My twitter conversation with Kory Watkins of Open Carry Texas dot Org

Well, as you've probably figured out by now, it wasn't much of a conversation. At 140 characters per entry, one can't say much. The eloquent Kory Watkins said even less than the 140 characters allow for. His final exchange, directly to me were--and I quote, "Face Palm".

Now, I'm not one to go all macho and hero-like on society in general, but "Face Palm", as in "there is no excuse for my behavior", "Face Palm"? And this is the so-called chosen leader of the diehard, wannabe heroes? Those gun toting, Libertarian (unaffiliated with any political parties, by their own admission), who's sole purpose is to "CONDITION" Americans into feeling safe with the concept of scared grown men and women--walking around with the average semi-automatic "sporting" rifle, formerly billed as an "Assault Rifle", by the gun industry itself.

And see, that's the point right there, isn't it?

Fear.

"Come And Take It, but...what this is really about is the fact that I can't apply for a CCW, based on my criminal background record, and I will be denied, so...I chose to dare you to take my gun away!"

I have many opinions about what has caused this intrinsic fear, in the average, uneducated American male, who attaches "patriotism" and "the fight against tyranny" to carrying around formidable weapons, but "Face Palm"?

                      #FacePalm: is his defense against an honest and thoughtful question and or statement

And this is the end of the story (well not really the end, but I found out from Kory that my questions don't rate his perusal or thoughtful contemplation. One of his many Open Carry protectors, came out from behind concealment (not cover), and tried an attempt to protect this fearless leader of Open Carry from any undo Liberal interrogation!

I hadn't brought up the Law Enforcement issue in the same respect that this OpenCarryTexas.Foolishness.Org member had. 

Law Enforcement is one of Open Carry's main focal point, as well as, its main objective and objections in general, in this right to "Keep and Bear Arms" fiasco. The Open Carry movement, in general is not happy with the rise in crime, yet they tend to take one or more Officers of the Law out of their normal daily routine (of fighting crime--duh), by showing up somewhere they've staked out for one of their little gun toting events--where Break Free CLP is used like sun screen. And,--they even invite women and children, so they have something to hide behind when someone eventually opens fire on them. This is not a wish of mine, but the odds of a deadly exchange happening becomes greater and greater each time, as Kory encourages larger and larger groups to attend these Open Carry events.

I guess he's never heard the concept of reaching the point of diminishing returns.

I had posed a couple of pertinent questions to Kory, after I pondered, "What gets under this polecat's skin?" "What makes this little snark wrangler think by carrying a crappy, sporterized, AK-47, that those who live in the Gunsense world should be afraid of him?"

Trust me when I say, Kory Watkins is no Arvo Ojala, and unless you've posed as many questions to Arvo as I have in the past, then talking to Kory should be a cakewalk, right? Arvo Ojala owned a little boutique leather shop, in North Hollywood, down on Lankershim Blvd., and he was a close, and cantankerous old friend of mine. He'd send me business and I'd do the same for him. So, when people call these Open Carry crowd a group of gunslingers, well that, in and of itself, couldn't be further from the truth. Their gun prowess is nothing to fear, unless it's based on their showing you their shiny objects, and you consider their total lack of respect for gun safety and the 2nd Amendment in general.

They are a CLUSTERF**K!

They are a whole new generation of careless gun owners that need to be wrangled. My generation had similar problems, and the old guys placed their perspective in our laps, in order for us to continue on the responsible ownership of guns in America. These new guys (noobs) should have no problems with us, giving them a tune up on what that responsibility means when it comes to their Rights to Bear Arms, their ownership responsibilities, and how regulations of that ownership works. 1989 was the year George W. H. Bush gave the gun industry a tune up, and he didn't even discuss it with us.

So, I tried to discuss this issue of Open Carry with Kory Watkins, and wouldn't you know it, he copped an attitude! No, really, he did! This man of the people, this so called defender of the Constitution, "son of god", and aspiring Libertarian politician sloughed me off, as if my questions had no pertinence at all! How dare that little hairless mole rat ignore statements and questions posed by the people, for the people and of the people. To be ignored by Kory Watkin on twitter? Is he running for dog catcher? It was then, that my brow furrowed in total disgust, and my initial statement to him, was laid out as a the Tiger trap that I had used on many occasions before on his kind, hoping that he wouldn't take the bait.

Oooops. Oh well.

His comment here, was the reason I engaged him in the first place.

I couldn't resist asking this aspiring Libertarian politician a few questions about his past, and see if he could answer them for the people who financially back him and support is views. After all, most of you on twitter are considered "Nazi people", and it's only fair that Kory be given the chance to show us who he really is in retrospect.

Who is Kory Watkins AKA Kory D. Watkins?

(Right now, I'm tempted to tell you what the "D" stand for)

Just so we're clear, we know that "FTA" is Failure to Appear which kicks in an automatic warrant for your arrest, and "VOP" is either Violation of Probation or Violation of Parole, which means back to the hoosegow for Kory. It's a mixed bag of nuts, and either one shows that this House of Representatives hopeful, and I use that term loosely, has zero respect for any law, in general. Including the Bill of Rights. Why the hell would we the people ever pay him to be a lawmaker, when he'd just be collecting a welfare check, and has no sense of what the job of Congressman means to the people of the United States of America? He's not a law maker, he's a lawbreaker.

It was then, that I made this comment to Kory, after he responded to @norfud...

I hadn't noticed the "Face Palm" he'd given @norfud, but his comment about being a "law abiding citizen" just irked the bejeezus out of me. He's not a law abiding citizen! I mean, do people really buy the garbage that he spews from the recesses of his dark and dingy, social networking bunker, hunkered down-- planning the next intimidation assault on Moms Demand Action? Who is this guy? How does this sociopath think? Then he answered me, and I began to see what this Open Carry clown and ring master really was.

Learn the law? It was one of those primordial moments, when I wanted to dismiss Kory Watkins, like the Paleolithic creature that he is, in a evolving world of civilized human beings. Here's a Open Carry advocate, leader of large groups of well armed people, telling me I should learn the law? While his track record of breaking the law, shows not only a contempt for the law in general, but a blatant disregard for the average intelligence of normal Americans? "Conditioning" the German people was part of Hitler's SA Brown Shirts job. This proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the average Open Carry advocate is similar to Hitler's down trodden proletariat, whose main objective was a show of force through intimidation using the Sturmabteilung, as long as there was enough beer in it for them at the end of the Million Man Gun Putsch.  

Gleichschaltung doesn't work on me.

I decided to rattle his cage, just that much more, to see if he was made of anything more than straw.

