Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Backup
To carry, or not to carry.
A lot of my fellow LEO’s have been asking me about carrying backup weapons during the course of their duties. If they’re referring to a weapon as anything that can be used for protection, then I’m all for it. If they’re referring to a weapon in the traditional sense, meaning a firearm, then I’m against it. Allow me to explain.
There is no place that you’re going to carry your backup that will be useful to you when the proverbial feces hit the fan. I’ve heard the argument that it’s easier to reach into your side pocket or your back pocket instead of reaching for your holster when someone tackles you, but it’s not. I’ve run quite a few dynamic scenarios in the past month, and it just doesn’t make sense. If someone tackles you, there are two things you have to consider:
1. One hand will be protecting your holstered weapon;
2. One hand will be protecting you from the constant beating and hits that you’re taking from the suspect.
Believe me, I’ve been in crappy situations many times, and your moving around so much that it’s near to impossible to do anything but wrestle. Plus, we have to examine the fact that the fight is already over if you’re gone to the ground to fight.
Ground fighting is stupid. I know I just made enemies with every meathead in the world, but it’s true. Ground fighting, commonly known as grappling, is useful in fun little scenarios and competitions, but you better work on your police tactics if you want to survive in the field.
Back to the backup. If you’re a new cop and you’re seriously thinking about getting a backup weapon (because your FTO insists that you have one, or you just want to fit in with the cool crowd), get a cheap little revolver or a cheap little semi-auto, shove a few rounds in it, stick it in your pocket and pray that it doesn’t fall out. I had a friend jump a fence and lose his revolver from a buttoned pocket. Another buddy got in a fight and his backup slipped out of his side pocket when he thought it was secured by an inside-the-pocket holster. My current partner was kicked in the ankle because the suspect knew that was one of three common places for a cop to carry a backup. When he kicked his ankle, it pushed his uniform pant leg up exposing the backup and releasing the safety on the holster. As you can see, this wasn’t a very positive situation.
Personally, I would recommend keeping more than one knife on you. You can pocket a few all over your uniform. A knife wound will kill someone a lot faster than a bullet. I’ve seen suspects get shot five or six times before they even slow down. Any cop that works the ghetto will tell you stories about gangsters that show off their bullet wounds and tell you about how they got away from a cop on foot after taking a magazine full of rounds. Knives are affordable and they cut deep. While I won’t get started on my rant about how you should always watch your back and make sure you’re always at a point of complete advantage, if you do end up going to the ground (at which point it turns into a life or death matter), grabbing a knife and slitting a throat provides for an instant death. A stab to any artery will allow you to win the battle. A slice to a muscle or a major group of organs will cause more pain than most people can stand. It’s easy to cut fast and cut hard than it is to grab a pistol or a revolver out of your pocket, get a clean shot, and let off a few rounds.
The bottom line - get used to carrying multiple edged weapons, and learn to use them.
1-18-08/Cloverfield Trailer Preview
It’s about time.
After months of waiting, we finally get an idea of what this darned movie is about. CHUD has the details after getting a sneak peek of the preview.
It opens with text:
Multiple sightings of case designate ‘Cloverfield’
Camera retrieved at incident site ‘U.S. 447’
(Area formerly known as Central Park)Then we see the footage from the teaser trailer, mostly fast forwarded up to the end, with the explosion and the Statue of Liberty’s head landing in the middle of the street. Then there’s a guy speaking into the camera.
Guy: My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago, someTHING attacked the city.
There are flashes of chaos. Much of the trailer is made up of split second moments, and when combined with the fact that it’s extreme shaky cam style and that I was watching a terrible copy, it can be hard to make things out. There’s a helicopter shot of the headless Statue of Liberty.
Guy again: I have no idea what it is. If you found this,if you’re watching this thing, you know more about it than i do.
Then there’s a shot of jets flying overhead, in daylight.
A title card reads ‘From producer JJ Abrams’
There’s more flashes of chaos, there’s a guy on a cellphone trying to find out where ‘Beth’ is, and then there’s a girl yelling, ‘We cannot go in the middle of the city! we’ve got to get out of here!’
More chaos. More quick shots. I imagine this stuff will be picked apart when the trailer debuts online.
Over this is what seems to be a conversation between an Army guy and a girl.
Army dude: There’s nothing we can do right now
Girl: do you know what that thing is?
