Categories
2012 December

Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24, 2012

(Ed: On Christmas Day we will only be posting well wishers and happy ‘toons so it should be a short Coconut Telegraph. Merry Christmas to all of you and we hope you have a great new year and all your dreams come true.)

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I just want to give a big shout-out of thanks to the volunteers from the fire and police that escorted Santa and his helpers through the Keys. We sure enjoyed it on Little Torch. Merry Christmas to all!

[Gun Violence] Several years back two British tourists were shot to death In a rest area on the Florida Turnpike. Within 48 hours police officers were stationed in every rest area 24 hours a day seven days a week. There was a large public outcry about how these murders were going to affect European tourists from visiting the great state of Florida. There was a sheriff in the Fort Myers area that stated on national television that he would not visit Florida because the state was unsafe for tourists. Now we have another mass murder children in another school bringing the death total to well over 100 in the last few years and everybody is still sitting around debating what needs to be done. Is the tourist based economy more important than the lives of our children. How many times is this going to happen before something is done to stop the slaughter of our children? Put armed guards in every school to protect the children until another solution to this problem can be found. Do it now. We do live in a violent world. Don’t wait for this to happen again.

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The world actually did end. The government covered it up.

There’s a fine line between a fitted dress and a sausage casing.

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Guns are like taxes, everyone talks about them, but no one does anything about them.

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[“We are unkind to one another”] Sad isn’t it. The best is yet to come. I think they call it progress. I remember when people used to dance because they were happy. Life is not so simple anymore. I spend a lot of time trying to stay centered and in touch with nature, the animals, the plants and the sea. I try to remember to see what I am looking at. Every moment of every day is precious, so what is the hurry. Deer Editor, you are to be commended for the great service you offer the community and the time and patience you put into this site. Merry Christmas!

I don’t want to brag or anything, but this is like the fifth end of the world I’ve survived.

My compliments to Ed for the editorial at the beginning Sunday, Dec.23rd. Everything Ed said regarding all the negativity and unkindness is sadly so true. Also congratulations on 11 years of doing, in my opinion, an excellent job! One can easily become addicted to the Coconut Telegraph. I don’t think that’s a bad addiction. 

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Pumpkin pancakes are a holiday treat you won’t forget. The best you’ll ever taste! More … >  Recipes > Pumpkin Pancakes

[“Why do some semi-automatic rifles look like military weapons rather than ordinary rifles and why are these preferred”]   Other than the ‘cool’ factor preferred by knuckle heads in general, those external details have uses.  The pistol grip is for better control, the perforated cylinder around the barrel prevents you burning yourself on hot metal after firing and the handle on top is for easy/safe carry.  It all adds up to a ‘military’ look, but it originated in practicality.

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As the Moon nears full, it lands between Jupiter and Aldebaran on Christmas evening for the longitudes of the Americas. European observers: move each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward the one for the previous date. The Moon is shown three times actual size.

I just replaced the can of air freshener in the office bathroom with an air horn. And now we wait …

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Sculpture Key West returns. Link

[Wayne LaPierre’s NRA solution] Is the best solution I have heard. By putting qualified armed deputies in the schools crazies that use them for a gun killing zone won’t have a free range. 

[“Does the Keys have a Special Response Team”]Yeah, It is our Conch Republic Army Dude!

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Santa set to fly over Keys tonight. Link 

What’s wrong with cops in schools? Maybe get the deputy that lost his guns or the one that wrecked 2 patrol cars and killed someone in second wreck. Oh hell, with the quality of law enforcement we have down here maybe we should just arm the kids!

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Marine guarding the school story false. Look it up on snopes

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May your days be long in Paradise and your nights full of happy dreams . Merry Fishmas! Health, Happiness & Peace to you & yours in the New Year.

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I’m glad to see that the doom and gloom guy has revived the ancient Greek tradition of using fables to make his point.
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One way to make your cell phone and, ergo, your Bushmaster un-findable by Obama or the United Nations in their black helicopters is to take out the battery.