If this didn't make him stand up and spout his Libertarian viewpoint of the United States Constitution according to Ayn Rand, with all its hedonistic inflections and moderately psychotic,--misguided and misinterpreted rantings (those like any good Tea Party goon would spew), then he has no real cause he backs. If I hadn't tried expose his false Constitutional rhetoric, then I hadn't done my job as one of the many people who he needs to understand his position where this Open Carry crap keeps showing up, uninvited and heavily armed!

His answer to me:

My retort was simple:

#FacePalm is a display of frustration, disappointment, embarrassment...not to be confused with "patriotism", or "heroism", or "bravery". Even a gun can't fix such an embarrassing moment in Open Carry history. But, as these crowds of armed insurgents grow in size, I'm sure there will be many more embarrassing moments like this one for Kory Watkins.

Before and after pictures kind of explain how he feels about having his picture taken in public now.

                                                   Taken  at Blue Mesa parking lot:

          
                              SMILE FOR THE FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE, KORY!

                                                    OpenCarryTexas event: 11/16/2013

            "MAYBE IF I DUCK-- NO ONE WILL KNOW WHO I AM" (lower right corner)

With lowered head. The only thing missing in the above picture is Kory Watkins' signature #FacePalm of Embarrassment.

I don't think Kory Watkins will ever engage me in a twitter conversation again. 

His bravery on this issue of Open Carry is aptly slung across his chest.

He is no patriot.

He is not fighting tyranny.

He is not brave.

He is a #Gunbully and a leader of a group of #Gunbullies

I'm not anti-gun.

I'm anti-gunbully!

Progun vs. Gunsense on Twitter

After three suspensions by twitter, for telling the truth about guns, laws, and basic general information for the novice, who seeks a safer America, I was prompted to write this particular post on how to handle one's self, when engaged in mortal twitter combat against the Progun side of this argument. It's just advice. You don't have to adhere to it, but it might be useful.

Here's a little background information.

Let me make some things clear:

1) I am for total, unbiased Gunsense. I make no bones about it. I do not care what people think about my stand against unnecessary gun deaths in America. That is their issue. The 2nd Amendment is not under attack, and I don't see it being repealed in any form or fashion in the near future. Open carry, on the other hand, has become an abomination to the very soul of mankind, as well as the 2nd Amendment. Let's not pretend that America is at war (like Iraq or Afghanistan), and there is a purposeful need to carry a firearm. If you feel the need to open carry in America, then you need more help than the 2nd Amendment can offer you.

2) Please, Gunsense people, do not attack my style of writing, as I revel in giving a sarcastic, irreverent analysis of almost every detail I come in contact with, when speaking on the issues of guns and gun ownership. Once a final analysis is determined (by using my cunning auditor skills of assessing data, based on facts and details), I usually gnaw at the bone of the problem until I reach the marrow of the issue, licking my chops along the way. I expect the attack from Progun people, not from you.

3) I used to deal in Arms, so I know more than a lot more than most Progun idiots you'll encounter along the way. They'll try and discredit me. That's because I choose the side of common sense. You can believe what you want about me. I did not own my own store front, but I did hold an FFL for many years, long before a store front was required to have one by Los Angeles ordinance. I worked as a manager at one of the largest gun stores in America (when it was operation: it is now defunct). I had absolutely nothing to do with the ownership of their business nor did I own stock in their corporation. I had nothing to do with how they handled their mishandled monies, their personal dealings with DOJ, or their underhanded dealings with each other.

If you are a Progun moron, looking to attach the Kahn brothers lives to mine, other than an paid employee, then you need to look me up through the NIC database and see what you can find out, or have me checked out through the B.A.T.F. Either way, I'll come out squeaky clean. So, it's better to hush, because that route has been traveled by a few of you Progun people, and you've failed.

Comprende, amigo?

4) If you are a Gunsense person, and you need an education on the industry, which you have an issue with, it's best not to flame these posts, where I'm here to give you information on said industry. It puts a bad taste in everyone's mouth, especially when you attack someone who supports Gunsense values as I do. In other words, don't mistake me for a Progun idiot, who runs around strapped to prove I have gun rights. I'm not that guy. I wore a gun, strapped to my hip, for work purposes, for many years. I've been saved by my own common sense and realized the error of my ways. My atonement for the sins of selling so much death and destruction is educating those of you who really haven't a clue what they're facing when taking on the NRA and Progun fanatics where the 2nd Amendment is concerned.

So here is the truth about guns:

It's a business.
It's Global. (Global Small Arms Trade Info-Interactive Map)
There is a ton of money to be made.
Legally or illegally.

Those are the basics.

Why am I posting this particular Gunsense article? 

You need to understand, when you engage in a conversation with the Progun side on twitter, that the whole concept of engaging you, Gunsense advocates, in a conversation with them, is to get your twitter account suspended. They like to gang up on an 'individual', and send out information to twitter claiming that you, the Gunsense person, are spamming or being abusive. It is a weak tactic to get you to stop posting tweets on Gunsense. They are well organized and that is why they *retweet* your comments, so many Progun people can engage you at once.

It doesn't matter what you say. It only matters that twitter thinks what you've said is "spam".

It's called "gulaging"

The goal is to get your account suspended so many time that you violate TOS and it is permanently banned. They'll hate you even more if you know what going on, but they will refrain from trying to "gulag" you. They will taunt you, but you will figure out soon enough what they are trying to do, even if they are being nice to you. Remember, they report all of your comments (tweets) back to them as spam that they didn't request, and that you initiated. I might do a post on this subject alone, as it has had a detrimental effect on getting out the Gunsense message, and we must work as a network.

#TGDN means Twitter Gulag Defense Network

It is the only tactic that Progun can use to win their argument. They aren't interested in your opinion and they are not open to suggestions, or seeking a solution to gun violence and unnecessary death in America.

In order for the Gunsense message to be heard, you must avoid engaging them in conversation. Even when they call you a liar. There is one person in particular, who every five minutes, calls a Gunsense individual a "liar", on a completely separate thread from the one you've started to isolate you, in hopes you will engage him, so he can call in his twitter troops to corner you. He's a Progun moron. He sells t-shirts, not guns. You are messing with his Progun t-shirt business, and bringing down the walls of his city. He knows very little about weapons, especially the type you want regulated. He's part of the twitter Progun movement. He likes to call people "bigots". He uses inflammatory language, when he comments on your Gunsense tweet.

It is a ruse.

Be aware, and avoid him.

Let him babble. It's what he does best.

It's a simple concept.

Say what is necessary.

Do not engage.

If asked to give proof, have it at the ready.

Make sure the proof you give is not arbitrary proof.

