What should a free man do?

In rememberance

I was perusing JihadWatch this morning and came across a post that stirred me in a number of ways for the rest of the day.  So, here is sad news about the murder of a brave young man...

  

Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski

John was brave because he did a job most people can't do.  I don't know how much PPD paid him but it wasn't enough.  No brave cop gets paid enough. He was murdered today by a young man who evidently took great pleasure in doing so.  Officer Pawlowski was a warrior in the eternal struggle of good against evil and today the good-guys lost what I'm sure was a good man. I pray God comfort his family and friends.

You are warriors in that same kind of battle ~ you can be if you so choose.  It's not as focused and constant as what John faced and what his brother and sister officers face every day, but it is most certainly a battle between good and evil.

Here's something we can learn from the incident, how it was handled on-scene. I'm not criticizing for the sake of putting down any of the officers who were there. But because something like this can happen any time and any place to any person, it's best to get the After Action Review done and out to those who might need it. 

You.

Situation: Three legally armed Unerschrocken are at the mall, minding their own business, when they see a fight between two young men who are dressed in gang colors. No weapons are visible on the gangsters so the three Unerschrocken move toward the tussle to try to settle it down a bit, since there are many innocent shoppers passing by and absolutely no cops in the vicinity.  And, of course, Security is nowhere to be seen.

As soon as the Unerschrocken tell them to break it up, the gangsters stop fighting each other and attack them. So the Unerschrocken defend themselves without drawing weapons and they're struggling on the floor but they forget to look for the second man ~ or the third man ~ or the fourth.  These are gangsters after all; they travel in packs.  So what happens is a homey of the guys wrestlin' on the floor with the Unerschrocken comes around the corner and sees this action, reaches into his coat pocket and gets real close, too close, and commences to fire on our buds.

Unerschrocken; based on the information available to us now, this is most likely what happened in Philly this morning.  The bad-guy walks up to three cops who are struggling with another bad-guy or two and caps one of the good-guys.

If you find yourself in a similar situation; you have choices as always:

• Turn and run away from the fight because you don't want to get hurt, not necessarily a wrong choice, morally or otherwise
• Stand and watch ~ muttering just loud enough for your girlfriend to hear: If he did that to me, I'd fuck him up ~ taking video on your cell-phone so you can post it later on YouTube and get your 15 minutes 
• Call the cops and hope they show up in time ~ and maybe give them a description of the killers, if you even bothered to pay attention
• Your suggestions? Anyone?

Maybe this is an option you'll want to consider if you're ever in that situation and your two friends are the ones struggling with the gangsters on the mall floor and you are legally armed with a concealed handgun:

• Position yourself so you can stay out of the fight, unless one of your friends is about to be seriously injured or killed and you choose to act in that case
• But be in a spot where you can feel how the fight is going at your feet, maybe reach down with your non-shooting hand to feel what's going on while still keeping your eyes searching for approaching threats
  • See Comments below for more detail
• Tell people ~ don't ask ~ to call the cops and EMTs
• And see and react to any approaching threat ~ with a reasonable amount of force, even legal deadly force if necessary

The proper reaction to bad-guy friends coming 'round the corner to save his homey? Consider this:

• You have a reasonable belief that they are about to inflict great bodily harm on you or kill you a/o your friends
• Loudly warn your friends of what's coming as you put your hand on your weapon and prepare to draw it
• As you're looking at the approaching, threatening bad-guys, loudly announce to them something like this: STOP STOP STOP!
• If they don't stop, draw your handgun to the low ready; toward them with the muzzle pointed at the floor about 5' in front of you, finger indexed, not on the trigger
• If seeing your gun doesn't make them stop, say loudly: HANDS UP HANDS UP HANDS UP!
• If they stop and put hands up, tell them loudly: GET ON THE GROUND GET ON THE GROUND GET ON THE GROUND! NOW NOW NOW!

The Low Ready Position

If they do as you command, tell them loudly to stay where they are because the police are on the way right now.  But be aware they may have more friends in the crowd who could try to interfere in some way. Be careful.