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It turns out that Sgt. Craig Pusley guarding the elementary school was a phony. He was not a sergeant, but had been a private. He had not been to Afghanistan nor Iraq. He is no longer even in the Reserves. Shame on the principal and others who allowed this without even minimal investigation. If I decided to just start hanging around an elementary school I would hope the police would be called and that I would be taken to the police station for questioning. 

[“Does the Keys have gangs”] Yes, there are some gangs and gang members in the Keys. Thankfully, the Keys are considered part of Florida and we have the second highest rate of gun permit holders in the state to control them.

Here’s a couple of tips: Check tattoos– a tear drop from the eye is supposed to indicate the wearer is a killer. MS13 or three dots forming a triangle are the mark of a dangerous gang out of S. America

Miami wanna-bees may show up with crowns of royalty (Latin Kings) or 305 tattooed on their necks (305 area code)

You can google gang tats and pictures will come up online showing what to look for or you can visit any local sheriff’s website for more info.

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[Justice] All dogs go to Heaven. Owner who drowned dog found guilty. Link

[End of Privacy] Good reason for “throw-away” phones.

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[Gun Control] A heck of a year; Really? This very sad event is a clear statement about the shape of our society, blaming the NRA or an in adamant object is not only ridiculous its lazy and part of the problem. It is however easy much easier than addressing and solving the real issues, issues like; crime, poverty, drug abuse, mental illness, violence in movies & games and a media industry driven by ratings.

For America to evolve into a advanced society, one where guns are no longer needed, these are the problems and issues that must be resolved.
If you want to take my right away to protect myself and my family then please solve the underlying issues first. Once that is done you will find that the people carrying a side arm today will gladly leave it home locked up and stored securely. The carrying of a side arm is a lot of work, first comes the training classes then the licensing procedures and then the responsibility that comes with being armed. On top of this is the hassle of strapping on that side arm and carrying it physically, it is a lot of work that I know I would prefer to not have to do.

As an American you have that same right or you can once again take the easy way out (lazy) and choose not to protect yourself and your family all I ask is that you do not step on my rights.

As for the weapons ban, we already tried it, it did not work or fix any of society’s problems insisting we try it again is ridiculous after all; If a person wants to kill 30 people and they do it with one magazine or three is simple semantics and I doubt any of the dead would really care that they were killed after the magazine was changed or not nor would they care if the gun that killed them was a revolver or a military style weapon.

As for the schools and our children, the end goal is to protect them and keep them safe. There are only two ways to do this keep the bad guys out or deal with them once they get in. Sticking your head in the sand and not dealing with the bad people is no solution it is just lazy and ridiculous.

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[Gun Information] “I get the semiautomatic/assault rifle distinction, but I have a few questions that I really don’t know the answers to. Maybe some of you could help me. 
1. Why do some semi-automatic rifles look like military weapons rather than ordinary rifles and why are these preferred?”

Two reasons: A. They “military style” allows the addition of tactical sights, lights, magazines, stocks, ect. B. Folks think they look cool.

Preferred by whom?

“2. Changing out a clip is a simple operation. That said, why is a high capacity clip significantly better than several lower capacity clips?”

The same reason it’s easier to carry a case of beer instead of 4 six packs of beer.

“3. Other than a higher cycling rate, why is a high velocity, small caliber such as a .223 preferable to a larger caliber with the same cost per round? Thank you.” 

The smaller caliber does not have an appreciable higher cycling rate.
The smaller caliber has less recoil and costs a lot less per round.