Example: "6.6 million guns are sold EVERY YEAR in the U.S. without background checks."

That is true, based on 2012 statistics.

Yet does not apply to EVERY other year, including 2013.

Actually, based on the statistical information used for back ground checks for purchases and denial of gun purchase in 2012, the assumed 40% of private part transactions would amount to 6.7 million. (16,808, 538 x 40% = 6,723, 415)

The current given data "6.6 million guns", was an extrapolation formulated by using the same type of statistical information gathered by Professors Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig from their 1996 analysis of Guns in America, By using 2012 current background checks and the same 40% private party transaction factor rate, current figures arrive at "6.6 million guns are sold EVERY YEAR in the U.S. without background checks."

It's really that simple.

It's not rocket science.

It's exponential math analysis.

Yet the real numbers can never be calculated unless Gunsense puts an end to private party transactions. 

That's a lot of math for a Progun advocate, so of course he'll call you a 'liar'. He'll never look at the links within the factheck.org article that you've posted on "Guns Acquired Without Background Checks". That would be too much work for him. It's easier for him NOT to deal with facts. If he did, then he wouldn't have super duper Progun, "you're violating my 2nd Amendment rights!" leg to stand on. Facts just confuse him. He wants to control the Progun argument stance by ignoring your Gunsense facts.

That is because his game is not about using your facts. It's about disputing your facts, just long enough to get you removed permanently from twitter. Facts don't elude him. He knows they exist. To acknowledge your facts would be sacrilegious according to the by-laws of the his discounted, Life Time membership in the NRA. It would be blasphemous in respect to the 2nd Amendment and God (who by the way, had nothing at all to do with the Bill of Rights or Open Carry).

The Progun adversary (and he is your adversary, ...so don't get it twisted, because that's how he sees anyone for Gunsense), is cunning, ruthless, and vile. He stalks Moms Demand Action women at shopping centers, while bringing his wife, children, and his semi-auto AK-47 derivative with a 30 round magazine, just in case you drop your salad fork, giving him excellent reason to spray and pray. He'll use the excuse that you were reaching for "something" that looked like a weapon, as he invokes the 'Stand Your Ground' law, out of utter ignorance. He craps on the American flag, by holding it behind him for photo ops, using it as a symbolic gesture of his self righteous indignation at your wanting a simpler, gun free zone society, that doesn't include his AR-15's and his Glock at the Hot Dog on a Stick stand.

If you don't agree with his needs to carry a gun in public, you're supposedly a flag waving Socialist or Communist, when in fact you are nothing of the sort. Whatever inflammatory tactic he can use to incite your anger, he will use. He wants you to call him names, so he can report you to twitter for abuse. He will stalk your every Gunsense tweet, hoping to bait you into an argument that will end in a permanent twitter ban, because he knows that the less Gunsense people that participate on twitter, the better his Progun and Open Carry cause will flourish.

You are his nemesis, Gunsense.

You irk him.

If he will "secretly" stalk Moms Demand Action at a luncheon in Texas, and use this as an intimidation tactic, then what makes you think he has any less design on stalking your tweets on twitter? He sees this as a war on the 2nd Amendment and usurping of the Bill of Rights and Constitution. His comparisons between his cause and the Civil Rights movement are faulty at best, but nothing a few water hoses and police dogs couldn't sort out. His movement is not peaceful, for you do not bring arms to a civil disobedience movement., while calling it a peaceful demonstration of rights. He has never read the works of Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., ...or Gandhi.

His Bill of Rights is not your Bill of Rights.

'He' is a clone, cast from of the multitude of misguided, 2nd Amendment "gun bully" advocates, who live in constant fear and bring that fear wherever they travel.

Then again, I suspect with the people that have involved themselves in this insurrectionist open carry movement, that they are also waiting for that Concord Hymn moment.

They know only chaos and have no sense of community.

Make no mistake about it, They'll use whatever technique they can to get you, Gunsense advocates, banned from twitter.

Especially if you want to see common sense/Gunsense gun legislation enacted, and you want your voice heard.

They will not give up, and neither should you.

That doesn't mean they are not your enemy, because that's exactly what they are, and they means business.

Spread the word about what they are.

It's only fair.

                                                         American by Macklemore

EPA: Buying your fresh produce or guns in North Hollywood

Everyone likes fresh produce.

I know that I do. We have a wonderful place called Horrock's, not to far from where I live. I am what Michiganders call a "transplant". Originally born and raised in the Wild West of California. I've lived in both Southern and Northern California, and cannot choose between the two, which one I'm more fond of. Both of them have their attributes and drawbacks. Some people believe that Los Angeles is a disgusting place, filled with gangs and murderers, thieves and rogues, but that couldn't be father from the truth. Others feel that the Bay Area is a disgusting place, filled with harlots and drug dealers, shooters and sharps.

That's the vision most people have of large cities, never looking for the good things in a mega-metropolis. I grew up in the East Bay, born in Oakland. Yeah, that's right. One of America's toughest and most dangerous city's but it wasn't always that bad. It had a baseball and football dynasty at one time, long before it had drugs and shootings. Drugs and shootings are cyclic in this part of America. History tells us that. Then of course, living my adult life in both Los Angeles valleys, watching them slowly decline after the 1984 Olympics was very predictable, based on most places that decline after hosting either Summer or Winter Olympic events.  

                                                    China is the most recent example 

                                                  Fireworks during opening Ceremony

                                                   Garbage collection in unused canal

So now we all see that cities and their greatness, go through cycles from greatness and head into decline. It's the adventure of having been there when these events took place that make them great in our memory, for it is all memories, and nothing more. New York is going through its most recent cycle of decline. It's may soon lose some of its tradition luster, when the horse drawn carriage is permanently banned from the urban purview forever and replaced with "antiqued" electric cars. Traditional art, all too soon replaced by ghettoized Banksy art works. Those silhouette stencils have captured the imagination of millions of New Yorkers, while building owner's who have been deemed lucky enough to receive one of these nouveau riche graffiti pieces, continue to deplete their life savings, hoping to protect this midnight vandal's creativity (or lack there of) for posterity's sake. No one is the wiser, that Banksy, is pissing on the rich and the poor, simultaneously. Yet he is very aware of what he's doing.

Immovable art, that can be painted over and never really protected, that is no where near as good as Jean Michel Basquiat works, should not really be called art, for lack of art's sake. It's more of a nuisance. Creating uncontrollable hoards of so-called art enthusiast, whose iPhone captured digitized photos, hold the same value as the original one's on the ghetto walls. And that is the point, you see? It's merely art gentrification. Valueless Art unless you are wealthy. Art that will one day, be covered over, but not before its fought over first. 

