Cop Shooting - (ex) Officer Thomas White is Still Free

I've written about this case before, but until recently I haven't seen any news about the case.  Then I found something in The Toledo Blade the other day.

On May 23, 2009 in an act of cowardice, Ottawa Hills police officer Thomas White shot motorcyclist Michael McCloskey in the back, paralyzing him from the waist down.  Thomas White is completely unrepentant, as would be expected of any gang member shooting an innocent victim.  The victim shouldn't have been there, and that's all.

Hurricane Sandy

I've been in a hurricane before.  I actually went down to the beach to see what was up, and having seen what was what I returned to my apartment.  When I got up the next morning it was all over.  But, you see, that was in Jacksonville, Florida where people do not obey the State government's directives to evacuate.  Instead, they ride it out and then put up signs: You Loot, We Shoot.

My cousin 88 is in New York.  She's fine, and she's working from home.  I haven't talked to her about the storm news coverage very much, but I did get some second hand information from Uncle Sardonicus and Auntie Annie, who tell me that according to 88 everything's fine.  People are out going to work, no one is using the subway, the end of the world isn't here as yet.  Commercial news media reports train wrecks and ignores normal operation.

Out of all the coverage I've seen of Hurricane Sandy, here's the best graphic.  I have no idea who created this, but I'm giving the unknown artist full credit along with a hat tip and a hoist of the afternoon bourbon glass.

Mom in the ER

Just when things start to smooth out a little and I figure that the worst part of the highway is behind me, a rock grabs the oil pan.

Last Friday Mom complained about feeling dizzy, disoriented and generally weak all over and she hadn't been drinking.  No chest pains were involved, but between short discourses about settling the estate and the mess she'll be leaving me in ten minutes from now, I manage to get a coherent answer about taking a trip to the ER.

Off we go.

Range Report: Shooters of Maumee

Up until recently people in the Toledo metropolitan area had two choices for an indoor pistol range: Cleland's Outdoor World and The Bullet Stop.  That is no longer the case.

I'm happy to report that gun owners have another choice.  Shooters of Maumee is open for business, and the place is excellent.  Keep reading for a curmudgeonly run down on the facts, features and vicious rumors.

Many Happy Returns

I haven't had time or inclination to write much lately.  Mainly inclination.  I find the current political situation distasteful at best, nauseating the rest of the time.  I don't really believe that the election results will change my own situation at all, either immediately or in the future given that the difference between sixteen trillion dollars and thirty-two trillion dollars being purely imaginary, since there isn't that much wealth in the entire nation, even at today's inflated prices.

I failed to have a drink last night and I wanted one, which has thrown my mental state into a vague melancholy of the sort that is normally cured by a shot of the blues accompanied by a double shot of Gentleman Jack.  Red hot naked women are also a big help.

So.  Sixty years ago today at four in the morning my own dear mother woke my father out of a dead slumber to tell him it was time to go to the hospital.  Spurred by the completely untenable thought of Mom giving birth at home with only Dad to assist, the old sot hauled his pants and boots on, got Mom in one hand and her suitcase in the other and stuffed both in the car, then he high-balled it to the local hospital where the family sawbones was summoned by the staff in the emergency room.  Along about five or so I showed up.