If I was going to shot folks I would rather use a bolt action 30:06 and do it from 100 yards away. I would not have to be concerned about being shot by a bystander or a cop.

an_volcano44For all those folks trumpeting the green revolution, I would ask them to perhaps dwell a bit more on the content of what some are pointing out and not to automatically assume that because one attempts to point out the serious pitfalls in relying on solar as a means to supply the energy needs of the the U.S. or the world for that matter does not mean that the poster is negative on solar energy, the cold hard reality of the matter is that the world  is not even close to making solar energy feasible on anything but a minute scale and the fact of the matter is that we are about as close to making it feasible as we are of solving workable perpetual motion,  Remember when Krakatau volcano erupted it spewed more co2  into the atmosphere than all the tail pipe exhaust for many Yr’s., the reality is that while solar is a nice warm concept, the cold hard reality of the truth is that the workability involved to bring solar power into the mainstream pipeline of solving our energy needs is practically nil. It would be a lot like families huddling around a campfire in the winter to stay warm, that may work a bit for Fl. residents, but would not be all that great in the Midwest. 

[Help Wanted] Housekeeper to work on Saturdays only.  Start at 9:30am in Marathon.  No drunks, druggies, or people with drama.  Just a person who can clean with transportation.  If you need to call a cab to get to work, please don’t call Classified Ads > Help Wanted

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That awkward moment, when Santa has the same wrapping paper as your parents.

Getting smacked out with the Crowley set on a Charles Bronson movie soundtrack. Chris Farlowe on Vox  Who’s To Blame — Jimmy Page

Chris Farlowe is such a unique talent. He had a string of hits early in the 60s, but became the Jackie Rodgers jr. of the dark arts as heard here in Black Snake. Atomic Rooster – Black Snake – 1972 Live

Police come to S. Fla. for Marine Patrol training. Link

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Back in July, postage stamps honoring baseball greats Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Stargell and Larry Doby were unveiled at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Sunday, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the Williams stamp again, this time in Islamorada, where he loved to fish the flats, and had a home. Link

[Valley marine guarding school] That’s a bunch of bullshit! 

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Cheech and Chong’s chollo-ed out Xmas. Link 

Whomever posted ‘Rice Pudding’ deserves an indulgence. 

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[“We are surrounded by negativity and violence at almost every turn. Our humor is almost all negative”]  Very true and very sad, but there is a fine line between Negativity and Reality which most people cannot see through their bubble walls. The world is not a Peace & Love rock floating through space, but a zoo of Eat or Be Eaten creatures of every size and shape. Humans are no more then tool toting animals. It is called the Food Chain and that is reality as negative as it is! Live with it as long as you can, but live in reality not in dreams!

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You can not have air conditioner on at night with solar. You need to start your gen at night when you are watching a movie to fix microwave popcorn. You need the grid to have an ice maker and self defrost refr. No matter what the other people say, no body can live off the grid the same way as people on the grid as it is today. I like A/C in the summer and you have to have grid power or gen to do so.

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Why do all the health and fitness gurus knock multi-vitamin pills?

“If we except the light and the air of heaven, no good thing has been or can be enjoyed by us without having first cost labor. And inasmuch as most good things are produced by labor, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labor has produced them. But it has so happened, in all the ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have without labor enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of any good government.” – Abraham Lincoln

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Go buy some canned food and run it down to the local church on Christmas Eve. It will get where it needs to go. If one person who reads my crazy posts all year long does it. Then that will be two of us. It only take one person to make a change. God bless 

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Deer Ed, This is in response to your post about negativity in the CT — Cheer up! The famous news reporter and anchor, Walter Cronkite, once said, in response to criticism that the news was always negative, “we don’t report the cats that weren’t lost last night “. His point was that the bad news was the unusual, and not the good news. For the most part, the negative posts and cartoons on the CT are to point out the blemishes in an otherwise good society. 

Worry when we start posting good things because they are unusual. 

How about that Chevy post– Mayan apocalypse TV commercial Sunday.  Great.

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Peace and love on the Coconut Telegraph. Man we got too out of control over the elections. Lets take it easy on Ed before he sends us a lump deer poo in our stockings. 