Why, the word "iPhone" holds more intrinsic value than a Banksy. 

But, I digress.

Sometimes the value of any city is its history. You're probably asking yourself, by now, what does all this have to do with the Environmental Protection Agency and fresh produce? Well, like all that I've spoken about so far, it has to do with history. Not the kind of history that requires a PhD to interject the social relevance of 'what is' and 'what ain't', but history never the less. Oh, you could have a PhD for exploring this type of history, but this type of history has more to do with uncovering things that should be already be known. I've uncovered a bit of history, while writing my novel, "Death By The Blue Oak". It is a different type of story, based on the life of Eadweard Muybridge. I can't even begin to explain how I arrived at the concept for its structure, other than I was compelled to do so, and haven't looked back since. I was tweeting with Elizabeth Kracht one day, who's an agent at Kimberly Cameron & Associates, that takes these wonderful photographs of Richardson Bay from time to time. And every now and then, when she has time, she post them on instagram. Actually, most of her landscape pictures of my old stomping grounds in the Bay Area are absolutely moving, and inspire me to finish this piece of historical literary fiction, so I can get on with the next piece of whatever suits me at the moment.

Sometimes, the pictures that she takes are just the push I need.

Sometimes I try and find a picture similar to the one she's posted, and post them on her twitter timeline, juxtaposed to her picture.

Elizabeth's are modern photos and mine come from archived works from digital libraries, like Bancroft or the Lone Mountain Collection, to name a few.

I like looking at pictures.

They remind me that very little changes with time, and time is truly relative.

I do not believe in coincidence.

It is a part of who I am as am artist.

That is how I roll.

Elizabeth once tweeted to the world, asking if anyone out there had any questions "about water". Something to the effect of "ask her anything". She was working on at the time, and I assume, the promotion of a book about improving water quality for those who drink it. I happened to be working on one of the DBTBO supplements that deals with San Francisco, and how it came to have its current supply of drinking water. It was not always supplied by Hetchy Hetch, and in the early days, San Francisco's water was supplied by Captain William Guillermo Antonio Richardson, of Rancho Saucelito.

                                             Capt. William Guillermo Antonio Richardson

                                             
                                                 "Rancho Saucelito" Land Grant Map

It was supplied in barrels, shipped from fresh water springs in Rancho Saucelito, then shipped to North San Francisco, where it was stored in two very large holding tanks made of wood. Eventually, the city of San Francisco grew beyond the two tank capacity and a reservoir system was sorely needed. There would be no San Francisco if water was never found in abundance in Rancho Saucelito. The amount for the mission was not enough to grow the city. I can't tell you more about this part of the book, or my findings. What I can tell you is, is that I've discovered why the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir is full of mercury, and it has nothing to do with China. Of course, it's easier to blame it on China and its poor air quality, the jet stream and all that nonsense. 

It not easy to say out loud, that methylmercury poisoning was built into the San Francisco reservoir system.

The fact remains, even if Mark Twain did not say, "In the West, it is said, water flows uphill toward money and power", heavy metals like mercury, flow downhill, poisoning one reservoir system after another. The water does flow uphill from Hetchy Hetch, through a very complicated and old aqueduct system, that when it was built in 1863, there was no Environmental Protection Agency to answer to. There was only the masses. People of the Barbary Coast who needed water, and quicksilver was used for medicinal purposes anyway. What could possibly go wrong in the distant future? Increased methylmercury poisoning in certain parts of San Francisco's water system and food chain? Yes, I do know some people think this poison comes from the now defunct New Almaden Mines in the hills above San Jose, because they are truly looking for an answer that fits the rise in mercury levels in Lower Crystal Springs. That would be pushing heavy metals uphill, through water. 

I found it easier to believe that this poison flows down hill, and that's when my Indiana Jones jones kicks in. 

There are so many theories on how mercury got in the San Francisco water system. 

Some people don't drink water because it is a known fact that fish pee in it.

On the other hand using this as an example, the dangers of eating lead in ones diet, while procuring fresh fruits and vegetable seems to have bypassed the current owners of Olive Fresh Garden Marketplace. One of the requirements of begin in the Arms Industry, if you are intelligent enough to know what materials you are dealing with, is keeping tabs on your constant exposure to lead and the dangers of exposure. People who work at firing ranges should go in for blood work ups regularly, based on their constant exposure to lead. It is toxic and very dangerous. I worked around a lot of lead, and other toxic materials, and did a lot of the company R&D for weapons analysis and procurement, which required me to shoot around 100,000 to 150,000 rounds annually. I had my check ups and blood work ups, done regularly, based on constant exposure to lead and it leading to lead poisoning if certain precautions are not taken when working around this substance..

Which brings me back to this place:

                               12521 Oxnard Street, North Hollywood, California 91606

I get teased a lot on twitter about my former connections with the Arms Industry. Some people find my admission of dealing in the arms industry amusing, and even accuse me of lying about my own life. Mostly, because I refuse to be bullied into being "pro-open carry", by the open carry crowd, which is a ridiculous concept of exercising a Right to Openly Bear Arms in public, because you can, and not because you need to. I've said this many times before and I'll state it emphatically. I've forgotten more than most will ever know or be exposed to about guns and the business of guns. If that insults gun owners who think that the world of guns is the best thing since sliced bread, I beg to differ. I managed the largest, private armory operation in the tri-county area for five years after graduating from the conservatory in Valencia. I needed to pay off my student loans and take care of my family.

I grew up knowing more about an industry most people see only from the outside. It's a family legacy. During some of my best years in the gun business, my crew of twenty and I sold 350,000 weapons annually. I also dealt with transferring weapons from our wholesale operation to our retail operation, and setting up large wholesale purchases that could not be handle at a retail level. This place offered me a wealth of experiences, both good and bad. Eventually I left, never looking back and went into banking after a short stint with Brambleshire LTD in Beverly Hills. I still get called on by friends and professionals, for my expertise in this business, many years after I left it for good. Today, I sit back and watch the idiocy over Second Amendment rights unfold.

The place where I managed now sells food. 

Knowing what I know about its former use, I would say that I personally could never buy food from there. I do know for certain, that this place at one time possessed an enclosed shooting range in the back, used for test firing weapons, and the ventilation for the building complex was not that great, even back then. I know its design structure. I know the blueprints. I doubt anyone could ever clean it from all of the lead dust micro-particles, from doing gun business over twenty plus years, unless they replaced the entire ventilation system. That would be very costly. I doubt that that happened. I'd be super surprised if it was totally gutted. 

One would have to wear a Hazmat mask and jumpsuit just to clean that shooting range/room. 

