Seemed relevant.
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As did this. Last photo of Port Authority Officer Chris Amoroso before he ran back into the South Tower. Even sporting the swoosh…
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Morning all, Irish guy living in the UK here, love the thread.
I felt compelled to comment on this Kaepernick issue. The way I see it is the guy started his own protest about the unarmed shootings. It was a stupid way to protest as it gave opportunity for people to misdirect the meaning of what he was attempting. Now it appears that its some kind of protest against American service people and the flag etc. From an outsiders perspective it appears that the real issue has been lost among all the brouhaha.
I hope you guys over there can get back to the real conversation and reach an amicable conclusion on the whole thing. Its a shame to see people who love their sport boycotting it.
Great thread, keep up the good work men. I hope you just accept this as an outsiders perspective on an issue I’m not too well read on and not anything intended as being inflammatory.
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Thought for the day: _From Mike Pannone, one of the finest instructors I have ever met. Well said. Applies to all of us.
Still doing sets of 200 proper flutter-kicks at 52. Fitness is the single act that enhances every other facet of your existence…health and resistance to sickness, mental attitude and positivity, judgement and decisiveness, sleep and sex are all clinically proven to be enhanced by good fitness.
I recovered in record time from a grievous blast injury, ran the Army 10-miler 53 days later and did my first post blast MFF from 12,000 feet in 58 days.
_ _
I’ve always been in shape and I always will. FWIW, I entered the hospital at 5’9” and 200 pounds and hobbled out at 141 … 11 days later. My body ate itself to survive but remembered what it once was. My mind charted the course and body, mind and spirit took to the fight.
Get after it folks … there is ZERO downside to being strong, fit and looking sharp. do something with the sole desire of becoming “Stronger,faster, harder to kill”
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Whatever Kaepernick’s original intent may have been I can’t speculate. However historically standing for the flag during the anthem at a sporting event was an act to honour those serving abroad who were unable to be at the game. It was an act of respect as much as one of patriotism. Refusing to partake is a slap in the face, one of many.
As far as the ‘unarmed shootings’ are concerned, I’d be genuinely curious to know how many of his millions Kaepernick donated to social programs in the inner cities that may help a few kids from growing up to find themselves on the wrong end of a bullet, whether it’s one fired by a cop or a gangbanger. I feel like this would have been more helpful than wearing cops-are-pigs socks and disrespecting a flag which far better men than he have died under.
This in turn has all helped to fuel a false narrative that has promoted hatred and distrust between police in the US and the public they serve. I believe this narrative has contributed directly to the fact that it is now socially acceptable to straight up execute a cop in the US, but ANY time police are forced to use lethal force they are crucified in the media and there may or may not be riots in the streets while the media does everything in their power to cast the police as the villains and the ‘bad guys’ as innocent victims of a corrupt system. It’s disgusting, and it’s as much the issue as whatever problem may exist with police brutality (which apparently is what we call it now whenever police use any amount of force).
As a result police in the cities have largely stood down and are too afraid/disillusioned to make a real to do their jobs. Good cops are leaving the profession, people who could be good cops aren’t going into the profession and all too many cops period are ending their own lives. 10 years from now the profession will be unrecognizable, IMO, and society will be the poorer for it.
This rant is not entirely directed at you and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. It’s just an issue that one side of seems to get far more airtime and public support for, and IMO, it’s the wrong side.
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FYI to the thread.
Tapered 501s like these are my favorite jeans.
Unfortunately, now my pants are political.
Included among those organizations is “Live Free,” an interfaith congregational group that describes itself as “working to end the scourges of gun violence, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of Black and Brown bodies that tears at the soul of our society.” Levi and Strauss will also use the Safer Tomorrow Fund’s resources to help former Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords’s “Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence” and “Everytown for Gun Safety” in their efforts to push for new gun control legislation and the local, state, and national levels.