A musician buddy of mine asked Willie if he wanted to smoke a doobie back in the 70’s and he said, ” I only say no on the phone”
Willie Nelson – Pretty Paper 

Nira Tocco has a beautiful new listing in Doctor’s Arm. Video tour

Nira Tocco has another beautiful new listing. This one’s in Eden Pines Video tour

[Marathon Journal]

1. The color copy price war continues with 23 cents per color copy Gemini and UPS Store 25 cents per color copy. The prices are listed in a bit of holiday fun.

2. Before the Keynoter has a cow, pig, or whatever, some opinions listed here came from Keynoter stories. Gun permits reached one million Floridians. These concealed weapons permits require certain steps to get one. The law lists the rules of engagement, which turns out to be common sense. For example, you pull a gun you must use it, and your life must be in danger. I exercise my second amendment rights and have a concealed weapons permit. But, I would accept rules and regulations to own a gun. Plus, assault weapons and high capacity ammo clips have no place in our everyday society. These things are for the military only.

3. Key West polydactyl cats vs. Feds are just too funny, except for the cats. I am all for leaving those six-toed cats alone. They are part of the Hemingway legend.

4. DMV canceled outsourcing car plates. DOE backtracks on teacher evaluations. Hmmm? Gov. Scott, what’s going on here?

5. I admire Councilman Bull’s research on the leashed pig controversy. He was not afraid to vote no and be the only no. Hey, this is a breath of fresh air. Of course, this is typical of all the council members. They represent Marathon residents and the divergent constituency. 

8. Brace yourself, there are more trees coming to Marathon’s median. Look and see how far the city has gone to spruce up Marathon. Making all of Marathon’s US1 35 mph would help everyone. 

9. Key Colony Beach is ramping up for the March 2013 elections. Just when you thought campaigns were done, the little city that could will withstand the whirlwind of another election. I can’t wait for the games to begin. Or, this might be brain dead boring. Both of which I will enjoy – exciting election or boring. ~Publisher@MarathonJournal.US

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Very good holiday video. Home For The Holidays Surprise. Link

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[“Does the Keys have gangs”] Yes, gangs of Iguanas.

[“The killer in Connecticut‘s mother was an avid gun owner”] When most citizens become more afraid of guns than they are of criminals, official control freaks win. They, the elected ones, are doing us a favor, you see, to remove those nasty weapons that cause so much mayhem at large.
What a bunch of malarkey. How can folks be that gullible and naive? Properly securing personal weapons and keeping them from would be criminals is one thing but to extend the prohibition to all law abiding citizens is quite another.

an_merry_xmasReading the header on Sundays posting from Ed, just wish there was a ‘Like’ button, Merry Christmas

[Guns] Gee, since the NRA wants armed guards everywhere, maybe they should also pay for a required course in Tactical Weapons Training- begining , say, in the second grade!

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MILE HIGH!” – It’s a whole new meaning! 

[“Can someone say if the Keys has a SRT, Special Response Team like Miami Dade?”] Yes, MCSO has an SRT team “like Miami-Dade” No, MCSO-SRT has not proven itself as professional as MDPD. MCSO officers leave their cars unlocked and their equipment is stolen–repeatedly.

I’m 100% positive that MCSO has some great officers on the department, but they are overshadowed by the bubbaisms of the MonroeCounty political machine. Ask the officers that ran against the newly elected sheriff.

[Gun Information

1. Why do some semi-automatic rifles look like military weapons rather than ordinary rifles and why are these preferred?

The plastic or poly stocks used are generally lighter than traditional wood stocks. The styling of a rifle also has a lot to do with the type of shooting you are doing as well. If people would look at weapons as tools, they would understand each tool does a certain job a certain way.

2. Changing out a clip is a simple operation. That said, why is a high capacity clip significantly better than several lower capacity clips? 

In a range setting,it’s about having to reload the magazine over and over. It is a labor intensive process, that takes away from shooting time (which we pay dearly for per hour). I hate paying to stand around bullshitting while reloading a mag. Not to mention, it’s hard on the fingers. It’s much easier to preload a few dozen mags and go shoot 30 rounds at a time, and leave the range in an hour or two. 