If they don't stop, won't put up their hands, and won't get on the ground and you still have a reasonable belief that they are going to hurt you seriously or kill you and/or your friends still wrestling there on the ground, well... I know what I'd do.  I'd put four in the chest of the closest bad-guy, then four in the chest of the second-closest guy and so on, with a combat reload in there if necessary. You do what you decide to at that time.

Any suggestions?

Remember: if you decide to shoot, you may face a judge or jury who was not there at the time and might not understand how scared you were, might not accept your version of reasonable.

Is it just me, or is it getting warm out here?

Here's an update on the fire in Australia... click right here.

Okay, how'd the girl get in the picture?

Some are blaming it on global warming but I'm not going to dignify that stupidity with a link. The degree of dryness, the length of time it's been that dry, and exactly why it's so dry so long is irrelevant to who set the freakin' fire. Police have begun to put together some sort of description of the male suspect whose nationality, race, creed, religion, sexual orientation yadda yadda yadda remains to be seen.

So, since we can't all wander in circles scratching our heads like the many who poo-poo the terrorist threat but embrace without question the myth of global warming, let's take a look at what we do know has already been said about setting fires in general as a weapon of jihad, and setting fires as a weapon of jihad in Australia in particular.

"Australian security authorities are aware of reports that al-Qaida has considered starting brush-fires in the U.S. as a form of terrorist attack," said a spokeswoman Australian Attorney General Daryl Williams. "Arson attacks are just one of a wide range of scenarios which have been considered as part of our investigations into al-Qaida's ability to conduct attacks in Australia." 

In fact, Arab terrorists in Israel have started dozens of major forest fires over the years. 

As far back as 1988, Israeli police caught more than a dozen Palestinian adults in the act of setting fires... You can read all about that here. 

The FBI says an AQ detainee told them of a plot to set fires here in the US. Read it here.

Too, and I know you will find this hard to believe; there's an Islam group din undah who thinks forest fire jihad is just the thing. Go ahead, take a look. 

So, I have a question: if terrorists have already set fires in other places in the past, and have said they should or will set fires in the future as part of their grand jihad, then why is the expert in this Fox News story saying terrorists might learn from these Australian fires ~ as though the thought has never crossed their minds until just now.  I don't mean to be unkind but, given this level of confusion, what makes this guy an expert?

Aaaanyways; if you’re out in the woods or brush, fire can sneak up on you quickly if you're not paying attention.  So, Unerschrocken, like I've said before; be aware of your surroundings at all times. 

Signs of approaching fire can be:

• The smell of smoke, however faint
• If you smell smoke, check nearby cars, tents, and other structures to see if you can spot blowing or drifting ash which will sweep ahead of the wall of heat generated by a fire
• Check the sky to see if any clouds there are really clouds or actually drifting/blowing smoke
• The fire is getting dangerously close if you see more ash falling and smell smoke more strongly

Knowing the way forest and brush fires travel and having an awareness of the terrain you are in can increase the odds of you surviving a fire. It can also be helpful if you know the lay of the land around you and exactly where you are on that fair sod when you detect the fire.  When it's time to un-ass the AO, remember area roads may be a haven as well as a way out because they're not going to burn up, though the temp will soar if you're sitting in the middle of one while the blaze burns on either side of you.

If there are bodies of water nearby, it might be a good idea to run for those if the totality of your circumstances leads you to believe you can make it there safely.

If you can find a spot with no vegetation, that can be a good place if it's big enough ~ a rock quarry ~ a gravel or sand pit ~ a slab of rock that is above the surface of the dirt and grass ~ a stretch of railroad line.  If the area is small and covered with rock, it might not be a good spot because the heat may be absorbed by and reflected off the rocks... into/onto you. Wildfires travel more slowly downhill.  So, you might be able to stay ahead of the fire by going downhill as quickly as possible.  

If you own property, you might want to pre-position gear in a clearing of dirt maybe 10'-20' square.  Make a dirt pathway to the plot and in the middle of it put a not-so-heavy stone marker and under it bury water, blankets and maybe one or two of the handy-dandy little items you can find here. 