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Great Post. Tell it like it is, brother. Thank you
PP,
Great to see you on here. I hope you and the family are doing well. Thanks for the article, about the only thing I am not boycotting anymore is the training)).
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Thought for the Day:
The warrior athlete does not prepare himself for a sports field or a stadium, he prepares for an unknown and unpredictable battle space.
There is no roar of the crowd there, there is only the roar of jets and rockets being fired. The air is not filled with excitement and joy, it is filled with smoke and flames as buildings are burning to the ground. . .
He isn’t wearing a fresh uniform provided by NIKE, and when he gets a little tired there isn’t a big table of ice cold Gatorade. He’s wearing a uniform that hasn’t been washed in weeks and has a half bottle of warm water in his pocket that has to last through to the end of the mission or until resupply. .
The warrior athlete doesn’t win or lose, he wins or dies.
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Thanks for the response batman730, I appreciate your candor. Whilst I agree on some of the issues raised there are some points I’m unsure about. Its only those I’ll mention so assume the other points raised I agree with please.
As far as I’m led to believe standing for the national anthem prior to a game in the NFL is a relatively new thing for players. I think until a couple of years ago they didn’t come out for it and now they are obliged to come out for it. In fact I think the reasons for it are a bit more than thinking of fallen comrades or those in far flung fields. I think its about whipping up the spirit of patriotism for whatever reason. I’m always dubious of this kind of thing and it brings to mind Samuel Johnson’s quote ‘patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’, Its meaning is not about being a patriot but about those who use it for gain. On this side of the pond we also have a dog in the fight i.e. troops abroad, and we never play the national anthem prior to games unless its the FA Cup Final or an international game.
I find it appalling if ‘CK’ wore socks of that nature carrying that message. That would be a disgraceful message and would fuel bad feelings across the board. Idiocy for sure. I’m afraid I don’t think its true that it is socially acceptable to execute a cop in America. I get how for a policeman it can feel that way but I think thats just confirmation bias rather than a factual thing. Its a tough time for policemen and women in America, no doubt about it. Some of the posts in this thread show there is still hope though as there are some excellent examples of good police work and controlling situations without encouraging escalation. I think there are examples of police brutality and firing on unarmed people but they are extremely rare, as are shootings at police. I dont have the statistics at hand so this is just subjective on my part but its usual for the media to focus on the extremes so they can sell their wares.
I hope all this can calm down and sort itself out as it will only lead to critical mass if good people are being deterred to enter a very well thought of profession. I do think that police the world over are faced with people hating them as well as people admiring them on a daily basis, its just part of the territory that comes with the job.
Those reading that are on the front line, stay safe brothers and sisters and don’t take chances. Good luck to you.
Hey, thanks. Nice to see you too. All good here. My youngest in high school, I can’t believe it!
@ Politics. I’d just like to be able to buy stuff without it becoming a political statement, or knowing that my money would go to support political causes I don’t agree with. That happens enough with my taxes. I wish Levis would just stick to what they do best, making pants.
@ Boycotts. Funny story. We had a Dem boycott backfire here in CA recently. In-N-Out burger is an really iconic CA burger place, and it came out that they gave some money to the CA GOP. That lead to the head of the CA Dems calling for a boycott, and a whole twitter fiasco. They ended up looking like petty idiots who had to walk that back because In N Out has also given an equal amount, or more, money to the CA Dem party over the years, as many corporations do, trying to effect policies that will be good for their business.
I don’t have an issue with companies giving to political parties. That’s pretty mainstream. They all do it.
@ Levi. Standing up against the 2nd Amendment specifically, or worse, supporting groups that fuel what I would call an anti-police movement tick me off.
The In-N-Out fiasco getting walked back. Good times.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/In-N-Out-boycott-California-Eric-Bauman-tweet-13204822.php
Take care, @idaho.
BTW, I’m working on updating emergency and first aid supplies this week. Your thread is often a good reminder to recheck these things. Thanks.
