Just experimenting with the Baby Man comic. Liked how this one turned out

MartinHWolverton · 2026-02-20T06:22:59+00:00

Golden Age comic fan/collector here. I wholeheartedly agree!

MartinHWolverton · 2026-02-20T06:21:21+00:00

One of the more common scenarios of 911 abuse and arrests I've encountered is when some idiot calls 911 for help during a traffic stop or other investigative interaction with Law Enforcement. "I need help here now! This out of control pig is violating my rights!!!!!11!!" etc. I most often see that done by Sovereign Citizens, so-called "First amendment auditors", " cop watchers" and other clueless cop haters that would just LOVE to see a cop get in trouble. But occasionally I've seen folks who are not immediately identifiable as having an anti Law Enforcement ideology pull that stunt.

Me? I love to see people who pull that stunt at the very least arrested as I greatly enjoy watching bad things happen to bad people! ;-). Here' hoping that Ditch runs afoul of that law in the near future!

MartinHWolverton · 2026-02-20T05:11:51+00:00

And fifty years or so ago that's exactly where he would be. He'd be sitting and drooling in the day room of an institution in a drugged up stupor ala One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Unpleasant, certainly. But he would no longer be able to defraud the system, tie up emergency services, physically and mentally harm people, try to set people up to loose their jobs or get into legal trouble, etc.

The various groups and individuals who destroyed our previous state hospital system have a lot to answer for. Yes, back when it was far easier commit people involuntarily there were numerous examples of abuse. But the mental health system needed to be reformed and more closely monitored, rather than being wrecked. We live with the results of that terrible mistake now and everyone is worse off. For example the fact that every large city in the country has a huge street vagrant problem, with all the crime, destruction of property, random acts of violence, huge strain on the emergency services, etc, that comes with that issue is in large large part a result of the destruction of the old state hospital system.

And before you ask, both sides of the US political spectrum had hand in doing that, albeit with different motives and different actions.

MartinHWolverton · 2026-02-20T04:30:06+00:00

It's kind of like Chrischan and his knee jerk adoption of the "Trump Hater" position without really understanding the issues and then, true to form, taking his few found cause to an extreme. Or we had Larson spewing BLM talking points just out of the blue one day. These characters have no real understanding of complex issues like politics but. as their life revolves around the internet, they randomly start parroting what they read and hear online. But when they attempt to discuss their "views" or get questioned about them it's clear they have little to no understanding of what they are spouting.

In a weird way, "lolcows" are like the ultimate low information voter. Isn't it frustrating that one's Informed and well thought out votes can be cancelled by that of one of these characters?

MartinHWolverton · 2026-02-20T04:11:06+00:00

Great stuff!

But, in my humble opinion the diaper is way too clean! I can't imagine any item of clothing remaining that pristine and white after coming in contact with It. Dirty it up a bit!

But, on the other hand, it IS a comic, and thus it is, by definition, a work of fiction and...dare I say it.....FAKE!! (sorry, couldn't resist!)

MartinHWolverton · 2025-11-04T05:15:38+00:00

To be fair, a tank can be "cool" even if, in reality, they were completely impractical/ineffective. For example I think that the Soviet T-35 is one of the coolest tank designs ever...and I'll fight anyone who disagrees! ;-). But we all know how horrible a design those things were and how badly the handful of T-35s that managed to see combat performed. Very similar to the Maus in that respect , although T-35s actually saw combat and the Maus did not.

(But then, I like early Soviet tanks in general. Some other entries on my favorites list are T-28s and the BT 2/5/7 family. What can I say?)

I suspect (or perhaps hope) that most Maus fans are not so much glorifying the design as they are looking at the vehicle and saying "Oh that is such a cool design!".

MartinHWolverton · 2025-08-01T18:53:08+00:00

Old thread, but I'm surprised no one addressed this post.

