is not bean bag……America is under siege from a host of foreign and hostile governments and our Secretary of State is treating sensitive information with the same respect she would the exchange of recipes for chocolate chip cookies.  Never mind her motives, a serious consideration in and of itself, just focus on her denials.  Read the transcript of Director Comey’s responses to questions from Rep. Gowdy.  Lie after lie exposed.

Hillary Clinton’s history is one of prevarication.  No need to delve into such matters as who she was named after, Benghazi, and leaving the White House dead broke, or………well, you get the picture. Her deviation from the truth does have value in a value concious society…….she is sitting on the rights to a number one best seller….”The Art of Prevarication” with a forward drafted by Bill.  God help us if the author ends up being President Hillary Clinton.

Speaking of prevarication…….a fellow who enjoys a similar following has referred to her as the most qualified person to ever run for the Presidency.

Wow!  You can’t make this stuff up.

 

Our nation is witnessing the aftermath of a senseless slaughter of police officers in Dallas, Texas.  I, like the overwhelming majority of police officers, active and retired, am numbed by this horror.  However, unlike our nation’s chief executive and the governor of Minnesota, we understand the necessity to rely on our criminal justice system to properly and thoroughly guide us in managing this hellish nightmare.  The Dallas Chief has provided the leadership that other, impulsive, knee jerk leaders would do well to emulate.  Our criminal justice system is in serious trouble folks and it is this system that elevates us above so much of the rest of the world.

It has not been a good week for Lady Justice.  The incomprehensible logic that has surfaced in the adjudication of the Clinton email scandal was the first punch to Lady Justice.  It is relevant here because it demonstrates that power brokers can and will set aside our system that places a matter before a jury of your peers in favor of political expediency.  Then we have the shootings of members of our citizenry by police officers, another matter that belongs in the criminal justice system. Our system is designed to handle these issues, however; the people, led by the rhetoric of our leaders who have precious little in terms of verified evidence, choose to preempt the system with conclusions that are premature, speculative and designed to fit their political narrative….another body blow to Madam Justice.Shaken, but not yet knocked down, Lady Justice is crying softly at the deaths of her centurions.  She understands the implications of ill timed and irrational rhetoric from those elected to respond with reason and restraint.  She reveres her centurions and understands today’s pain.  She is relying on the reasoned response of tested leadership such as the Dallas Chief and his spokespersons.  She is proud of her centurion’s  courage and demonstrated willingness to place themselves between those hell bent on the destruction of our society and those who would be harmed.  She predates the presumptuous politicians who are reacting irrationally to today’s hell on earth and councils patience and thoroughness in seeking a lawful conclusion to the same.  Given an opportunity, she will handle today’s happenings.

Please, America, don’t ignore her.  She isn’t well these days, and we must have her to protect the centurions and our society.  I will lift a glass to my brothers and sisters in blue and could not be prouder of their role in lending order to our society.  Hell awaits the people who sought the destruction of those who are just now entering Valhalla.

The FBI has spoken.  Their respected Director, Mr. James Comey flatly stated the Bureau would not recommend that charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.  His statement:  “Our judgement is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”  Respectfully, Mr. Comey that statement is well beyond your pervue, clearly the province of a prosecutor and not the investigator. In all fairness to you and the Attorney General, this was no mistake or role reversal……….and smacks of sheer genius.  Let me explain.

The Attorney General, having been caught passing the time of day in Arizona with the husband of the target of the investigation, stopped short of recusing herself from this matter, instead saying she would rely on the FBI to make the decision relative to the prosecution of Hillary.  Perfect!  The individual responsible for prosecuting Hillary does not recuse herself, but really does recuse herself……genius.

Now comes the FBI Director, who has absolutely no authority to prosecute Hillary, but in fact says no prosecutor would charge her on the facts that he is fully aware of. Perfect, again!  He has no authority, but is given authority that does not exist to say he would not prosecute Hillary…….again, genius.

Folks, these guys are good.  The FBI offers a summary reflecting gross negligence, yet Hillary walks.  No blood on their hands.  The Attorney General confers fictional authority on the FBI Director to bring a prosecution, thus abdicating her role in this unholy mess.  No blood on her hands.  At the end of the day, Hillary walks away, free from this vast right wing conspiracy too impune her good name and no one is responsible for the decision to not prosecute.  This makes the Tweed Ring look like 3d graders playing tether ball on a sunny afternoon.

All of this happening with absolutely no interference from the current administration, who has already endorsed Hillary for the presidency.  After all, this is the most transparent administration in US History.

