Not True, Yet Why Not?

This letter is making the rounds in e-mail.

According to Snopes.com, my favorite place to check on the validity of such matters, it's not true. They report that "according to the Virginia State Police and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial office, there is no record of a Mitchell Brown having served with the Virginia State Police, much less having been killed in the line of duty".

Here's the letter....

I am a COP

Mr. Citizen, it seems you've figured me out. I fit neatly into the category where you've placed me.

I'm stereotyped, standardized, characterized, classified, grouped, and always typical. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. I can never figure you out.

From birth, you teach your children that I'm the bogeyman and then you're shocked when they identify/associate with my traditional enemy.... the criminal! You accuse me of coddling criminals.... until I catch your kids doing wrong.

You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee breaks each day, but point me out as a loafer for having one cup.

You pride yourself on your manners, but think nothing of disrupting my meals with your troubles.

You raise Cain with the guy who cuts you off in traffic, but let me catch you doing the same thing and I'm picking on you.

You know all the traffic laws.... but you've never gotten a single ticket you deserve.

You shout "FOUL" if you observe me driving fast to a call, but raise the roof if I take more than ten seconds to respond to your complaint.

You call it part of my job if someone strikes me, but call it police brutality if I strike back.

You wouldn't think of telling your dentist how to pull a tooth or your doctor how to take out an appendix, yet you are always willing to give me pointers on the law.

You talk to me in a manner that would get you a bloody nose from anyone else, but expect me to take it without batting an eye.

You yell that somethings got to be done to fight crime, but you can't be bothered to get involved.

You have no use for me at all, but of course it's OK if I change a flat for your wife, deliver your child in the back of the patrol car, or perhaps save your son's life with mouth to mouth breathing, or work many hours overtime looking for your lost daughter.

So, Mr. Citizen, you can stand there on your soapbox and rant and rave about the way I do my work, calling me every name in the book, but never stop to think that your property, family, or maybe even your life depends on me or one of my buddies.

Yes, Mr. Citizen, it's me the cop!

The Author of this article was Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia State Police.(He was killed in the line of duty two months after writing the article.)

AS A SALUTE TO THE MILLIONS OF POLICE OFFICERS WHO PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE EVERYDAY, PLEASE PASS THIS ON!!!!

Well, I say, it doesn't matter if there was a Trooper Brown or not. The letter is well written and, as the British would say, it's spot on!

Too many troopers, agents, officers, deputies and the like who are dedicated to protecting our lives and our property are being killed. Each and every day. They are people just like you and me but with a big difference, they are sworn to uphold the laws and preserve order.

I believe with all my heart that the good people who wear the badges are called to that life. They are the priests, teachers and nurses of the Sam Brown wearing brigades. They are the men and women that rarely make the news or any headlines if they do a good job, but woe be unto them if they choose the wrong snap decision in a time of crisis. They deserve more than they get. They deserve our respect and our support. Take care....be safe, my friends.

Cops Sure Know How To BBQ!

I donned my "uniform" shirt to do some volunteer hash-slinging for a very good cause yesterday and one of the fringe benefits was some of the BBQ that was being sold in order to raise money. Since I can't eat a whole lot these days I took me a small plate home and while chowing down on my lunch it occurred to me that cops make the best BBQ in the world! I don't know how they do it, but this beef was just perfect. It was flavorful, tender, tasty and moist. It hit the spot! The potato salad, which I was actually slinging serving, was "store bought" and came in a vast tub o' plastic, but the beans and sauce and meat were all the real deal.

Now true I'm sure there are some cops that can't BBQ worth a flip, but when you go to one of these big deals they bring out the super chefs. I've eaten enough cop-made BBQ meals to say without a doubt that cops DO make great food on the grill.

They also had an auction and I managed to walk away with four balls! Not an easy feat considering how fast the law was gobbling up the balls! Much less how difficult it is to walk with four balls without dropping one or two!

Hmmmm.....

After rereading that I guess a tad bit of clarification is in order...

I WON four autographed baseballs. All Astros players to be sure. To wit: Brad Ausmus, Jason Jennings, Phil Garner and Morgan Ensberg. None of them came with authorization, but that's okay because I KNOW the ballplayers sign for the police all the time for free and they are happy to do so. Further more these are just for my own private collection to give the girls something else to scrap over when I'm planted. It's not like I scored them to resell on E-bay or anything.

It was a swell day. I'm glad I said "yes" to the request for warm bodies to help. After all cops, baseball and BBQ are all close to my heart!

Gosh, Dwight Noticed I was There!

I'm so delighted that my dropping in unannounced to the TechBlog's Friday Night Geek Gathering was noted and actually recorded HERE! It was a large turnout too...lots of nice folks with ultra cool toys-with-chips! I was lusting after Jay Lee's camera....a Sony whiz-bang if I ever saw one and he's a man of many talents. OR he's hell on wheels on bugs, not sure which, but he made an outstandingly good photo of something with many legs and wings, possibly doing the wild thing (which one would expect from a ....I dunno....wild thing!) or it could of been in some kind of death throes from the St. Arnold's fumes. It did finally fly away probably shooting all the onlookers the insect equivalent of The Bird.