Army dude: Whatever it is, it’s winning.
More flashes. An argument:
Guy 1: We have no idea what’s out there!
Guy 2: I don’t care what’s out there. Listen to me - she’s dying!
Then there’s footage of army guys running and shadows on a wall. Shadows of a screaming woman being attacked by a small monster (possibly two - either she’s being pulled away from the monster by someone behind her or there’s another monster behind her). It’s confirmed: the movie has a big beast and small ones. Like the American Godzilla.
People are hiding in a store, and there are huge thumps making everything shake. The windows of the store explode in.
The big sequence is next: Army guys running up a street, firing into the air. Tanks come up behind them, firing. Rockets launch up.
We see the big monster briefly passing between two buildings. I couldn’t make it out at all, but it appeared to be HUGE.
Characters race down subway steps, there’s a giant explosion, the cameraman is down, there’s a figure in a tunnel, people are yelling ‘Run!’ and running through the tunnel.
Outside of Central Park, a horse drawn carriage goes by.
Guy: Are you still filming?
Cameraman: Yeah. People are going to want to know… how it all went down.
Shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. A helicopter taking off. Some chaos. Then inside the copter girls screaming as the copter spins out of control.
Cut to black, then the title comes up: Cloverfield.
Then the text: End of tape
Then the release date: 1-18-08
So the info I gleaned from this:
The title is Cloverfield.
There are smaller monsters.
This movie will quite probably make a lot of people motion sick.
Sounds pretty cool. There is nothing like a great monster movie to get the blood flowing.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
People following the ‘08 POTUS campaign….
...on the left or right...answer one question for me.
Would you support the same candidate that David Duke’s political allies support?
You on the right....would you support the candidate that voted more with Dennis Kucinich than he did with many in his own party?
Just a thought. Back to your regular scheduled programming.
And
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Great news
about the Lake Arrowhead fire.
Our youngest daughter was finally allowed up the hill to see whether her home had been burned to a crisp.
Last time, in the 2003 fires, the firefighters were literally fighting mere feet from her front door as the house across the street burned down, but her home was saved by their efforts. This time, it approached within a few blocks (we won’t know exactly until she gets a chance to scout around a bit, but she just walked in the door and called us a few moments ago), but was beaten back once again by those guys in red and yellow.
Their bravery and skill surpasses me, and I cannot speak more highly of them.
What the military is to our nation, the police and firefighters are to the local communities.
Sunday Morning Humor
Friday, October 26, 2007
When it comes to examples
I suppose it would be better to set one than to be one.
Not sure you understand the difference?
Well, from a poll that cannot be spammed or overridden by Ron Paul-bots (who are the ‘08 version of the Dean-bots of the ‘04 election cycle), Fred Thompson sets the example, while Ronnie gets to be the example.
Most Desired Nominee For 2008
10) John Cox (3.0)
9) Alan Keyes (5.0)
8) Ron Paul (9.0)
7) Tom Tancredo (20.0)
6) John McCain (28.5)
5) Mike Huckabee (37.5)
4) Mitt Romney (45.0)
3) Duncan Hunter (51.0)
2) Rudy Giuliani (55.5)
1) Fred Thompson (76.5)Least Desired Nominee For 2008
10) Fred Thompson (4.5)
9) Mike Huckabee (13.0)
8) Duncan Hunter (13.5)
7) Mitt Romney (20.0)
6) Rudy Giuliani (22.5)
5) Tom Tancredo (35.5)
4) John Cox (41.0)
3) John McCain (41.5)
2) Alan Keyes (46.5)
1) Ron Paul (74.5)Net Score For The 2008 Nominees (Positive Minus Negative)
10) Ron Paul (-65.5)
9) Alan Keyes (-41.5)
8 John Cox (-38.0)
7) Tom Tancredo (-15.5)
6) John McCain (-13.0)
5) Mike Huckabee (24.5)
4) Mitt Romney (25.0)
3) Rudy Giuliani (33.0)
2) Duncan Hunter (37.5)
1) Fred Thompson (72.0)
It isn’t scientific, using self-identified, self-selected participants (I didn’t participate this time because I was too tired to think that hard when it showed up in my e-mail box), but so are Precinct Caucuses…
Take with a grain of salt, but it will simply show why I won’t be endorsing that fucking whackadoodle with two first names for President of anything more important than Deputy Junior Undersecretary for Bean Counting and Gravel Measuring in Burkina Faso. (Please don’t waste your breath protesting that the dumbass is actually a Doctor, because y’know what? So is Dr. Laura, and she shouldn’t be President, either...)