That is how it was done.

The ammo room was bigger than some New York apartments. Holding millions of rounds of ammunition and cases of propellant for black powder shooting, in a cool, dry area. The walls were two feet thick and armor plated. Two huge Class 3 safes in the back, that formerly belonged to a furrier from Beverly Hills, were well suited for high grade merchandise, and held a bevy of fully automatic weapons of multiple calibers. Wrapped on all sides by a cyclone fence and topped with razor wire, it looked out of place in this North Hollywood residential neighborhood near Valley Village. It was such a historical fixture known far and wide, it was allowed to function, but not without animosity from those who thought it was still out of place.

A food store on that ground seems out of place. 

Some good times, and some bad times were had by all who worked there. A four story building, armory slash living quarters, with a two story attached showroom slash gun storage area, that supplied the tri-county Southern California law enforcement population with all its local, state, and federal needs, as they saw fit. There was very little that we did not supply to the appropriate parties upon request, as long as the paperwork was in order. When fully stocked to capacity, we averaged over 100,000 firearms, of all makes and models, which could be found in the belly of this beast. Very few people ever saw the inside of these buildings, and those that have seen inside should feel honored. 

The showroom floor made most gun lovers drool.

I was a customer of the corporation long before I became an employee of that corporation.

Becoming an employee showed me where all the 'bodies were buried' in the business of dealing guns.

Now, it sells food, to people who eat that food.

Olive Fresh Garden Marketplace wasn't always a grocery, deli, bakery. 

      This actually was the beginning of the end. The infamous Pigeon Assassination Grassy Knoll.

       Note the "red shingled" roof next door, and the top level balcony of the attached 4 story building

      A standard business card bag, with an enclosed silicon cleaning cloth to wipe down your gun.

    

As you can see, we didn't sell crappy Mosins or Mausers. That was Martin B. Retting's target market. 

Sometimes, you'd get called in as an "Expert Witness" on a gun violation case. 

Bob and Barry hated going to court, and as "Manager", I was next in line for this type of information. No one ever spells my name correctly, except family members, and it's not like I couldn't show up because they misspelled my name. 

This case was to identify gun models stolen in a burglary.

I'm simply amazed that it became a grocery store. 

I think it went through a few different incarnations in the food service industry and it seems to be doing quite well now. I will say, the owners of B&B retail and wholesale never got along, and business wasn't good for them till I arrived to help them fix what they had broken. When I left their business it went down hill fast, as the continued conflicts between theses two brothers grew. Neither of them ever made my job easy, with all the infighting over the wealth that this store brought in, once I arrived to show them how to market their products. Both brothers made their own personal deals with their own personal devils, and I'm glad I walked away long before their eventual downfall. Greed drove them both to their own personal demise, and that was one of the lesson I learned long before I left for bigger and better things in my life. Their hatred for each other was fuel by an insurmountable sibling rivalry that grew into adulthood, and never ceased. As great as people thought they were, in reality, they were merely figureheads for a place they both had very little to do with, where running the business of guns was concerned. Once I left, they ran it into the ground. 

That is their story.

My story has yet to be told. 

I still like fresh produce, deli, and baked goods though.

I doubt I will ever get them from Olive Fresh Garden Marketplace.

Some places just leave a bad taste in your mouth forever. 

Even if they were famous. 

____________________________________________________________________________

This blog was dedicated to twitter's #opencarry crowd, and especially Linoge @ linoge_wotc, who continues to state, emphatically that I've never been in the gun business, that I know absolutely NOTHING about guns, uses race baiting as a tactic to try and rile me up, and is certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was never, ever and Arms Dealer. It's OK, because he's a very small minded person who tends to think he knows more than everyone else about most things; even if its how a person spent their life for a significant period of time, in a very significant place. He'll always know more. Just ask, he'll tell you so.

 

B&B Sales was a premier weapons dealer in Southern California, and the largest operation of its kind, West of the Pecos. It set the standard when it came to supply meeting demand in modern weaponry. Even Paul Cole's place was small compared to us, and our only true competition. I was manager of the North Hollywood operation for five years.

 

Most of my direct clients were Law Enforcement at every level, based on my family's background.

 

Sometime in 1997, about a year after I left the gun business permanently, I received a call from one of my former Asst. Managers, who was my replacement, asking me for help. It seems that a Bank Of America on Sherman Way near Victory Blvd. was being robbed down the street from the store, and the L.A.P.D. came in a demanded weapons to stop the onslaught. This became to be known as the famous "North Hollywood Shootout" or "44 Minutes". My instructions were specific, for truth is stranger than fiction. Do not release any weapons without the proper paperwork, as it could cause problems when all is said and done down the road. My advice was not headed and overruled by ego.

 

North Hollywood Shootout 

Bob Kahn, owner of the store, who had little to do with how things ran in general, authorized the release of guns to the Los Angeles Police Department without the California DOJ "proper" paperwork. I see this kind of crap happen more and more as guns laws are misinterpreted, by those who think they know the laws. The guns were never used to help stop the crime in progress, and were returned to the store unused. They could never be sold as NIB (New in Box) because they left the store, from that day forward, Bob thought he would auction off the guns to recoup his so-called losses. This opened a huge can of worms for B.A.T.F. and the State Attorney General's office, who would eventually find him guilty of fraud, on unrelated charges differing from releasing said guns.

 

He who thinks he knows, is usually the person who ends up in jail, because he thought he knew what he didn't know at all. 

 

The store was eventually closed, filing formal bankruptcy, and the owners left in millions of dollars of debt.

 

My best years were $24 million in the black after overhead cost. (L.A. Riot and L.A. Earthquake). 

 

The world of course did not end as people thought it might.

 

Some people force their world to end, based on their pride.

 

The other "B" in this "B&B Sales" story, Barry Kahn was arrested for illegal NFA dealings and drug dealing in Alaska. When his sentence was reduced from four years to 18 months by a federal judge for these crimes, he arrogantly rose before the court at his sentencing and stated, "I'm underwhelmed your honor". It is my opinion, that his downfall was caused by his dealings with the Hells Angels, whom he hung out with in California when he wasn't in Alaska residence. Both brothers lived in fear of each other, to the point of hiring "personal" protection, while making awful choices in who was most capable of protecting them in their working environment or private lives. They constantly rose the stakes against each other in their place of business. It became an armed camp, pitting armed employees against one another.

 

Bob was B&B Sales (Retail) and Barry was Bumble Bee (Wholesale) (see card logo). Each one was President of their own corporation, and VP of their brother's corporation. Their father, Maury Kahn, who started the business as a silent partner, had the corporations written up that way when he started business for them on Cumpston Street, long before moving it to the Oxnard Street location. Rae, their mother, was a sweetheart. I cannot say enough nice things about her.