America is a world leader in technology as evidenced by our ability to apply Teflon film to many things, such as frying pans and bandages.  We now lead the world in the application of this technology to mere mortals…….oops, near mortals as the Clinton lineage would indicate they have ascended well above mortal status.

Genius………..sheer genius. 

It must have been brutal.  Heat, cold, rain and snow swirling about as our forefathers trekked across the plains in search of fame, fortune and perhaps a new lease on a worn existence.  There were no Interstates, replete with rest stops and climate controlled eateries along the way.  Rather than rely on a GPS or two, one in dash and one on the dash for good measure, you were careful to stay on the wagon track and trust the memory and experience of the wagon master to get you through the journey.  When a threat developed, raiders of some description or other, you circled the wagons and fiercely defended yourself from inside.  So it was and still is with America.

The derisivness that is gripping our great republic is really nothing new.  Like large families that gather for special occasions such as the Fourth of July holiday, we bicker, opine and otherwise disagree with passion and righteousness at will.  All the while, we are careful to keep the wagons circled.  Pick up any periodical, turn on the television, and we seem to be dissolving from within, the look of chaos must be evident to folks from other parts of the world.  Democracy is a messy business, made more so by the freedoms we enjoy.  We have the ability to step up, offer an opinion and criticize zealously that or those we do not agree with.  We are brassy, loud and protective of our way of life……again all from within the circled wagons.

We are actively engaged in the business of selecting a new wagon master.  This new leader is inheriting a country that is polarized, irritable and facing significant external threats.  This selection process is uglier than a mud fence, but it is all we have and it is what we do.  For a day or two centered around our nation’s birthday, we manage to set aside our inside the wagons differences and celebrate the creation of this truly beautiful country we love.  While we enjoy barbecue, fireworks, home churned ice cream and blistering rides across our lakes and slow floats on our streams, please remember to acknowledge our uninformed services charged with protecting  us from the threats we know exist. Lending dignity to our energetic and multifaceted society is a full time job for those who are charged with recognizing and neutralizing the threats, both internal and external, to the sanctity of our incredible country.  Our wagons are always circled………

Happy Birthday, America!

I have a history with dogs that goes back to a skinny 10 year old kid living at 2046 Somerset Avenue in Columbus, Ga. My first pup’s name was Count Beno of Somerset, a terrific, fawn Boxer with the energy of Amern UE.  We called him Beno and I loved that pup.  He contracted sarcoptic mange, red mange they called it in those days, and we eventually lost him as a result of this scourge…..something today’s vets can usually handle easily.

Fast forward to 1973 and our acquisition of a great yellow Lab named Annalore Ezekial, or Zeke.  He was mostly an outdoor dog, our house was small, but he was inside when it was too cold outside…..a frequent occurrence in Missouri in those days.  We lost Zeke to cancer in Springfield not long after I was stationed there.  Zeke was a bright fellow and loved people…..not unusual for Labs.  Zeke was followed by Johnson’s Piney River Luke and Piney River Belle, two rambunctious German Shorthair pointers who knew their way around a bean field. These guys were gun dogs, pure and simple and an absolute joy on the hunt.  We lost them to old age …….and I haven’t had a gun dog since.  For us it has been a succession of Labs……and a Lab will be there when Sharon is busy arranging for 6 folks to carry me into church.  We love ’em!Tazzy enjoying a “pupacino”

I should be so fortunate.  Folks who don’t share their existence with a dog are missing one of the great pleasures in life.  The devotion, unfailing loyalty and desire to please are attributes that humans have not consistently mastered. Perhaps dogs don’t reason exactly as we do, but one should never underestimate them. They honor their keepers by making them the very center of their being and willingly absorb the tribulations of life on behalf of their human partner.  Dogs laugh a lot…….with their tails.Truman                                Abe                                     Micah

We currently share our home with a 92 pound appetite disguised as a Lab who answers to Taz’m, a name we conjured up using the first letter in each of our previous Labs names, (T-Truman, A-Abe, Z-Zeke, M-Micah).  You know you are suffering from some dread mental malady when you purchase dog colored carpet and a vehicle the dog will be comfortable in. Maybe a little off, but totally unapologetic. A very good friend of ours had a book made, “The Heartbeats at My Feet” a pictorial that chronicles our association with the aforementioned Labs, good boys and girls who were terrific companions.  Cardinal baseball, a cup of coffee and a softly sleeping Lab at my feet. Not a dog, really, rather a miracle with paws.

We all have to be somewhere……….