In a fire fight, changing mags can cost you precious seconds or even your life. If lower capacity mags were as good, cops, law enforcement and our military would use them. If they have them, I want them too. 

3. Other than a higher cycling rate, why is a high velocity, small caliber such as a .223 preferable to a larger caliber with the same cost per round? Thank you. 

A .223 has a low flat trajectory that carries farther than say a .45 caliber pistol round. A .223 allows the shooter to shoot targets at a farther distance thus raising the level of difficulty in hitting the target. (From a competitive shooting stand point) 

A .223 is better for protection at a longer distance whereas a .45 throws a lead slug at slower rate of 950 feet per second for a shorter distance before the round begins to drop–a .45 is a lot of people’s choice for personal defense because it’s a bigger rock (so to speak), than the quarter inch sized .223 projectile.

Again–think of guns as tools. You pick your gun according to the type of shooting you’re doing that day. Folks would be amazed to see shooting matches live. There are some very talented shooters on the circuits.

Gun owners are not ALL shoot’em up video gamers with social disorders like those in the last 4 mass shootings. Nor are they like the Muslim who shot up Fort Hood and is on trial now. (Obama never mentions the Muslim we allowed to serve in our Army who chose Allah over America and killed his military brethren) 

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[When someone is kind it’s a big deal instead of normal.”] Your soul is showing. Courage. Peace.

1. I hate to break it to FTR but if a Mexican Army veteran wants to come to America and tries to enter with weapons I want him stopped and possibly jailed also. Why would anyone think that a man entering another country to party, relax, chill and do some surfing would need to bring a shotgun? I would be carrying shot glasses, suntan lotion and, hey it might sound crazy, but I would be bringing a surfboard. But then, I usually don’t take shotguns with me to parties in foreign countries when I chill.

2. The Right sure is upset that our President is going to Hawaii for his Christmas vacation. I guess they still think Hawaii is a foreign country. I hate to tell them its where he’s from. Its called: going home for the holidays. What a monster.

3. While the Right continues to be baffled by why they lost the election here’s another clue. Take Ohio for example.  Their unemployment rate again went down. I guess they didn’t want freebies after all; they wanted more jobs and are getting them.

4. Funniest thing I have read all week was when the head of the NRA went on national T.V. and said guns were not the problem it was violent videogames and music. I guess he thought the items the violent games were using to kill enemies were kites. If Americans are too naive to believe that no kids will ever get a hold of a teacher’s gun in the classroom we might as well just give the students the guns, right? The NRA believes its the music. What a classic. Wonder why they are blaming country/Rap/rock music. The murderer didn’t hit the kids with CDs.

Merry Christmas to all.

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FTR described Narcissistic Personality Disorder he needs to look in the mirror. The traits described FTR exactly.

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Would the US Government qualify for a Reverse Mortgage?

From the Right

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Dear Lord, where to begin? Yesterday’s CT was septic tank full of pro gun control postings. Given that gun crime is and has been on wonderful decline since the Clinton gun control measures were shit canned, there has to be a reason for the tsunami of hate from the left. At the very instant that you read this, a left fielder will be fulminating that FTR’s thinks that the Newtown tragedy was nothing to be disturbed about.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Any time innocent lives are lost to evil it is a tragedy. Yes, unlike many of my Left wing pals, this olde fart does believe in evil. Any cop who has worked multiple homicides knows whereof I speak. Such tragedy is compounded if the acts and the actor that precipitated  those deaths were manifestly evil.  That was Newtwon. Assigning fault to the device used in the tragedy is not a fool’s errand. In this instance, the blame game is more sinister.