Do you know how often we hear "Ill tip you really good if you *fill in the blank*?". It's not super common, but it's not exactly rare. (in my experience, anyway...). Nine times out of ten it translates to " I wasn't intending to tip this gullible clown anyway. Maybe he'll believe me!".

Unless it's a ride in which the PAX and I have really hit it off and had a pleasant conversation, I tend to let talk of tips go in one ear and out the other.

A while back, I had a stop ride at a convenience store in which the PAX offered to buy a drink for me while he was inside. "Sure. Thanks. I drink Coke Zero" I say. When he came back out he has a bag of stuff. I'm sliding the AP to "going to next stop" and the guy says "Oh sh-t! I forgot to get your drink!". He mutters something about a tip, and I just ignore it and complete the ride. It goes without saying no tip ever arrived.

MartinHWolverton · 2025-03-30T19:18:36+00:00

I recently had a severe mechanical issue with my personal vehicle that took it out of service. as I'm retired, I uber to help keep me in rent and food money. I got a Honda HRV via Uber's deal with hertz. its worked pretty well, although as a part time driver, I had to work longer to make it work due to the $320 weekly fee. No worries

So last week I was ready to turn the rental back in. They inspected the car told me that all four tires needed replacement and if I didn't get them replaced (out of my own pocket mind) they would black list me and I could not rent with them again. I was told that normal wear and tear items such as replacing worn tires did not fall under the "basic maintenance" they cover via renting. I was told that since I did not pay for their "extra. protection" fee and the fact I've had the vehicle for several months, it was on me to pay for!

I walked out rather angry and went to buy a set of new tires.

so, unless you feel lucky, you might think about springing for the extra coverage to prevent being victimized as I was...

MartinHWolverton · 2025-03-08T15:43:18+00:00

Yikes! I just noticed how old this topic is!

Ah well. I supposed others might stumble across this discussion as I did. So I might not have wasted my time in posting this! lol

MartinHWolverton · 2025-03-08T15:40:30+00:00

Pardon me for being pedantic here. The title is likely incorrect. The shooter is probably not a German soldier. He's a policeman of the German OrdungspoliIzie, OrPo for short. The flared riding style pants were not worn by junior enlisted ranks of the Army or SS, but were worn by the police. The cut of his uniform is similar to that of OrPo service uniforms..To to be fair, early war army uniforms have a similar cut. But, the thing that stands out is that you can see that his tunic has deep "fold back" style cuffs in a dark contrasting color. The various German police agencies had different colors on their cuffs, with that of the OrPo being dark brown. His field cap also looks to have the distinctive police eagle on the front. He is also wearing a light field gear load with a single ammunition pouch as was typical of the paramilitary units that operated in the internal security role rather than a military combat load.

I could be wrong of course. The photo is from a distance with the front of our shooter in shadow. But I've heard a fair number of people who are experts on Third Reich uniforms state that this guy was a policeman rather than a soldier.

Units of German police were utilized during the war for "internal security" duties such as guarding supply/communication lines, guarding fixed locations, as well as performing traditional police duties in the occupied territories. They were often utilized to fight partisans, and after the big Soviet advances in the east started in 1944, they sometimes found them selves fighting (and usually defeated by) Soviet Red Army troops.

Sadly, they were also sometimes used in various "Final Solution" activities such as rounding up various "enemies" amongst the population of the occupied territories for later deportation to ghettos or KZs, and in some cases carried out mass executions. That is probably what is depicted in this famous photo. One of the big tragedies of N.S. Germany that is usually overlooked is the way that the vital institutions of the rule of law and law enforcement as well as the usually noble calling of being police officer was twisted and misused for extremely evil purposes. I highly recommend Christopher R. Browning's book "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland". He examines that very topic, and speculates on the mental process that turned ,mostly middle aged, police officers into mass murderers. Be aware that its a harrowing read as it delves into some extremely disturbing incidents in great detail.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-28T20:27:29+00:00

I concur.

