In case you missed it–Aug 2nd was Russian Paratrooper Day

Who knew Alby was a Russian Paratrooper?  I always thought he was in the Mexican Infantry.

Russia drains fountains for drunken paratroopers

City governments across Russia drained the water from municipal fountains Thursday, hoping to keep drunken paratroopers from drowning in them.

Aug. 2 is Paratrooper Day in Russia and every year more than one million burly active and retired soldiers take to the streets in their signature blue berets and striped undershirts to mark the occasion, often by combining large quantities of vodka with plunges into fountains.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to call for restraint Thursday, but with a barely concealed smile, during public remarks to paratroopers in Ulyanovsk. “I hope that Paratrooper Day will pass without excesses, and that your colleagues will behave themselves adequately, at least without gross violations of public order,” he said.

Officially, the day is celebrated with cadet marches and memorials. Unofficially, the elite troops start drinking at sunrise, then head off to city parks to brawl. Migrant workers from Central Asia have been targets of violence on past Paratrooper Days, and the Federation of Migrants of Russia issued a public warning to avoid parks, train stations and commuter trains, and anywhere else paratroopers might be celebrating on Thursday. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow similarly sent out an announcement, saying that while the majority of the celebrations are “jovial and peaceful,” Americans in Russia would be wise to steer clear of “any large crowds and public gatherings that lack enhanced security measures.”

There were no serious reports of violence Thursday. Two drunken revellers were arrested in Moscow after they slammed a Tiger – a vehicle similar to a U.S. Humvee – with a mock machine gun strapped to the roof into a car on a Moscow highway. Moscow city authorities also distributed several tons of watermelons in a downtown park at no charge; paratroopers had been known to steal them in the past.

The 4th Amendment and knowing when to say NO

Today boys and girls, I would like to talk about the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution -

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized

Why is it important to know this?  Because you have the RIGHT to refuse any searches performed by the police. 

• Pulled over for speeding and they want to search your car?  Tell them no. 
• Cops show up for a noise complaint, turn the music down and tell them sorry.  Take the ticket and don't let them in.
• Someone want to search your backpack while you are in a store (don't get me started with the stupid Walmart door alarms) – ask them to call a cop, and he better bring a warrant.

Ok, these are extreme cases – an yes, the cop could make your life a pain for awhile while he gets a warrant, but remember – refusal is a right….not an admission of guilt.

Why does this come up?  Because of todays news story out of Polk County Florida.

You see – if you are pulled over for a broken taillight and you can answer yes to any of these three questions…..you should probably refuse the search, take the chance the cop just sites you for the taillight and pray -

• Your Name is Stoner
• You have joint disguised as a cigar on the center console
• There is a Dead Alligator in a Tool Box

Since this knucklehead answered yes to all three…..and consented to a search, you can imagine where this is going.

Polk Deputy Searching Truck Finds Dead Alligator in a Tool Box

WAHNETA | A Polk County deputy found marijuana in two men's truck Tuesday and something strange stashed in a tool box: a dead 4-foot alligator, arrest reports say.

Jessie Stoner, 20, and Christopher Walling, 22, both of Winter Haven, were pulled over about 1:20 a.m. on First Court East in Wahneta because they had a broken tail light, arrest reports say.

They gave the deputy permission to search the truck and he found a cigar wrapper stuffed with marijuana on the console, reports say.

"I haven't smoked in a while," said Stoner, who was driving when the deputy pulled them over, according to his arrest report.

The deputy arrested them and then continued his search, discovering the alligator's body.

Stoner and Walling were charged with misdemeanour counts of drug possession and taking an alligator without a permit.

Watch it for the Cameo

Thanks to TheProfessor for sending this over. 

This might not be you your kind of music – but you have to watch it for the cameo.  And if you want to know more about the rum he is holding, go HERE.

Cheers -

Obama wants your Beer Money

I usually try to stay away from politics here.  If I do say something, it is usually funny – and I go after both parties (the Sarah Palin Drinking Game is one of our more popular pages).

That being said, I had to post this one.

You see, The President originally wanted to raise $1 Billion in campaign funds, and now it is looking like he might not even make $750K.

So, how does farm out for cash?  Via Twitter of Course.

I do want to point out – He’s saying you shouldn’t buy your friend a drink, but that you should instead give the money to him.  Ummm, I think my friends would appreciate it more I was buying for them.

What are your thoughts?

Cheers -

PS – Since we are on the topic of Twitter, Feel free to follow me @SmokesAndBooze or The Professor @MySideOfTheBar

What not to do–Marketing 101

Click to embiggen – Can you spot the Marketing Mistake?

This Day in History–SHANE

While I would disagree that this is the Greatest Western (Open Range, Tombstone and Josey Wales top my list) this was a great movie….and was actually the first western I ever read.

A classic you can watch with your kids…..enjoy.

Shane released by Paramount

Shane, considered by many critics to be the greatest western movie, is released by Paramount Pictures.

Based on Jack Schaefer's 1949 novel of the same name, Shane was a new type of western. After World War II, Americans began to crave books and films that offered more realistic and complex characters. Simple two-dimensional heroes like Hopalong Cassidy no longer seemed believable to adults who had lived through the horrors and hardships of World War II. Schaefer's book, and the movie based on it, created a western hero for a more mature and sophisticated America.

Alan Ladd played a drifting gunfighter who goes by only one name, Shane. In the opening scene, Shane rides down out of the rugged Teton Mountains into a fertile valley (the movie was filmed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming) where he meets a homesteading family: Joe and Marian Starrett, and their son, Joey. Eager to give up the rootless gunfighter's life, Shane hires on as a farmhand. Soon, however, he learns that the local cattle baron is trying to run the Starretts and other homesteaders off their land so he can continue using it for grazing.

Shane is initially reluctant to use his guns to help the homesteaders. However, when the cattle baron hires a famous gunslinger named Wilson (played by Jack Palance) who kills one of the farmers, Joe Starrett is determined to take revenge. Realizing the stubborn Starrett will almost certainly be killed, Shane knocks him unconscious and goes in his place. After killing Wilson, Shane reluctantly concludes that he cannot escape his violent past and must leave the settled valley. In one of the most memorable scenes in movie history, Shane rides off into the wild mountains, the boy Joey's voice echoing after him: "Come back, Shane!"

Simultaneously mythic and realistic, Shane created one of the first fully rounded western heroes. Shane lives by his gun, but he is essentially a good man who envies Joe Starrett's settled family life. Ironically, Shane's fate is to use violence to create civilized communities where violence is no longer acceptable or necessary.

This (Late) Day in History–July 30 1733

OK – I get it, its a little late – but still an important date in Masonic History….so I wanted to include it.

On this day – July 30 1733, at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on King (now State) Street, Henry Price - empowered by a warrant from the Premier Grand Lodge in England - gathered together with 18 men and organized what would become the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Based on this precedent, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is the oldest Grand Lodge in the Western Hemisphere and the third oldest in the world.
They immediately instituted "The First Lodge," today known as St. John's Lodge. The first duly constituted Lodge in the new world.
This image is from the plaque affixed to the building on the site where the Bunch of Grapes Tavern once stood.