In this instance, the tragedy is being compounded and stirred for political gain. We currently are in what are probably the most dire straits that our nation has endured, perhaps ever. Our President is willfully setting out to wreck our economy.  Not because he is convinced that the Right’ proposals’ are not vaild. We know that Obama believes Boehner’s offers to be in our nation’s best interest. Nonetheless, rejects and ridicules them out of hand, rejects them. We know that because Obama himself has, in the recent past agreed to them. Boehner has agreed to accept the overarching Obama demands. No, Obama has precious little interest in rescuing our economy. Instead he is tightly focused on destroying the Republican party and all opposition to his power. Obama is convinced that the destruction of the Republican party will centralize all power in his camp. And he is convinced that the crashing of our economy will cede the keys of the kingdom to him and his.

Face it Deer Friends, going over the fiscal cliff will not harm the very wealthy, it will not harm the very poor, nor will it devastate those who rely on entitlements. But it will devastate the great middle class from which the Republicans spring. That is why the Obama propaganda machine is working overtime to convince you that it is the Republicans, Tea Party types and Conservative are the monsters.  If Obama  can manage to gut the Republican party and its philosophy, he and hiss, will literally rule.

I truly want to believe that the America of Obama’s vision is not the America of your vision, and most certainly not the America of our founders. Don’t let the Dems BS you, gun control is working fine, these very rare massacre tragedies are nearly always caused by a lack of a cogent national mental health policy.

Just for once, use your heads. If guns were the problem the streets of the USA, Big Pine included, would be awash with blood. In Monroe County alone about 1-10 of us holds a concealed carry permit.  When was the last time you heard of any problems with that?  According to Gallup, about 47% of American households have a gun. According the Los Angeles Times: “Criminal violence in America has dropped to levels not seen in more than a generation…..” Across the board, as private ownership of weapons is on the increase, crime, especially violent crime is on the decrease. The current contretemps is a lot of bull designed to keep your mind off of our real problems. Obama, he and his.

LONG-WINDED TOMES

an_couch-readingOnce upon a time there lived a man named Joseph, who grew tired of living with people and left his village and went into the woods to live. By and by, a wolf pack discovered Joseph and over time got to know him and that he was not like other men, and eventually they took him into their pack. The leader of the pack was a red wolf named David, and soon David and Joseph became fast friends, and they hunted and played and slept together like . . . wolves. Then one day, the men in the village where Joseph had lived learned from hunters that Joseph was living with wolves. The men decided that it was not right for a man to go off and live in the woods and run with with wolves. So they got their guns and set off to find Joseph and bring him back to the village, to live like a man. The men came upon the wolf pack sleeping in the sun next to a bluff. The wind was blowing off the bluff, away from the wolf pack toward the men, which prevented the pack from scenting the men as they approached. By the time the wolf pack realized the men were there, the men had the pack surrounded, pinned against the bluff. David wanted to order the pack to charge, but Joseph said, “No, I am a man, they will listen to reason, let me go and speak with them.” Although David did not like this idea, he agreed to it because Joseph was a man. But the men would not listen to reason and they shot and killed the entire pack and took Joseph heartbroken back to the village. Joseph languished in the village for many weeks, blaming himself for the death of his pack. Then he had a dream in which he sees David’s face. David is angry, but says nothing, just stares. Finally, Joseph blurts out that he did the best he knew how to do, and he’s so sorry for the way it turned out! David says, “Better that we attacked and died like wolves, than be slaughtered like sheep!” Then Joseph is back with the pack, against the bluff, surrounded by the men. David says he wants the pack to attack. Joseph says, “And I will lead the charge!” Then they hear a voice, the whole pack hears it say, “There is another way, ask for another way.” Never before have Joseph, David or the pack had such a thing happen, but Joseph asks for another way. Suddenly, a great bolt of lightning strikes the ground between the pack and the men, stirring up a huge cloud of dust. As the wolves and men wait, the dust begins to settle, and in it begins to take the shape of something huge, even as the wolves and Joseph now see a pair of red eyes peering from the bushes behind the men. Then a second pair of red eyes. Then a third pair. Then ten pair. Then a hundred pair. Then a legion of . . . wolves eyes. The men now are moved by some force to turn around and see what the now delirious pack already see. Then they turn back around and find themselves face to face with a great towering eagle, whose piercing golden eyes penetrate their hearts. Then they hear, “These are my battle angels. You may leave this place and go back to your village, taking your guns with you, on condition that you tell everyone what has happened here today, and that no man should ever hunt wolves again, who are not hunting men.” To this condition the men readily agree, and they return to their village and tell everyone what happened, and they go to nearby villages and tell it, and from that day on men do not hunt wolves.