 

Like Esau and Jacob, her sons never got along, and as far as I know, there was never reconciliation.

 

 

 

 

The Day After...Open Letter to Open Carry Advocates

Today, is The Day After a formal decision was made by Starbucks, to no longer allow "open carry" patrons in their stores (nationwide)---if they continue to chose to strap on their sidearms or sling their laser sighted AR-15's while ordering a Mocha Frappucinos or Grande Latte. I see absolutely nothing wrong with Mr. Shultz's decision to make his store a "safer" place, by not allowing stupid people to carry deadly weapons for display, in these public businesses that have NOTHING to do with the firearms industry, shooting sports, or self defense education.

It was a practical business decision, and it was a good one.

Having been in the gun business for many years, and as a former Manager of the largest gun store West of the Pecos (formerly located in North Hollywood and Westminster, which is no longer in business), and a previous FFL holder myself, I find it hard to believe that this was the Open Carry's chosen battle ground for those who want to exercise their 2nd Amendment Rights. Starbucks? Why not choose Toy-R-Us? You're acting like children anyway, and you fail to exercise the most important rule of gun ownership.

YOU CANNOT CALL A BULLET BACK!!!

Once discharged from the barrel, the projectile leaves at such a tremendous rate of speed, that it breaks the sound barrier. That's why you hear the crack, pop, bang, boom, or growl of a gun. The bullet only does part of the damage. In rifles, sonic shock is what does most of the damage. It is caused by the wind that trails behind the bullet, for those who are uninitiated in gun nomenclature. Sonic shock or Hydrostatic shock,... and *the wind that trails the bullet causes the most damage.  Hydrostatic shock sucks the fluid, known as blood, right out of the meat, which is flesh. When enough fluids is rapidly displaced, the meats rips off the bone. The human body is 80% fluid.

                                      No one ever talks about the wind that trails the bullet.

                                            Stage 1: Beginning of wound channel

                                    Stage 2: Full Penetration and Bullet Expansion

                             Stage 3: Terminal Velocity Hydrostatic Shock and Over Penetration


Hydrostatic Shock affect the body, not just in the wound channel. The damage is caused all over the body, as bodily fluids adjust to compensate for loss where the wounds are. And there is not one person in the world who can unequivocally state that accidental discharges never happen; so carrying a gun, for no reason at all,  just to prove you have a right to do so because it is listed on the Bill of Rights is an absurd thought process. You could be jailed for absurdity of lacking common sense, and you should be. You can never call a bullet back.

I would like to see certain laws pertaining to Open Carry fall under the same type of Judicial ruling as, "you can't yell fire in a crowded theater" to prove you have 1st Amendment Rights. You are a danger to yourself and others when you carry a gun "just because".

You are bearing arms against no one, unless his name is Mr. Paranoia. You are making complete idiots of yourselves, and by your inept actions, it is assumed that every other responsible gun owner in the United States who does not publicly display a firearm, is not as righteous of a believer in the Bill of Rights. You bear these arms in public for the sole purpose of supposedly scaring away the unseen bad guys, that apparently stalk coffee shops, looking to rob scone laden individuals, hopped up Chai Tea; because we all know Starbucks is where all the big money is located and all the crime in the United States takes place.

I've met idiots like you "open carry" fools, in my former Managerial position and consequently, kicked you the fuck out of my store for being ignorant dipshits. Isn't that strange? I, who love guns, would actually MAKE YOU, open carriers, check your guns at the door, disarm, or slap leather. (That is not a good idea with those who IPSC shoot or are CQB trained) So would the 20 other guys standing behind my counters. You would never be allowed to saunter to the back of the store armed, near the cash registers to discuss the matter in a so-called "peaceful" manner, based on your Constitutional Right to Bear Arms. Even if you had a issued CCW, you would still had to check your shit at the door. Or, shop elsewhere. Believe me when I say, that I did the kind of annual business, that losing your business, based on your need to open carry in my place of business, would show up as a minor blip on the economic scale of how much came in the door and how much went out, where operating overhead is concerned.

Assholes like you weren't even a trickle of my business. I could give a rat's ass if you never spent another dime, ever again in my place of business. Do you open carriers realize what type of insurance binder must be carried in order for people to carry firearms in a place of business? Your Constitutional Right my ass! I'm sure Mr. Shultz was notified by his insurance company, that based on your unwanted/unneeded presence, that his insurance rates would increase substantially, if he continued to allow you idiots to continue your quest to show President Obama who "the boss is in this here American nation". Well, while Shultz may have used the Navy Yard Massacre (yet to be named that, so you heard it here first) as a tool to rid his places of business from the irresponsible open carry crowd, any business decision to cut overhead cost by not allowing people to carry deadly weapons in his facilities of operation was basic common business sense. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't take that shit so personal. And yes, the main reason you could not carry a gun in my place of business was for the same reason, where as my carrying a gun on a daily basis had nothing to do with Constitutional Rights, but in fact, it was all about securing my facility, and never needing or requesting your help as an open carry person to do so.

Your Constitutional Rights to Bear Arms ended at my front door.

I made no bones about that decision.

You took a stand at Starbucks, because you felt is a a liberal bastion of yuppies to be taken down one cup of coffee at a time, and this is how you were going to show America you have rights, by scaring men, women and children of all ages. Now I know where the term "guntard" came from. Please, don't try to appeal to my better nature. I don't really have one when it comes to stupid people who own guns, who never considered that they may be scaring the crap out of others, as they endanger the lives of others. I'm betting that the majority of you "open carry" people own guns, but you never owned a real safe. Yes, you have a trigger lock, or a gun cabinet, or some other hillbilly shit that holds your guns, supposedly safe, when you're not brandishing it on your hip or quick slinging across your chest, in some public venue to see how far you can push the limits of reality.

Brandish: To display ostentatiously (for those who have a limited vocabulary)

My question to you is this: IF YOU CAN AFFORD A $1,000 gun or two, don't you think it prudent to BUY A $1,000 SAFE TO SECURE THEM ALL OF THEM?

Or are you cheap?