Here are some cool links you can take a look at:

Predictive maps for the US.

Fuels and fire dangers in US areas.

Maps of active US fires.

How to survive a forest fire.

Cheers.

Update: looks like they caught the guy. I have an idea why he's being held in protective custody and pending a mental exam. I'll share it with you later. 

Seems to me, someone trying to set a brush-fire would:

• Drive, not walk, to a spot he'd already reconned
  •  On his recon, he might pre-position batches of dry brush so when he returns to ignite the fire, he can be in and out of the area quickly
• The spot he'd choose would be  upwind of a field/forest with lots of flammable vegetation in it  
• Close to a road
• Close to groups of homes but not close enough to be easily seen by the residents

He'd park the vehicle by the side of the road, maybe put the hood up to make it look like he was having engine problems, or set the jack and spare tire by the back of the car to make it look like he was about to change a flat tire.  Or, better yet; two guys would drive to the spot and the driver would get out, leaving the passenger in the car to explain to anyone who got nosy that the driver went into the brush to take a dump.

Once parked, the bad-guy will move quickly into the target area with either a timing device to set the fire after he's left the area, or flammable material soaked in accelerant, such as a towel with gas on it ~ something not that suspicious when it's around a car, but definately suspicious when it's being toted into the brush.

If he's got a timer, he'll try to conceal it and place dry brush and branches around it as both cover and fuel.  He will set the timer to ignite a few minutes after he leaves and then he'd vamoose.  If he was setting the fire himself, he'd gather fuel quickly, put the accelerant on it, ignite it with a disposable cigarette lighter, probably, and then take off.  Then he'd probably drive down the road a ways and wait to see the smoke.  If no smoke, he might go back and try to ignite the fuel again.  If he does go back, he's probably using a timer and either wants to reset it or retrieve it. My guess would be that he wouldn't be armed because he's going to try the innocent hiker/leaker ploy if challenged.

If I witnessed this type of activity and couldn't detain the suspect quickly, I'd head for the homes threatened by the fire to warn them and I'd notify the cops and fire-fighters from there because the residents know the exact area and maybe I wouldn't.

Your thoughts are invited.

Ooo, let's get one of those cinnamon buns while we're here

Recently, as you may have read, terrorists in North Africa died from having been exposed to a biological poison they'd been cooking up.

Oh.  Darn.

So anyway; somewhere out in some desert we can probably find a number of terrorists who are willing to take the chance they'll die a horrible,  slow death for the specific cause of inflicting that same death on us.

The hell I say? Read this. 

And if there are some in the sand who are willing, then it is an entirely reasonable extrapolation that there could be untold numbers of brothers and sisters also willing to do so, in the city.  

City.  European.  Australian.  American.  Perhaps where you live.  And those you love.

I can't see myself crying crocodile tears over any terrorist who suffers from his or her self-inflicted wounds, illness, or stupidity so I won't describe the symptoms of poisoning they'll be experiencing.

But here's what you can expect if you're infected with plague, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Signs and symptoms of bubonic plague include:

• Sudden onset of fever and chills
• Headache
• Fatigue or malaise
• Muscle aches 
• Buboes — swollen, painful, warm lymph nodes

  

Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in your bloodstream. If septicemic plague occurs as a complication of bubonic plague, buboes may be present.

Signs and symptoms include:

• Fever and chills
• Abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting
• Bleeding from your mouth, nose or rectum, or under your skin
• Shock
• Blackening and death of tissue (gangrene) in your extremities, most commonly your fingers, toes and nose

 

 

Pneumonic plague — which can occur as a complication of another type of plague or by inhaling infectious droplets coughed into the air by a person or animal or sprayed there intentionally — is the least common form of plague.  But it's also the most rapidly fatal. Early signs and symptoms, which generally occur within a few hours to a few days after inhaling contaminated droplets, include:

• High fever
• Weakness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Signs of pneumonia, including chest pain, difficulty breathing and a cough with bloody sputum

 
Pneumonic plague progresses rapidly and may cause respiratory failure and shock within two days of infection. If antibiotic treatment isn't initiated within a day after signs and symptoms first appear, the infection is likely to be fatal. As noted here, Pneumonic plague can be intentionally spread in aerosol form. 