 

I wrote that after Hurricane Michelle brushed Key West, I was moved to Birmingham. 

How that came about was an old trial lawyer amigo in Birmingham emailed me out of the blue, to see what I was up to. We went back a ways, had walked down some pretty rough trails, sometimes together, sometimes not, some times of this world, sometimes not.

He asked how I was doing and I said terrific, if not having any money is terrific. He offered to pay my way to Birmingham, put me up in a motel near his new law office. I had worked in his old law office for a few months in 1999, sub rosa mostly. So he wired me enough money and some change for me to get to Birmingham on Greyhound.

He was having a really rough go in his personal life, and he mostly wanted me up there to help him with that. I went into his office every day, we talked, and I started getting involved, sub rosa, in some of his firm’s cases, as had happened in 1999. After a week or so in the motel, he paid the fee for me to stay in the Brother Bryan Mission, a men’s shelter in downtown Birmingham, where I did a brief evening devotional a couple of times a week, when there were no local ministers available to do longish revivals.

As I recall, I was the only white client. I told them during the first devotional that I was raised by a black woman, who was a behind the scenes leader in the Birmingham Civil Rights movement, but I did not know that until much later. I said while I could not know the trials of being black, I had been tested, was being tested. I said we all are tested, and the only way I knew to get through it was to listen to God’s voice and to heed it. I encouraged them to do the same.

My friend told me that when he spoke to the man in charge of Brother Bryan’s about my staying there, a white man, he told the man I was a holy man. The man asked my friend how he knew that? My friend said he could see it in my eyes. The man at Brother Bryan said, yes, he had seen it in my eyes, too.

I stayed at Brother Bryan’s three weeks, until something happened that enabled me to get an apartment about a mile to the south side of my friend’s law office. I worked in his firm until the next February, when something happened that caused me to feel that I had done all I could for him and his firm.

I had a copy of the HEAVY WAIT manusript, and had run a few more copies off on his firm’s copying machine. Although he had, at my suggestion, read and really been moved by The Spear of Destiny, by Trevor Ravenscroft, and Hostage to the Devil, by Father Malachi Martin, my friend said he was afraid to read HEAVY WAIT, and as far as I know, he never read it.

I suppose in a way his fear was justified, him being a pretty fair trial lawyer himself, with special expertise in Alabama politics and state elections, and state and federal prosecution of elected and wannabe elected Alabama politicians. We worked on one very big of those cases while I was there. He also had top security clearance with the US Government related to him sometimes defending Americans charged with treason, but he did not handle such cases while I was there.

He passed away about a year after I moved on. I hoped he was in a better place.

Right, the sub rosa work I did in his firm was not exactly the kind of law work I learned in law school and practiced in Birmingham. His law associates thought I was really weird when I first started showing up for work each morning, but when they found out I was leaving, they came to me and asked me to stay. Maybe I should have hung tougher with my friend during that terrible trial. But, as I said, I felt I had done all I could and it was time for me to move on.

That pretty fair trial lawyer in HEAVY WAIT had himself a terrible trial, too. The scribe for that tale was Sloan Young, the toughest, truest man I have ever personally known. Sloan Young went to Birmingham after Hurricane Michelle, to work in his old dear friend’s law firm. The fellow he later became, due to the same angels who told him to become Sloan Young telling him to become Sloan Young Bashinsky, Jr. again, is a wannabe. But that’s another strange tale altogether, bits and pieces of which I have told in various email ravings and later in posts at websites Deer Ed created, at his suggestion.