The Manhunt for the Boston Bombers: Your Rights vs. The Safety of Others

Apparently, some people are more concerned with their personal rights being intact. The people pictured here were more concerned with having both their legs intact.

With any tragedy, you get an array of reactions. The Boston bombing was no different. In wake of what happened, many people decided to shift the focus from the death of several people and the grave injuries of hundreds of others to fit their own agenda here.

Namely with the chief complaint the Boston PD and others were violating people's rights left and right by going door to door in Watertown, MA. After all the 4th Amendment protects us from this, right? Or is that pesky Patriot Act totally destroying all of our rights, forcing us to have to open our doors when a potential terrorist might be hiding out on our property.

I suspect no one is Watertown, nor in any Boston suburb was concerned with their rights being violated that day. Their concern was bring the sole surviving suspect to justice. One of the two people who may have maimed or killed one of their friends, neighbors, or loved ones. Perhaps by putting their agendas aside for a brief moment allowing a quick peek of their backyard gave them a sense of safety, maybe even relief if they knew the house cleared before them by SWAT was a family member, or a friend. I mean, whats more important in a situation like this, your rights or knowing that your mother across the street has not had her legs blown off or been shot to death?

The fact is, we knew very little about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We knew he was capable of making/detonating bombs with intent of harming a large number of people. We knew him and his brother were capable of killing a cop, and critically inuring another. They were capable of carjackings, police shootouts, throwing around improvised explosives at authorities.

There seemed to be no general consensus on his condition after the shootout that left his brother dead and him fleeing alone in the stolen SUV. Afterall, he did abandon it on foot and still elude police. So how passive and sensitive should we be when trying to apprehend people like this?

Are we that self righteous and paranoid to think authorities were doing this for anything less than to try and spare more deaths and bring the suspect to justice?

For the armchair patriots of the world, apparently our own personal rights selfishly take precedence over the innocent lives of others. Because of course, tyranny starts with illegal searches and the next thing you know they are going to take everyone's guns away.

In the meantime, I'd be interested to hear of any residents of the greater Boston area - namely ones that experienced any type of loss, whether they knew someone who was killed, or someone that will never walk again - who were genuinely upset at the fact door to door searches took place. Anyone? Didn't think so.

Sharp and Pointy Things: Smith & Wesson Border Guard Knives

The BG 2 shown with a serrated tanto blade.

Got a hankering for something beefier than your average pocket knife? On a budget? The Smith & Wesson Border Guard line might be for you. Let's take a look at how they shape up.

Make no mistakes, the BG is one hefty EDC blade. Fully opened it spans nearly 10 inches, with the blade being a little over 4 inches. It looks heavy, and it is. The weight of the knife is closing on nearly half a pound. It carries comfortably in most cases, but it depends on your attire. Jeans are no problem, but in say, a pair of lighter fabric shorts it can feel like you are toting a brick around in your pocket.

While its a good choice for not only your pocket, it's not a bad knife to have in the car either. With the integrated seat belt cutter, you have an extra edge just in case. It might not be my first choice for a seat belt but for more mundane tasks, like cutting wires or string, it works well. Another bonus is the glass breaker on the butt of the handle. I haven't yet tested it, but with the weight of the knife it looks pretty capable.

My first experience was S&W knives was with the popular Border Guard 2. I got mine from Amazon, and once it arrived it was love at first slice. I opted for the serrated tanto, though its available with or without serrations and in both tanto and drop point styles. Its a beast of a knife and not for every carry occasion, but for the price its tough to beat. Sharp out of the box and a lifetime warranty.

With my BG 2 I actually tried out the warranty once the locking mechanism on the blade started to fail. Perhaps I was too hard on it, maybe I got a lemon. Regardless, the lock was bad and eventually I broke down and decided to give it a shot.

S&W knives are made by Taylor Brands, who also make Schrade knives as well as a few others. Under their warranty they will basically replace anything that would be considered a defect. The catch is they request you ship it to their repair department in Tennessee and pay a $7 processing fee.

I first inquired about the process via email. A few days went by with no response so I ended up just calling them. They explained it to me over the phone, so without any further delay I shipped them the broken knife. A couple days later I checked my email again and Taylor Brands actually offered to waive the $7 processing fee for me, but by then it was probably almost at their facility. Nice gesture, regardless.

About 12 days later I called them back to check the status of the repair. The lady I spoke with was really nice, and informed me they would just replace my knife with a Border Guard 4. She went on to tell me it should be arriving in the mail "Today probably but no later than tomorrow". Like she said it was in my mailbox later that day.

