Happy Father's Day Bud

Bud Jacques, Jeff Jacques and my kid Brother David Jacques on a Salmon fishing trip in 2008.

My Dad, Bud, real name Harry Denton Jacques turned 79 in March. He’s still in good shape for the shape he’s in. In his day my Dad could work harder than anyone I’ve ever seen for his size. He was one tough guy physically and not a guy you’d want to pick a fight with. He spent 25 years working on Pulling Units and Drilling Rigs in Colorado and Wyoming. Later he had a small business in which he bought and sold VW Beetles. He taught himself how to rebuild the engines; he also taught himself how to be an auto body repairman and a car painter. In his lifetime he probably bought and sold over 200 VW’s.

For as tough as my Dad was he never said a bad word about most people and on the inside is a real softy. He does have a temper though and would tell you straight up if he thought you were full of it. Dad loves watching Sprint Car Racing, College Basketball and NFL Football. He’s a big Packers Fan because he always liked Brett Favre. I know he’s a big Broncos Fan too but he’d never admit it.

My Dad was a hard core Alcoholic until the age of 44 when he finally went on the wagon in 1979. He was sober for 29 years and started drinking again in 2008. He’s had several bouts with it and now has been sober since October of 2012. I really admire him for making every effort to get back on the right track.

Dad’s favorite hobby is fishing and some of the best times I’ve had with my Dad have been fishing trips. He’s had a boat for years and he lives about 45 minutes away from Buffalo Bill Reservoir near Cody, WY where he’s done most of his fishing.

Until recently my Dad drove a barley and sugar beet harvest trucks in Powell, WY. He’s a guy who’s got to stay busy and he’s a very organized and neat nick individual.

Dad has taught me many things, chief of which is that hard work is what makes you successful in life. His brutal honesty, his friendly personality, his humor and intelligence are some of his other good qualities. One of the other things I love about my Dad is that his needs are very simple. He’s not concerned about what others have and puts on no airs.

Thanks for giving me some of your traits Dad the good and the bad. I love you, respect you and admire the life you’ve made for yourself.

Happy Fathers Day

Your Oldest Son,

Jeff  

Jury Verdict Right in Trayvon Martin Case

I guess I’m in the minority because I believe the verdict was exactly as it should be in the Trayvon Martin case. Had George Zimmerman been killed by Martin the story might of made the front page of the local newspaper and been forgotten about in a week. I doubt it would have even been mentioned in the national media because it’s a common everyday occurrence. But when a man or woman defends himself or herself and kills someone and with a gun, especially a black man it’s an outrage. Really? Why is okay to be another anonymous victim of any color or a murder victim to a young thug but not okay to defend yourself?

One of the valuable things I learned in law enforcement training is one simple rule. I WILL NOT BECOME A VICTIM! If someone were to threaten me physically or with death, I wasn’t about to give thugs like Martin the opportunity to turn me into another statistic. The same should be said of a property owner that is being threatened physically.

Despite the verdict this man’s life will never be the same. The media completely demonized him and decided for themselves he was guilty long before the trail began. It’s a disgrace and I just can’t believe a reasonable person couldn’t see this was the perfect media story to inflame the race and gun issue when it was neither. It was simply a man trying to defend himself nothing more, the evidence proved it.

What this whole trail became was a ratings bonanza for the mainstream media, a reality TV show for the people who thrive on other peoples tragedies. 

One person is dead, another branded for life as a murderer by the mainstream media, and both are tragedies. The gall of people comparing this to the OJ trail is insanity and ignorance of the worst kind by the way.

Anyway, Zimmerman didn’t go to prison but the gun hating media will make sure he stays in the public eye which will be more of a personal hell for him and his family than any jail time he may have been sentenced to. There are no winners here only losers. The bigger losers will be the ones who riot and kill someone. With that be justice, will that be the answer, more violence?

Patriot Act and BO gotta GO!!

Below is the link to this letter which was edited and published in The Daily Astorian on June 21, 2013.
 

