I miss America

Over the past ten years I’ve spent considerable time living in the U.S. There were a few hiccups but most of the time it was awesome. There’s simply no feeling equal to being a British bloke walking into a smalltown bar like in Delta, Utah where I lived… and hearing Alan Jackson singing ‘Pop a Top’, or Tracey Lawrence crooning ‘Time Marches On’… while blokes walk around with real Stetson hats and ropers. The kind of stuff I only saw in movies back in England.

Even now when I think about that day… getting completely drunk on Peach Schnapps and then going outside and barfing it up on the sidewalk it still gives me butterflies. It was awesome. I was happy. I had not a care in the world. I was finally in America.

I remember wearing all denim, with a stetson walking down Main Street.. I didn’t look too bad.

Now I live in Canada… even though I’ve had ten years of the ‘New world’ buzz… it still is awesome everytime I go across the border.

So I figured I’d put this awesome Youtube video on. Sit back, close your eyes and imagine a small town bar with an uneven warped wooden floor.. not much lighting, only one pool table… coupla rednecks sitting at the bar and one or two people with Yank accents floating around… and hopefully you’ll get the feeling I do.

How a parent should react to a child predator

I’ve often thought what I would do if I were faced with the worst situation any normal parent could be faced with – someone fiddling with their child.

I like to think I’d react as a normal citizen – confront the abuser, report them to the authorities and let the judicial system handle them. In reality I’m very afraid of what might happen if my children were assaulted in any way. The thought of seeing red, and losing all semblance of control is such a scary thought it’s enough to make me vomit almost.

Recently  I’ve had a look at things that have existed for a long while – how do I know my children are safe when they’re out of my sight? Particularly my daughter who would have more trouble communicating if some dude was molesting her.

I’ve been reading and found a few lists which basically all state the following about child predators:

• The individual may shy away from adult interaction
• The individual may seem uninterested in other adults in a physical/intimate way
• The individual may appear to have a seemingly odd, unnatural, or even worrisome attachment to children
• The individual may crave control, and focus that need for control on children, because they are easily manipulated
• The individual may seek out children who are particularly vulnerable, such as loners, overweight or unpopular children, or children who come from a broken home
• The individual may exhibit child-like behaviors, and enjoy participating in activities typically reserved for children

In addition to the above qualities, a child predator is also more like to come from a broken home themselves, may have been abused or sexually assaulted as a child, may constantly degrade him or herself, have low self-esteem, and have very little, if any, adult friends of their own.

The part that scares the living fuck out of me is the following:

Sometimes, a child predator can seem like a perfectly normal and well-adjusted adult, and display no outwards signs of having any emotional or behavioral issues.

There is no force or human on this planet capable of preventing the infliction of retribution by me on someone who harms my children.   I just hope it  never happens because every single person involved (my children, both their parents, and the abuser) would lose out.

Airsoft M4

A couple of weeks ago I bought a cheap M4 Airsoft rifle from Walmart for about $100. Needless to say I was hooked – which I didn’t think would happen considering I’m a member of the Canadian Forces and can handle any of the M4 / C7 variants with ease. I’ve been out shooting Tim Horton’s cups in my porch and taking a microwave packing box full of polystyrene to the parking lot of Two Bears Marina and shooting the shit out of it (I shoot out towards the water for safety).

Anyway… so almost immediately I felt the need for something more powerful and better quality. I went and checked out 007 Airsoft to see what Ken had.  Needless to say I was rather excited by his range of Airsoft weapons – it’s only too bad some of them are available to law enforcement or licensed movie production companies.

Canadian law basically states the lower receiver has to be clear plastic.  If you look closely in the picture you’ll see the lower receiver on the weapon I bought is tinted dark so it’s a bit more realistic.

It has an anodized aluminum upper receiver and detachable carrying handle, tinted clear glass fiber reinforced C8 lower receiver conforming to Canadian regulations, CNC Aluminum RIS unit, a Nylon fiber pistol grip, railed vertical grip, RIS panels, retractable crane stock (holds battery) with two styles butt plates, 14mm threaded aluminum CNC outer barrel, iron chamber block, 6.05mm tight bore inner barrel, a metal one-piece hop up chamber, ultra high torque motor, 300rd high capacity magazine,

The gear box has an M120 spring, steel gears, 8mm ball bearings, aluminum cylinder, aluminum cylinder head with double o-rings, reinforced nylon fiber piston with steel teeth, aluminum piston head with bearings, aluminum bearing spring guide, POM nozzle with internal o-ring, high temperature wires.

Steel furniture includes charging handle, magazine catch, bolt catch, selector, front sight, and flash hider. The other metal parts are rear sight assembly, trigger, ejection port cover, trigger guard, magazine, front/rear sling mounts, forward assist knob, steel motor pinion gear, and locking body pins.

The best part is the velocity is 400fps using 0.20g plastic BBs. I can’t wait to get out and start shooting helpless little moggies. I’m also going to check out Xtreme Tactics in Winnipeg and kick some serious ass – show some of those newbie punks how British dudes with a rifle get busy!

Oh yeah… Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare 2 kicks serious arse. Every review I heard about it was positive – the reputation was well worth it.

More Awesome Political Websites

Denmark

This badass website totally looks like a blog to me – whoever was in charge of approving it I think took bold steps!

Bill Thompson for Mayor

To me this has similarities to Barack Obama’s website.

Honduras

Mayor of Los Angeles

This has definite similarities between Barack Obama’s website and the Whitehouse website.

France

British soldier does the biz!

It takes a real soldier to do this sort of stuff…

A soldier from Selby has been awarded the Military Cross – the third-highest gallantry award – for his bravery during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.

L/Cpl Cpl Colin Spooner, 22, of the 2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment, suffered extensive shrapnel wounds in the attack last October.

Despite intense pain, he continued giving orders and refused a stretcher as it would be a drain on manpower.

The Army said he had shown “exemplary leadership and courage”.

L/Cpl Spooner was leading a patrol in Helmand when they came under attack by about 40 Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.

As he ran back and forth across an exposed compound to relay messages to his comrades, a shell exploded directly behind him.

He was thrown into the air and suffered 32 shrapnel wounds.

Receiving his award at a ceremony in Plymouth on Thursday, L/Cpl Spooner said: “One of my mates came out , dragged me back into cover and gave me medical attention.

“Due to the amount of fire that was coming it would have taken four blokes to carry me so I took it upon myself to walk as much as I could so those four blokes could carry on fighting.”

He said he was “very proud” to receive the Military Cross, but was also proud of his regiment and the support they had given him.

“My mum was overwhelmed [by the award],” he said.

“My mum cried. My dad shed a little tear.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Spooner’s decisive action, exemplary leadership and courage as Section Commander with B Company Group contributed enormously to the successful outcome of a difficult situation.

“His outstanding contribution took place despite extraordinarily dangerous circumstances and the pain that resulted from the extensive shrapnel wounds he had incurred.”

Makes me proud to be British seeing our boys step up and open a can of whoop ass on those murdering fucks!