So, it appears to me from what I'm reading that terrorists can cook up some bubonic plague slurry by using toxins found on wild rodents and their fleas.  Um ~ rodent fleas, not terrorist's fleas.  This substance can be weaponized and used in aerosol form to kill many people, whether by coughing all over them by "accident" or by spreading it somehow, let's say... onto their door handles. 

An attack of this sort may look like this:

• Someone, perhaps with symptoms seen above
• Maybe in unseasonably warm clothing to cover their symptoms 
• Spraying or wiping what appears to be a liquid onto objects a/o surfaces that others touch

Remember; they'll want to expend as little energy as needed to kill as many people as possible.  So they will pick targets where lots and lots of people go: 

• Door handles and push panels at the mall, theater, grocery store, school, church 
• Benches at the mall, the park, the sports stadium, the concert hall
• Bus and train seats, maybe even airplanes

You don't have to ingest if for it to be fatal, mere touch can transmit the poison to you. It can be put into an innocent-looking aerosol bottle, taken into your neighborhood grocery store and sprayed onto:

• Vegetables and fruits the need not necessarily be washed/cooked before you eat them at home
• Bread and pastries in cabinets
  • It's already been done ~ read it all here, including the links.  
• Bulk food and candy in bins, covered or un
• Popular items, stored at room temperature: soda, chips, packaged bread, wine, etc 

I'd find these things suspicious:

• A person spraying fruit/veggies when they're under a sprinkler system already and are automatically sprayed
• Someone wearing not quite the right store uniform who is spraying packaged food, and not wiping it down.  My first job ever, way back in Green Bay, 'sconsin, was wiping shelves in a small grocery.  To clean the shelves, every item had to be removed and then the shelf sprayed with cleaner and then wiped.  Then the items were returned to the shelf. Any package that had spray cleaner on it was wiped before being put back.  Hey, I know.  I'm a professional.  
• Someone in the produce section handling fruits and vegetables as though she wants to touch as many things as she can ~ doesn't appear to be thumping melons or looking for bruises on apples.
• If I saw a janitorial worker who didn't have the same uniform on as the others in the mall, and didn't have all the equipment they usually push around but was wearing gloves, a dust mask and carrying a rag and spray bottle, I'd call security right away.  And I'd watch to see if this guy just walked down the mall, spraying "cleaner" on all sorts of surfaces but not touching it with his rag. 
• If I saw signs of diseased hands or neck or face, as pictured above, I'd say something to people around me.  Hey, that guy looks like he's got the plague.  Stay away from him.  And then I'd call 911.  And I would not let some sensitive, tolerant police dispatcher shine me on and tell me she'll see if she can find a patrol to send my way and then hang up on me.

 Some What to Do Options:

• If you see suspicious people like this, keep an eye on them and notify store management immediately but discreetly.
• Stay away from the person and the items he or she may have been carrying or may have contaminated. 
• Calmly and quietly let other shoppers who may be in the area know they need to stay away until store management clears the area.
• Call the police even if the store managment says it's been done.
• Put a wet cloth over your nose and mouth to prevent inhalation/iungestion of stray particulate.
• If the suspicious person leaves the building before security or police arrive, perhaps you may choose to follow him out of the store, without touching anything he touched, sprayed or wiped.
• Provide descriptive information to police ASAP. 
• Do not approach the person or touch anything he or she touches. 
• If he turns and confronts you, I'd say that would be a time to get out of Dodge.

Or you can ignore the situation, knowing it will never happen here, and, after all, it's more important for you to find that perfect gift than to possibly embarrass yourself by reporting that perfectly innocent guy who's just got the flu and is confused and will make it home aaaaaallllll by himself if everyone just leeeeeeaves him alone. 
 
As always, your choice.  

And take a look here for more vital information.