Today I wrote my elected officials

Today I wrote my California elected officials.  I also sent a copy to our President and the people in Washington.  Below is a copy of my letter.

I have lost all faith in our California elected officials.

The subject of firearms is a topic that is a current focus of attention in our nation.  Looking at some of the items in process it makes me ask myself if some of these folks are actually serious, do they have any logical thinking ability?  Or, is this just a very efficient media stunt to get their name into the press?  It seems the latter is the case.  I had never heard of many of these folks until their antics started using the subject of firearms as a foundation.

Assembly Bill 760 (Dickinson) imposes a sales tax of .05 cents per ammunition component (complete cartridge, bullet or case).  - Does this dick(inson) have any basic math skills?  A box of 50 rounds of .22LR ammunition that is usually around $2.50 would now be $5.00?  The most popular cartridge used to teach young people how to safely handle firearms.  A premier target cartridge.  Well, I know this fellows name now and if I see him run for any office I will do my best to bring his lack of ability to the public via social media.

Senate Bill 47 and 108 (Yee) - I had no idea who this fellow was a year ago.  I am now personally embarrassed that he has anything to do with the state where I was born. 

Senate Bill 53 (DeLeon) requires persons to buy an annual ammunition purchase permit, requires the registration and thumbprint of the purchaser for each ammunition purchase, and bans online and mail order sales of ammunition to Californians. - More paperwork here and more taxes from the joker above.  You folks are doing a heck of a job driving business out of California.  Between the taxes and paperwork it is a wonder why any business would want to reside in this state.  You folks mismanage the money you are given and a year later ask for more.  The voters pass a measure to raise taxes for teachers and a few months later layoff notices still go out to many teachers.  You are all scoundrels, liars and dishonorable by any standard that I was taught when I went to school in Los Angeles back when you did not need to take a test to graduate to affirm you could read or write. 

Senate Bill 293 (DeSaulnier) bans the sale of conventional handguns, if the Department of Justice approves the sale of “Owner Authorized – Smart” handgun technology. - You folks really cannot see the path this is leading to?

Senate Bill 374 (Steinberg) expands the definition of “assault weapons” to BAN the future sale of VIRTUALLY ALL semi-auto rifles (including rimfire cartridges) that accept a detachable magazine, requires NEW “assault weapon” registration, requires registration of ALL those semi-auto rifles that are currently possessed to retain legal possession in the future, and subjects these firearms to all other “assault weapons” restrictions. - Steinberg. Feinstein. When they talk of the Jewish homeland of Israel where they fight for the country I hope they check your passports to assure they are on the NO ENTRY list.  I am Jewish and you both offend me personally.

Senate Bill 396 (Hancock) bans the possession of any magazine with a capacity to accept more than 10 cartridges, including currently legally possessed "grandfathered" large capacity magazines. - Legal one day and outlawed the next.  Thankfully our government trained many of us in the past, some of us extremely well.  Many of us are now at the age where we have led a full and productive life and are not concerned with possible consequences.  The DHS can buy all the ammunition and light tanks it can with the taxpayers money but if you folks cannot sleep at night it is no mystery to me.

Senate Bill 567 (Jackson) changes the technical definition of a shotgun, which would turn all handguns into short-barrel shotguns that are illegal to own. - I really need to talk to this fellow.  I want him to change the definition of "automobile" so my car can then fly over the traffic here in Los Angeles.

You folks are pathetic and anything but leaders.

I await my form letters as your typical response.

"Genalex" Gold Lion 12AX7 / ECC83

Some of you have been asking if I could make some of my tube testing available again.  This is the first report that I have put out to the public for a while.  I will continue to put reports on this blog.

To see the full report just click on "read more" below

The Day The Music Died?

Any image in this piece may be clicked on for a larger image.

It had been a while since I spent the day in Hollywood visiting some of my friends and some of the music stores.  My thought many times during the day was a lyric by Don McLean in the song American Pie ... the day the music died.