Housing Blues
A guaranteed ripoff.
Home prices are going to have to drop a lot more before I’ll even consider buying one. When a 9.9% percent drop brings an outhouse down to $550,000 dollars, I still believe that we have a long way to go.
The median price of a single-family home in California saw it’s sharpest decline on record from August to September—a 9.9 percent dip from $588,970 to $530,830. The price decrease is 4.7 percent compared to September 2006.
“While it is typical for the median price to dip seasonally as we move from August to September, this decline—which was both the largest month-to-month percentage decline on record and the first year-to-year decline in more than 10 years—was mainly the result of the credit or liquidity crunch, which also drove sales below the 300,000 mark,” California Association of Realtors president Colleen Badagliacco said in a news release.
Closed escrow sales of single-family homes dipped to 271,590 in September, a 38.9 percent drop from a sales pace of 444,780 in September of 2006.
The sales figures represent what the total number of homes sold would be for 2007 if the September sales pace continued. It is seasonally adjusted.
The median price of an existing, single-family home in California was $530,830, compared to $557,150 a year ago and $588,970 in August 2007.
In Los Angeles, the median price dropped 2.8 percent to $569,390 compared to $585,730 in September 2006. The number of sales was right with the statewide decline at 38.4 percent.
People look at me crazy when I tell them that I rent. Here’s a news flash - I don’t want to own a house. The tax incentive isn’t there. You’re spending twice what you would pay for rent, and you’re going to end up losing the money somehow or another if Uncle Sam doesn’t take it. Buying a house in Southern California is one of the biggest shams you’ll come across. All of the people who bought houses that were way beyond their limit (i.e. 99% percent of people) are now running around like chickens with their heads cut off because their adjustable rate mortgage went from a monthly payment of $2500 dollars to $5000. If you have $5000 dollars flying out of your pocket, then go for it, but I seriously doubt if you do.
Real estate agents and the brokers are the biggest liars around. They’ll pitch anything to make a sale. Why? Because they’re salesman! I know that house on the hill looks great, but factor what you’ll be spending by owning that pile of trash versus renting something comparable. I know you want to say that you own something, but no everyone is meant to own a house. That’s the big lie of the industry, and it’s becoming one of those overly spoken phrases of life that makes me want to punch people right in the nose.
Housing is a rip-off in Southern California, and despite that line about “everyone should be a homeowner,” the fact of the matter is that most people should not own.
If you want to own something, get a dog. At least you’ll know who’s taking a dump on you.
Evac Orders
Hello, this is 9-1-1. Your house is about to burn down. We would recommend running like hell.
Considering how much we’re taxed in this wonderful county, I’m surprised that we haven’t put this system into place yet. It’s so darned easy, yet I would bet good money that it’ll be messed-up and tossed-out before it goes live by some dirtbag government employee.
Los Angeles County lacks the type of automatic emergency telephone system that San Diego authorities used this week to deliver evacuation orders to nearly 600,00 households and businesses threatened by fast-moving wildfires.
Several local cities have installed such systems—including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Inglewood and Beverly Hills. But officials in the nation’s most populous county say they are only now preparing an overarching emergency structure that could potentially send a recorded message to every residential and business telephone. Officials said they did not expect it to be ready before spring.
We’re the largest county in the nation. You would figure that our disaster preparedness would be second-to-none. Of course, a system that was much needed this entire week was tossed on the back-burner due to bureaucracy.
A Free Ride
C’mon and take a free ride...
I guess if you need to get from point-A to point-B, and you don’t have a dollar to your name, you can just mosey on down to the local MTA railway and hop on.
About 5.5 percent of Metropolitan Transportation Authority passengers don’t pay the $1.25 it costs to ride the train, prompting MTA board members on Thursday to look into the possibility of installing fare gates at stations.
A report looking into gates and other options and what they would cost will be presented at the next board meeting in November.
“We’re looking at opportunities to reduce fare evasion in light rail line, and one of the possibilities is to gate. That is an option,” said Jane Matsumoto, deputy executive officer of Regional Transit Access Pass, who was involved in preparing the fare evasion report presented to the board.