Overreaching Powers

The Patriot Act reality.

I was a defender of the Patriot Act in general principle after 9/11 when it was proposed because my understanding was it was only going to be used to hunt down known or suspected terrorists. In the last several days after learning about the massive size and scope of the law I have to admit now it was a big mistake giving the government these kinds of overreaching powers. Knowing what we all know now the law has to be drastically altered or better yet abolished.

When Barack Obama says,” trust the government” I just can’t believe that gathering phone records of millions of innocent Americans is a very” trusting act” nor is it really keeping us any safer from terrorism.

As we’ve seen any number of times in his administration abuse of power is just his normal MO or "Chicago style politics.” Fast and Furious, the IRS targeting Conservatives, the IRS spending $4.1 million on what was basically a lavish vacation, the DOJ secretly subpoenaing the private phonerecords of AP reporters, the Benghazi cover up, the recent graft grab by EPA employees, the billions of taxpayers’ dollars blown on alternative energy companies gone bankrupt, the failed GM and Chrysler bailouts, the massive Obamacare boondoggle that is basically an enormous tax that 75% of the people polled said they didn’t want and still don’t want and now this incredible phone records story.

If anyone really believes that you can “trust” the government to use this information for security and terrorism prevention only look no farther than how the IRS was basically used as a political tool to deny groups on the right their freedom of political expression. By the way, this is the same IRS that is suppose to enforce and collect on the new Obamacare laws next year and we can “trust” them to enforce the law equally?

Do you honestly believe the phone records of people who are politically on the right wouldn’t be tempting information used by power hungry liberal bureaucrats that may find a way to use it against them?

This phone records story was a tipping point, yesterday I called all of the Oregon US Congressional Representatives and demanded that impeachment hearings begin for Obama, enough is enough. I urge others to do likewise because the Obama loving lapdog mainstream media isn’t going to go to bat for freedom or fairness.

Maybe now NSA’s Prism program will check my phone records and put me on a terrorist watch list. Maybe the IRS will audit me because I’m speaking out against the most corrupt President and his no less guilty group of minions in the executive branch, that have ever cursed our country. Bring it on, I'm right here!

The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder: Book Review

The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of the most chilling serial killer crime stories ever told. Charles Cullen was a Nurse for 16 years at 10 different hospitals. During that time it was proven that he killed up to 40 patients by injecting IV bags with drugs that would kill them with overdoses. Digoxin and Insulin were his 2 favorite drugs of choice. Both drugs, when given in lethal amounts causing agonizing death to the victims so Cullen can never claim to be in the mercy killer category.

Cullen’s personal life was a mess as you’ll learn from the book but many of us have had messed up personal lives and never killed anyone so his crimes can’t be defended or excused on any level.

After his arrest Investigators think it’s possible that he could have been responsible for the deaths of up to 400 people making him the most prolific serial killer in American history. Unfortunately proving the other deaths has become an almost impossible task but the investigation is ongoing.

The sad and criminal part of this story is that all of the hospitals suspected and some knew that Cullen was guilty of the drug overdoses but hospital administrators dealt with the problem by firing him and not reporting it because they feared the criminal and civil litigation. The cover up by the Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, NJ was the worst of the cases. Not a single administrator from Somerset or any of the hospitals involved for that matter were ever charged or indicted. 

Detectives Tim Braun and Daniel Baldwin deserve a tremendous amount of credit for bringing Cullen to justice. The investigation took months of sorting through complex medical records, time cards and drug records to finally nail Cullen.

Amy Ridgway a Nurse and a Co-worker of Cullen became a confidential informant and was another key to finally stopping Cullen’s murder spree. Without her help it’s likely that Cullen would have killed more people.

I highly recommend this book. The way the story was told was spine tingling and to its credit is one of the best edited books about crime I’ve come across.

One thing is certain you’ll come away feeling different about the medical profession. It’ll make you understand just how venerable your life is and how medical professionals and hospital administrators are flawed human beings that may not always have your best interest in mind.

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