Back in the mid 70s through the early 80s we were treated to Disco.  It took time (way too long from my personal point of view) for Disco to die.  

I talk about the state of vacuum tubes and how there has been a steady decline over the last decades.  Today there are more "types" than ever and the offerings are worse than they have ever been.  As sad as I have been over the state of vacuum tubes the state of guitar amplifiers seems even worse.

Click on "read more" to continue ....

Asshat of the day award - Fidelity Investments

Today I received a notification that there was an iPhone update to my Fidelity mobile app.  My app had been working fine in the past and I always downloaded the latest update.

Bottom line - big mistake.

I tried to log in many times.  It said my password was invalid.  I went to my desk PC and all worked fine.

I deleted the app and downloaded it again.  Same problem.

I called Fidelity.  They confirmed there was indeed a problem.  They had no estimate on when the issue would be resolved.  

This financial app is a bit more important than something like "angry birds".  People rely on the Fidelity tools for their investments.

Click on "read more" to continue

President Obama. One very smart cookie?

I am going to point out some FACTS.  Take this or leave this.  Put the pieces together or walk away from the compelling evidence.  

It is clear to me that our President and his administration are masters at working the system.  There are none better at working the media.  They have no equal in history at leveraging tragic events to put the nation back on track to prosperity and growth.

Click "Read more" to continue.

Rock Guitar Daily with Tony Conley: NAMM 2013 - Vol. I - 65amps, Myles Rose, Hahn Guit...

Rock Guitar Daily with Tony Conley: NAMM 2013 - Vol. I - 65amps, Myles Rose, Hahn Guit...: I recently took a trip out to Los Angeles to catch the 2013 NAMM show - for those of you unfamiliar with NAMM, it is the National Associa...

Thanks to Tony for the kind words.

Obama. Has he finally gone insane for real?

Say what you will about our President, Obama.  Was he born in the USA?  The debate continues.  But .... there is one thing that cannot be disputed.  He is now clearly insane and it may be time for Vice President Biden to step up to the plate.

What the hell am I talking about?

How many folks realize that our President is considering the Mayor of Los Angeles a candidate for Secretary of Transportation?  If this does not show that our President is insane I don't know where one could find a better example.

First off, our Mayor never had any education in traffic patterns.  All the work done here in Los Angeles has been done by others, not by him  We continue to have some of the worst traffic in the nation and considering the size of our city one of the worst public transportation systems in the nation.

Our Mayor also allows major streets such as Sunset Blvd to be impacted by road work during the height of traffic.  This is one more area that shines a spotlight on the man we have elected as our Mayor and the man we have elected as our President.

Well Mr. President, I am ashamed to say that I voted for you the first time and due to two horrible options in the last election I voted for you again BUT .... next time I may just vote Republican based on the antics of many of "my Parties" recent behavior.  As far as the Mayor of Los Angeles?  The guy is a media clown and I have personally seen him act one way when the cameras are not running and another way when they are turned on.  The guy is an asshat and fart face on more levels that one can imagine.

http://www.governing.com/blogs/fedwatch/gov-next-transportation-secretary.html 

Need Glock parts? Here is a bit of a warning.

You may want to think twice before

considering doing business with these folks

I have written a number of pieces on customer service in this blog.  I have seen some of the  best and some of the worst.  I may have found the worst at this point.

These folks advertise themselves as the number one parts supplier for Glock pistols in the world.  I will venture to guess that a year from now this will not be the case if this statement is even true at this point in time.

I understand with the current firearms issues in this country that certain items are hard to keep in stock by vendors such as this one.  The issue that they, the largest of these vendors, does not note on an item by item basis, what is out of stock when one places an order.  Folks like Brownell's and dozens of other vendors do this.  In face, I cannot find ANYBODY who has online ordering that does not do this, other than these folks.

But, that is NOT the main issue.  The main issue is their lack of customer service, lack of response, phones which are never answered and the general run around.