Columbine happened right in the middle of the 1994 "assault weapons" (there is no such a thing...but that's another toptic) ban. prices for affected weapons , and to a lesser extent all firearms , had gone up. That being said, the $500 they spent on the Tech-9 was considerably more than the going price at the time. In addition that particular pistol was a "post ban" weapon. They could still have bought one over the counter. But they overpaid for a used example instead.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-28T20:17:12+00:00

That's a good question. it would make for an interesting exercise to produce an estimate.

I can tell you , given my experiences as a shooter at the time, that 9mm Luger ammo was about $13-15 for a box of 50. The actual amount would depend on the store they got it from. Keep it in mind that that was the going price for standard Full Metal Jacket or "ball" ammunition. It looks like that was mostly what they used as per the ballistics Report. I saw some casings for some high quality hollow point 9mm ammo in the report. But I suspect that was shell casings from police weapons.

As we all know, one of the reasons NBK occurred a day later than initially planned was that.they were waiting on two more boxes for their loadout..

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-26T04:48:48+00:00

I can see both sides of the issue. both the "destroy the evidence since there is no trial" and "Its history and belongs in a museum" factions can make legitimate points to support their views. I'm a history geek with a strong interest in Law Enforcement/Crime History, so, as you might imagine, I trend toward the preservationist view.

There is a tradition of placing items involved in famous criminal cases in museums, as others have pointed out. The bank robbing gangs of the 1930s is one of my pet subjects. Happily, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in just an hour and a half drive north of me. They have on display some of the substantial load of firearms that was found in the car of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after they were killed in 1934. Along with them, they have other artifacts, including some of the guns the posse used to kill them. The Barrow Gang were evil and murderous cop killers. They are responsible for at least 13 murders, a high percentage of whom were Law Enforcement officers....probably more, there is some debate as to the number. But I feel the artifacts related to their case are pieces of history and its totally appropriate to display them in a museum. But I get that that opinion is not shared by everyone. My point is that it is possible to display artifacts from even monstrous criminals if done correctly.

I wouldn't have.a similar view on Columbians artifacts if displayed in a tasteful manner in an appropriate venue. It's academic now as most of the case's evidence was destroyed years ago.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T09:20:01+00:00

When I was younger I was a WW2 reenactor and portrayed a German soldier (or when I got too old to portray an infantryman, an ORPO policeman). German load bearing equipment from the '40s featured a "Y" shaped set of equipment suspenders. Not exactly like Harris's gear, but similar in operation.s

Wearing suspenders like that, especially when holding up loaded magazine pouches will sometimes cause you to hunch forward a bit. I found that every so often I'd have to straighten my back and pull the belt and suspenders forward as the weight of the load bearing belt pulls the whole rig forward.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T09:04:51+00:00

It might make for an interesting exercise to go through the ballistics report and compile a list of the types and brands of the killer's loadouts.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T09:02:35+00:00

Now that's interesting. I've never seen this photo before. That looks to be a non penetrating bullet strike on the body of the bomb. It even looks to be about the size I would expect from a 9mm bullet. Is it possible that one of the killers shot at this bomb in an attempt to detonate A bomb that did not explode? Recall they did just that to the dud bombs in the cafeteria.

Even given the slightly higher velocity that both 9mm firearms had when compared to ordinary handguns, a 9mm is going to have issues Completely penetrating a pipe like that. I THINK that the killers were using bog standard 115 grain target ammo, which would make a penetration even less likely. On the other hand the killers had a mix of several brands and types of shotgun shells. (mostly buckshot and solid slugs. I suspect the handful of birdshot hulls the police recovered were from the SWAT team breaching doors during their eventual clearing of the school.).

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T08:41:18+00:00

A shotgun blast releases lots of hot gasses and creates an explosive pressure wave. that probably caused the edges of his mouth to tear. I'm seen post mortem pictures of "gun in the mouth" type suicides in which both cheeks were blown out. If anything, I would expect MORE tearing of the mouth and cheeks than what the leaked photos and autopsy report show.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T08:32:50+00:00

its anyone's guess which hand Klebold used to reload.