@Uncle_Gabby, or any of you with emergency first aid training. Is there anything you’d tell me to be sure and add to a basic first aid kit?
Thanks,
Puff
Are police under a greater legal obligation to prove that violence is necessary when it comes to self defense? Or are the circumstances under which violence becomes legal self defense the same for a civilian and LEO? Is there a policy to inflict the least injury necessary when violence is required?
do you think the standards should be the same or should LEOs have to meet a higher/lower standard of “self defense”?
alphonsus12 I’m cool with a little disagreement. Here are my thoughts; I don’t know about in the NFL, but my understanding of the history of playing the anthem at sporting events in the US is that it dates back to the world series in 1918, after the US entered WW. There was some ill-feeling about all these able bodied men playing a game while their countrymen were dying over seas. The band broke into the Star Spangled Banner (which wasn’t yet the anthem) and a serviceman faced the flag and came to attention. The crowd went wild for it and a tradition was born, or so goes the legend. So whatever it may have become, I still see those as the roots of the action.
CK wore the socks. Idaho posted the picture. I agree. He is an idiot.
The reason I believe it is socially acceptable to execute a cop is because when it happens, society accepts it. There is no widespread outcry, no riots in the streets, no wringing of hands, no demand for change, no advocacy groups, no scathing articles in the media etc, etc, etc. Many simply say, ‘Well, that’s what they signed up for.’ A guy can walk into a Sheriff’s office and shoot two deputies in the neck just because they turned up to work that day, and it barely makes the news.
Conversely when police respond to a man breaking into multiple vehicles, chase him over fences through several backyards, corner him in his yard and he refuses commands, yells and swears at police and then points an object (sadly a cellphone) at police in the dark and police shoot him all the headlines read ‘Police shoot unarmed black man 20 times in his grandmother’s backyard’. As though he was just a good kid doing some gardening for his grandma. The public demands that something be done. The nation virtually upends itself.
Perhaps I am biased, but that’s what I see.
Edited for clarity
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Policy differs from place to place, as does law. The common theme is that the force used must be ‘reasonable’ and ‘necessary’, which is not the same as ‘as little as possible’.
Unfortunately the general public for the most part has no real frame of reference for what ‘reasonable’ and ‘necessary’ force actually look like. It’d be like me trying to determine if a doctor committed malpractice during a surgery by watching it on YouTube. How the hell am I supposed to know what I’m looking at?! Any opinion I formed would, by definition, come from a position of ignorance.
Incidentally medical malpractice kills approximately 250000 people per year in the US. Last year police shot and killed around 1000 in the US. Let’s say that they only got it right half the time and 500 were unjustified shootings (which is definitely not the case) you are still 500x more likely to be wrongfully killed by a doctor than a police officer.
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I’ll ignore the obviously flawed and disingenuous statistical comparison as it was likely meant tongue in cheek.
It sounds like you feel a civilian cannot accurately judge an officers actions as they likely don’t know what it is to be involved in those situations. Or do you mean to say that only those involved in the situation can accurately judge the actions? I think both are fairly accurate…
But then that begs the question - what role do you think society and public opinion should play in how society and the public is policed?
Thats a nice story batman730, I’d like it to be true also.
As I said previously I get how a policeman can feel that way but its not that simple. I’m sure you’ve seen the video of the police officer shooting the drunk guy in the hotel as he’s making him crawl across the hotel corridor and as his trousers slip he reaches to pull them up and get filled with lead. That policeman was a terrible policeman and his actions made international news. I think, can’t remember, he was exonerated which is why there was a public outcry.
We must also remember that the media landscape is changing. The old institutions are heaving their last breath and are desperate so they focus on the extremes. They tell untruths and misdirect in their attempts to get clicks online because nobody is buying papers anymore. Their clickbait is actually killing them off at a faster rate. The same applies to television. Interest in panel shows and chat shows is waning because they just dont work anymore. People are flocking to podcasts where meaningful long form conversations can be had. Look at how well Jocko Willink, Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris are doing. Thats the future, not these decrepit old institutions who have been controlling the agenda for years.