No one wants to here you spout off at the mouth about your "inalienable", inherent rights under the 2nd Amendment, and you morons (open carriers) are basically stretching the limits of Law Enforcement to a breaking point. These nonsensical challenges to authority, that you perceive as a slight to your Freedom. Get over yourselves, puppies. Until you get to a place, where it is your business to wear a gun on a daily basis--don't. Until you shoot 200,000 rounds a year (as I did for research and development on new products), don't carry a gun to prove you have a right to do so. You are a bad accident waiting to happen based on the attitude, "I'm not doing anything wrong,...I have rights, you know". Guns and attitude are fire and gasoline. Don't challenge Law Enforcement, because you feel since 9/11, the rules have changed in your favor. If you are carrying because of 9/11, seek professional help. You represent a bigger threat to a stable society than the errant robber or imaginary terrorist IN YOUR HEAD!

Also, these dumb ass youtube videos (produced by dumb asses for dumb asses), where dumb ass people are strolling into a Shopping Malls, Subway, Walmart, etc...to test the gun free zone waters,... knock that shit off already! No one wants to watch another youtube video of YOU, harassing Law Enforcement, because you own a cheap piece of shit AK-47 or AR-15. You are raising the stakes where a Police State is concerned. You are giving them cause to pause and assess. Have you ever considered that, while you blurt on continuously about your 2nd Amendment Rights? You want to engage Law Enforcement in some unknown struggle, this battle of wills, to see if they will engage you back? You are the precursor to what creates a Third World Nation, and you think nothing of your fellow man and how your errant behavior affects everyone in this nation.

Really--who give a rat's ass if you own a Glock 23 or an AR-15?

I certainly don't. I couldn't care less. It doesn't scare me and based on your incompetent handling of these weapons and others (in public), and you need to know the end results of your constant challenge of open carry rights. A scoped H&K 91 or PSG-1 at 500 yards would put you on the ground PERMANENTLY, in seconds from a cold shot--without hesitation, and that is the stage you are setting up for this nation. To be taken down. When you get hit with that .308, remember, it was YOU who came outside, brandishing a firearm, with no real reason to do so. Every .308 launched raises the stakes to a Tikka T-3 Tactical or Barrett Light .50, and it's all because you'll feel that, every open carry person was within his or her rights to brandish in public.

Not even close.

Philosophically speaking, (because this is what you are doing when you talk about your "open carry" rights) you will have your legs taken out from under you, literally speaking, because you're stupid enough to literally have a REAL GUN while proposing a philosophical view point in public, while brandishing a firearm. You're no better than the guy who self immolates to prove his philosophical viewpoint. He uses real gas and real matches. Is the picture becoming clearer now?

Again, open carriers, you are in need of major therapy, because beyond you Right to Keep and Bear Arms, there has been ZERO call for a United States National Militia, and WE HAVE NOT been invaded by anyone... so the current U.S. standing military doesn't need your help. They will let you know when they do. They probably won't EVER need your help securing any Starbucks as a command post, so all your open carry practice has been in vain--and a bit disturbing to say the least.

Do what every other normal person does.

Go have a cup of coffee without a gun.

Try a maple scone, or a lemon bar with that coffee.

Read the morning news and reflect how to make society a better place to live, not react by carrying a gun in a public venue.

Take your gun to the shooting range when you want to use it.

Don't carry a gun in public; it makes people uncomfortable when there is no reason for you to do so.

Realize that you don't use real items like guns to make a philosophical statements or viewpoints.

We know you have rights, now get over the need place you and everyone in danger to prove it.

Don't engage Law Enforcement in open carry engagement, which they are out doing their job hopefully. If the police are called on you, for open carry, then they could actually be somewhere else preventing a real crime, but "man/dumb ass/ with a gun" takes top priority in 911 calls. That dumb ass would be you! A liquor store just got held up because you needed to have a philosophical discussion while brandishing a AR-15, for your youtube audience. Stop wasting my tax dollars with your nonsense.

Grow up and get a life.

These are simple request.

MUSASHI has spoken.

Peace Out.

[*] the wind that trails the bullet causes the most damage (One day, when Progun realizes that the wind that trails the bullet is the political spin they put on every shooting, then they'll stop questioning what this phrase means. Allegory and puns aren't for everyone. That's why most people understand the 2nd Amendment and don't carry around guns, because the understand Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution—and don’t limit themselves to one singular, Bill of Right Amendment, that has no need of being implemented on out public streets because the President is not the same color they are. Their racist needs and beliefs usurp the meaning of Freedom and Liberty)

Grueling Childhood Memories

Some of us have good memories of childhood, while others submerge whatever pain was inflicted on them, for fear it will arise from the depths and repeat itself on future generations to come. Not I. I've always embraced whatever pain that has been thrust upon me, from whatever ever avenue it barreled down on me from; or experienced it from some suburban cul-de-sac, where one could find hidden young men huffing paint, long before it was locked behind closed glass doors at the hardware store.

Sometimes, the kids I knew just bought models for access to the airplane glue, and the models never became a reality. I wasn't one for huffing or headaches. My choice of high was POT. Remember pot. Yet, the dreaded weed also known as "reefer", "smirch", "weed", "smoke", "green", "puff", but I digress. I could name a thousand call signs for marijuana. What marijuana lacks in today's world is variety in flavor. TASTE. Yes, the quality where potency in concerned has excelled beyond measure, but smoking it today puts me to sleep, and most of it, if not all of it, smells like Christmas tree shopping year around.

Since Cannabis Indicus arrived on the scene back in the 1970's, the textural flavor of the new breeds has diminished with time. (Some call them "strains" now, but they never heard the songs Down To The Night Club-Bump City or What Is Hip by Tower of Power. It's how my generation partied. When bands actually had horn sections in them, and while we all waited for Gabriel to blow his on the final day after experiencing the Missile of October.)  This is one of the reasons I clearly hope they legalize it soon, so these blends, much like fine roasted coffees you find on your grocer's shelf, can flow through the United States, unimpeded; allowing experienced connoisseurs to once again TASTE, Columbia Red or Acapulco Gold. I can't remember the last time I smoked pot, without turning into a blood-sugar starved, shaking heap of useless flesh on someone's floor. I abstain, as it were, based on this reality, and the the fact that it scares the shit out of people who haven't one clue that some of us are capable of OD'ing on future pot.

We knew drug songs, and drug songs.

Which brings me to todays' adventure,... which by the way has very little to do with pot, but is a tale of going shopping with all the kid's in tow. My daughter's ("G"), friend ("R") who is a avid reader of history posed a simple question, asking my wife and myself, "What does Puff the Magic Dragon mean". Of course, I went into historical teaching mode, replying, "Puff the Magic Dragon was a AC-47, with 4 GE mini-guns mounted on...."..., when my wife piped up,..."Honey...come on...Puff the Magic Dragon is a song that was about smoking pot".

Which just goes to show you, she's too young to have ever seen John Wayne's Green Berets, no matter how much she loves George Takei and is a avid follower of his Facebook page blog site. She thinks he's funny and simply adores him. I think his phasers are set on stunning.