The BG 4 shows a slight make over of the handle.

The Border Guard 4 retains the same basic design, but makes a few changes. Namely the handle is the biggest difference. Gone are the finger grooves of the BG2, in favor of a more subtle arch. There is a more pronounced divot where your fingers rest, making it much less likely for them to slip onto the edge of the blade. Conversely, the BG2 had a spot like that where your thumb sits, the newer one is just the opposite.

The gritty sandpaper like grip covers a bit less space on the BG4. While it doesn't take away from the overall grip that much, the aluminum handle can be a bit slick in spots. For pocket carry this might be a good thing, though. The grip is so gritty many have commented that it started wearing down on the inside of their jeans. Either way, I preferred the grip of the BG2, but the newer model is no slouch either.

The glass breaker and the seat belt cutter are largely the same. I did notice they are both angled a bit differently but I noticed they were no better or no worse to be honest.

The blade of the knife is a bit smaller on the BG4, from about 4.4 inches to 4 inches overall. The 4 came noticeably sharper though, and the tanto tip almost seemed pointier than I remember. Overall, the newer model was a worthy replacement.

The good: Affordable, good warranty. Decently sharp.

The bad: Might be too hefty for some, at least for everyday carry.

The ugly: 1 knife failed, 1 knife works. Not sure if its a fluke or poor quality control.

All things considered, its a great blade for around $20. They stand by their warranty, and its affordable enough to have a few on hand. Give them a shot.

Forgotten Albums of the 2000s: King James Version by Harvey Danger

They still want to publish zines and Rage Against Machines...just with some different instrumentals this time.

Harvey Danger pretty much were destined to be one hit wonders. Flagpole Sitta was just such a catchy, infectious song and one that was nearly impossible to follow. Not that the rest of the album was bad, but nothing else on it was in the same vein as that track. Their next single/video was forgettable, and thus began their fade into 90s alt-rock obscurity.

King James Version was a redemption of sorts. The problem was, no one paid attention long enough to hear it. While the first album was more a dabble in light grunge, the sophomore release was much more mature, concise and overall felt like more of a finished product. A lot of the tracks on the first record felt rushed, incomplete, written just as filler.

With King James, the music grows up. The lyrics are clever. Admittedly, its a lot less rock but the sound is basically what Harvey Danger adapted for the rest of their short career.

Unfortunately the album had a lot of set backs. It sat in limbo during record label mergers. The band lost their momentum with a lukewarm second single from the last album. The world wanted another Flagpole Sitta, and Harvey Danger wasn't interested. They matured and expanded their sound and continued to make catchy songs, just in a different package.

WTF Arm and Hammer?!

For all I know, these came out of Satan's asshole.

I like Tide laundry detergent. It smells nice and never fails to get my clothes clean. The downside is that its the most expensive stuff out there. Hoping to find a reasonably priced alternative to Tide, I ended up buying these packs from Arm and Hammer. I've used A&H products before, but never these little packs that apparently (judging by the packaging) turn your dirty clothes into a fresh scented tidal wave of bling.

By the first wash I should have known this product was shit, and tossed it in the trash. I threw a pack in and started a load, however the thing just didn't want to dissolve. 10 minutes go by...no suds. 20 minutes go by....still no suds. Finally about 45 minutes into an hour long cycle I finally start seeing some soap in my front loader. By this time though, it was done with all the wash cycles and starting the final spin. The detergent seemed to have fully rinsed at the end, but the clothes still smelled dingy, just with a light scent to it. Like if someone unleashed a horrible fart and sprayed a miniscule amount of air freshener. You still have that lingering aroma of ass, but just with a touch of potpourri with it.

I went on to do a few more washes with the same results. I finished up my work clothes, casual clothes, towels and called it quits, unimpressed and quite annoyed at myself for not getting the Tide Pods. Actually, anything would have outperformed the Arm and Hammer. Like taking a wash board outside in the rain with a bar of Irish Spring would have probably yielded better results.

The worst part was still to come, though.

On the first day of wearing these "freshly" laundered clothes, I noticed a slight itch on my face at work. Much to my annoyance, it persisted for the latter half of the day.

Day two. Slightly flushed face, a bit of redness on my forehead. Itching has spread down to my chin and neck. Looks like I broke out in hives, or had slight windburn from skiing. Definitely anticipating a doctor visit at this point.

Day three. Entire face is red, warm, itchy. Slight bumps on various parts of my face. Rash has spread to small patches on both my biceps and forearms. They itch like hell, too.