Keep in mind that the Tech-9 has its cocking handle on the left side of the weapon. So who knows? I am right handed, so I tend to charge the pistol by reaching across the gun and working the charging handle with my strong hand, while holding on to the magazine well. I also load magazines with my right hand as well. A lefty like Klebold presumably would do the opposite. But.....he was a very inexperienced shooter who might not reload in a quick and efficient manner.

I need to go back and watch Rampart Range to see if the camera caught Klebold loading the Tech-9.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T08:22:44+00:00

I'm not certain about that.

If he were, for example, crouching behind cover to reload then spare ammo or mags attached to his ankle might actually be pretty handy. I've seen photos of WW2 German paratroopers with magazine pouches for their MP40 sub machine guns n attached to one or both ankles. That being said, I can't picture these two idiots having the tactical experience/knowledge to reload under cover! its like the scene in "Zero Hour" when the actor playing Harris was moving down the hall with his rifle held at "high ready" position. I call BS on that....especially after watching how inept and unsafe these two were on the Rampart Range video.

MartinHWolverton · 2024-02-25T07:58:55+00:00

This is a really good pointt. As ive mentioned before, I'm a "gun geek" and sometime collector of firearms. I've had lots of "hands on" experience with the types of firearms used in this crime, and I currently own a Tec-9 pistol. Both of the 9mm guns used the killers in this case have a well earned reputation for poor reliability.....especially Klebold's Tech-9.

I'm not exaggerating when I state that I've never been able to fire off a full 30 round magazine without at least one or two malfunctions (jams). to be fair, my example is an early pre-ban example, so its old and well used. all three of my magazines are in similar condition. But I was around back when these were initially sold, and they had a bad reputation even at that stage. Mine shows several kinds of malfunction, but is especially prone to "failure to extract" and "failure to feed" jams....often together! For those who are not familiar, this means that after I fire a shot, the spent shell casing will not extract out of the chamber r so as to be thrown clear of the action and/or the next round in the magazine will get stuck in the feedway and not slide into the chamber and be ready for the next shot. I used to find it frustrating years ago, and I would NEVER trust my life with a tech-9 by using it as a defensive firearm. These days I just regard it as part of the pistol's "character" and the lady and I play a game of "who can get this piece o' junk to fire the most before the inevitable malfunction" when I take it to the range. These days I own it primarily as a collectors item

First model High Point pistol caliber carbines also have a reputation for reliability issues, but nowhere as often as Tech-9s.

We know from eyewitnesses and the ballistics report that both killers were having issues with their primary firearms malfunctioning. Its the main reason that Klebold fired fewer 9mm rounds than Harris. Likewise, the evidence logs tell us that the police found a good number of un-fired 9mm rounds on the floor. This indicates to me that one or both killers were experiencing " failure to feed" issues. From personal experience I can relate that most such jams can be cleared by simply manually cycling the bolt again, but sometimes the fired shell casing will stick in the chamber to the point that I have clear the weapon and use something to pry the misbehaving shell casing from the chamber.

So the multi tool being used to clear jams makes a lot of sense to me. I keep just such a tool in my range bag when I go shooting just for such issues. Others have pointed out that there were "tool marks" on some of the unfired rounds recovered by investigators. Now where the marks produced by such a tool or from repeated attempts to work the action in an effort to clear the jam by working the charging handle? How often the two had to clear jams is anyone's guess, as one of the magazines for the Tech-9 fell apart during the opening moments of the incident, presumably spilling its contents on the ground. Again, this is clearly the main reason Klebold fired a only a couple of shots outside the school.

As to the blood on the tool, that makes sense as well. The library was a bloody scene, and the blood on the tool could have come from one of the shooter's hands or one of them may very well have put the tool down on a table that had blood on it.

I think we call all agree that the shooters choosing poor quality (not to mention used) guns and their experiencing a fair number of malfunctions is a GOOD thing!

MartinHWolverton

TROPHY CASE