Apologies, I’ve digressed here. In summary I say there are good and bad police, they are human afterall and only idiots brand them all the same because of a few bad apples. Dont believe the media hype, most people do not feel that way at all and in fact if there is trouble brewing the first thing they do is call the police. Most people dont go around shouting their admiration, they just go about their business. There’s a small band of people who are very anti ‘anything in authority’ and they shout the loudest. Don’t let them be the ones that influence you.
I hope you have a safe and uneventful day on the job.
Maybe it’s a regional thing but in my town we named a street after an officer killed while on duty. I know of at least one highway named after a state trooper ambushed and murdered on duty.
Some basic items:
A tourniquet, for uncontrolled extremity (arm and leg) bleeding. I like the CAT version.
An N95 mask, or a mask that, at a minimum, will effectively filter dust and other particulates (a particulate respirator).
Combat gauze. This is a trauma dressing impregnated with a hemostatic agent, meaning it will help stop uncontrolled bleeding more effectively than normal gauze.
A chest seal. This is an occlusive dressing used for penetrating chest wounds (also called “sucking chest wounds”). You simply place it over the hole in your chest to treat the resulting open pneumothorax being caused by said hole.
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I’ve talked a lot about Tourniquets. The two best on the market, and really the only two you should consider are the CAT-7 and the SOFTT WIDE gen 3 or 4. A five minute youtube video will show you how to use it and they are durable enough that you can practice applying them hundreds of times and you won’t hurt them.
Watch out for counterfeit tourniquets, and order from a reputable source, like Rescue Essentials (not Amazon).
Other than that it depends on how big your kit is and how much you want to spend. Hemostatic gauze is nice, but expensive, has a short shelf life, and is really only needed for certain applications.
I’ve heard people say that Benedryl will reduce the severity of a major allergic reaction. It’s certainly not as effective for anaphylaxis as an epi-pen, but it’s inexpensive, is something you can carry around all of the time and is much better than nothing.
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This thread is about tactics and I don’t want to take it too far into the weeds ranting about the state of modern policing. A few final thoughts before I get off the soap box.
@alphonsus12 I have little doubt that the majority of people are probably either neutral or positive toward police, to varying degrees by region. Neither I nor most of the people I work with have any need for anyone to shout their admiration. Just go about your business, follow lawful direction, think before you comment on the latest viral ‘police brutality’ video and don’t say “That’s what they signed up for” when we get murdered. A California DA recently said that he didn’t believe cop killers should get the death penalty because it’s ‘part of the risk they take.’ This is an elected official who is trying to appeal to the majority of his voters.
@Californiagrown The doctor comparison was largely intended to be tongue in cheek, but it does bear thinking about.
The general public cannot accurately judge an officers actions as they have no training or experience. This is why we hear the chorus of why didn’t you shoot him in the leg/use a taser/disarm the knife with hand to hand techniques etc when someone gets shot or the shouts of police brutality whenever we see a cop(s) take someone to the ground and use force to control them. You will always be judged by those who weren’t there, but you should at least be judged by those who have been there.
The police serve the public, but they do so at arm’s length by enforcing the laws as enacted by elected officials. Too many people seem to have the idea that the police officer who shows up at their door works for them personally and that “You’re under arrest” is open to debate. This is not the case. It is impractical for the public to dictate by popular opinion the specifics of how police do business but it is imperative that police act in the public interest.
Police staffing levels all over are in crisis and getting worse. As I said, veteran officers are leaving and younger people just aren’t going into the profession in numbers. That’s a mathematical fact. I can’t blame them with the way it’s portrayed in mainstream and social media. Who would? Well, I did, but I’m not very bright.
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