The best part was that I felt welcome! It's like you're in their collective living room or something and if you've ever thought about attending and are shy like me then take it from me, they are all very friendly and interesting to hang with. All age groups were represented too...one of the best things about computer life and the subsequent gatherings. For years when I ran BIO Feedback BBS it delighted me that one couldn't tell from the writings how old someone was and more often than not the mental image we formed was way off. I used to like to play up how OLD I was and then show up in person and have people surprised.... that wouldn't work now though because for some reason I did get old!! Grumble, grumble.

I also got to hold and SMELL Mr. Silverman's 1st book! I like the smell of fresh printers ink. I used to like the smell of gasoline too back in the olden days when it smelled good. It's a wonder I didn't do harm to myself back then sniffing the nozzle!

Well I'm off to the ballgame today and then on to the TriStar card show at G. R. Brown's. It cost as small fortune to get autographs of Roy, Lance and Craig plus Hunter and Scott, but it's not something I normally spend big bucks on so I've already rationalized it in my mind. Don't you just love how you can do that with your own mind and get away with it!

I Like Fred (Thompson!)

I remember the slogan "I Like Ike"....'course I was just a tot (NOT!). Now I like Fred! I've been listening to him on YouTube (thanks, Don!) and the more I hear and see the more I like.

This is what he had to say on the Immigration "reform" issue...

Most Americans know that we have an illegal immigration problem in this country, with perhaps as many as 20 million people residing here unlawfully. And I think most Americans have a pretty good idea about how to at least start solving the problem – secure our nation’s borders.

But there’s an old saying in Washington that, in dealing with any tough issue, half the politicians hope that citizens don’t understand it while the other half fear that people actually do. This kind of thinking was apparent with the “comprehensive” immigration reform bill that the U.S. Senate and the White House negotiated yesterday.

I’d tell you what was in the legislation, but 24 hours after the politicians agreed the bill looked good, the Senate lawyers were still writing what may turn out to be a one thousand page document. In fact, a final version of the bill most likely will not be made available to the public until after the legislation is passed. That may come five days from now. That’s like trying to digest an eight-course meal on a fifteen-minute lunch break.

We’ve tried the “comprehensive” route before to solve the illegal immigration problem with a bit more care and deliberation, and the results haven’t been good. Back in May 1985, Congress promised us that it would come up with a comprehensive plan to solve the problem of illegal immigration and our porous borders. Eighteen months later, in November 1986, that comprehensive plan was signed into law.

Twenty-two years and millions of illegal immigrants later, that comprehensive plan hasn’t done what most Americans wanted it to do -- secure America’s borders. Now Washington says the new “comprehensive” plan will solve the problem that the last comprehensive plan didn’t.

The fact is our border and immigration systems are still badly broken. We were reminded of this when Newsweek reported that the family of three of the men, arrested last week for allegedly plotting to kill American military personnel at Fort Dix, New Jersey, entered the U.S. illegally more than 20 years ago; filed for asylum back in 1989, but fell off the government’s radar screen when federal bureaucrats essentially lost track of the paperwork. Wonder how many times that’s been replicated?

Is it any wonder that a lot of folks today feel like they’re being sold a phony bill of goods on border security? A “comprehensive” plan doesn’t mean much if the government can’t accomplish one of its most basic responsibilities for its citizens -- securing its borders. A nation without secure borders will not long be a sovereign nation.

No matter how much lipstick Washington tries to slap onto this legislative pig, it’s not going to win any beauty contests. In fact, given Congress’s track record, the bill will probably get a lot uglier -- at least from the public’s point of view. And agreeing to policies before actually seeing what the policies are is a heck of a way to do business.

We should scrap this “comprehensive” immigration bill and the whole debate until the government can show the American people that we have secured the borders -- or at least made great headway. That would give proponents of the bill a chance to explain why putting illegals in a more favorable position than those who play by the rules is not really amnesty.

From May 18, 2007
The Immigration Bill: Comprehensive or Incomprehensible?

Take a few minutes out of your busy life and click on some of the links below and make up your own mind about what kind of leader he'd be. If you like what you learn as much as I did, click on the Draft Fred Thompson for President link and let HIM know how you feel!


Also of interest:

Friends of Fred Thompson

Draft Fred Thompson for President '08 The Official Site to encourage Senator Thompson to run and win the office of President of the USA in 2008!

The Fred Thompson Blog Network

Assorted YouTube Draft Fred Thompson Videos

Texas for Fred Thompson

Part 2 of My Weekend Peak Experiences

I got this in feedback....

jonxblaze has left a new comment on your post "My Weekend Peak Experiences!":

Those are great pictures, how was the weather? Wasn't it too hot for hiking?

