Good People, Bad Situation, and BAD Gear

The last few days we've seen a lot of pictures of normal folks gearing up to defend their homes, their businesses, their neighborhoods...

I hate that it has been necessary, but I love that this has been the response to the necessity. The more people understand that the police are not here to protect them, have no duty to do so, and in extreme circumstances will not do so, the better.

The more that understand they must be prepared to effectively and responsibly defend themselves and others, the better off we will be as a nation.

...HOWEVER...

There are three major problems I've been seeing over and over again:

1. Plate carriers so low that they don't actually cover the areas they need to... some that might even make sitting difficult. You need to be able to do everything you normally do (and everything that you HAVE to do) without your gear, when your gear is on. For that to work, your gear has to fit properly, and be adjusted, worn, and used properly.
   
2. SERPA... lots and lots of SERPA holster... just... no. Never SERPA ever. Friends don't let friends SERPA... Do you want to negligently or accidentaly shoot yourself, your car, your floor... or worst of all, someone else? No? Then don't use a SERPA EVER.
   
   This link is an explanation of why never SERPA, and a list of dozens of SERPA related unintentional discharges and shootings, plus lists of ranges, schools and agencies that have banned SERPAs: https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-serpa-compendium
   
   
3. LOTS of folks wearing drop leg holster rigs (including a lot of drop leg SERPAs)...
   
   Which are often silly, but if you're wearing plate carriers and LBE can be justified (it can be hard to get a clean and secure draw from the waist when you've got a lot of gear on, even moreso if you're in a vehicle, or frequently getting in and out of vehicles)....
   
   But they're being worn so low that they're not just ineffective, they're silly, to maybe dangerous. I've seen some worn low enough to put the muzzle of their pistol at or below knee level.. In that position they cannot be used effectively, and they could position your weapon such that it would be easily snagged on the environment, or worst case, difficult to retain in a struggle... or even accidentally shoot yourself or others (see SERPA above).
   
   Drop leg holsters that you can't reach while standing aren't holsters... they're just insecure carrying cases.
   
   I have ridiculous gorilla arms... literally four inches longer for my height than average...and I wouldn't be able to get a secure draw from a holster in that position on me without bending down. Never mind someone with average reach.

Good gear used improperly, is as bad or worse than bad gear (because it gives you a false sense of security).

Civil War... Ehhhh... Not so much...

From 1968 to 1974, we were actually on the brink of a civil war.

There were literally thousands of bombings, shootings, assaults, and robberies, at least theoretically in furtherance of trying to start a civil war, and overthrow the government (in actuality a lot of the people had no clue what they were really doing or why... and a large minority of them were just in it for the sex and drugs).

Nixon resigning, ending the draft, and getting out of Viet Nam were the biggest factors in defusing that.

Also most of the people who were deliberately pushing the armed insurrections getting strung out on cocaine and heroin, self absorbed into the me generation sex and drugs and partying culture, arrested and jailed, or killed; was a big part of defusing it.

And finally, the soviets no longer paying for agitators to foment armed revolution, and the FBI stopping their operations paying and instigating agitators to do so; were the last big part of defusing it.

...It sounds insane... Like a conspiracy theory... but it's all true. You can easily confirm it for yourself...

These last few weeks... prelude to a civil war... Ehh... Not so much.

Denial, or just not paying attention?

Anyone who doesn't understand the riots this past week are not natural and spontaneous, and are being deliberately agitated, accelerated and escalated, by professional bad actors; in order to deliberately make things worse, so they can take advantage of the situation... Is either truly spectacularly in denial, or just not paying attention.

The Arrest, Caused The Arrest

It is critical to understand that it doesn't matter that the ultimate cause of death was cardiac arrest... because it was the positional asphyxia and the lack of treatment and the 8 minute delay after falling unconscious before receiving any kind of intervention, that were the proximate cause of, and  resulted in, George Floyds death. Had Floyd not been improperly restrained and negligently mishandled while restrained, he would not have suffered cardiac arrest.

Yes... The ultimate cause of death was cardiac arrest. The proximate cause of the cardiac arrest, was the positional asphyxia and lack of appropriate response to it.

The official autopsy findings did not contradict or counterindicate that. They simply noted that the ultimate cause of death was cardiac arrest, and that there was no indication of TRAUMATIC asphyxia... meaning his hyoid bone wast broken, and he didn't have ocular or facial petechiae or distinctive contusions indicative of violent manual or ligature strangulation for example.

Choke holds and other restraints which may occlude or obstruct the airway may or may not produce these signs, depending on technique, body positioning, and whether the subject violently resisted.

Side chokes and "sleeper holds" for example... effectively a large part of what happened to Floyd (the other part being suppression of respiratory function by compression of and heavy weight remaining on, the chest and back)... occlude the blood vessels to the brain, but do not break the hyoid bone, and generally do not produce distinctive bruising or petechiae.

Oh and Kelly by the way, is the number one instructor for EMS services EMTs and paramedics, in the country. He actually literally wrote the book... in fact, several books... on how EMS should respond to cases like Floyds.

Literally everyone's ultimate cause of death is cardiac arrest... the question is what caused it... and in this case it was the arrest that caused the arrest.

CVS Drops Tobacco Products, Walgreens Considering it

Washington Post: "Why CVS thinks it can win big by ending cigarette sales"

Don't mistake this for altruism... this is forward thinking, and getting ahead of the trend, in order to milk some good PR out of it.

They're losing 2.4% of their gross revenue and 3% of their profit, in exchange for lots of good press, and avoiding a lot of hassle.

Walgreens is apparently "considering dropping tobacco products" as well.

Mark my words, the next target of the tobacco lawsuit industry will be retailers (just like the gun lawsuit industry has gone after gun stores). Never mind what will happen to tobacco producers and sellers if Obamacare proceeds.

Dropping tobacco means, lower insurance and legal bills, fewer hassles from state regulators, and less risk in general.

The smoking population in america is now below 20% (2013 estimate is 19% of adults). Unless a store is a "first choice" retailer for tobacco products, or can sell them at a large markup (gas stations are both for example) it no longer makes sense to sell tobacco products.

NOTE: Life doesn't suck, we're not doomed, This isn't the end

Get some perspective, seriously.

That is all.

He may be a dirty old man...

...And he's turned into a political hack in the last few years, for which I can fault him greatly. I once watched Letterman nightly, but that stopped more than ten years ago; and he has become unwatchable over the past few years.

...but Letterman handled that with what I thought was good grace, and as much class as could be attached to such a tawdry and frankly ridiculous situation.

He was honest, and forthright, didn't try to pretend it didn't happen; and I think that's really important. I think it counts for something with the American people, and it certainly counts for something with me.

On the air tonight, Letterman said that yes, he had sex with people who worked for him, and (not in so many words, but it was clear) that it's nobody elses business but his, his family, and the people he had those relationships with. That it's up to them if they want to go public, but he wasn't going to talk about it.

So long as his relationships were consensual, and not sexual harassment (though in any power relationship that can be a hard determination); I agree it's none of anyone's damn business, excepting his wife (who was his girlfriend at the time. They only married a few months ago, but they were together for 23 years before that, and they have a six year old son).

I think it's clear that the audience agreed, and I'm willing to bet that America agrees.