Yes, these folks in my book are currently the #1 folks in my book but not as a parts vendor. They are #1 in the position of holding the worst customer service award.

Here is a bit of dialogue I sent to these folks .... click "read more" to continue.

Media Quiet About San Antonio Theater Shooting

On Sunday December 17, 2012, 2 days after the CT shooting, a man went to a restaurant in San Antonio to kill his X-girlfriend. After he shot her, most of the people in the restaurant fled next door to a theater. The gunman followed them and entered the theater so he could shoot more people. He started shooting and people in the theater started running and screaming. It’s like the Aurora, CO theater story plus a restaurant! 

Now aren’t you wondering why this isn’t a lead story in the national media along with the school shooting?

There was an off duty county deputy at the theater. SHE pulled out her gun and shot the man 4 times before he had a chance to kill anyone. So since this story makes the point that the best thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun, the media is treating it like it never happened. Only the local media covered it. The city is giving her a medal next week.  http://tiny.cc/l4a3pw

My take on this?

Here in Southern California I patiently wait and count the days until all pens, sharp objects, liquids and other items are surrendered at the door of movie theaters. Perhaps this can extend to restaurants and other places?

Am I the only one smart enough to see that this is California's answer to the budget problems in this state after sales tax increases and business taxes have driven so many employers out of the state, reducing revenue?

Yes! We are soon to be the center of the USA for not only being ground zero for the homeless BUT we are going to have our employment problem vanish as one resident it five will now work for the folks who supply the TSA folks at the airports! We just might find those folks at the entrance to every building which has public access! The side business will be coffee stands and snack carts to feed patrons as they wait in line for security checks for their turn through the detectors.

Yes, California will lead our great nation in safety and our economy will flourish (on paper) as unemployment drops to zero as the minimum wage task force of armed folks with GED educations rises to be the primary workforce in the golden state.

Reporting from the streets of Los Angeles - Skid Row

The political machine is back in full swing after the November election.  Maybe nationally it will be business as usual? Locally here in Los Angeles they are trying to raise sales tax... again.  Drive consumers to Orange County or Ventura to buy that big screen TV, appliance or your next car and save hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The voters in California approved a measure to give the public school system even more money even though our state government has proven themselves as totally inept at managing money.  California is 47th in the nation when it comes to spending per student and yet our government had the gall to ask for more money.  From my point of view they should have let the system fail and rebuilt it from the ground up.  We should have sent a message to our folks in Sacramento.  Guess we will get what we asked for, get what we deserve ... again.

Meanwhile, here is Los Angeles, the homeless mecca of the nation, things continue to get worse regardless of what the media reports.

No longer are the primary residents people with substance abuse, alcohol abuse or mental illness the primary residents of skid row.  They are now families, children, out of work people who have lost their jobs and run out of unemployment benefits, returning veterans from the mid east and folks who have lost their homes to big banks and big business.

I count folks on the street each month.  I see the number tell a heartbreaking story.  But, rather than trust my numbers let me use some numbers to compare two recent months, September 2012 and October 2012 from Union Rescue Mission, the largest mission in the nation.

Total Mental Health Clinic Sessions - 62 vs 110

Total Health Center Visits - 496 vs 537

Total Dental Clinic Visits - Individual Patients Seen - 453 vs 664 Total Legal Clinic Visits 53 vs 105 Total Meals Served 63,755 vs 65,968 Total Nights of Shelter (per individual) This does not include families which is another 2,232 people - 22,799 vs 23,445 .

The above are the figures for only TWO months and the increase from one month to the next.  From where I sit things are not getting better.

Feel free to pass this piece along to others via the link.  If you would like to help just go to www.urm.org.  There are many ways you can help.  You can donate in many ways in any amount.  You can even donate $10 from your cell phone and feed five people in a mater of moments.  (To donate $10 to Union Rescue Mission, text the letters URM to 85944. You will receive a confirmation text message. Reply with the word YES to complete the transaction. )

Thank you.