Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer! The University of Alabama, my Alma Mater, beat Auburn 55-44. That's the highest scoring Iron Bowl in living memory. Part of enjoying fatherhood and holistic healthy living means we don't have cable. So this instant classic which was broadcast on ESPN in prime time was completely unavailable to me as I am on Daddy Duty tonight. Oh well. I'll watch it later with a family member who TiVo'd it.
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As I've mentioned in this blog before, I am employed in retail sporting goods. Yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving, was what we've colloquially termed in America, Black Friday. Retailers mark down a few items to draw in huge crowds, in return for their advertised 'loss leaders' they hope to reap huge profits by having shoppers purchase more high margin items while buying only one or two items in their ad. Being the busiest day of the year for department stores and retail chains all across the US, we expect it to be painful as sales associates. However this may be my last Black Friday as a worker bee, so I sallied forth with equal parts jaded professionalism and detached optimism.
I had never given the day much thought when I was growing up. We always went hunting and left the shopping to women folk. It wasn't until I began work at a large retail sporting goods store that the day seemed to loom large. In my Hunting Department we sell guns, optics, knives, and safes as well as a full line of ammunition and hunting accoutrements. On the busiest day of the year we seem to sell more safes and knives than any other time in the year, and an above average amount of firearms.
Our gun counter is quite popular, so much so that we get customers to 'take a number' and wait for service much like the DMV. Our store opened at 5am with many "Door buster specials" like .22LR ammo, $10 dog beds, and ammo cans, not to mention a ton of deals on clothing. I arrived at 6:30am for my regular shift. At that point we were over a hundred numbers behind on the gun counter and the store looked like a peaceful riot. Since there is nothing one man can do except for his very best, I quickly strode to the counter and started calling numbers. Before I knew it, 9am had rolled around and it was time for a break. I checked the area we had ammo cans for sale ($10 each) and was amazed we had sold through seven pallets already. With 144 cans to the pallet, that's 1,008 cans! Before the end of my shift we sold through another 5 pallets and ran out of dog beds.
Trying to make sense of how busy our store gets or how crazy the lines are is a bit tricky. It would be like asking a guy to describe what happens during a shipwreck. All he can tell you from the great noise and confusion is what happened in his vicinity, and then offer you a sip from his flask while bobbing along in his raft. I don't drink much at all besides a glass of red wine for cardio health. But Friday afternoon I did treat myself to a nice cool Heineken.
I pray future Thanksgiving weekends will be spent far from work. I would prefer to devote this time to reflection on God's blessings and share it with family. I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, and are able to spend more time out in the woods than in the concrete jungles or shopping malls. Good night & Shalom!
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Ferguson Mayhem, Rioting Detritivores, Disparity of Force
I will attempt to keep this post brief and concise as possible. Following months of overt race baiting by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and other detritivores, the pre-planned riots in Missouri left 12 commercial buildings burned, several dead, and hundreds arrested. All this mayhem because a white policeman shot a black man who had robbed a convenience store of one box of cigarillos. Don't forget this suspect was engaging the officer physically and had been violently grabbing for the officer's gun prior to being shot to death. According to Grand Jury eye witness testimony, the suspect DID NOT have his hands up nor shout "Don't shoot!", however the court of public opinion has been tainted with this oft repeated lie.
As one layman interpreting the facts, Officer Darren Wilson was merely protecting his life when he fired into an attacking 292 pound Michael Brown. The Grand Jury was correct to not indict. But what about the "18 year old kid" not having a weapon? In self defense trials there is an issue of disparity of force. Disparity of force could be a man vs. woman, multiple attackers against one, or having complete freedom of movement and leverage against one who does not (on the ground or confined in vehicle). Officer Wilson most certainly lacked the range of motion to defend himself as he was in the driver's seat of the police car. Similar situation to George Zimmerman being flat on his back as Trayvon Martin controlled the fight, pummeling his head repeatedly and knocking him against a concrete sidewalk.
While these two cases aren't exactly identical, there are some key parallels I'd like to illustrate. If the totality of circumstances leaves you, a weaker individual, with an 'unarmed' strong man lunging towards you with clenched fists, not responding to your shouted instruction of "STOP, I will shoot!" then most jurisdictions will find you acted in self defense. A reasonable person wouldn't violently rush up on an armed policeman or private citizen. If the larger 'unarmed' party closed in to grappling distance, nine times of ten the 'unarmed' strong man kills you with your gun. Keep that in mind next time someone breathlessly whines, "Oh, but he was unarmed!". As an aside, 21 feet is the furthest a knife wielding attacker needs to be to rush in with a fatal strike. That is why my pistol range sessions start at seven yards.
The saddest part of this story is the church attended by Michael Brown's parents was amongst the burned out edifices. Also a minority owned bakery that had given free meals to protesters got torched during the anarchic spree. Why burn down the neighborhood when things don't go your way? I'll never understand the need for looting, rock throwing, burning police cars and other riotous behavior. This is America; why does our society and law enforcement tolerate such foolishness? Pants up. Don't loot!
As one layman interpreting the facts, Officer Darren Wilson was merely protecting his life when he fired into an attacking 292 pound Michael Brown. The Grand Jury was correct to not indict. But what about the "18 year old kid" not having a weapon? In self defense trials there is an issue of disparity of force. Disparity of force could be a man vs. woman, multiple attackers against one, or having complete freedom of movement and leverage against one who does not (on the ground or confined in vehicle). Officer Wilson most certainly lacked the range of motion to defend himself as he was in the driver's seat of the police car. Similar situation to George Zimmerman being flat on his back as Trayvon Martin controlled the fight, pummeling his head repeatedly and knocking him against a concrete sidewalk.
While these two cases aren't exactly identical, there are some key parallels I'd like to illustrate. If the totality of circumstances leaves you, a weaker individual, with an 'unarmed' strong man lunging towards you with clenched fists, not responding to your shouted instruction of "STOP, I will shoot!" then most jurisdictions will find you acted in self defense. A reasonable person wouldn't violently rush up on an armed policeman or private citizen. If the larger 'unarmed' party closed in to grappling distance, nine times of ten the 'unarmed' strong man kills you with your gun. Keep that in mind next time someone breathlessly whines, "Oh, but he was unarmed!". As an aside, 21 feet is the furthest a knife wielding attacker needs to be to rush in with a fatal strike. That is why my pistol range sessions start at seven yards.
The saddest part of this story is the church attended by Michael Brown's parents was amongst the burned out edifices. Also a minority owned bakery that had given free meals to protesters got torched during the anarchic spree. Why burn down the neighborhood when things don't go your way? I'll never understand the need for looting, rock throwing, burning police cars and other riotous behavior. This is America; why does our society and law enforcement tolerate such foolishness? Pants up. Don't loot!
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