It never occurred to me that she wasn't scolding me in front of the children, based on my rendition of what Puff the Magic Dragon means to me, based on my age and lifetime experiences. I seldom pull punches when asked about historical question, especially about a period I lived in. It was nothing like that at all. My wife was merely sharing her life experience and began to sing the song aloud:

"Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff, oh"

I piped in, "Wait a minute, you think that song was about smoking pot?"

"Yes, what DO you think Little Jackie Paper was all about? Huh? Rolling papers.", she said with the self assured nature of a bonafide flower child of the 1960's.

I tried my best to wrap my head around her experience, seeing that she is twenty years younger than I am, and I've smoked more pot than Bob Marley and Bob Marley's Ghost. True story: I owned an electric auto pipe that ran off of a fish pump, that held one ounce at a time. Bong, smong. I grew up in Berkeley. We put the "stone" in the word stoner. It's sad how Berkeley has revert back to its Conservative roots since my younger years of growing up there. It's much too right winged for me today. I actually saw people selling tie-dyed T-shirt for three for $30.00 on Telegraph Avenue.

Blasphemy!!

That reminds me, one day I'll have to tell you all the history behind the phrase "getting stoned", and where came from and how it relates to "getting wasted". Another true story, but few believe it, and that what makes it such a delicious piece of trivia.

Anyway, my daughter's friend is a total history geek, which is quite interesting, because my daughter's one and only interest is in the boy band One Direction. That is until her best friend shows up. Then anything I put on TV for them to watch, especially things of historical significance, they devour ravenously in a competitive nature. Nothing like watching little empty brains fill up before your very eyes. Today's movie was the beginning of a trilogy, based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto, starring Toshiro Mifune. I had just finished watching my Buster Keaton fix for the day (Three Ages), when I decided,... since they must watch the boob tube, there is no requirement stating they have to watch boob material.

After all, it is the Age of Technology. (actually, it's the Technological Renaissance)

I would never lie to a child, not even in today's world, with all the pain that has followed any twenty year old since he was eight in, during this Second Reconstruction period in America, sans Civil War. Even though the Project for a New America Century is rumored to have ceased and desisted, the impact of its roll-out was still devastating to American children of 9/11. The future psychological and social implications, far outweigh the impact of 9/11. Smart phones don't make kids smart. From what I understand, smart phones make kids dumb.

For whatever it is worth, Iraq and Afghanistan existed, just like Vietnam did, and Syria may be on the way soon. I want these children to know I love them. So, the best way to do the is by infusing them with the truth about the way the world works, before I die because no one's life is guaranteed. I chose not to hide reality from them. Even more so, now that women can assume the combat role position in the Armed Forces, which means, if drafted, they have the same right to suffer from PTSD as any male does, once people start the shooting war within the confines of your personal space. This ain't your Great-Grandfather's Call of Duty.

I don't really think of my childhood as grueling, but a place of enlightened dialogue with a lot of "man" this and "man" that. Still, it was dialogue, and not this closeted, silenced, accepted injustice. We didn't roll like that. We ate tear gas for breakfast. Rubber bullet wounds were part of the cycle of growing up. Seriously, I attended Willard Jr. High on Telegraph Avenue on Berkeley. You know what they say, don't you? Location, location, location, and timing... just this side of People Park.

Survival is based on understanding the balance, not always accepting the dictum.

Some love, but will never know Haight,..

"Man" isn't said enough today, but there is a lot more violence, and ten times the amount of drug use in this Conservative Rhythm Nation.

Having  eclectic taste is verboten today and goes against the tribe since Eddie McGee won 1st place on Big Brother, so much so that wanna-be famous people get kicked off of Fantasy Island wholesale. You couldn't socially engineer the acceptance of William Mega then, who sabotaged himself, so what makes Julie Chen so mad when the racist and homophobic comments are aired today?

There are still people who think that way, Julie.

Racism is no longer considered a bad thing, but racialist have no where else to flee to. So grabbing my nut sack in New York City on a random stop-and-frisk based on my skin color, or slicing my teenage heart in two with a 9mm, because I stood my ground, after you stalked me for more than a mile in Florida, is just a common everyday occurrence in post 1970's America. The College Republicans saw to that, and are holding steady ground by exerting their God given rights to continued on going Manifest Destiny projects, while destroying recent minor innovations like evolution  and Darwinism through the propagation of Creationism and creationist ideas.

Even I didn't get that high way back when, but I really can't speak for what they've been smoking.

Future weed, perhaps?

Self medication, through pot smoking, to ease the pain of whether or not one would die in a war, after being drafted was pretty normal in 1970's America. I missed the draft by two years, so I lost many people I knew personally, and saw many more fucked up beyond recognition as they DEROSed back to the "World"; which should have been our first clue about what happens to a soldiers who live in hell, coming straight home with no down time to re-evaluate what they'd been through. It should be no surprise that the suicide rates outpace war deaths among American Iraq and Afghanistan combat vets; which makes me wonder, who embedded Lindsey Tanner's ass in the conversation?

As Janelle Monae states, "We will create and destroy ten art movements in ten years".

So you must do you part. I'm doing mine by re-educating the youth of today, before America breaks down and we accept a President who's so visionary that he's a Pol Pot re-do, and the destruction of American intelligentsia becomes an accepted practice. I wear glasses and have an opinion. My opinion matters. Like, "Could your child do this?" The realities of war are harsh.

I'm no Leonard Lipton, but we will march again, I assure you, and things haven't changed so much since 1965.

As as we were headed home, "R", smiled and said...."Ok, you are ruining my childhood memories", because she wanted them to be kid-like, fanciful, imaginary, and playful...you know, kid stuff about friendship. Well, the little boy grows up and the Dragon is left all alone. The Dragon goes off by himself. The lyrics to Puff implies death, but teachers today never discuss such things with children, nor do their parents. No one really knows what the intent of the song was when Lipton wrote it based on  Ogden's "Tale Of The Custard Dragon". In 2008, Rush Limbaugh and Company's Paul Shaklin re-recorded the tune under the title "Barack The Magic Negro", and Chip Saltsman used this version to run for Chairman of the Republican National Convention,... and Julie Chen was just as confused and in pain then as she is in 2013.

And, I ruined "R"'s childhood memories?

I'm not sure this was ever a children's song, and maybe there was always more to the layers of Lenny Lipton's work. All I know is, mine never included Puff The Magic Dragon as a marijuana smoking song.

Although, I have gotten high and watched H. R. Pufnstuf.

Now that was a grueling childhood memory.