The report showed that overall, 5.5 percent of nearly 30,000 passengers checked during an inspection by sheriff’s deputies and MTA security had not paid for a ticket to ride the train.
But some expressed concern over the potential cost of installing fare gates versus the relatively low number of people who skip out on the $1.25 base fare.
“In reality, 95 percent non-evading is pretty damn good,” said Manuel Criollo, an organizer for the Bus Riders Union.
“(Fare gates are) unnecessary; 5 percent is not a big number,” he said.
I can’t stand public transportation, so this is no sweat off of my back. Public transportation is dirty, it doesn’t go anywhere I need it to go, and there is all sorts of riff-raff that ride the buses and the trains. I would rather pay for gas and sit in traffic than be forced to share a seat with anyone… except Jessica Alba. Are you listening, Jessica? I’d ride the MTA with you any day.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Los Angeles Sparks
I love a good foot pursuit.
It’s safe to say that we’re not going to play nice with firebugs anymore.
As wildfires ripped through Southern California, a 41-year-old Sun Valley man was arrested on suspicion of arson after quick-thinking Woodland Hills residents allegedly saw him lighting a fire and called 911, police said this morning.
Woodland Hills residents saw a man lighting a fire then walking away about 4:30 yesterday on a hillside near Del Valle Street and Ponce Avenue. After calling police, the residents followed him to a restaurant and waited for police to arrive.
Police booked Catalino Pineda, a day laborer from Sun Valley, into the Los Angeles County Jail where he was being held on an arson charge. Bail was set at $75,000.
Pineda is a native of Guatemala. He is currently on probation for making excessive false emergency reports to law enforcement, police said.
A few nights in the infamous Men’s Central Jail (also known as hell on earth by those of us who had the pleasure of working there) should teach this guy not to play with fire.
Double Talk
Preach it, Ann.
As usual, Ann Coulter nails it.
Apparently liberals support Islamo-fascism.
The Democratic leadership might want to have a powwow with their base because I believe their public position is to pretend to oppose Islamic fascism.
Elected Democrats at least make empty rhetorical gestures about opposing Islamic fascism. Of course, amidst their nonspecific condemnations of Islamic terrorism, they make very specific demands that we genuflect before Islam and perform exotic fetishes on the fascists.
Liberals believe in burning the American flag, urinating on crucifixes, and passing out birth control pills to 11-year-olds without telling their parents—but God forbid an infidel touch a Quran at Guantanamo.
College campuses across the nation are installing foot baths to accommodate Muslims’ daily bathing ritual, while surgically removing the Ten Commandments from every public space in America. Maybe the Ten Commandments could be printed on towels and kept next to the foot baths.
The National Council for Social Studies recommended a lesson plan after 9/11 that included a story titled “My Name Is Osama” about a nasty little white boy, “Todd,” who taunts a fine upstanding Iraqi immigrant named “Osama.” Go ahead, laugh it up—we’ll see who’s laughing when “My Name Is Osama” ends up on ABC’s prime-time lineup next year.
This story was proposed in response to an event in which Muslims with names like “Osama” committed the most massive hate crime in U.S. history against 3,000 innocent civilians with names like “Todd.”
Still and all, Democrats who seek the votes of their fellow Americans continue to claim in a vague, meaningless way to oppose Islamo-fascism.
And you can take that to the bank.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Los Angeles is Burning, Part II
Cough, cough!
It seems like the worst is over in terms of what Los Angeles County has gone through. My intel indicates that most law enforcement agencies have dropped their tactical alerts, and we’re going back to a normal schedule. I think the fires burned most of what they could burn. I don’t think they can turn around and re-burn much of anything. It’s impossible, and all that is left to burn is wide open space and desert.
Above my apartment in the San Fernando Valley is a bunch of black smoke that has been sitting there since the early afternoon. When the sun was still up I saw the smoke moving all the way into the San Gabriel Valley, and it’s down south as well. Strangely enough, the only place with blue skies was Downtown LA, which was the strangest sight I’ve seen as an Angeleno. Regardless of the fact, it feels like I’ve been breathing air inside of a smoking lounge for the past two days. If you’ve never been around a major fire, it’s kind of a shock to your body. You feel lethargic, your nose never stops running, your eyes water, and it feel like you have sandpaper in your throat --- or like you just took a cup full of cheap tequila and drank it slowly.