- Jon @ Houston Website Design

And I just have to answer him here...

If you look at my picture you'll see I was dressed for Halloween as the female version of the Michelin man! Because it was sooooo cold on Mt. Rushmore the night before and the weather wizards said it would be in the 30's the day of our hike, we dressed warmly. I had on underpants, silk long john bottoms, a cotton plus pair of long john bottoms and my spanky new wind proof pants with tons of cool pockets! On top I had a sports bra, the matching cotton plus top, and a borrowed fleece shirt. Topping it all off was The Jacket that I'd bought to go to Alaska many years ago and it used to fit me! I also packed gloves and a muffler! I wore my Harris County Citizen Police Academy Alum. hat too. I wore mostly wool blend socks and my hiking boots would of withstood Arctic winds! I was ready for action!

I was overdressed! Gals in SHORTS passed me on the trail! I thought to myself 'ha! they'll freeze their little buns off when they get to the top and the wind hits them'...rong! Really rong! So rong it deserves a "w"! Make that WRONG, WRONG nearly had heat stroke wrong!

The later pictures had me slumped on a rock sans jacket and displaying the top set of long johns for all the world to see with nary a concern that I was showing what is in effect UNDERWEAR! By then it was who gives a hairy rat's ass what I look like, just get me home alive and I'll deal with the shame of it all later! The fleece shirt got tossed within the 1st mile up the 'hill'.

Being an old Girl Scout, (and I do mean OLD!), I like to be prepared for anything and the theory being you can always shuck the excess, but if you don't have the necessary you are up the creek without an oar!

NOW let me tell you about the plane ride home!

While waiting to board the plane I observed these little kids pretty much running amok among the other passengers. I KNEW they'd be near me on the plane. Call it a gift, call it a curse, I just KNEW. It's considered Goodwin's Law of Averages. I attract irritating little kids like a fireplace attracts soot!

Sure enough, they are in the row right ahead of me. On the left is Grandma, little boy of perhaps 3, aunt, probably sister to mom, then across the isle and right in front of me is mom, little girl of 2 or so and good old dad. Up the way a bit is another little girl who started screaming before we even taxied. Now I raised three critters of my own. I did a fair job of it too, but I apologize to them at least every 6 months for being too hard and too strict and bordering on abusive. It is to my everlasting shame that I hit first and sorted it out later.

But these new fangled parents are well meaning spineless idiots who are, I fear, raising herds of serial killers in training! WTF, who asks a 3 year old if they want to ride on the airplane? Well, we can't very well WALK, dear, so think real hard, don't you want to ride on the airplane? You do, good, now would you like to put on the seatbelt or just run up and down the isle? We don't need to use our outside voice in the plane. Use your nice hands when you touch your sister, please, remember we talked about that. EVERY time the kid(s) emitted a high pitched objection in the scream octave they got their way. EVERY TIME. I considered screaming and crying to see if it'd work for me!

Now the best part (I'm being so factitious here I'm ready to hurl!) was the presentation of The Presents. Auntie, in an effort to quiet the melee climbed up on the armrest of the seat her sister was sitting in, threw open the overhead and proceeded to dig around like a gerbil making a nest for its young until she unearthed two wrapped presents sans bows. That's smart I thought. These new fangled folks aren't as dumb as they look. Well she carefully helped the boy-tot open one end and he tore into the rest of it and pulled out the prize! It was a box of Phonetic flashcards!! I'm not kidding! For a toddler, on a plane, who's not a happy camper and spoiled rotten to boot! The flight attendant nearly tripped over my jaw that was resting somewhere near where they claim to keep the flotation devices!

Auntie had toted her Apple laptop on board and she tried vainly to access some pictures files and take her mind off the din. As a last resort she whipped out a DVD, slammed it into the Apple innards and handed the whole ball of wax over to Sis-Mom. I thought again 'cool, now that's the ticket'! Rong. The DVD was something like 'kids tour egypt' not spongeman or even dora does dixie! What's with all the educational crap? When did kids stop being entertained just for the joy of it? What's wrong with cartoons? Disney, anyone? By then I was resigned to our collective fates.

Thank God for earphones and wine! When the kids dialed it up a notch I'd do the same on my on board radio set to Country! I tried Classical, but it didn't drown them out like Big and Rich!

I guess I'm just getting old and cranky, but I'm not going to apologize to any that happen upon this bit-o-vent and take offense. Take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask who is the parent? Kids need structure and boundaries. They need the security of knowing they have parent(s) that are smarter than them and capable of making decisions affecting their ultimate choices. Okay, big deal, ask a kid if he wants milk or water to drink, but don't allow him/her to decide on the big ticket items like ARE WE GETTING ON THE PLANE or DO YOU WANT TO PUT A SEATBELT ON NOW... geeusHchrist...