Naval Gunnery Q:

[Bing]

The farmer did get money from the Army. I would guess he got compensation for crops that were not destroyed - that's the way it usually goes. Someone else's money is always easier to spend.

Small town cops are the same almost everywhere. To give you an idea of what Gaylord, Michigan is like, a person in search of a crack house would have to drive 3-1/2 hours south to Grand Rapids to even have a hope of finding one. Hopped up kids robbing gas stations is about all that happens (once in a while a husband or wife shoots the other, but that happens everywhere in the world).

To cope with this massive crimewave we have: 1) Local police, including bicycle troops in shorts with the cutest knees 2) Sheriff's police 3) State police including regional post in town 4) DNR - who used to be the Conservation Department and are now empowered to stop motorists and arrest them as well as doing same to game law violators. ( I have friends who were charged with a DML by DNR personnel.)

I figure we have a cop for about every four or five civilians. Local government has a good thing going making money off drunk drivers.

For entertainment and to keep themselves in a state of operational readiness - we all know Gaylord is a hotbed of terrorists, don't we? - the police stage raids on kids in the woods illegally drinking beer - they bust the beer bust.

They wear night vision goggles. I am not making this up, this is fact: They chase teenagers thru the jackpines with infrared night vision goggles. These are not Columbian drug lords or anything like that, just kids having a few beers back in the boonies. In addition, plainclothes spies are placed in tactically prominent convenience stores to trap teenagers using false proof to buy beer. As if they could not get drugs of any kind any time they wanted.

There have been documented instances of the county sheriff and the state police drag racing to an accident scene to get there first and claim jurisdiction.

Welcome to our brave new world. OTOH it IS a clean place to live.

Bing