I was just listening to KFI 640 and they reported that an open training area on Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps Base near San Diego, just went up in flames.
Two spot fires are burning on the grounds of Camp Pendleton, home of the U.S. Marines Corps.
A base spokesman says one fire blackened 3,000 acres of brush and grass in a training area. It is 10 percent contained and is moving toward canyons and away from structures.
Another fire burned 200 acres near a station that’s home to the 1st Marine Division. It is fully contained.
No injuries or damages were reported.
Families living in military housing areas are being told to pack their belongings and be prepared to leave in the event of a mandatory evacuation.
As with the remainder of the Los Angeles fires, this one is burning a bunch of open terrain, and there is no risk to life or real estate. Hopefully that will not change.
I’m not one to make predictions, but I think it’s safe to say that this is the beginning of the end.
UPDATE: I was talking to one of my partners about the skies above LA today. We have over a dozen fires going at one time. If you take the pic at the top of the blog post and picture that same image surrounding you for as far as the eye can see, from every angle and on every horizon, then you know what it’s like to be in Los Angeles. Another partner who was in the Army said it looks like the Middle East when they set the oil wells on fire. I think it looks like the arrival of the aliens in Independence Day and War of the Worlds.
Around the web:
Monday, October 22, 2007
Los Angeles is Burning
And I’m stuck in the middle.
I’ve been meaning to post as much information about the Los Angeles fires as possible, but I’ve been stuck maintaining law and order on the streets while people who thought they could wake up and enjoy their morning coffee ended up running for their lives as we told them to evacuate. My team has been put on twelve hour shifts indefinitely, and I’m finally at home taking a small breather, a nice long shower, and getting a few minutes of sleep before I head back to the grinder.
I’m a deputy sheriff, not a fire fighter. If I could tell you the magnitude of the operation we’re running, you would wonder if the Joint Chiefs of Staff were involved. We have over a dozen fires going on in Southern California, and we have to maintain peace in all of the effected areas, backup the fire fighters, evacuate citizens, move defendants back and forth from jail to jail (close to 25,000 of them), and continue our normal, routine patrol.
Every time I wonder what else my job could have in store for me, something like this pops up.
Back to blogging - I’ve put together a list of links that the citizens of Southern California can use as their online emergency operations center. If you think you’re in trouble or if you see something funny, dial 9-1-1. Don’t question your judgment, just do it. Believe me, we’ll thank you profusely for it.
I would recommend keeping your radios tuned to KFI 640 AM. You can listen on your standard radio or online.
Links and informations below the jump.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Bill Maher and the Truthers
At least he got one thing right.
Hey, even I have to give Bill Maher the thumbs-up for this one. I owe him a beer when I run into him.
You can’t tell me that wasn’t cool.
Patterico has more.
Friday, October 19, 2007
If I were to call them sleazeballs
...it would be an insult to balls of sleaze everywhere.
Remember a few weeks back when I tried to get a comment from either of California’s Senators on the MoveOn ad insulting General “Betray-us”? They couldn’t be bothered, because they ”don’t comment on political statements”, despite the fact that their whole job is to comment on politics.
Well, guess which two California Senators signed a letter condemning Rush Limbaugh while simultaneously lying about what was actually said?
I guess bashing the military is okay if you are against the war, but bashing these asshats who lie about their experience (solely to gain “street cred”, aka “absolute moral authority") is against the pale…
Fuck them both with a Saguaro cactus. 
UPDATE: From Noel over at Cold Fury comes this challenge:
I call on all 41 senators who abused their power by trying to quash Rush’s dissent to match the money contributed by Rush Limbaugh and Betty Casey. You don’t even have to individually match the $2,100,100.00 each of them contributed. Simply match their total of $4,200,200.00.
This means each of the 41 senators who signed the smear letter owe a mere $102,443 dollars.
And ninety cents.
Senator Reid, you can easily get that much from one of your crooked Vegas land deals. Teddy Kennedy can get it from his offshore trust-fund tax shelters. Hillary can get it from the Chinese. Obama can get it from his Syrian gangster neighbor who’s always doing him favors. John Kerry can get an advance on his allowance.
C’mon, senators; put your money where your mouths are–wait–we don’t know where your mouths have been–what’s that phrase you use when you want to look like heroes for spending other people’s money?–oh, yeah:
“Do it…For The Children(tm)!”
Heh.