The first clinic I went to, didn't even want to mess with it. The nurse practitioner insisted I was going to need a steroid shot in the ass or my eyes were going to swell shut. Instead of just giving me around of oral steroids, she was nice enough to take my vitals and refer me to an urgent care about 40 minutes away. I concluded these mini-clinics do virtually nothing, and unless I get a really bad paper cut I doubt I'm going to make another trip.

Once I finally saw a real doctor, he diagnosed it as contact dermatitis, likely from thoroughly patting my face, arms off with a towel washed in the worthless Crystal packs. I was in a hurry for work the first day, so I quickly patted off and just wrapped myself up in the towel to dry off as I got ready. Food, poison ivy were all ruled out. There is really nothing else it could have been besides the Arm and Hammer.

My upper arm actually got the least of it but, I won't post a picture of my face in case you are eating.

Needless to say, I will be using Tide exclusively for the rest of my life. Even the cheapest detergent commercially available to the public did not do anything like this to my skin. Tide might be expensive, but when you factor in the costs of doctor visits and prescriptions I'll be avoiding, the cost per load isn't so bad.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from these little nuggets of misery.

Sharp and Pointy Things: Cold Steel Pro Guard

That hole means it's not leaving the secure grip of my hand.

Recently, I was looking for a more defensive oriented carry knife. A push dagger or karambit was originally the plan but, most of those are designed for concealed carry and thus illegal in many locations. I came across the Cold Steel Pro Guard, liked the design and decided to give it a shot.

Cold Steel markets it as a neck knife, but at slightly over 6 inches one could consider it a larger neck knife or perhaps a medium belt knife. Some folks may find it innocuous to wear, but personally it felt a tad bit big and fairly obvious for neck wear, at least in a casual sense.

The most positive aspect of the blade is easily the grip. The faux G10 handle fits perfectly in the hand and the finger hole allows a commanding grip. You can essentially make a fist and the end result is the handle perfectly anchored in your palm and a blade that is going to stay put. No worries about dropping the blade or your hand moving forward and getting cut.

At 2.8 oz its incredibly light and the AUS 8A stainless steel blade is quite sharp and pointy right out of the box. The 4 inch blade may seem a tad small initially but overall, its adequately sized for its role as a defensive knife. The retention aspect of the Pro Guard is definitely the selling point here, in a bad situation you aren't going to lose control of this or possibly have it easily taken away from you. Attempting to grab it away from you will result in some nasty cuts and probably a quick realization from your assailant that it might be time to flee.

While the knife itself is nearly perfect, the main drawbacks here are the sheath. The push button "lock" is a great feature but maneuvering ones fingers to quickly get the blade out proves to be awkward sometimes. This can be remedied to an extent with some modifications. Namely, if you remove some of the plastic around the lock button you can effectively slide the blade out a bit easier and get your finger in the hole in a more fluid manner.

Even after taking a Dremel to that part of the sheath, it still takes a bit of finesse to get a quick draw, but its still easier than before. I do wish Cold Steel added a belt/boot clip to it as an alternative to neck wear as it seems better suited for that type of carry, or at least that would be my preference in this case.

Even with the less than stellar sheath, its still a great fixed blade knife with amazing retention that feels nearly perfect in your hand. Anyone looking for a more defensive oriented blade should really check it out.

Forgotten Albums of the 90s: Fantastic Planet by Failure

Retro album art yes, but rest assured it was ahead of it's time.

Halfway through 1996 Failure dropped this forgotten gem, making it their third and final album. Admittedly, at the time I was pretty indifferent to it, the lead single "Stuck On You" was good but it had such minimal airplay that it never really stuck with me (excuse the horrible pun).

While the album and the band managed to stay just shy of the commercial radar, it ended up being one of those albums I meant to pick up at the time but just never got around to it. Nearly 20 years later, after a bit of renewed 90s alt-rock nostalgia, I finally decided to give it a listen with little or no expectations and was quite surprised.

At first glance, Failure seems to be just another post grunge band. However, with the sonic textures, space rock ambiance, and unique harmonies, Fantastic Planet was far more adventurous than many comparable albums of its time. One could argue its somewhat of a concept album about drug addiction, but regardless the selling point here is more the soundscapes than the lyrical content.

Overall, its a hugely overlooked epic that serves not only as a book end to the grunge era, but blends an album like In Utero with OK Computer and delivers a hour long plus listening experience that many bands attempted to craft, but few achieved.